#Had my supervisors check on it while I was at lunch and got told to do it again

[ballsballsbowls]

In case you think "best job I've ever had" means "good job," I walked through the door tonight and paused thoughtfully before I blurted out, in response to asking how my day was:

"I'm seriously considering running away and digging ditches for a living. Operating a forklift. Joining the circus. Anything to never speak to the people I am providing services for again."

[sicknessbysalem]

tw emeto, fever

introducing another new kid, but he’s related to vanessa and willow!

also additional tw for an empty threat of harming an animal (it is empty, it was only used as a motivator) just in case.

“How long are you going to keep knocking so… gently?” Vanessa asked.

They’d been standing outside the door of Willow’s friend and clinical partner, Milan Kovalev-Wang, for a solid thirty minutes.

“He wasn’t there for clinicals today,” Willow told Vanessa, “I just want to check on him.”

“How can you be friends with the guy your boyfriend cheated on you with?” Vanessa asked

“Ex boyfriend,” Willow corrected, “And it was easy, we already had something in common.”

“Right, because everyone wants to have a best friend where the common denominator is a shitty ex,” Vanessa said, “Fine, let’s go.”

Vanessa actually didn’t mind Milan. He was nice enough, and from how he and Willow seemed to act with each other, neither of them knew what Joseph was doing when he did it.

Vanessa still wanted to see Joseph’s head on a stick, for sure, especially after breaking Willow’s heart. But, Milan got a pardon in Vanessa’s book, at least for now.

“Well what do you suggest I do?” Willow said, “I don’t want to be rude I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

“He might not be able to hear you,” Vanessa said, “Wills, you need to be louder.”

“But won’t that bother the neighbors?” Willow asked, “You do it if you’re so certain how to make him answer.”

Vanessa needed no further permission, she knocked hard on the door.

“What’s his middle name?” Vanessa asked

“Nikita,” Willow said, “What are you-“

“Milan Nikita Kovalev-Wang, if you do not open this door I will personally break it down,” Vanessa yelled through the door, “I swear to god if you will not open this door I will personally skin Zvezda and turn his fur into a beanie.”

“Zvezda is just a kitten,“ Willow whined, “Leave him out of this.”

Vanessa held her hand up, pointing to the door.

Sure enough, the lock clicked. The door opened.

Milan leaned against the door frame, hair messy, scrubs wrinkled, and looking half out of it at best.

“You are such a ray of sunshine Vanessa Lillian McAllister,” Milan scoffed, tucking his mouth in his arm as he coughed.

“Well, I would be nicer if you answered your damn door,” Vanessa said, “Where’s my baby?”

“Zvezda is not your baby,” Milan said, allowing both girls in.

Vanessa sat on the floor, and Zvezda came out of his tree, going to Vanessa’s lap immediately.

“Right, forget that I feed you and Vanessa threatens to skin you,” Milan snapped at the cat.

“I threaten you that I will skin him, not him,” Vanessa said, petting Zvezda, “And for the record, that’s only when you make Willow panic.”

“You two are nauseating,” Milan said, groaning and placing his hand on his stomach, “Extra nauseating today.”

Willow rolled her eyes, before standing in front of Milan, carefully feeling his face for fever.

“I was just worried, you didn’t come to clinicals, and you weren’t answering your phone,” Willow said, “Or the door.”

“How long had you been out there?” Milan asked, heading into the kitchen in search of a small cup for water. Anything to make his throat hurt less and mouth taste even a little better.

“Not long,” Willow said, following him, “You should sit, you don’t look good at all Milan…”

“Thirty minutes,” Vanessa answered the question, holding Zvezda like a baby, the cat purring intensely and nestling up against her.

“I’ve been vomiting since like 2:30,” Milan said, “I was either actively getting sick or too exhausted to move off the floor.”

“This morning or-“ Willow started.

“Yesterday afternoon,” Milan said, “Nothing more embarrassing than losing your lunch in front of your supervisor while you’re supposed to be doing vital rounds.”

“Doctor Sanchez is really understanding,” Willow said, “I’m sure he didn’t think any less of you. Speaking of vitals…”

“You want me to tell you or you want to take them?” Milan asked.

“Well, why not both,” Willow said, “Where’s your kit?”

“In my room, on my dresser,” Milan said.

“Ness, my dear,” Willow said, “Can you grab it?”

“Yeah,” Vanessa said, trying to remove Zvezda from her person, where he had since crawled up her sleeve and rested awkwardly in a position that was mostly in her hood but clinging to the sleeve covering her shoulder, claws digging into her sweatshirt, “Zvezda is coming with…”

“Of course he is,” Milan said, turning to Willow, “Heart rate is elevated from dehydration and strain, no rebound tenderness anywhere, bp dipped around 4 this morning but that was after I’d thrown up for a solid… forty minutes with maybe thirty seconds to breathe between rounds.”

“And a fever that feels like it’s right on the borderline of home treatment and hospital treatment.” Willow said, “I’ll check you too, see if there’s anything concerning… well… more concerning.”

Vanessa set the kit on the table before heading back into the living room with Zvezda.

“You know, for an EMT, you sure hate treating people,” Willow teased over her shoulder as she got to work checking Milan’s vitals.

“First of all, license is expired,” Vanessa said, “Second of all, I can’t do much when you’re working on him too. And third, I’m being blessed by a cat being affectionate and you’re just mad.”

“I’m mad you’re not giving me affection, there’s a difference,” Willow answered.

“Did you not hear me when I said you two are nauseating?” Milan said.

“Someone is anti romantic,” Willow said, “What happened to that Leo kid?”

“Nothing good,” Milan said, leaning back.

Willow grabbed the stethoscope, listening to Milan’s heart rate and then hesitating slightly before listening to his stomach.

Milan could feel the nausea in his throat, forcing him to swallow hard and take a deep breath.

“Well, no appendicitis, stomach virus most likely, IJessica had one, Hayley too… me and then Vanessa got it from me,” Willow said.

“And I’m still not happy about it,” Vanessa said, shaking a feather toy for Zvezda, the small bells jingling as Vanessa talked.

Willow rolled her eyes, putting Milan’s stuff on the table, “I’ll disinfect those..”

“I don’t feel good,” Milan said, a sick hiccup jolting his chest.

“Yeah, she just said you had a stomach virus you idiot,” Vanessa said.

“As endearing as your sarcasm is,” Milan started, but his words were lost in a gag, prompting him to cover his mouth.

“Oh, shoot,” Willow sighed, “Come on let’s-“

She went to help him stand. But he’d already darted off as his feet were on the ground.

Milan lurched towards the bathroom, his steps hurried and unsteady. Willow trailed closely behind, her brow furrowed with worry.

Each retch wracked Milan's body, his throat raw and his breaths shallow. Willow swiftly soaked a soft cloth in cool water, tenderly dabbing his clammy forehead. She could feel the tremors coursing through his body, his muscles strained from the relentless assault of sickness.

"Deep breaths, Milan," Willow whispered, trying to ease his distress. "It'll pass. Just try to breathe."

Vanessa peeked around the corner, her eyes reflecting her concern. "Do you need anything?"

Milan shook his head weakly, still clutching the edge of the toilet. "Just... water."

Swiftly, Willow fetched a glass of water and a small bowl, placing them within Milan's shaky reach. She knelt beside him, her touch gentle as she rubbed his back in slow, reassuring circles.

After what seemed like an eternity, the intense spasms of sickness began to relent, leaving Milan drained and utterly spent.

Milan practically collapsed against the wayy, leaning against the cool bathroom tile, his eyes squeezed shut, trying to regain some semblance of composure.

"Maybe you should lie down," Vanessa suggested, her voice tinged with concern.

Willow nodded in agreement. "Let's get you settled in bed. You need to drink and try to rest."

Assisted by Willow and Vanessa, Milan shuffled back to his room, collapsing onto the welcoming softness of his bed with a weary sigh. Willow handed him the glass of water, urging him to take small, soothing sips.

"Rest now," Willow murmured, after Milan seemed to struggle to simply drink some water. She brushed his sweaty curls off his face.

“I’ll be right here, okay?” Willow said.

-

“I don’t mind helping him,” Vanessa said, “But, does he have anyone else? Like in general.”

Willow shook her head, “His dad’s in the military, his mom is a porn star, so neither of them are around a lot. His dad wishes he went to the military too, and his mom is, well, his mom,” Willow said, rubbing the sleeping Milan’s shoulder steadily, a continuous pattern of comfort for her friend.

“And then, I mean Milan is always studying or working,” Willow said, “The only person he might’ve had was Joseph. Before we knew what Joseph was doing to us. And unless Joseph was a real different man than when I was with him…”

“He wouldn’t have been much help either,” Vanessa said, “I remember that much of the little shit.”

“Yeah, so, just me,” Willow said.

A sick growl came from Milan’s stomach, followed by a soft whine.

Willow sighed, continuing to rub his shoulder.

Willow exchanged a worried glance with Vanessa, both understanding the gravity of the situation. Milan lay there, pallid and weakened by the illness coursing through his body. His vulnerability pulled at Willow's heartstrings; she knew she had to do something more to ease his discomfort.

Willow was a med student. And she knew she couldn’t be so emotionally attached in the emergency room, but when it came to her loved ones, it killed her to see them suffer.

Vanessa sighed, “Let's see if we can find something light for him to eat. Either it’ll calm down his stomach or he’ll have something to come up. I’ll check his kitchen."

Willow stayed close to Milan, softly murmuring words of reassurance to him as Vanessa hurried into the kitchen, scanning the cabinets and fridge for anything that might soothe his queasy stomach. Amidst sparse supplies, she managed to unearth a sleeve of crackers.

Returning to the room, Vanessa offered the crackers to Willow. Willow took them, nudging Milan awake.

"Here," Willow said gently, propping Milan up slightly. "Try to eat a little. It might settle your stomach.”

“Or give you something to throw up so your stomach stops sounding like that,” Vanessa shrugged.

Milan weakly reached for a cracker, nibbling at it hesitantly. His stomach gurgled in protest, he could taste water and acid in the back of his throat.

"Good job," Willow encouraged, even though he froze in terms of nibbling the cracker, her voice soft and comforting. "Just take it slow."

Milan felt sick, and hot. He felt like he was boiling. A sure sign of his he most certainly was going to be sick again.

“Willow did you bring over the trash….” Milan started. He felt like he couldn’t move, if he got up now he’d vomit all over the rug in his bedroom, or the hallway.

“Yeah,” Willow nodded, turning and grabbing it, handing it over, going back to brush Milan’s bangs out of his face, “I always forget how curly your hair is…”

Milan wanted to laugh. But instead, his stomach lurched, and the traces of crackers quickly left his stomach, followed by the water. And then, acid and saliva.

Milan coughed, hard, heaving up small traces of bile with an abundance of saliva. Willow didn’t flinch, holding Milan up.

Vanessa started rubbing Milan’s back and also bracing him to make it so Willow wasn’t harboring the whole burden of Milan’s weight.

“Just take it easy,” Willow said, reassuring him, “You’ll be okay…”

[time-traveling-fetus]

Anyway I had a nice day at work. Filled with a moderate amount of stuff to do. Not too much, not too little. It was pretty much just a single long ticket I had to work on.

A branch told me their kiosk was frozen and unresponsive, but when I remoted into it it was not frozen. So I'm thinking that these shitty kiosks made with their shitty parts broke a touchscreen again, but no when i got to the location the keyboard was not working either.

Four USB ports on the kiosks went bad, causing pretty much everything to break. Except for the bar code scanner, weirdly enough. This is because we use shitty kiosks made out of shitty parts. Luckily we have four more ports. Put the USB hub into there instead and great it works again. Test all it's functions aaaand nevermind I can't insert coins. Why's that? Oh yeah so the coin bill acceptor has a config file that you gotta find deep in the depths of the software's folders. Once you open that up in notepad you need to find one line and change a number so that the software knows exactly which usb port it needs to contact to accept coins. You know, the antithesis to how USB plug-and-play works? This is because we use shitty kiosks with shitty programming. To top it off, its not even a config file stored on the kiosk! It's a file on a completely different computer! For some reason!

Anyway, you're supposed to be able to get the number of the emulated com port off of device manager and that wasn't showing up at all, so ooh boy we're experiencing problems because that possibly means there's a deeper issue involved. So I talked to my Coworker Who Has Recently Gotten Serious About Being My Supervisor because he's the one who knows the most and he was only kinda helpful. He did that thing where instead of telling me what to do he prompts me to think. Which is a little bit needed bc sometimes I act like a mindless drone at work? I'm not at my mental peak. But it's also annoying cause how the fuck am I supposed to know what you want me to do all the time? Sometimes I'm just asking him questions to save time, not because i don't know how to obtain that. And sometimes it's info that I couldn't possibly know because it's specific to this workplace. Or sometimes I just want to gauge when a certain course of action is appropriate.

Anyway I put in a help ticket with the company that made the kiosk and chilled with some vtuber clips for an hour or so. The company called around lunch time. I remoted desktop'd into the kiosk with my software, and then helped their guy remote desktop into it with his software. He poked around, asked some questions and decided he couldnt do shit so he transferred the ticket elsewhere. It was nice talking to him. Usually I only get to speak on the phone with salespeople, scammers, or clueless members of the staff that require a customer service voice. This guy was just another IT guy like me. Later I got emailed by them while eating a sandwich asking about the colors of the usb so I'm like fuck i gotta drive all the back over there to check on the color of some holes. Sat around for a bit answering his emails on my phone, confirming info, and performing all the same basic troubleshooting i already did (is it plugged in? Is it turned on? What's broken? Are the little lights lit? Which ones? What happens if you plug this into that instead?)

Just sitting on a box of paper I had to move out of the way to look into the damn thing (it was convenient actually. The stuff I was working on was low to the ground). And then I got to drive back to my office and watch youtube while my loud boss talked over it and our jury-rigged television blasted the sounds of the Olympics everywhere. I wish i had a quiet office

[1moreoffkeyanthem]

Will I be projecting this into a South Park fanfiction at some point probably very sorry in advance to either Kyle or maybe Tweek but tbh I gotta rant real quick about my supremely awful day

(Cut for both severe anxiety and possible eating problem triggers)

So like I act and stuff right. Low budget independent shorts, projects for the local film school, things of that nature. And I had a shoot today for a class that’s essentially focused on filming an 8 page script in 12 hours, teaches the students professionalism, all that.

I woke up anxious for reasons I couldn’t pinpoint, wore Kyle socks under my costume for powers, figured I’d be okay once I got into the swing of the shoot. I was not. There was this chunk of very specific scientific dialogue that I just COULD NOT get to come out in the right order, and what did my bitch ass brain do? Fucking spiraled with it. Which made talking harder, which made the “YOURE A FAILURE YOURE A FAILURE” internal dialogue worse, and it continued. And I had a goddamn panic attack on the soundstage.

I wound up shaking in the green room literally crying, someone had to go get my husband from the editing suite because they didn’t know what to do, I could HEAR the professor talking to his class about “when talent has emotional problems during production it’s important not to let them know they’re holding up the shoot”, and the worst part? This was less than an hour before we broke for lunch.

And I’ve vagued about this before, but I’m a recovered anorexic. About five years ago, I did the whole outpatient thing or whatever, was in therapy for a while for it, almost had to drop out of college for it, all that shit, and for the most part I consider myself to be fine now. But that mentality pops up every once in a while, and that shit is AWFUL.

The AD called for lunch, and my first fucking thought was “you don’t fucking deserve to eat you worthless piece of garbage”, and like NO BRUH TF?!? Having a goddamn stroke on set is literally no reason to punish yourself, like if anyone else was having a gnarly anxiety day I would absolutely be encouraging them to take it easy on themselves, hydrate and eat, whatever they need, so how fucked up is it that I couldn’t do that for myself. I did wind up having a slice of the college film student set staple that is little cesars cardboard ass pizza bc Opposite Actions, but it was a huge mental struggle.

It’s definitely worth noting that NO ONE was nasty to me about my breakdown, at least not to my face, even though I was completely fucked in the head afterwards for the remainder of the shoot. I’ve worked with a lot of these people before, they know me and know it was just a bad day, and one of the girls I worked art department with on a previous feature was script supervisor for this one, and she came into the green room and sat with me, stopped me from biting at my fingertips because I hadn’t realized I was making myself bleed, kept me from hyperventilating until my partner got there. The director got with his team to work out what footage they could get until I was more steady. The AD checked in constantly for the rest of the shoot. The other actor was incredibly sweet and shared anecdotes from his stage acting days to cheer me up whenever I’d get anxious over a missed word in a take. No one was a dick to me. At all.

Except myself.

I don’t like to consider myself mentally ill, despite the fact that I know there’s no shame in it; I’m diagnosed with anxiety and depression, plus the whole eating disorder thing, obsessive compulsive disorder, I’ve been told I should get evaluated for autism (tbh yeah probably) like yall I’m a fucking disaster. But no one, NO ONE will ever be as hard on me as I am on myself. Also, it was a student production the Friday before spring break. They cut shots and wrapped early because nobody wanted to be there.

If you can step back and put shit In perspective, it helps. Unfortunately I’m very bad at that.

Very sorry for the rant being a person is fucking stupid but at the end of the day I love helping people tell the stories they want to tell and also wearing south park socks under my 1950s scientist costume.

[marcholasmoth]

OSRR: 3322

i managed to avoid an anxiety attack today by being sassy. our supervisor sent a teams message to the three of us on shift saying that the link he was sending us was a new requirement but that if anyone scored higher than he did they'd be fired.

it was an IQ test.

editing to add that this was all in jest; our supervisor is a funny guy and i'm confident he was laughing as he sent it. there was no real requirement, he's just silly.

i was like "can i not" and "nah" and when asked why instead of saying "it's a major trigger so please don't push about it" i said "then i'd get fired" without even knowing the score he got lmao

"damn here i was thinking you'd be embarrassed for scoring low but you were just trash talking"

"me score low on an IQ test? never"

and then i hit em with:

"we're gonna ignore that i have a score from an actual doctor which i'm decidedly not going to share BUT i just wanted to let you know i'm like this intentionally"

badda bing, badda boom

and just like that, the conversation was over.

i succeeded. but it put me on edge all day. tons of anxious energy kept me making noises and moving all day and it was so annoying. this is why we don't do this, buddy. no.

anyway, today was pretty quiet.

i ended up not having a real lunch for some reason but i DID end up texting both lisa and joel if they were going to be home tonight, and the answer for both of them was no.

so instead of planning for dinner with them, i asked john when i got back if he had eaten dinner. he hadn't, but he was planning on eating a pizza that had been in the oven for a long time, so he went to check on it. and.

it's black. charred. i couldn't recognize the toppings on it.

i said "well it's good i was planning on ordering indian food," so that's what we did.

i watched some episodes of my hero academia while i was waiting and then when i was eating. usually when i go to this place they don't add enough spice because they figure since i'm white i can't handle spicy. but this time they just made it to order and it was PERFECT. it was ACTUAL spice in it and i was so happy to get the flavor and the heat, instead of just the flavor. i'll have to order indian food over doordash more often, even though it's full price. at least the spice level is right.

anyway, it's bedtime and i'm ready to sleep forever. my phone told me to go back to bed today. i use an app called autosleep and it tracks data from my watch to track my sleeping habits, including preparedness for the day, and today's was just "rest." literally just "go back to bed, you're not ready for this." which is so funny to me. but i'm finally going to bed. i wish i had cuddles but i'll see him tomorrow. or sunday. not sure. it's okay. i have the bed to myself.

[the-poetic-mothman]

Rant post

A few months ago, two of my supervisors (they are basically managers but without the title) told me that if I needed help on carts because I couldn't do it, to come in and ask them. Well, I asked four times afterwards that they just didn't care if I needed help. When they had been scolding me they said that if there wasn't anyone to help THEY would put on a vest and come help me, but they never fucking did.

Well today, I come back in from carts after an hour of working my ass off because the girl before me left it a mess, I asked to go to the bathroom. They let me but then said that I would have to go back out and help because I didn't do shit apparently. I was grabbing more carts then I should've been.

You may be thinking, why not just ask? Well, I lost faith in them actually helping me when I needed it out there, so I didn't say anything. The guy had come out multiple times and saw that I was actually pulling my weight and grabbing a decent amount of carts.

I thought multiple times about asking but just didn't.

Since they sent me out I got to the point I couldn't breathe well TWICE.

The other manager came out and asked where the girl I was helping was and said that we need to get it done.

Another thing from this same job is I work with a 26 year old guy who refuses to shower and is a pedophile, he's not convicted. He was forcibly transferred to our store because he was sexually harassing one of his coworkers, not fired, which is what should've happened.

If he's upset with you, he looks at you with these manipulative puppy eyes to try and get you to not be upset at him.

He once mansplained how to do something I knew how to do while helping one of my coworkers since it was her first day. He was on his lunch and had no reason to do that.

I ignored him and he said I couldn't be mad because he was also trying to help. Something about me is I get pissed off if someone helps me when I don't ask for it and force me to accept the help.

He was apparently heartbroken a 16 year old trans guy was ignoring him.

He is less weird with me because he's scared of my mom, but he acts weird around everyone else. Since I was warned on my first day, I warn all of the new AFAB coworkers about him.

He hates one 17 year old because he's one of the managers I was complaining about in the last bit about's favourite. He claims the 17yo doesn't work, when he does, he just prefers closing duties but won't complain about being told to bag or check.

He asked for a TWELVE YEAR OLD'S snap, asked me twice for my CoD username before I had to get my mom involved, was super creepy to a different coworker on snap and after she blocked him he made 3 fake Instagram accounts to stalk her on that.

The only upside is he is one of my only coworkers that consistently respects my pronouns.

The last person I'm complaining about is autistic. I want to make it clear that I'm not mad about her being autistic, I'm ND myself and I don't hate people based on that or anything like that. She had multiple chances, like everyone does and she just didn't stop being annoying.

She always wants to go home early because she doesn't feel good. She talks so much, she's very whiny, and she honestly just drains me.

Like I said, I don't dislike her because of her autism, its how she acts.

Thanks if you read all of this, I just needed to vent my frustrations.

[margathecreatughhh]

S :)

I (23F) had sex with my supervisor.

I've had a crush on my supervisor, who is co-workers with a family member, since the pandemic.

My supervisor and I are in the same field. In 2021 or 2022, Whenever I would visit my family member's office and we'd run into each other, he'd ask me how my academics are going and I'd trauma dump about how it's very difficult and I've lost passion for it. Just very shallow topics and short conversations. I didn't really notice him back when I was growing up (high school) for obvious reasons (I was a minor and I only ever had crushes on my classmates) and I don't really remember sharing conversations with him.

I was very vocal about my crush on him. My family members who used to work with him knows. Of course they never took it seriously.

Finally approaching the end of my undergraduate degree, I had to render internship hours and my mom thought it would be safer if I did it at her agency, which meant I'd be assigned to him.

I didn't really mind my attraction to him. I didn't think anything would come into fruition from my attraction. But suddenly, I had a dream about him. About the two of us. I immediately started dressing up and try to look better for my internship.

A month into my internship, all the other people in the office had to attend an exclusive event for 3 days. His work attendance wasn't the best, but suddenly he started coming into the office more often while everyone else was gone. That's when the touching began. When he'd talk to me, he'd hold my hand. He'd tell me to get a tattoo on my lower back because it looked sexy that way. The flirtatious comments. I'd laugh it off, but I guess it was obvious I was attracted to him. Being salacious, I left my phone open to photos of me in a bikini. Which he saw. He asked to see the photos and he zoomed in on my body. He asked why I was looking at my photos and I only responded with "I miss what my body used to look like" and he told me he still found me sexy now.

That's when the questions started, have I dated before? "No, I'm staying single because I haven't met anyone worthy of my attention." "You should date someone more mature." he responded

He continued asking more questions. How far did my boyfriend and I go? What did I mean by being in "casual" relationships?

One day, he went into the office earlier than he usually does. That morning he left his door open for when the other co-workers went to ask him questions. Then he randomly called me into his office, but he had me close the door. He complimented me on the dress I was wearing - it was a pale green dress that hugged my body perfectly. He told me I looked attractive in what I was wearing. I teased him by telling him that I was actually planning on getting a tattoo and a navel piercing. I told him I considered the lower back tattoo but I thought the hip tattoo would be hotter. I said that just to get his mind racing. Then he told me to message him on an app. I said yes, and I messaged him when I got back to my seat. I teased him about how a different app is what my generation usually uses for private conversations. He didn't respond. But I looked back into his office and he blew me a kiss and I rolled my eyes.

The following week we had to attend an event. Upon arriving, we saw him walking towards the entrance. I winked at him teasingly. When I walked past him, he blew me a kiss. I continued walking but I slapped his arm along the way.

During the event, he finally replied to my message and he even called my number - maybe to check if it was really me. At lunch, he asked me if I was comfortable since every other co-worker tried to pair me up with the other attendees of the event. I told him I was just "chilling" to which he told me he too would be chilling back at his car. He then asked if I wanted to join him. At this point, I was in disbelief, but more so excited. Yet I didn't want to risk anything, so I declined. After the event, he offered to drive me home. I declined again, as I thought that would be suspicious. When we left in the company car, the driver saw him parked on the side of the road. The driver had to go back to the events place. He offered me a ride again, and I declined once more, just to give off the impression that I was too embarrassed to say yes to an offer from someone who is technically my boss, before finally relenting. When we drove away, we finally got to talking.

He asked generic questions. What did I usually do at home? I said I sleep, I watch movies.

"Have you seen The Godfather?"

"That's an old movie" he said.

He put his hand on my knee, and after a few more seconds of him taking his hand back and putting it on top again, I finally held his hand. He took a different route. And we talked even more.

He started asking me about my relationships again. If I was seeing anyone. I said no. He asked me if I had recently been in a relationship. "I wouldn't call it a relationship, it was a friends with benefits kind of situation". He nodded. He was quiet and I started up the conversation,

"I had a dream a few days ago" I started.

"Really? Was I in it?"

"Yep. You were very rough in my dream. Kept folding me in half and flipping me around. In bed"

That seemed to awaken something in him. That was the signal he needed.

And so he asked me to kiss him.

I kissed him like I would any boy my age. It was messy. I sucked his tongue, he bit my lip, he groaned a lot.

He asked me if I wanted to touch him. I said yes. The sound of his belt buckle rang inside the car. He was lowering his pants as fast as he could with my tongue in his mouth. And when he finally got it out, I started tugging at him. Then finally, I put it inside my mouth.

He kept checking the time, and before he could start to go hard, he made me stop.

"I have to get home"

"But I want you to put it inside me"

He stuck his hand inside my pants.

"You're so wet for me" he said

I responded, "because you're so hot"

He fingered me and played with my clit, all while not breaking eye contact with me.

"I want to put my dick inside you too. But I cant right now, I have to get home", he said with his fingers still inside me.

He lowered my underwear with my pants and took a look at my wetness. He put his face near it and said "I want to eat you so bad"

I grabbed his hair and pulled him up and said "next time, because you're in a hurry, remember?"

He started cursing at the time. He helped me put on my pants and clean up. He told me to never tell my relative about "us". I told him not to worry about it, and even made him pinky promise. We made out a few more times before he started driving me home. Before he dropped me off near the end of my street, avoiding being seen, we made out a bit more.

He promised to fuck me the next day but it never happened. "Sorry. Next week, we'll make time" he said. I laugh, "it's fine, it's just dick". Two days go by, and all we've done was kiss inside his office after everyone left.

However, it really wasn't fine. Because at that point, I was getting impatient. I wanted to get this over with. I wanted him to make my legs shake. So I took a few photos.

When he arrived at the office on that one Tuesday morning, everything was still normal. We were still playing a facade. He messaged me on that app and I took my time in responding.

"How are you?" he asked

"I'm fine. I got bored last night and took a few photos"

"For what?"

I immediately changed the conversation to become time-limited. I sent him the photo of me laying on my stomach with my ass peeking through my thong.

"You look so good. Send more"

"Hmmm" I responded to tease him.

"Let's go to my car"

"That would be fine"

"I'll go first and when I get there, you come down after me."

"Okay"

He leaves through his back door. My co-worker asks me to bring a few documents downstairs. "Okay, but I think I have to go somewhere after". My co-worker laughs because why wasn't I sure if I had to leave?

I drop off the documents and he tells me to go to his car. I go in and he asks me to go to the back. He makes small talk and he suddenly goes quiet. He comes near me and starts unbuttoning my top. He puts his lips on my right boob while playing with my left. I start biting my lip in pleasure.

"Is it good?"

"Yes, holy shit. I want to suck you off"

I grab his chin so he can start kissing me while he unbuttons his pants. He pulls his dick out, already hard. I put the tip into my mouth and start sucking on it. I start bobbing my head with my tongue dancing around his dick. I suddenly deep-throat him, which gets me a breathy "fuck" from him.

He asks me to take off my pants while he keeps himself hard. Stroking his dick while he grabs my face. Again, never losing eye contact, he asks me to suck him off again. I bent over the seat and he starts playing with me while his dick is in my mouth. I start to get sloppy, what with my breaths cutting off my mouth movement and my body jerking at his every touch. It was a very exposed position, My bare pussy was aimed right at the car window that faced the alley.

"You're so wet"

"Yeah. I want you to fuck me so bad"

"Okay"

"Should I ride you?"

"No, get on your back"

I do as he says and he starts to get in between my legs.

"Wait, go sideways"

He puts me to my side. He did say this was his favorite position.

Let me tell you, I haven't thought it was sexy of a man to spit into his hand to lubricate his dick but seeing him do that made me even wetter than I already was.

All I could do during the anticipation was curse under my breath and hold eye contact with him. And finally, in one swift motion, he puts his dick inside me.

What I can remember from him fucking me was the string of curses coming from his mouth, his repetition of "you're so tight", the moans I could not contain and realized only after that I was being loud, and the endless eye contact from when he kept thrusting inside me.

The entire time, my head was filled with questions of whether I had an attractive sex face because of how intense he was looking at me when he wasn't closing his eyes in pleasure.

It was a frenzy of emotions and sounds. Pleasure and intensity was in a rushed entanglement with each other. Then, he pulled all the way out and said,

"This is the feeling [you should remember]" before slowly putting his dick back inside me

I only responded with my mouth slowly gaping and a gasp trying to force itself out.

He thrusted into me a few more times before finally pulling out and cumming all over my pussy.

Being the brat that I am, when he finished, I said "that's why I hate hooking up, my tightness keeps getting blamed by guys for finishing quickly" while panting.

Him, clearly shocked at what I said, only responded with "I did say it would only be a quickie". I rolled my eyes while he cleaned me up. I put on my pants and button on my shirt. He sticks out his pinky and I playfully lock in mine.

The post-nut clarity obviously hit him. Because he was back to serious mode. I started teasing him about how it only took one photo for him to finally find the time to fuck me. I told him I was disappointed because he finished too quick. He told me he'd make sure to flip me around if we ever made it into a room with just the two of us. I confronted him about his pet name for me. I told him it felt a bit long-term if he had a pet name for me. I told him I'm not used to having small talk before a hook up. I told him it's usually pretty straightforward in our generation. I tell him it's been a long time since I've had a carfun experience. "Carfun" - a term he didn't know of, apparently. He tells me he can't just message me when he wants to have sex. That he should still treat me with respect and care - especially since he knows my mother. I laugh and ask him not to bring that up, and he laughs and takes it back. I tell him it's fine. I'm just not used to a fuck buddy set up that had so much talking. I also point out how I find sexting hilarious, which is why I only laugh in response at his attempts.

I grab his chin again to kiss him and I tell him I should get back. He asks me to go through a different route so we wouldn't be obvious. I complained because it was embarrassing but I obliged. I went into the office and ranted about the heat. Half an hour later, he comes back and makes some excuse about how someone had trapped him into a long conversation. I just laugh dryly and went back to reading on my phone.

He leaves for lunch and I had to skip work the next day. The following day, I found out he took a leave of absence. I send him a message, "very horny 4 u :("

He finally replies,

"I'm travelling to go visit my kids. I'll be back next week".

[jodilinbio]

A couple of months after I got home and was about 19, I got a job at a concession stand in a movie theater at the mall. It was a total bore, and a very difficult job for me because I was never good with numbers. I had to do all the adding and subtracting in my head since we only had a money drawer—no cash register to tell us how much change to give customers. They laid me off after Christmas, but I think they were really firing me for not being able to count, and the boss lady was just being nice by saying “laid off.”

Next, I worked at McDonald’s, another boring job. However, there was a deaf girl working there, and I enjoyed signing with her.

By March of 1985, it was time to quit McDonald’s and return to a place where I had worked for a few months when I was sixteen before becoming a ward of the state. That was a hotel in Enfield, Connecticut, just over the state line and only minutes from the house. I worked there as a housekeeper. What I liked about the job was that I could work alone. I didn’t have to mingle with others except during breaks and lunch. We ate well at lunchtime too, because the food came from the hotel’s restaurant, and we could have as much as we wanted for free.

The housekeeping department had both a boss and a supervisor. The supervisor was usually the one who checked our rooms after we finished cleaning them. During my time there, I went through three sets of bosses and supervisors. The first boss was a guy whose name I can’t remember. The supervisor was a 60-year-old Canadian woman named Teresa, whom I remembered from when I had worked there a few years earlier. She died of cancer a few years later.

The second boss and supervisor were younger—Linda and Alison. Alison was just there, but Linda and I bonded. Not romantically, but we got along really well, and it was obvious that I was her favorite. In the end, I felt very led on and let down by her. After she quit to work at a hotel in Springfield, she promised to visit me at the apartment I had just moved into but never did. When I’d call her, she acted like I was an annoyance.

Tired of being lied to and led on by people, I lashed out in frustration, calling and hanging up late at night, despite knowing that her husband was a homicide detective. I know it was gross, mean, stupid, and immature but I – uh – well, I also mailed guinea pig droppings to her and ended up in court for these pranks, but nothing ever came of it.

The last pair to run the housekeeping department while I was there were Sandra and Norah and I had a crush on Norah from the get-go. She was from England and I loved her accent. She was probably about 30 and had dark eyes and shoulder-length dark hair. She was a bit short for my taste, but that didn’t matter much since she didn’t seem to like me anyway. She was very strict, and most people didn’t seem to like her at all. So why she claimed she’d see me outside of work was beyond me, and of course, we never did get together.

The two co-workers who stand out most in my memory are definitely Michelle and Paula. In fact, I later became friends with Paula. Eighteen-year-old Italian-Portuguese Paula was a little terror who wasn’t very bright and wasn’t there long before she was fired. Everyone was afraid of her, including me. I’d never have believed it back then if someone had told me we’d one day be friends for years despite our differences. Her twin brother, Paul, also worked there. He was pretty tame compared to his sister. Paula bullied almost everyone there, but for some reason, she never bothered me.

Before moving out on my own, my parents had enrolled me in a driving course. It took two tries to get my license. I never liked driving—it always made me uncomfortable. Knowing it was unlikely I’d ever conquer my phobia or afford a car anyway, I resorted to walking and taking buses.

I also took some sign language courses at the local college and at the Willie Ross School for the Deaf, thinking I might get a job involving signing. My mother got me a volunteer job through a friend that I absolutely hated. It was at a summer camp for mentally and physically challenged kids. The kids were totally wild and out of control. There was no reasoning with them or taming them, and I quickly realized I wasn’t cut out for that kind of work.

I had hoped that happiness and success would finally be mine now that I was on my own, but instead, for many years to come, loneliness and stupid mistakes would be my closest companions.

I moved out on my own the day before my 20th birthday in 1985, into a one-bedroom apartment on the first floor of a four-story brick building in Springfield. My mom furnished it with my grandparents’ old furniture. The building was owned by two brothers.

One of my biggest faults was being too nice, too trusting, and naïve. So when eighteen-year-old Michelle came to me one day at the hotel, begging me to take her in to escape her father, who she claimed was molesting her, I did, though she had to sleep on the couch. I thought I was helping her, but in fact, I was being used. She probably really was molested, but she seemed to think that gave her an excuse not to be fair when it came to chores and money.

Worse, she came between me and my brother. Michelle stayed with me for a couple of months. As soon as she met Larry, who was quite a womanizer, things changed. As the two of them became more involved, they started turning against me, invading my space and privacy.

One night, we all got high together before I finally kicked them both out of my life. It was the last time I ever touched a joint. It was a scary experience—my heart pounded like never before. I don’t know what was in that pot, but I really thought I was going to die of a heart attack that night!

There was a guy named Lloyd that I met somewhere, though I can’t remember where. Being too nice and unable to say no, I ended up in bed with him one night. We didn’t have sex, but he went down on me, and it was the first time someone made me orgasm. While that was all well and good, I regretted that it wasn’t with someone I was attracted to.

By this time, my brother hadn’t had any contact with our folks for a year or two, and I guess it was hard for him to be connected to anyone still in touch with them. That much I could understand, but I was tired of being used and trampled on by him and his little mistress.

I finally demanded that they both get the hell out. Larry looked at me, smiled, and said, “Make me.”

I tried just that by calling the cops, but they weren’t much help. They actually had the nerve to tell me they couldn’t make him leave simply because he was “family.”

“Oh, so that makes him God?” I said to the cops. “That makes it okay for him to be an unwanted guest in my own apartment? Would it also be okay if he killed me just because he’s my brother?”

“Just say the word,” Larry said to me one night, “and I’ll take Michelle to live with me, Sandy, and the kids.”

So after I took back the clothes that were mine while she was at his place one night, they came to pick up her stuff the next day.

Next came my biggest fight with Larry. All I can say is that the man is very lucky I didn’t handle things then the way I would now because I’d have attacked him viciously without caring if he kicked my ass in return.

He and Michelle were on their way over, and for some reason, my dad wanted to be present. Michelle had it in her mind that I owed her $17 for some reason. We argued over this and who knows what else. I don’t remember what Larry said to Dad, but I know he was close to attacking him. I was threatened too, and my response was, “You want to hit me? Do it. Don’t just sit around and threaten me.”

“Don’t tempt me,” he said, and like a coward, I just stood there and said nothing. I totally regret this. While it may seem immature and silly, I sometimes wish he were here just long enough to threaten me so I could give him the surprise of his life. And I would, without the slightest hesitation! I’m much stronger and in much better shape now than I was back then. You could also say I’m more determined and even angrier in some ways.

Nonetheless, Dad finally said to Michelle pulling out his wallet, “You want $17? Here. Here’s $17.”

After they left, my father had me write him a check for $17, something I also regret. Dad took the easy way out, and I didn’t make or ask him to pay her.

For years, I seethed with rage whenever I remembered that night. I was furious with myself for not handling Larry differently for threatening me. Some people seemed to think they could do that whenever they felt like it simply because I was small—by this time, my weight was down to nearly 100 pounds.

I was also pissed at my father for telling me it would’ve been my fault if Larry had gone after him as if I would have been responsible for someone else’s actions.

I was furious with Michelle for her part in things but I was so incredibly furious with Larry for threatening me that I filed charges in court, which I later dropped. Larry kissed up to me until the charges were dropped, being oh-so-kind and sweet, but as soon as the charges were dropped, so was I. It would be the last I’d see of him for eight years. It was for the best, though, and I didn’t miss him either.

After sixteen months and nearly a forty-pound weight loss, I left the hotel. My past was beginning to take its toll on me, and I just couldn’t handle it anymore. It was getting harder and harder to pull myself out of bed in the mornings. Seeing Michelle at work every day didn’t help either.

I tried cleaning houses but couldn’t even handle that. I was having anxiety attacks, and it was getting harder to keep a schedule.

Soon, I was placed on Disability. I received two checks a month between Social Security and SSI checks. It wasn’t much, but it gave me some independence.

My memories of my neighbors there aren’t very good. The old lady above me was completely out of her mind. One night, when my phone wouldn’t work after I threw it against the wall in a fit of rage, I asked to use hers. After I used her phone, she got all pissed off and hysterical over nothing I could make sense of, so I left in a hurry, knowing I couldn’t count on her for help anymore.

The woman next to me had a jerk for a boyfriend. I’m very different now than I was back then. The things that scared me then would piss me off now. So when some guy was knocking on my window in the middle of the night, I panicked and went screaming hysterically next door. The neighborly help I received was her telling her boyfriend that I was crazy, and then him telling me he’d kick the little stray black dog I had taken in at the time if it didn’t quit sniffing at his feet. If I had been anything like I am today, I’d have kicked him!

Around this time, I realized I had to stop taking this kind of shit. If I just stood there and did nothing about the various threats I received, I’d only be sending the wrong message—one that said, “Go ahead, bully and threaten me because I won’t do a damn thing about it.” So from that day on, I was determined to stand up to these kinds of assholes because I was getting awfully tired of being pushed around. I felt I could really snap at any moment.

Anyway, I called the police about the window knocker, but he was long gone by the time they arrived, so there wasn’t much they could do other than offer to take me to a shelter. But I didn’t want to be run out of my own apartment. Jenny and her boyfriend stayed with me one night, but I knew they couldn’t stay with me every night and that I had to deal with it on my own. Besides, Jenny, being the wonderful “friend” that she was, didn’t want to “babysit” me anymore. Even June, Lori, and Lisa couldn’t have cared less when I tried reaching out to them.

Although I couldn’t prove it, I always suspected Larry and Michelle were behind the late-night window-knocking. Either way, I’d have reacted very differently as I got older. A few years later and I would have been pissed and gone out and confronted the asshole.

[69dirtyboy69]

Working In Delivery

Delivering things is what I do for a living. Delivering things pays my bills and keeps my family fed. I am a delivery man since I left high school, back then, more than two decades ago.

My career began about two weeks after my graduation. My uncle had a moving company, he was short handed so he asked me if I wanted to work for him. I said yes. Then I was carrying heavy furniture up and down through narrow step staircases for about three years. I had the shape, the physique of my lifetime back the.

Working as a moving helper wasn’t something I was planning on doing until the day I die. But it showed me that I loved driving through down, that I liked engaging with our customers and that I liked to move, to deliver things. So I began to search for work as a deliver driver.

Luckily the number of mail orders went straight up back then. So many companies were hiring drivers. I applied and I got the job. A good job in a unionized company with a decent pay day, paid sick leave and a couple of weeks paid vacation each year. Not one of those relatively shitty contracts you get nowadays.

Now close to two decades later I still work for the company that hired me back then. Unfortunately not out on the streets, out on the field anymore, they turned me into a supervisor. And due the fact that I had opened up a family, I had to take the job.

But to be honest, not one day goes by that I don’t miss those sometimes more than just crazy times out in the wild. I have seen many things out there. From thunderstorms flooding the street to people accepting their delivery while others had an orgy behind them.

Or the many stories I got told. And the many wild, sometimes more than just hot things that I was part off, because well, some people were more than just thankful when I handed them a brown cardboard box.

The most memorable thing happened to me about a decade ago, I was about thirty two years old back then. I just got assigned a new area. I moved up, from one of the poorest parts of town to one, if not the richest suburban part of town. I gladly accepted my promotion, because I had enough of being stuck in the inner city traffic for the better part of my day. Not that they didn’t paid those hours, it just was annoying.

My first day on my new route was awesome. The caretakers, the maids and the servants that opened the doors when I rang the bell were all nice. I had not a single traffic jam. And I even found a nice park to have lunch in without being afraid that while I was having lunch someone was breaking into my truck and stealing the whole thing on a bad day or only it’s content on a good day. Life was great.

And it got even better when she one day opened up the front door to a decent sized mansion. A very secluded mansion, you weren’t able to see the house from the road, from the neighboring properties and from anywhere else. It was if it’s owner was very keen about their privacy.

But back to her. She was a woman in her mid fifties, so around fifty five years old, she was tall, she had the right amount of curves, she was wearing some more than just expensive looking clothes and a huge smile on her face.

While I handed her her delivery she checked me from tip to toe. Then she thanked me about ten times for bringing her her order, then she asked me one simple question: “Are you the new one, the one that now is assigned to my place?”

I nodded with my head. I told her that I was the new one, that I was assigned to the area, and that that, as far as I knew back then, was a lasting thing. She listened, she nodded with her head, then another huge smile appeared on her face: “I see. Nice to meeting. Have a nice day.”

Then she closed the door. I headed back into my truck, I drove down the drive way, the automatic gate opened up and I headed towards my next destination. The final one for the day.

About a week later I was standing in front of her again. This time she wore something more revealing, she bent over more than just a little bit while I handed her the cardboard box with I don’t know what in it. She offered me a view down her cleavage, I accepted the invitation, I might even have licked my lips while starring at her boobs.

A smile appeared on her face when she realized that I had taken the bait. After she had taken the delivery in her own hands, she was standing straight again, we had some chit chat. Mostly about the weather and a little bit about her neighborhood. Then I left again. To make my final delivery for the day.

Again, to the day one week later, I was standing in front of her, or more likely, her husbands house again. When I rang the doorbell the automatic gate opened and I drove up to the front door again.

This time she was wearing some even more revealing clothes. She offered me an even better view of her boobs, this time without bra. And as the previous week, she kicked off a casual conversation. She ended the question with the following sentence: “Your girlfriend, or maybe your wife, must be very happy to have a man like you.”

In that moment stupid me finally realized that she was up to something. She was hitting on me. I was more than just fond of her doing, so I gave her an answer and asked her a question: “Unfortunately no one is waiting for me at home. But your husband must be more than just happy to have a woman like you on his side?”

Yes she was wearing a ring. That itself was in theory reason enough to keep my hands of her. But in her case I had to ask, because I clearly didn’t wanted that some rich and influential man would go for my throat because I might have been a little bit to close to his wife.

A smile appeared on her face when she heard my compliment. She even blushed a little bit before she gave me an answer: “Long story short, me and my husband have an arranged marriage. Both of our families wanted to join forces, they sealed the deal with a marriage. We get more than just along. We have three grown up children. But in the end he is more attracted to his male assistant than to me. So we have an open relationship since before we even said yes to each other.”

Now a huge smile appeared on my face: “I see.”

Then we wished each other an awesome day. I went back to work, but as soon as my truck was on the road again, I had to hit me in the face: You damn moron. You just missed a chance. But luckily, it wasn’t my last chance with her.

About two weeks later I had a delivery for her again. When planing my route in the morning, I planned it in a way that her place was the last one I had to drive too. Then I took off to trip through hell, because it was one of the hottest days of the year.

When I arrived at my last stop, when I finally drove up the log driveway to her house, I was on the exhausted site. But I bite through. I spend a huge portion of the day fantasizing about her and her curves. I even made up a game plan. I went through plenty of possible dialogues. I came prepared.

And my preparation, making plans, it was nothing but a waste of time in the end. When I handed her her delivery, she just looked at me: “You look thirsty. Wanna come in for some ice cold drink?”

My answer was a short one: “I’d love too.”

Then we went inside. Then the inside of the house blew me away. The place was built to impress: A huge art filled entry hall that opened up towards a living area with a huge glass front that offered a view over a decent sized swimming pool and most of the city in the background.

I just had to stop, to stand there and watch for a some time. While I stood there, she addressed my doing: “It wears off with time. Let’s head into the kitchen.”

It took me about half a minute to start moving again, then I followed her and the cardboard box I had already handed over to her into the kitchen. There she asked me what I wanted to drink, I went for some soda, she handed me a can and then we sat down on the kitchen table. They views still were spectacular: The city in one direction, in the other one her.

We quickly had a conversation up and running. A real one. She told me something about her life, her family, I told her something about mine. It was more than nice talking with her, but then she changed the subject: “Don’t you want to know what you have brought me today? Aren’t you always curious about the content of those brown boxes you hand over to people?”

I must admit, I sometimes was curious about what was in those boxes. But I never ever opened one on purpose – I accidentally dropped a few in more a decade of delivering parcels, because well, nobody is perfect. Outside of that, I never peeked into anything. Well, sometimes the sender gives away something, but that was all.

And I am drifting off. Back then, in her kitchen, I just said: “Yes, I am curious what is inside.”

A huge smile appeared on her face: “Then let’s open it up.”

She stood up, walked towards the huge free standing kitchen island, she shook her hot ass for me while walking over, then she came back with a huge knife in her hands. Then she opened up the box. And then she but some expensive looking set of lingerie out of it. She presented it to me: “What do you think of it, do you think will it suit me?”

While I was imagining her wearing those nice pieces of clothes my dick got hard. I was pretty sure that it would suit her, but I gave her a different answer: “Not sure about that. Maybe.”

A smile appeared on her face. She was in the game too: “Well then, I fear I have to put it on.”

Moments later she began to undress herself. She did it in a slowly, very sexy way. She gave me more than one hot view, she made my dick rock hard. She made my jaw dropping to the ground. While my mouth was watering. All I was able to do was to stare at her. And to enjoy the show.

When she was wearing her lingerie, she still was turning around, bending over, she asked me another question: “And, does it suit me?”

All I was able to do was to nod with my head. Yes, it suited her. She looked nothing but hot. And I wanted her. I wanted to grab her, to bend her over and to fuck her good. But I felt, I knew that that kind of behavior wasn’t expected from me. So I held myself back. While she kept on going: “It must take a lot from you, to hold yourself back, to not jump onto me like a lust filled animal. I appreciate that.”

Yes, it took a lot from me. Horny me was powerful and in full swing. I wanted nothing but to fuck her. To suck on her hard nipples. To taste her sweet pussy. And to pound her good. But I restrained myself. While my rock hard dick probably was spitting out some filthy juices. She kept on going: “How about getting out of your clothes and showing me how good my new piece of lingerie looks on me?”

A few seconds later my shoes were off. Followed by my shirt, my shorts and everything else. I carefully put my clothes on a chair next to me. The moment I set my boner free, she liked her lips: “Not bad. My new lingerie seems to suit me.”

Yes, my dick was rock hard. One of those boners that you can drive nails into walls with. Horny me was ready to take over. My inner animal wanted to be let out. But that was not what she was up to: “I am sorry, but I fear you can’t touch me. But you can touch yourself while watching me, if you like.”

The last thing wasn’t something she didn’t need to tell my twice. I grabbed my hard one, and I began to jerk off. I gave myself one hard and fast thrust after the other. It didn’t took long until I was moaning out loud. While watching her, while staring at her gorgeous body.

But my doing, it wasn’t exactly what she expected me to do: “Stop. Calm down. We are in no hurry here. Enjoy yourself. Take your time.”

Horny me wanted me to go fast and hard. I had to take more than one deep breath in and out before I was able to lower the pace. Until I was able to loosen my fingers. But I was able to pull the stunt. My hand was now slowly going up and down my dick. While applying next to no pressure at all.

It took some while, she still was showing off her curves for me while telling me to keep on going, telling me to stroke her dick for me, until it began to feel more than just okay. But when it happened, it hit hard. My brain was melting away. A little bit more with every stroke I gave myself.

While my moaning got more and more intense, while my brain got number and number she gave me another order, another instruction: “Squeeze your balls for me. Squeeze every last drop of cum out of them for me.”

Moments later I squeezed my balls with my free hand. It felt good. It enhanced my pleasure. My brain was off, I was gone elsewhere. I closed my eyes. She told me to stay with her. To look at her. And to look only at her while enjoying myself.

So I opened my eyes again. I focused on her. On her face, on her ass, on her boobs and on that hot piece of lingerie she was wearing. While doing so I came closer and closer to an orgasm. I knew that I only a couple of more thrusts left inside me. So did she, because she was a good observer: “Don’t cum now. Hold it back. Wait for my permission.”

It all felt nothing but good. I wanted to cum. My balls wanted to cum. My whole body wanted a relief. Wanted an orgasm. But again, I pulled myself together. I suppressed the urge to cum as good as I could. Doing so drove me insane and brought me down on my knees.

Not too long after I begged her to let me cum. I was begging for her to allow me to relief myself. But she declined. She staid hard: “Just a couple more strokes. You can do it. Hold it inside.”

Fuck. I was gone. Hold yourself back. Pull your shit together. Enjoy it, but don’t. One more stroke, one more squeeze. My balls were aching. Aching for a relief. She saw the state I was in. She decided to show me some mercy: “Cum for me. Ten, nine, eight, seven…”

When she was down to one, maybe a little bit after, I came. I had a mind blowing orgasm. My hole body was shaking. I nutted out a huge load for her. I tired to catch it with my ball squeezing hand. I didn’t wanted to make a mess. And I succeeded.

It took some time until I was myself again. I still wonder why I wasn’t falling down to the floor back then. When I opened up my eyes again, she smiled at me. Then she took my cum covered hand and cleaned it for me. She swallowed every last drop of my cum. Then she opened her mouth again: “Next time you clean up after yourself. For now, get dressed, and feel free to leave. To go back to work.”

I complied. I got dressed, then she walked to the entrance door. We exchanged not a single damn word while walking over there. But when the front door was open – she still was wearing nothing but her lingerie – she wished me a nice afternoon. I wished her the same, then I boarded my truck, with a huge satisfied smile on my face, then I drove back to the depot. And nope, I told no one about her and me. It was my, it was our hot little secret.

And yes, it was a first time, not a last time. Things should get much hotter, much more intense between the two of us over the course of the following weeks and months. The story continues on my Books2Read Storfront and over on Amazon. All of my links are over there. Thanks for everything. And stay awesome.

[umichenginabroad]

Week 2 in Limerick

Hey everyone, it's Katie again. I'm posting late because I got a really nasty case of food poisoning that I've had to deal with, which unfortunately also means I don't have as much to talk about from this past week in Limerick, but I'll cover what I did do so you can still get a feel for my time here.

Monday: Last Monday was the only day last week I felt healthy enough to go to lab. In the morning, my mentor, Nina, showed me some modifications she made to the set up steps for the hydrothermal carbonizer, since it seemed to be having issues with heating and cooling. Basically, I was told to increase the temperature gradually and watch the data to make sure the internal temperature did not exceed 200 Celsius. In the afternoon, Nina and I tried to run the HTC with a water sample, but the device was still having issues, so she had to call her supervisor and another lab technician for help. They were all speaking Polish, so I had no idea what was going on until Nina took me to another building to find another HTC. Unfortunately, those were all broken or missing parts, which leaves her device as the only HTC we can use. It's a little frustrating, but I'm fine with working together with Nina instead of on a separate experiment since it's still a great learning experience for me. After work, I did some laundry, then went to the second half of the Mario movie (I missed the first part finishing my laundry and then trying to find the place it was at).

Saturday: I was feeling better (or so I thought), so the Arcadia group and I tried to go to Galway, but we needed to buy tickets in advance, so that was a bust. Instead, we got a quick lunch and took the bus to Killaloe, a small lakeside town in Clare. We walked around a bit, then lay in the grass by the river for a little while to enjoy the sun. I guess I enjoyed the sun too much, because I ended up very dehydrated and had to take a pit stop at cafe to rehydrate. The rest of the group got a quick snack before the bus came, and then we went back to UL. It sucked that I was feeling sick towards the end, but Killaloe was such a cute little town with a very pretty view, so I'm glad I got to see it.

Monday: After literally sleeping all day Sunday to recover from Saturday, I decided I ought to get my stomach issues checked out, so I went to the University Hospital Limerick Monday afternoon. Once I was checked in, their nurses came to take my vitals and get blood tests done, and then gave me vials to, delicately put, "collect my own samples." A fun thing about sleeping all day is you often forget to drink water, so I had a needle in my left hand the whole time I was there so that they could administer rehydration fluid through an IV. If you've never had one before, it's interesting because you can feel the coldness in your veins nearest the injection site, but it definitely gets the job done and made me feel so much better. Afterwards, I was discharged with a new appointment scheduled for Wednesday morning to get my test results back.

I'll leave you with a few notes from today: The doctor's appointment went fine, they determined that the issues were caused by campylobacter, but my blood test that morning showed lower infection markers and I was clearly feeling better, so I should be getting back to my regular study abroad life soon. Can't wait to update you about the (rest of) this week, I promise it'll be really cool and won't involve needles in my hands.

[spursdontplaybasketball]

Yesterday I had gotten home from work at 2 am because I was dealing with a complicated case and I had to document everything very carefully to make sure we had a record of the whole situation. Finished my notes at midnight when I’m supposed to be getting out of work at 11 pm. There weren’t really any more doable options to get home via public transit at that time, so the one supervisor approved a coworker who was on the overnight shift to step out and drive me home. It took until nearly 1:30 am before I got out because she had some other stuff to deal with. On the bright side, they didn’t make me clock out until I actually left the building, so I got one hour of overtime pay while finishing my notes and nearly another hour and a half just sitting in the back listening to music and reading.

Unexpectedly, the bartender who opens for matches had posted on Twitter and on his Facebook story that he was going to open the bar for the Spurs match at 7:30 am. I didn’t know how many people would come out, so I decided I would go to make sure he at least had someone, plus I’m missing more matches than usual this month due to a shitty schedule. My sleep is also mostly terrible, so I got about one hour before I had to leave around 6 am to head out. There ended up being about 5 of us that came out to watch, eventually at least. I was the first one there. Ended up being not so fun of a game seeing Spurs struggle to beat Portsmouth but was still nice to get a chance to go.

But then I had to go to work later in the day. I had to catch a bus around noon to get to work before my shift at 1 pm so no time to go home and sleep more. Just ended up downing hella caffeine, grabbing some kimbap for lunch, and making my way in. Was running on fumes most of the evening and ended up being busy. I often get overwhelmed on a *good* night, so I felt really close to just screaming, throwing down my clipboard, and storming out forever, and previously I might have ended up in the supervisors’ office close to tears ranting about how I don’t think I can do anything and saying awful things about myself to the point where they all but force me to go to the hospital because they’re concerned about me 😬

But I didn’t do either thing. I stopped, I thought, and I did what needed to be done. I realized that maybe I couldn’t do everything perfectly with how things were at the time, but they still needed done. I found the strength to get through and complete everything. Then I got to close out the night by being assigned a task that I feel like I’m good at and is one of the aspects of the job that always makes me feel a sense of mastery when I do. I checked in with the last consumer I’d still needed to talk to. He told me he was going to be leaving the next day to go to his housing program. He said he’d wanted to let me know because he was probably leaving in the morning and he knew I usually come in during the afternoon. He thanked me for helping him and expressed appreciation for everyone who’d worked with him. Was nice. (Then at the end of the night when my first bus was late leaving from work to downtown and the bus from downtown to home was about to pull away, the driver of the second bus saw that I had just gotten off the first bus and was trying to head over, so he stopped and let me on and didn’t just ditch me downtown to wait 30+ minutes for the next one for not having actually been at the stop when he went by.)

Been a lot, but I’m trying. And doing, I guess.

[rendevousz]

reunited

req: i was wondering if i could request a natasha x teen daughter reader where the reader has really bad social anxiety please? maybe where the reader was in the red room with natasha but given to hydra once the red room was taken down and natasha has been looking for her ever since she left the red room. on a mission to take down a hydra base natasha finally finds reader, and it's super emotional for the both of them and they're just happy to have each other back. natasha knows about readers social anxiety from when she was younger and sees that it's only gotten worse now, so she's super sweet and understanding. she saves the reader from the base and comforts her the whole way home because she's scared of all of the new people also on the jet (the other avengers). the reader lives with natasha at the compound with everyone else and natasha is just great about her social anxiety and never pushes her out of her comfort zone and comforts her when she has panic attacks. sorry if that's a lot, but thank you so much! i love your fics sooo much, you're such an amazing writer!!! 💖💖💖

mother figure!nat x fem!teen!reader

summary: nat finally finds you after years of looking.

word count: 4083

notes: i didn't make them peers in the red room because then they'd have to be around the same ages but i made them meet at the red room. also i didn't know how to write about her having social anxiety so i hope you don't mind that i didn't 😓 hope you like this <33

"stop," madame b's authoritative voice commanded and all of you stopped dancing. all of your peers seemed to be struggling to stand still on their battered feet, some breathing heavily but who could blame them? you had all been instructed to dance for hours now. you had to dance until you couldn't anymore.

your head faced madame b but your eyes landed on your best friend, veronika, for a split second. she seemed in pain and you vowed to check on her after whatever announcement your supervisor had for you. you stood tall, clenching your jaw in order to not show that you were in pain or out of breath.

madame b's gaze flickered to you for a second, her lip lifting up on one side for a brief moment before her face hardened once again.

"i have someone special here today. she's here to observe your training and if necessary, teach what you girls lack. she has long graduated this academy, please welcome miss natasha romanova."

you jolted awake, panting hard at the memory that just played in your dreams. you looked around you, seeing the same cell wall you had been put in for the past three years. after the fall of the red room academy where you were from, another organisation came and swooped you in, not wanting to waste your skills. you were the only one they took, having heard much about your abilities and reputation in the red room.

the girls stood all around you and veronika, watching the two of you spar tirelessly after hours of endless ballet. natasha and madame b watched the match closely, eyes trained on your techniques and movements.

after natasha had introduced herself to all of you, madame b had instructed her supposedly two best students—you and veronika— to demonstrate a true spar between skilled assassins.

while you were reluctant to attack your best friend, she had other plans, one that included impressing her idol who stood mere metres away from her. you were shocked when she started attacking you. never had she obeyed a command against you so quick.

you had to put away your initial shock to start attacking back in order to not get hurt by the hands of your own best friend. the look in her eyes was different, almost animalistic. it wasn't like the one she had when you two were laid in your beds side to side at night, handcuffed to it while you talked about your deepest struggles being in the academy. it wasn't the same one she had when you reassured her that she was doing okay whenever she said she would never be as good as you were at this whole assassin thing. it wasn't the same innocently surprised one she had just moments ago when she was addressed as one of madame b's best students.

this wasn't your best friend. this was a girl blinded by her desire to impress. she wanted to show natasha that she was the better one out of you two. your heart broke when you saw her desperation. it was obvious in the way she fought you.

it wasn't long before you had her in a chokehold, the girl struggling to get your grip off of her. your face visibly faltered, eyes tearing up slightly when you heard her whimpers. natasha took notice of this.

your lips were quivering when you turned to madame b. a simple nod from your trainer had you whispering a strained 'i'm sorry, i love you' in her ear before you broke her neck. the girl fell limp in your arms, dropping down to the mat, dead. you panted heavily as you stepped away from her body.

"good. this is what i expect of all of you," madame b turns to your peers, the stone cold look back on her face. "one thing you need to perfect though, y/n, is your emotions. don't get emotional over things that don't matter. i saw your inner conflict. veronika would have no reluctancy to end you if you were the one in the chokehold. she was more mentally prepared to be a ruthless assassin. you're lucky you're more skilful than she is. she would have no hesitation to kill you, close companion or not."

you swallowed that lump in your throat, biting the insides of your cheeks to prevent crying right then and there. "you have a lot of potential, y/n. don't let your emotions ruin it. i have high hopes for you." she spoke once again, before dismissing everyone.

you left the room with a heavy heart, turning to look at veronika's body one last time before leaving quickly so you could break down where no one else could witness.

you rushed to the staircase where you and veronika would sneak away all the time when you were supposed to be having lunch. you two would always sit under those stairs, talk about anything and everything you could. your tears were now freely rolling down your face.

"hey," you heard a voice say and you quickly wiped your tears away. you looked up and saw that it was none other than natasha. "miss romanova," you breathed out, scrambling to get up before she placed a gentle hand on your shoulder, the woman seating herself next to you on the floor, under the staircase.

"that must've been hard for you," she spoke after a few seconds of silence. "i remember my first time killing an actual person in training. they had me shoot targets and i consistently got the bullseye every time. then they switched out the targets to an actual person and i had a hard time doing that. i can't imagine how it must've been for you. i heard you and veronika were quite the inseparable duo."

you didn't move to show that you were shattered over the current events but the millions of tears silently streaming down your face said otherwise. natasha turned to you, reaching to wipe your tears away before gently caressing your cheek.

"you're a strong one, y/n. you remind me of myself when i was still in training. i can see myself in you." she told you truthfully. she had no idea why but she felt a strong connection towards you. she felt that you and her had so much in common. she had a strange inclination to protect you even though she knew damn well you were capable of doing so yourself.

since then, she always dropped by to help train all of you but you and her developed a relationship so strong that she even told you of her plans to get you out of that hellhole. at that point, it had been a few months since she'd turned good but she kept coming to the academy for your sake. she felt a sense of responsibility over you, like a mother would over her daughter.

she would with the other girls too if they had shown at least a bit of humanity but it seemed that the red room had ruined them beyond fixing. despite being the best student of the academy, you still weren't inhumane like the rest. you would hesitate to hurt others, only doing so when threatened and even that, you still weren't as heartless or cruel.

madame b would always berate you over this but natasha would pick up the pieces every single time. you loved her. she was the best thing in your life after veronika and your heart broke when the red room fell and you were taken away. away from the mother you never had.

you awoke with a jolt again. it was the second night in a row you were reliving your past memories. you touched your face and you felt the tears on it, wiping them with your sleeve as you sat up in your cold, uncomfortable bed in your cell. you sighed, bringing your knees up to your chest and hugging them.

you couldn't help but think of nat again. what could've happened if she managed to get you out before you were taken away? could you have a nice life with her? would you never have to hide under the stairs to have emotional exchanges with the woman? would you finally have been able to be who you were, not influenced by the evil around you?

you never knew what it was like having a mother but you imagined it was what nat had been towards you during the times you spent together at the academy. you two were more mother and daughter rather than trainer and student.

all of a sudden, alarms blared through the building and red warning lights flickered in your cell. you stood up, peeking through the small glass of your cell door to see guards rushing through the hallways in a frenzy.

you assumed that the facility was under attack and no one was coming to save you. you didn't even try, walking back to your bed to return to your position of hugging your knees tightly to your chest.

you could hear the chaos outside but opted not to pay attention to it. it didn't involve you and if no one was coming to save you from whatever was attacking the place—not that anyone in that place would, you were merely an asset to them—you wouldn't bother worrying about whether you were going to live by the end of the night.

a loud bang interrupted your thoughts and you looked up to see your cell door had been forcefully thrown open by a large man in stripes, holding a circular shield. you immediately stood up, getting ready to attack him when he spoke.

"i'm not here to hurt you." he said, holding out a hand as if to tell you to stop whatever you were about to do. "we're here to save you. you can finally leave this place now." he says gently. you frown at him, still in a stance ready to attack him.

"cap, is there someone in this room?" a familiar voice spoke and your head immediately turned to the door, where the owner of the voice stood, mouth dropping open at the sight of you. your face softened and a tiny gasp left your lips at the sight of her.

"y/n...is that you?" she breathed out, walking towards you and not stopping when she saw that you weren't alarmed or anything. "nat.." you choked out, tears starting to form. how crazy was it that you had been having flashbacks of her for the past two nights and suddenly she was here to come save you?

"y/n!" she exclaimed, pulling you into a tight hug. you knees buckled but she held onto you tightly, sniffling as she caressed your head gently. you buried your face in her shoulder as you took in the familiar feeling of being in her arms once again.

more tears started to form in your eyes now. never had you thought you were actually going to see her again. you lost the hope of seeing her again two years ago. but here she was, standing in your cell and hugging you like there would be no tomorrow.

your hugging session was cut short when steve sheepishly spoke up. "sorry to uh, interrupt this reunion but more guards are coming, i think it's best if we leave now." he picked up his shield, leading the three of you out of the facility safely and back to their quinjet. the whole time, nat held onto your hand tightly, as if letting go would lead to another few years of being apart once again.

once you reached the quinjet, nat led you to the seats in the back where you two would have more privacy. the team watched the two of you in confusion before turning back to steve for an explanation as he was the one who was partnered with nat for this mission. all the captain could tell them was that you two knew each other way before this and that all of them would have to wait for an explanation from nat herself if they wanted to know what was going on.

when you reached the compound, nat led you to her room where she lent you her clothes and let you shower before tucking you into her bed. when she was sure you were comfortably asleep, she left the room quietly to go grab a glass of water only to find the whole team sat in the common room instead of back in their own rooms.

she looked at them, confused. "guys, it's like almost the crack ass of dawn and we just got back from a mission, why aren't you asleep? or were you debriefing? in the common room? did i miss it?"

"no, you know debriefings for late night missions are the next morning. we were waiting for you actually," steve spoke on behalf of the whole team. "me? for what?"

"nat, c'mon, don't act stupid. you know what we're talking about," clint makes an unimpressed face at his best friend. nat sighs, taking a seat next to him and the team look at her expectantly. she cleared her throat, preparing for a whole story time.

"you know how i was from the red room?" she asked them and they all nodded, urging her to continue her story. "well, after i graduated, i was asked to come help train the younger ones in the programme. during that time, i met this girl. she reminded me a lot of my younger self and she didn't seem completely brainwashed to the point where she lacked emotions. i grew close to her and after i met clint and joined SHIELD, i vowed to get her out of there because she went through a lot in that hellhole and i could tell she didn't want to do any of the things that the other girls were fine doing.

"she had a good heart and i didn't want it to be wasted. she was the best in the academy and i knew they had big plans for her. but i didn't want her to be programmed to kill. she was much more than that. so i made this whole plan for her escape. i kept going back to the academy to come see her and share my plan with her. clint, you always asked me where i kept disappearing to when we first started becoming friends. it was her. the people there didn't know i was already under SHIELD at that time—nobody did—so it was safe for me to keep visiting and keep planning an escape for her.

"but three years ago, the red room fell. i rushed over because i thought i could finally leave with her without anyone knowing. but apparently she'd been taken away. she was the only one of the girls who was taken. by who, i didn't know at that time. but i knew it was because of her skills and abilities. if the red room had big plans for her, i knew other organisations must've already heard of her too.

"i never stopped looking for her. i don't know why i never thought of HYDRA. but it doesn't matter anymore. i finally found her and i'm never letting her go. i hope you guys don't mind that she lives here now. if not, i'll move out and find somewhere for us."

the team seemed surprised that nat told them her story. they were very much expecting her to, well, not tell them because this seemed like a very personal story.

"no, no, of course she can stay. i'll even set up another room for her." tony says and nat nods gratefully. "what's her name?" wanda asks.

"y/n," nat tells her, smiling at the thought of you as she stands up. "alright, i have to go back to her. see you guys in the morning. maybe you'll get to see her then."

she bids them goodnight, leaving after grabbing a glass of water for you in case you woke up in the middle of the night, in need of it. she wasn't wrong because when she got back to her room, you were up, hugging your knees as you cried.

"hey, hey, hey, what's wrong, sugar?" she quickly puts the glass of water on the bedside table, sitting on the bed and pulling you close to her. you look up at her all teary-eyed and she feels her heart break.

"i–i thought i lost you again," you croaked out, burying your face in her shoulder. "oh, sugar, you'll never lose me ever again. i'll never let that happen. you're safe here with me. now sleep, i'll be here when you wake up." she stroked your hair gently, laying down next to you on the bed before you two fell into a blissful slumber in each other's arms.

true to her words, she was right next to you when you woke up the next time. she seemed wide awake and you felt bad because she probably had been up hours before but didn't leave you because you were scared.

"how'd you sleep, sugar?" she asked as you sat up, stretching. "the best i have in years. thanks to you, nat." you smiled at her, still not believing all of this is real. that you're finally reunited with the woman you thought of as your mother.

"do you want to meet my friends? they're dying to meet you," she tells you and you bite your lips nervously. "do you think they'll like me?"

"are you crazy? of course they will. and if they don't, i'll make them." she threatens playfully and you laugh, missing how protective of you she is. you smile, agreeing to her suggestions to meet her friends after you got ready for the day.

-

"hi, sweetie, you're y/n?" a man with fancy silk pyjamas greeted as you entered the common room with natasha. you nodded timidly, scooting closer to natasha. it was weird for natasha to see you this nervous. after all, you were the best student of your batch in the red room. but she understood that years with no actual social interaction does that to people.

"i hope you'll like staying here, i already have your room setting up as of right now. when you move in, you can tell me if you don't like anything and i'll change it for you. oh, i forgot, i'm tony," he extends a hand towards you and with an encouraging nod from nat, you hesitantly shake his hand. he smiles at you before telling you both he has projects to finish down in his lab and to tell him if you needed anything.

"hey, nat, not gonna introduce your friend to us?" you heard a voice from behind you and you two turned around to see two men and a woman. you recognised both men—one of them was the one who broke into your cell last night and the other one you had seen him a lot from pictures nat would show you during your secret meetings in your red room days. he was her best friend. you didn't know the woman but the kind smile on her face was enough to reassure you that these people weren't bad.

"y/n, meet clint, the idiot who i call best friend," she points to the shorter man. the name nat called him must've offended him because the face he made was hilarious that you let out a little giggle. nat smiles at this before proceeding to introduce the other two.

"this one's steve, he's an old man stuck in a young body—literally— so if he says things you don't understand, just smile and nod." you nod at nat and steve gives her an incredulous look, as if not believing the audacity she had to introduce him like that.

"this one's wanda, she's the least annoying person in this whole place and she can cook whatever you want so i think you two will get along really well." wanda smiles at you and you return it shyly. you smile at the other two before nat drags you away, telling them she still had others to introduce you to.

when you entered the kitchen, you saw a man reading a newspaper on the kitchen island while another man, whose skin was red, stood beside him. they seemed to be discussing something very intelligent because you didn't understand a single word they spoke.

"bruce, vision, i want you to meet someone." they turned their attentions towards you and nat and you immediately felt like hiding once again. "oh hello, steve told us you brought back someone from the mission. is this her? hello, i'm bruce," the man sitting down introduced himself.

"wait, is this the bruce?" you asked nat, smirking teasingly at her and she smacks you gently on the shoulder. the man seemed flustered at what you're insinuating, scratching his neck awkwardly.

"bruce, vision, this is y/n, i've known her for a long time and i finally found her after years so i hope you two won't mind that she'll be staying here from now on," nat tells them. the two of them didn't come on the mission last night so they were the only two who didn't actually see you until today.

"it's nice to meet you, y/n. i'm vision, i hope you'll enjoy your stay here." the man with the red skin greets formally and you turn to nat with a confused expression. "he's an android, he does things a bit weird here so don't mind him." she whispers to you and you nod understandingly.

"it's nice to meet you two, i hope we'll be good friends." you say awkwardly, hoping to get this whole introduction thing over with. how many people do you have left to meet?

speaking of the devil—or should you say, devils—, two annoying voices rang through the kitchen, interrupting the peacefulness that it was before they came in.

"i'm just saying that if you hadn't eaten my last bag of chips last week, i wouldn't have taken your cookies last night. it's all about fair play, man."

"and i keep telling you that it wasn't me! i don't even like those stupid salty ass chips from that brand,"

"stop lying, i saw you eating that brand the other day! just admit you stole my chips and go,"

"guys, are you really having another one of your stupid arguments now?" nat cuts them off and they immediately turned to you, finally noticing all of you.

"oh hey! y/n, right? it's nice to meet you, i'm sam. if you wanna survive in this place, you better hide your snacks because if you don't, this winter warrior here will snatch 'em all before you can even stash them in the cupboards. don't ever trust this guy here when it comes to your snacks. you heard what happened to mine," the man fakes a cry and you held back a laugh at his long introduction. you only wanted a name to match the face but he gave you much more. you didn't mind though, he seemed like a fun person.

"hi, doll, i'm bucky. don't listen to eagle right here, i do not steal snacks. i simply let people have a taste of their own medicine. you steal my snacks, wilson, i steal 'em back. you think i don't know you stole my oreos too last month? that's why i stole your damn chips last week,"

"so you did steal them!"

"so what if i did?! you stole my oreos first!"

"oh my god, guys, you're really embarrassing me in front of y/n. these are really the people i was excited to introduce her to," nat face-palmed and you couldn't help but laugh. "don't worry nat, these people seem amazing. i can't wait to get to know them better." you assured her and she smiles, pulling you close to her. "buckle up, sugar, because living with the avengers is gonna be a wild ride."

you were excited for what was about to come. it seemed like everything was finally falling into place. you finally got nat back and you didn't have to worry about losing her again because you had a feeling these people weren't going to let that happen.

taglist <3

@amourtentiaa @rqmanoff @abitofeverythinggg @andreasworlsboring101 @cay-writes-fan-fiction514 @teenwonder @sevenmorningstars @fleurlovesbucky @marauvdersfate @bestillmystuckyheart

[sw124]

BonelyHearts Reader insert 2

{Gender Neutral!ReaderXSkeleton household}

Foxes and Chickens!

—————————————-

“Why are we even doing this?”

Boss growled as he checked his black tank top once more, everyone stood dressed in ‘gym-class’ attire. Well somewhat, everyone was either in tank tops or short sleeve shirts and basketball shorts. You though were in sweatpants and a baggy tank top. But you were smiling your head off, today was ‘your’ day. All of you gathered inside the large basketball/gymnasium of the Rec Center.

You stood confidently with your hands on your hips.

“Today boys we are playing a game from when I was a kid.”

The skeletons looked at you, a tad perplexed but could see you were not going to be swayed, Poplar spoke up next.

“What is it called?”

You beamed. “Foxes and chickens!”

Their expressions did not change, you chuckled and decided to explain further.

“This game is a mix between Tag and Hide’n seek, one of us is the ‘Fox’ and the rest of us are ‘Chickens’. The ‘Chickens’ will be given about a minute to find a place to hide, then the lights go out and the ‘Fox’ with their flashlight will go looking for the ‘Chickens’ among the mats or ‘Coops’ as I like to call them. The last ‘Chicken’ to be found is the winner and the get to be the ‘Fox’ in the next round! Everyone get that?”

The skeletons looked at each other, Blue’s eyes sparkle; this did sound like fun. Not one to shy away from challenges Boss and Papyrus were all for it as well.

“Yes, we’re in! What are the rules?” Asked Blue.

“The rules are simple, when you find your hiding spots you stay in that spot until the fox finds you, you can only hide in or around the mats, when your found you must sit by the entrance and wait until all the players are found, no helping the ‘Fox’ in anyway by revealing hiding spots thats cheating, no running or teleporting to different hiding places, you can share hiding spaces and lastly there is absolutely, positively...NO BETTING!”

Instantly you hear Blue whine, you go over and give him a half-hearted hug, playfully petting his head like he was a kitten.

“Mwah, there, there baby Blue, you can bet on something else.” You chuckle when he pushes away, crossing his arms and pouting.

“Ok, ok, now that everyone knows the rules lets start the game, first though lets see who wants to be the ‘Fox’ in the first round.”

Instantly Blue and Papyrus raised their hands, oh this was gonna be tough to pick. You opted to flip a coin to see who gets to be first as the ‘Fox’. Papyrus chose heads Blue chose tails....it came up tails. Blue happily took the flashlight and waited outside.

“Ok everyone, one minute to hide!” You squeal as you bolted for the ‘coops’.

Everyone scrambled to hide as well, you found a sweet hiding place, one of the mats that was standing up had a small fold where you easily fit into. You shut it tight almost like a door and waited, you could hear everyone else scrambling for a hiding spot. You restrained a another squeal when the lights went out, you heard the gym doors open.

“Ready or not here I come!”

You covered your mouth as you heard Blue run all over, calling out the names of everyone he found. The first person he found was Stretch, you knew that cause Blue was shouting how he didn’t bother to hide properly...and Blue shouted out his name. In fact he was shouting everyone’s name the moment he found them. After Stretch was Rus, followed by Sans, Ash and Poplar then Boss, Red was cursing at Blue for shining the light right in his eyes,; finally Papyrus and Nox were found. You were knew you were the last but Blue still couldn’t find you.

You could hear him running past your hiding spot more then four times, peeked out and saw him. His back was to you, a Cheshire grin formed on your face as you snuck out. Tip toeing closer you reached both hands out and-

“FOX!”

You yelled as grabbed his sides, he yelped and dropped the flashlight. Laughing you bolted, weaving in and and around the mats. Blue squawked out something and gave chase, you ran for the gym entrance and without thinking did a baseball slide towards the group. You laughed when you collided into them, not hard, you slowed down enough where you just barely pushed some of them. You slid into Papyrus and Sans, Blue ran up and huffed.

“That was rude! You said no changing hiding spots!”

You laughed. “I wasn’t changing hiding spots, I was the last to be found so I just saved you the trouble of finding me. Besides I couldn’t resist giving you a little surprise!”

Oh you knew Blue was gonna get back at you, it was why you had to be sure to find him quickly in the next round.

An so the game continued, Ash won the next round, Blue did get you back when it was your turn by jumping out at you but in doing so ruined not just his hiding spot but also Nox and Red’s. Everyone got their chance to win, you actually enjoyed Rus being the ‘Fox’ in one round cause he’d constantly was muttering a curse if he couldn’t find someone.

After a while you checked your watch, over two’n a half hours had past since you started the game. Wow how time flies, you waited till the current round was over before announcing the end of the game, it was time to get some lunch anyway.

“Ok everyone’s been found, its getting close to lunchtime so lets pack up the mats and grab some food.”

“We’re already done?”

Oh man, it wasn’t fair to see half of their faces go into ‘sad puppy’ mode but you only rented the place for three hours and you had to put everything back, which would take twenty minutes with everyone’s help.

“Sorry guys but I only rented out the place for a little while, besides we can do this again another, that and we need to put the mats away properly.”

That answer was suffice, everyone....well almost everyone pitched in, Sans and Rus were laying on one mat they set aside. But that was rectified by Boss and Nox, flipping the mat they were laying on over. It took a bit longer then you thought but you had five minutes to spare, you went and told the Rec-center supervisor you were finished and got your deposit back. He’s such a sweet old man, with that you went back to the others and told them to clean up and change into their street clothes. You went and did the same, despite it being a low energy game you and the boys still worked up a sweat.

Once that was done you all proceeded to walk towards the restaurant in question, you had reserved a spot in a nice little Japanese noodle place you like to frequent. They had all kinds of delicious noodle based dishes that you hoped would please some of the skeletons, it was also a very accommodating place as it had an entire menu dedicated to people who were vegetarian. You piled into the large round booth, sitting between Poplar and Ash.

As you waited for your drinks and enjoyed an appetizer of tempura sweet potatoes, you decided to see what they thought of the game.

“So did you guys have fun?” You were a little worried..

“A tad immature but it was still an enjoyable experience, something we can do at least once in a great while.” Said Boss taking a sip of water.

“I liked it a lot, its a nice change of pace.” Said Rus as he munched on his sweet potato.

“It was a wonderful game human, thank you for sharing such a fun cherished game with us!” Said Papyrus.

“Yeah, gotta admit it was fun, ya didn’t have to do much when you got to hide and being in the dark hiding in the mats...I can see why a game like that is fun for you.” Said Sans giving you a playful wink.

You smiled, beaming at everyone. Soon the waiter arrived to take everyone’s order, you helped Ash and Poplar make a choice from the vegetarian menu. You tried some of the stuff on that one and recommended the Ramen bowls with fried tofu in it along with the beautiful array of colorful veggies such as mushrooms and cabbage.

You went with the kitsune soba while everyone else got Ramen, when you got your food it was a treat seeing everyone trying to eat with chopsticks. Yeah it was mean of you but seeing some of them struggle you told them there were forks wrapped in the black cloth napkins placed around the table. You had gotten some deadpan looks from some of the skeletons but all you could do was smile, you used chopsticks before and were pretty good at using them.

You took a moment to look at everyone, some engaged in a conversation, some content on the food itself or simply listening to others talking. It filled you with a sensation of comfort, you couldn’t have asked for better neighbors or friends.

“So, human.”

Your attention was grabbed when Nox spoke up.

“What game do you plan to show us for next time?”

End.

[For some backstory, this was a game I played back when I was in grade school. Normally durning my gym class we’d go outside and play during gym but of course if was winter or raining we’d stay inside the gym. One rainy day our gym teacher came up with this game and I loved it so much, I wanted to do a fanfic that was more innocent. The world is so serious and telling us we need to ‘grow up’ but sometimes its nice to be a little kid again and thats why I wrote this particular Reader insert. Oh this is also for the @bonelyheartsclub I hope you enjoy it, it was such a treat to write]

[windup-dragoon]

vent

i just need a place to put some thoughts down without over burdening my husband with all my problems. 

Since January our custodial staff has been short. Three people left within days of each other and as of now (it’s may), they still have not been replaced. That leaves only three working staff between two schools. My supervisor and I work the Elementary school while the third does the High School. 

A few weeks ago, our supervisor hurt his leg and couldn’t work. Instead of calling for a sub or asking others to help fill his day duties, I was asked to come in. Typically I work evenings which is cleaning classrooms and a daycare that technically isn’t apart of the school but we’ll get to that later. Since we’re short, I did my best to cover both shifts adequately while trying to mind my daily medications. Starting work at 6 am which they wanted me to do wouldn’t work since I have meds that conflict with each other from evening to morning and it made me sick. So I asked to come in a little bit later, I’d still be there for lunch and I would also have a little time after to clean a few classrooms.  My request and explanation for this request was met with mockery which I had to bring to HR before it got resolved.  Here’s where the daycare comes in; it doesn’t close until 6pm which is when we can go to clean it. While working morning shifts for my supervisor, 6 was my 8 hour mark. A few nights I did stay late to help with things but otherwise when my 8 hours came along, I punched out and left for the night. They were told the situation and started cleaning it themselves. All we do as custodial staff from the school, not hired by the daycare which is its own entity renting rooms out from the school, was sweep and mop floors and clean their bathrooms. This lasted for 2 and a half weeks before my supervisor could return and things went back to semi normal. I resumed cleaning the daycare and my classrooms without issue. 

Last week was the first week my supervisor returned completely along with the start of baseball/softball games, prom, and our third custodian having vacation time. I’m the only one between three of us that knows how to chalk the fields for games. Having three games in one day means you have to drag the field first before you can chalk it and each field can take up to two hours. So for those days we had games, I came in early of my own accord, to see that the fields get done before the games so the kids could play. With our third man having vacation, I also had to pick up helping with decorating for prom. Typically not our job but it required the lift and getting into rooms the teachers otherwise can’t get into. My supervisor and I stayed 12 hours in one day to help with prom. I also had to give up my Saturday to be at prom in case anything happened. (I got locked in a fuse room but that’s another story). 

Last week was, as some of you know, also the day we had to put my cat down. It was not a pleasant week by any means and I am still dealing with the effects of it. I spent a lot of time crying on the fields while trying to chalk it. 

Yesterday my supervisor received an email from the daycare lady. She explains that she doesn’t believe I have been in her room to clean in over a week and that she has seen me cleaning other rooms so she doesn’t understand why I haven’t cleaned the daycare if I’m working all night. Her email also goes on to say that they are cleaning well beyond their limits, they shouldn’t have to wash food off their tables or be asked to fill soap dispensers. 

This is partly true, there were nights this last week I couldn’t make it to the daycare after helping with prom or chalking fields. I was hired to work 8 hours and honestly, I can’t do everything in a day. The days I came in early to do fields, I left at my given time. But to say I didn’t touch the daycare for an entire week is a lie as I did go in to clean Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. All of which they could check cameras to confirm but they won’t. 

I cannot stress this enough, I can’t clean everything by myself. It is impossible for one person to clean an entire school and a daycare by themselves without demanding they work overtime. I will work overtime to help out but for fucks sake, I deserve time to rest as well.  

Fun fact about the daycare as well: they can hire their own workers. They hire the people that work there now and they can hire a personal custodian of their own to be completely dedicated to cleaning that area. When I was hired for my job, I was not told I would have to work the daycare as it wasn’t running yet and now when I go to clean it, I spend at least two hours cleaning it only for them to say it isn’t good enough even when I do get to it.  Today I know I’ll be pulled into the office to talk about this and it’s frustrating to the point where I had dark thoughts last night. No one will listen. They’ll simply tell me it needs to be cleaned for health code reasons which yes, they are correct about that, but to put it all on one person? One person who has been trying to juggle several jobs while the two other people I work with are gone? I don’t understand why I should bend for them every time and give up hours of my life just to keep working. No one says thank you, no one even says hi to you. It’s a miserable existence and I honestly had to call a prevention line last night just to try and get my thoughts under control.  And if I hear one more person tell me ‘at least you’re getting paid’ when I explain how frustrating it is to have to stay extra hours every night just to see things get done my brain is going to burst. 

[choosing-criminalminds]

One More Time

Summary: Their love was years and years in the making, and even when prison quickly builds back up the walls they worked so hard to break down, Spencer learns just how strong the foundation of their trust is.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!BAU!reader(ish) -> told mostly in the 3rd person, from Spencer’s POV

Category: angst (?)

Warnings: mentions of character death (Maeve, Gideon), mentions of blood (Maeve’s death), slight panic/anxiety, language -> let me know if there are any more to add!

Also, un-beta’d, we die like the trash we are.

Length: 5.6k

A/N: Okay yeah so first post. So…this turned out much longer than expected? This is for Ellie’s ( @spenciebabie ) writing contest/celebration and goodness I’m so nervous because I’ve barely written, much less posted, anything in years. Anyway, I guss I decided to challenge myself to write this? I hope you guys like it?

Also, if anyone wants a new friend, please hit me up because I’m too shy to say hello myself.

Prompt was: “Why don’t you make me?”

-*-*-*-

“Trust has to be earned, and should come only after the passage of time.”

—Arthur Ashe

-*-*-*-

For all his genius, Spencer didn’t know what to make of the fact that he found himself inexplicably drawn to her.

It wasn’t until years down the line that he realized he had been exceptionally aware of her since they met, carefully observing, cataloguing the way she so gently and kindly defied every expectation and pushed past every preconceived notion he had of her. By then, she had already settled in a little corner of his heart and helped seal the cracks in his life that he didn’t even know existed.

But when she first joined the team as an intern, he was more than a little reluctant to get to know her. It was during the summer between her college graduation and the start of her graduate studies, and she seemed too worldly, too perfect. She wasn’t like the girls from high school, or even college, for that matter, who were simply mean. On the contrary, she was wonderfully polite and incredibly ambitious, intelligent, and very much the type of girl that was far too out of his league, one that wouldn’t spare him a second glance before continuing down whatever focused path she was on.

That’s why he planned to avoid her as much as possible her first day in the office. She had, thankfully, spent the morning in Hotch’s office, since he was her official supervisor, but when he saw them about to emerge right before lunch, he panicked, muttered a random excuse, and shuffled out of the bullpen, leaving a bemused Derek and Elle in his wake.

It didn’t help that he was ducking out of rooms while JJ was giving her a quick tour and making introductions, and almost every member of the team had cornered him, encouraging him to talk to her, to befriend her due to their closeness in age. (“She’s only what? Two-ish years younger than you?” When he mumbled that exact date, Penelope had broken into a large, wicked grin, poking him teasingly in the cheek. Gratefully, she held back any further comment.)

Spencer had blinked, a little surprised, when Penelope Garcia, who generally disliked change, had only good things to say. Remarkably humble about her achievements, and not in the standoffish fake way, Penelope commented after admitting she had run a background check on her. Genuine, and quite sweet.

Polite, Derek had said, if a little quiet, trying to see where she fits in the team dynamic. You should reach out, be a friend, he suggested.(Spencer ignored the very pretty slipped somewhere in the comment, as well as the knowing smile shot his direction when he felt his cheeks flushing.)

A surprisingly wicked sense of humor, was all Elle said with a sly smile. (Spencer chose to ignore that too.)

And when Spencer tentatively asked the man, Jason Gideon, a man of generally few words, had spoken of her, however briefly, with surprising fondness, because of course Gideon had met her when she was a child, because of course her uncle now headed legal three floors up, and of course her uncle was the last third of the BAU’s Holy Trinity, of which Gideon and Rossi were a part of.

You’ll get along very nicely.

Spencer was incredibly intimidated, to say the least.

And then when he couldn’t avoid her anymore (because of course they were desked next to each other), all it took for her was noticeably catching herself from extending a hand, then offering a small little wave and a nervous smile to leave him breathless. (He pointedly ignored the look knowing look JJ shot him.)

He tried to stifle the little seed of hope—that she definitely wasn’t interested in him, and her saccharine smile was nothing more than a false front to make a positive impression during a lucrative FBI internship meant only to bolster her resume—but the resolve crumbled quickly. She turned out to be so genuinely kind and sweetly humble that Spencer cursed the fact that the internship lasted only through that summer.

It also certainly didn’t help, either, that the very first thought he had when meeting her was a single word.

Pretty.

-*-*-*-

It was almost ridiculous how well she got along with everyone in the office.

She clearly made it a mission to make the most of the time she had and was more than willing to put in the work and prove her worth. Although she was technically Hotch’s intern and her main role was to assist the core field team, Spencer watched as she managed to get on absolutely everyone’s good graces through a combination of unassuming charm, sharp wit, and willingness to learn and to help that was so uniquely her.

For Spencer, it meant that she happily listened to what he had to say, encouraging him to continue when appropriate or saving a quiet question for later when it wasn’t. When she told him that she enjoyed listening to him talk, Spencer was taken aback, stuttering as he tried to figure out if she was only saying that to be polite. She gave him a gracious smile, ensured that she “quite honestly enjoyed” listening to him, and proceeded to ask a few well-timed and well-pointed questions to smoothly nudge him back to their previous topic.

Spencer stared at her, slack-jawed, then smiled bashfully, and allowed himself to hope.

(He definitely didn’t know what to do with the fact that when she knowingly reached out to his hand resting on the table and lightly tapped the back of his hand, he didn’t have his typical knee-jerk desire to pull away. He also mostly certainly didn’t know what to do with the fact that when her thumb grazed over his knuckles to sooth the tension he didn’t even realize he had, he felt an inexplicable calm ease into his very bones.)

-*-*-*-

“It’ll take a good five, six years to finish my J.D./Ph.D., but Hotch offered me an open invitation to join the team when I do, and I’m more than inclined to take his offer when the time comes.”

Spencer peered at her, breathing out a sigh of relief that he didn’t realize he was holding. It was the last day of her internship, and she was making the rounds to say her thank you’s and goodbyes individually to the members of the team. He was the last one, and he had been dreading the conversation the entire day.

While he wouldn’t describe what he felt for her as anything beyond a genuine, platonic friendship—in the grand scheme of things, they’d only known each other for ten weeks—their easy companionship had become very dear to him. And he was terrified and nervous that her time with the BAU would be just a small chapter in her life before she moved on to the bigger and better things, leaving him behind as a fond but distant memory.

She laughed softly at his surprise, before it trailed off into a sigh. She then took a deep breath and asked. “Do you trust me?” Spencer looked at her, a bit dumbfounded. Did he trust her? Her gaze was heavy on him and the question weighty, a gentle demand for an honest answer. Did he trust her? Yes, he did, he supposed, they were friends. Right? He breathed in deeply, squared his shoulders just a bit, and answered in the affirmative.

As if she sensed his hesitance, his unease, she gave him a knowing look and took one of his hands into hers, fingers brushing over fingers, before hooking her pinky around his. “Because I promise you, Spencer Reid, I’ll be back, right here. You’ll be waiting for me, yeah?”

He looked at her in awe, the dim light of the nearly-empty office reflecting off her kind eyes. Warmth spread through his chest, and she smiled so brilliantly that he nearly forgot to breathe, to answer. To answer. He smiled back, twitchy, introspective, and considered the weight of her question. He nodded and responded simply.

“Always.”

-*-*-*-

She managed to remain on the Bureau’s consulting payroll over the next several years, though she was primarily based in the Bay Area as she finished her graduate studies at Stanford. The team as a whole still went to her for a fresh perspective when needed; she video called in to help on cases when necessary and met up in person if a case called them to California.

He knew that she kept in touch with JJ, Penelope, and Derek, and that Hotch and Emily (whom she met shortly after Emily joined the team and a case brought them to LA) were also friendly, if professional, contacts. Spencer himself was known to receive the odd phone call from her.

However, what had Spencer almost covetously pleased was that they had something they shared exclusively between the two of them, because she had steadfastly kept her promise to write to him.

-*-*-*-

Her letters were as beautiful as they were constant, and Spencer handled and read each one with care.

Her handwriting suited her; while it generally was neat and clear little scrawl, he knew it would get a little freer, and little loopier when she was tired, if she was particularly excited, or if she found herself a bit tipsy. (And yet she still managed to always write in an almost perfectly straight line even on a blank sheet of paper. He was envious, and when he told her as such, he could hear the laughter in her response as she wrote it a little more wobbly than usual.) And while he knew her to be tilted more on the quiet, introverted side of the scale, she had a way with the written word, each phrase poetic and thoughtful.

And they were remarkably therapeutic to write in return, Spencer found. Their initial letters mostly consisted of light banter about their mutual and individual interests, updates on the progress of her research (sprinkled amusing tidbits of her exasperation and frustration), bits and pieces about his cases and updates on and amusing anecdotes about the team.

However, over time, he slowly opened up to her, about his fears, his hopes, his dreams. And when he hesitantly divulged bits and pieces about the drugs, his mother, the headaches, he felt the relief in his entire body when she responded with empathy and grace. In turn, she did the same. She was vulnerable, she was open, and as wonderful and quite near perfect as he knew her to be, he was pleased to find her so incredibly human.

Those letters he slowed down to read, committing them to memory with more intention.

(He kept her letters in the drawer of his desk at his apartment, and eventually moved them to a specially designated box when he needed more room. When he learned that she did the same, he couldn’t help the tender warmth that fluttered in his chest. He still didn’t know what to do with the feeling.)

-*-*-*-

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder.

It took six years, and an additional five months at the Academy (and then another few weeks as she was introduced to the legal team, with whom she would also be working with in her role as legal liaison), but she kept her promise and found her way back to the BAU, and it was like she was never gone.

This time, in her re-introduction to the team, she was a breath of fresh air.

When she approached him individually with a nervous smile, she reached out, then hesitated, and a sense of déjà vu washed over Spencer. But then, she had placed a hand on his elbow, and when she smiled, he breathed in a sense of peace and familiarity, of comfort.

“You waited.”

He smiled back, and in a rather forward gesture on his part, he adjusted so he could take the hand on his arm into his.

“Always.”

-*-*-*-

She was too good for him.

Whatever relationship they had—Spencer didn’t know what to call it, though friendship seem too trivial of a word for it—he knew it was too good, too perfect to last.

Because in a cruel twist of fate, her first case back on the team, however unofficial it was, was Maeve.

He was hyperaware of the neutral expression on her face when he finally brought his fears to the team. To anyone else she would seem serene and put together, but to him the slight sag in her shoulders and the realization transitioning to acceptance were clear as day. Spencer never mentioned Maeve to her in their letters, but later, in retrospect, he believed she had an inkling, at the very least. You seem happier, she had written, once, not too long after he first became acquainted with Maeve, and that makes me happy.

Did it? Then he didn’t want to know what his misery would do to her because then, Maeve died, and in his grief over another woman, he fought desperately to push her away.

She could share his happiness, but he refused to let her share his pain, his brokenness. She did not deserve that, and he would not be the one to destroy the beauty and sunshine and hope she brought everywhere with her.

But when they finally took Maeve’s body away, and when the blurred commotion of sirens and law enforcement and emergency services and constant hammering of half-hearted condolences and check-ins finally died down, he felt the blanket around his shoulders be adjusted, and a now-familiar pair of hands take in his own, firm, and refusing to ever let go. Thumbs traced over his knuckles as soothingly as he remembered, and only then did he begin to vaguely process the fact those hands had been tucked into his almost the entire evening, anchoring him through the haze and the fog.

As if on cue, she squeezed his hand gently, like she knew exactly when he was slowly becoming aware of her presence, and he suddenly found he lacked the strength to do what he initially intended.

Still dazed, he felt her shift, and she was kneeling on the ground in front of him where he sat on the curb, and softly drew him into a hug. Any form of resistance he previously had dissolved; he clung to her, tears stinging his eyes once again.

It’s okay, I’m here, I’ll stay, she whispered, I’ll stay, always and always.

Just don’t push me away.

“I-” His voice cracked. “I loved her.”

He paused, his voice weakening.

“I love her...”

Hands ran soothingly through his hair.

“I know.”

She always did.

“…so much.”

He didn’t need to see her face to realize that she was crying with him, for him—he could feel her trying to contain the trembling in her chest, trying desperately to remain composed. He tried to do the same, but when she tilted her head and let him bury his face into her neck, Spencer finally felt fresh tears begin to flow, and he allowed her to take his face into her hands and chase the tears with her fingers.

And Spencer wept freely, first for death of the woman he loved, and then for the tears and the grief he caused the one person he could call his kindred spirit, his soulmate.

-*-*-*-

He healed, slowly.

There were good days, when the thought of Maeve did not stir up memories of blood and fear and gunshots but, rather, of auburn hair and admiration and hushed conversations on the phone. On those days, he felt like he was no longer haunted by a ghost and could finally begin to move on. On those days, he could slow down, appreciate the small things again, and focus on how a pair of familiar, steady hands pulled him out of the past, anchored him in the present, and allowed him to hope about the future.

But then there were the bad days when her touch scalded and burned his skin. The warmth and the pulse of blood rushing through her veins and the germs on her hands and her life was overwhelming because Maeve was dead and cold and gone. So, with every glare and with every sharp comment aimed at where he knew it would hurt, he finally made good on his desire to push her away.

It was on those days the bitter voice in the back of his mind whispered how it was supposed to be Maeve, not her, there alive with him, holding his hand as they faced the world.

It was also on those days he chose to disregard the regret that settled in the pit of his stomach each time he heard his own biting voice, and disregard the horror brought on by even thinking of wishing she were dead instead. He began to ignore the tremble in her hands when she reached out to him and brushed her fingers against his in concern, and he ignored how she gradually began pulling back, hesitant, nervous that her touch would be unwarranted, unwanted. He certainly ignored the unconscious flex in his hand, the ache for the reassurance and comfort he had become so accustomed to—

He ignored it all until he woke up, one night, to an empty bed, and a sudden surge of panic rushed through his body and bile rose in his throat. She was right there, when he fell asleep, giving him a small smile and nod when he asked if she could read to him, to stay the night. Now, without a word, she was gone, she was gone, shewasgone and Spencer could feel the tightness in his chest and tears sting his eyes when realized that the only one to blame was himself, himself, himself.

Why, he thought bitterly, why was he like this? Why must he try to push away every good thing in his life?

But then, there he stood, barely aware of the tears on his cheeks and ice running through his veins, as he found her curled up on his couch, franticly wiping away her own silent tears and exhaustion from her eyes. He stumbled forward, upset, upset at himself because he made her cry again. And when she flinched when he cradled her face in his hands, apologizing to him, he nearly choked back a sob, his hands trembling as he tried to wipe away the tears that did not belong on her face.

Neither of them went back to sleep that night, and Spencer began to realize just how strong she was, as she gently told him through her tears the hard truths of his situation and where she stood in relation to him.

I can’t fight with a ghost, she had murmured hoarsely, but I can work with her legacy and her memory.

And then, with a pinky wrapped around his, she promised that she would be there to help him through it, but the only way was if, and only if, he let her.

It was that night (or, rather, morning, as the sun rose) that he began to come to terms that, whether he deserved it or not, she—and her pure and unadulterated goodness—was more or less a permanent fixture in his life, and he felt more at peace than he had in ages. And when the early rays of sunlight filtered through his windows and caught her in a soft glow, he found himself once again in awe. He reached out, hesitantly, and his heart soared when he felt the familiar pressure of her hand slipping into his.

She was steadfast and loyal and strong. She was brave, she was patient, she was kind. Moreover, she was alive, she was breathing, and she was here, present, by his side. It took time, and more painful conversations and more painful realizations, but eventually, the good days were a bit more consistent, the sun just a bit brighter, and his breathing a just bit freer with her hand pressed firmly into his own, her pulse thrumming beneath his fingers until his heartbeat synced with hers.

And Spencer was finally learning, learning about what to do with the fact that with her by his side, he felt like he could truly face the world.

-*-*-*-

Face the world he did.

When Gideon died, he felt his hand twitch, and the compulsion to escape and hide tugged at the back of his mind, and an old, nearly forgotten itch made its way from the crook of his elbow, slowly ebbing into in his veins and nagging in the crevices of the back of the mind.

But when he felt her hand slip into his, he felt it abate, the tension in his muscles eased. When her lips twitched into a knowing, gentle smile, he could see the underlying grief and frustration. Of course. She had known Gideon just as well as he did, if not better.

He breathed deeply and smiled back. It was weak, it was twitchy, and it was sad, but it was a smile, nonetheless. He wasn’t in this alone.

-*-*-*-

They were seated on a large blanket in a secluded park in D.C. on one of their rare days off when she pressed a gentle kiss on his lips, and suddenly it seemed like all the right pieces finally fell into place.

And when she whispered those three little words, and everything made sense. He looked up from where he laid, and again he was breathless at how the setting sun caught in her hair and reflected off her skin and her eyes. But then, when he opened his mouth to respond, the same three little words caught in his throat and his breath hitched, and he wanted to cry. He wanted to respond, to let her know that her feelings were returned, but the words failed him.

“It’s okay,” she murmured softly, and he trembled as he felt her hands cupping his face and fingers gracing over his cheekbones, “if you don’t reciprocate; I’ll live. But I just wanted to let you know–know that I’ll be by your side no matter what happens.”

It wasn’t until they were at the door of her apartment, when he found the strength to push past the nerves and respond.

“I do re-reciprocate, and I want–I want to say it, because I do,” he stuttered out, “but I just…don’t know how to say it yet.”

He suddenly felt like a prepubescent schoolboy, nervous and quaking and terrified. But then, magnetic as she was, she brought his gaze back to her face, and her knowing smile breathed air back into his lungs. His heart blossomed, and the fingers rubbing circles into his hand anchored his attention on her. “Then I’ll wait until you can. Always. Forever.” She paused. “Do you trust me?”

Spencer peered up at her, brows furrowed. Unbidden, the memory of the first time she asked him the same question floated to the front of his mind, and he couldn’t help the breath of amusement. The question caught him off guard, but this time, when he found his voice it was resolute, quick, and sure.

Yes.

He felt a pinky hook around his, and the now-familiar warmth bubbled in his chest.

“Good, because it’s a promise I intend to keep.”

This time, the tears her fingers caught were those of appreciation and relief.

-*-*-*-

And then, the sun set, and prison happened.

-*-*-*-

At first, it was easy to ignore.

Prison changed him. He knew it did, and he knew that she wasn’t naïve to the fact either. He was a bit harder, a bit more defensive, and while he tried his best not to show it, he knew she could see the darkness had just a little bit more of an edge. He was well aware of how she watched him just a bit more closely.

It seemed alright at first. It took a while for him to adjust; there were certainly bumps and bruises along the way, along with some admittedly choice words exchanged in frustration, but that was expected.

But he supposed it was the small things, and small things add up.

The first week her hand naturally slipped into his like nothing’d changed, but his grip was tighter and more desperate than normal, like she’d disappear or slip through his fingers if he didn’t. At the same time, he was also too terrified to touch her otherwise, as if she’d break like glass if his grip on her waist was just a bit too tight.

She never commented, gave him space, and allowed him to initiate physical contact.

She didn’t need to know, he rationalized, it wasn’t her burden to bear.

Then he began to hold her at arm’s length. She pushed, gently, and he pushed back, harder. He knew she was only trying to help, but he needed to figure it out for himself, lest he hurt her again. She only sighed, and relented. While her concern was apparent with how she watched him with just a little more unease, she gave him space.

However, while she was an exceptionally patient person, there was only so much distance and space one could handle. When she reached out, worried, and pressed just a little harder, he withdrew completely, and his rationalization slowly evolved. Stop hovering. Don’t need you treating me like I’m broken. Don’t need your pity.He ignored the pain that flashed in her eyes, the quiet desperation in her voice whenever she called after him after he refused to listen, and the increasingly familiar ache in his entire body when he began to avoid and refuse her touch.

It was the small things, because when the nightmares started, it wasn’t so easy to ignore.

-*-*-*-

“—eathe, Spencer. That’s good, breathe.”

The mumbled affirmations continued as he slowly processed his surroundings.

Queen-sized bed. Egyptian cotton sheets. Breathe in. Goose-feather down pillows. A firmer memory foam pillow that smelled of her shampoo. Breathe out.

Safety.

He was still bleary-eyed when he sunk back down, burying half his face in the pillows and ashamed as he mumbled a quiet apology. Her voice was kind, understanding, telling him it was alright as she tucked a stray lock of curls away from his face. When he seemed to settle back down, her hand gentle rested on his jaw, thumb absently tracing his cheekbone.

“Do you want to talk—”

“No.”

She frowned, sighed, took a moment to flick on the lamp light and collect her thoughts; he could see, through his lashes, the gears turning in her head about how to proceed. Meanwhile, he heaved a sighed, and sat up against the headboard. His eyes closed, doing the same as her. She then reached out, touched his hand, grazed her thumb over his knuckles and drew circles on the back. It started slow, hesitant—she was surprised that he didn’t recoil, and frankly, so was he—but the motion was familiar, grounding, so he let her continue. He knew it helped her focus as well.

“Spence, you’re…you need to talk to someone—it doesn’t have to be me! But bottling it up all inside, it’s clearly tearing you apart.”

“I agreed to start talking with my therapist, haven’t I?”

His voice was flat, defensive.

“But you haven’t, and…knowing you, you won’t be telling them the whole truth.” His jaw tightened and his lips pursed, his hand gripping the sheets flexed, and he looked away from her, intently staring at a random point in the room that wasn’t her. As always, she seemed to know him far too well.

She let out a breath of a sigh; she knew he was beginning to shut her out again. Her free hand lifted to his shoulder, rested in the crook of his neck.

“I’ve told you before, that you’ve started to shut people out. I know–I know you’re so, so strong, but you don’t have to face it alone. You don’t need to hold the weight of the world on your shoulders; we’re not as fragile as you seem to think we are.” She paused, contemplating. “If you need someone with distance that you can trust, call Derek, call Hotch, even, but remember, Spence, I made you a promise: I’ll always be here for you, no matter what.”

When he didn’t answer, still staring off into the mid-distance, she sighed.

“I’ll leave, give you some space. Think about it.”

She was at the bedroom door when he finally cleared his throat and responded. His voice was bitter as he bit out: “You’re going to have to do a lot better than that.”

A quiet ‘wha–’slipped from her lips as she angled toward him as he shifted to sit on the edge of the bed, hands gripping the sheets tightly.

“If you want to leave, fine. You seem to be doing that quite well recently. The door’s right there and you don’t have to come back until you want to make me a charity case again. But if you want me to talk, if you think you can handle it, then be my guest. Take a seat and why don’t you make me?”

He instantly regretted the words, but some dark part of his mind as pleased that he could see the anger and annoyance spark through her as she inhaled deeply and slowly turn around to face him in full. “I will if that’s what it will take.”

Spencer’s gaze hardened.

“You don’t have the fucking guts.”

A brief moment passed as she took him in full, eyes flashing. Spencer raised his gaze, challenging, daring her, and then, the same, shadowed part of his mind was savagely happy that he had finally gotten a rise out of her, because she bit back with venom.

“Fucking try me.”

And then, he watched her warily as she visibly froze, then deflate, her jaw tightening and eyes welling with unshed tears as she stumbled backward to the door.

“But–but not like this. Not like this. I’m–I’m so sorry you didn’t–you don’t deserve…” Her voice was quiet, but it was hitched with a swirl of emotions Spencer couldn’t pinpoint, and he was suddenly aware of the hot tears dripping down his cheeks. “I’m going–I’m going to go…” He heard the doorknob turn, and suddenly the sound of gunshots rang in his ears, and he could the taste the metallic bitterness as blood and dead brown eyes filled his vision.

Wait. Wai- She was halfway out the door when he called out, voice cracking, and through blurred tears he saw her shut the door and shuffled and stumbled back into the room toward him, kneeling in front of him. Through the ringing in his ears, he could hear the whispers of his name and the urgency of the apologies. And then his eyes fluttered closed when she reached up to brush the tears away, and the motion opened the floodgates. It was one of the many little touches they shared—thumbs wiping over cheeks and hands cupping faces—and he had half a mind to shove her aside, but dear God he hadn’t felt it in far too long; he leaned, almost desperately, into her touch and he could hear her sniffling back her own tears.

Fuck.

He was always like this.

His passive aggressiveness was his defense mechanism; he lashed out blindly whenever he felt vulnerable, not caring who he hurt and how much. It was something she had been helping him work through, and he thought he was getting better, but here he was, hurting her because of it again.

Not like this.

He barely noticed that she had pulled him into a tender hug, but now that he did process the warmth of her embrace seeping into his bones, he wanted to push it away. He didn’t – he didn’t deserve this but now she was pulling back, and it sent a brief course of panic through his body, a fear that she was pulling away, away from him, away from the darkness and shadows that loomed permanently over him. He wouldn’t blame her, but–but…oh.

Her eyes always spoke volumes for her, and now that she had firmly tilted his chin up, her gaze firm, resolved.

“I know you are feeling vulnerable, and I know that you believe you can do this on your own.” She breathed in deeply. In turn he gazed up at her through his tears, as evenly as he could, and she met it without wavering. “You are strong, Spencer Reid, so, so strong, been so for so long. But…but I made a promise that I would always be by your side, and I’m never going to break it. So please.” Her voice hitched, and his breath caught in his throat. “Please, trust in me, one more time. Just one more time.”

Moments ticked by to the time of his heartbeat before he finally nodded, and the relief and the elation in her eyes soothed the dull pain inside his heart. This time, he drew her into his arms and into his lap and sighed as he leaned into the crook of her neck.

Thank you.

I love you, too.

-*-*-*-

“Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.”

—Maya Angelou

-*-*-*-

[rosaliepostsstuff]

Good Team | B.W.

Pairing: Bill Weasley x fem!reader

summary: Right after you graduate from Hogwarts you manage to get a job as a curse breaker at Gringotts. You surprise your dear friend, Bill, as the two of you get an assignment together, to find precious manuscripts, in a place believed to be only a legend. word count: 7696

warnings: language, cigarettes (Bill is a smoker), briefly nudity (a shower), food and drinking, alcohol, a bit of violence, an injury

a/n: It’s finally here! I’ve been working on this one for so long, seriously, but it was a lot of fun. It’s my first Bill fic and it is pretty long so I’m a bit anxious, so if you liked it, please do leave some feedback, it means the world to me!

tags: @izzyyy-1​ ; @amourtentiaa​ ; @thisismynerdyself​ ; @pxroxide-prinxcesss​ ; @lumos-barnes​ ; @hufflepuffalice​ ; @slytherclawbitch​ ; @famdomhideout​ ; @mollenniumfalcon​ ; @accioweaslcy​​

 You drew the string on your trusted backpack and patted it gently.

You looked around the room one last time - mostly to calm yourself down rather than to actually check whether you had forgotten anything - if you had, you wouldn’t have noticed it anyway.

You picked the backpack up with ease, even though its contents would allow you to survive in the wilderness for weeks. Thanks to your fresh, new job, you had obtained a permit to charm it with the Undetectable Extension Charm.

You threw on your dragonhide jacket, then glanced at your watch while tying the shoelaces of your boots – 10 minutes till you were supposed to be at Gringotts to pick up your Portkey. Just enough time.

The day for William Weasley started ordinarily. He was supposed to be back at work at 9 A.M., after having a few days off thanks to an assignment well completed, to receive a new one.

He also knew someone new, from England, was going to assist him on this one. It wasn’t uncommon for him to work with others, curse-breaking was a highly dangerous, often tricky profession, after all, so he didn’t put much thought into it. Maybe apart from hoping they wouldn’t make his job more difficult for him, which was fair.

He had woken up in the small flat he was renting in the city. Having grown up on the outskirts of a small village in Devon, living in a big city was an entirely new thing to him – with all it had to offer. He quite enjoyed that, so even though he was out on the job rather often, he opted to rent a flat in the city and commute to work, outside of it, by apparition.

The flat was pretty shabby, but he didn’t need much. The bed in his small bedroom was situated in just the right spot in relation to the window, that most of the year the sunrays hit him in the face, waking him up, at just the right time – like today.

He got up and grabbed a pair of sweats and a t-shirt to pull on after a quick shower. Then he had a mug of coffee with a quick breakfast. The grounds at the bottom of the mug stubbornly got into his mouth a few times, but he didn’t care really – he just spit them out and took another sip, glancing at the clock while the news reporter on the Muggle radio spoke in the background.

Bill could understand a few words here and there at this point – the man presented the weather forecast, as Bill was finishing his coffee and cleaning up after himself.

A quick change of clothes and a teeth brushing later, he was glancing at himself in the broken mirror of the tiny entry hallway. He seized a hair tie off a dresser and tied the upper half of his shoulder-length hair into a ponytail, then apparated to the headquarters of the Egyptian Gringotts branch.

Standing by the Portkey with less than a minute to go you felt slight nerves in your stomach. You couldn’t know if this was the excitement of your new job and finally getting to see and surprise Bill, or just the anticipation of the unpleasant feeling of travel you were about to experience.

You had no time to dwell on it. “Miss Y/L/N,” the goblin called out your name to signal you, and you grabbed the broken clock, then a few seconds of your insides turning later, you were standing in some kind of hall.

“Miss Y/L/N, right this way, please,” before you could have a look around, another goblin spoke from behind your back now, evidently not wanting to waste any time.

You were brought to an office and told to wait for your new supervisor to fill you in. You had a feeling this would take long, and you were right.

The office decor was quite unlikely for goblins, there was no grandeur – on the contrary, it looked rather mundane, and very beige. You got to study the appearances of Mr Wickedgher – the goblin you were waiting for – and his predecessors a few decades back. Behind the small window covered by aluminium blinds, you saw ordinary buildings on the other side of the street.

After a while, you started bouncing your knee up and down, while admiring Wickedgher’s quill arrangement – it was very neat. There were a few moments where you heard voices in the corridor outside the door, but they passed by.

Finally, the fourth time it happened, after a voice unmistakably belonging to a goblin, you heard a very familiar, deep and warm wizard’s voice. You straightened up in your chair a bit, (as if it mattered,) then got up when the door opened.

Bill was shocked to see you, just as you expected. You put your warm greetings off until you were done with this meeting. You couldn’t tell if Wickedgher picked up on the fact that you and Bill knew each other – and if he did, he didn’t really care.

You sat on the edge of your seat when he spoke – you had only received a brief description of your assignment in England and it seemed as if Bill knew nothing. Even though they were stationed in Egypt, the goblins were sending you into the middle of Europe upon learning some new facts concerning a legend previously believed to be made up. The task, although very challenging, seemed exciting.

“We were able to confirm one location you can start with, I’m afraid you’ll have to take it from there. We have prepared you a Portkey that will depart tomorrow at 7 A.M. precisely. Any further questions?” your boss asked calmly, glancing at a drawer in his desk very briefly.

You thought intensely – this was your first job, nothing came to mind now, but was there anything else you could ask about? Anything you should ask about?

You put your faith in Bill. He glanced at you after a second, to check if you were going to say anything, then replied, “We’re good, Wickedgher. Anything else today?” “I suppose you could use the time to show our new recruit our office, but nothing apart from that. Just make sure you’re on time tomorrow.” “Will do,” Bill said and you nodded, then you grabbed your backpack lying at the foot of your chair and the two of you left the office.

Bill had his back turned to you. A cheeky, slightly shy smile made its way onto your face. He turned around with arms crossed on his chest and an eyebrow raised, suppressing a smile. “Got something to say to me?”

You grinned at him, saying “surprise?”, and you saw him break, so you reached up to embrace him. He gave you a tight, Bill, bear hug.

“Why haven’t you told me, you rascal?” he chuckled, still holding you a couple of seconds longer. “I wanted to surprise you..! I applied right after I got my N.E.W.T. results and they reached back two weeks after. When they told me I was going to Egypt I knew I had to keep it a secret, though I didn’t know they were gonna give us a mission together until three days ago,” you explained, still beaming at him. When you decided to become a curse-breaker during your fifth year at Hogwarts, working alongside Bill once again seemed like a dream. No matter how helpful the rest of your friends have been over the years, you didn’t feel as good with any of them by your side, during your curse-breaking feats, as you did with Bill.

“That would be because I’ve just finished working on one nasty tomb down south then,” he told you, his facial expression saying he was just recalling that particularly difficult task he clearly just wanted to forget about.

Bill showed you around the few spaces to your disposition during work and you took some time to go over all the evidence you had been provided with, and prepare yourself for the assignment. Then the two of you decided to grab lunch and coffee together, to catch up.

“So where are you staying? Renting anything?” Bill conversed, lighting a cigarette, as the two of you sat at an outside table of a small café. “No, not yet. They still haven’t told me if I’m gonna be stationed here, or for how long. And as for today - I wasn’t really expecting to have to stay the night here just yet. I thought we were leaving right away,” you admitted, you still haven’t figured out where you’d be sleeping that night. “Oh- then, you can crash at mine. It’s not much, but it would be hard to find anything for you on such short notice…” Bill offered, concerned.

You felt a mixture of nervousness and excitement. But then you supposed crashing on the floor of his flat was nothing in comparison to what you were probably gonna go through very soon.

“Thanks, Bill, I appreciate that,” you smiled at him kindly.

You followed behind him on the narrow staircase of the old apartment building, after a day full of walking around the city. On the fourth floor, Bill walked up to one of the doors, fumbling in the pocket of his jeans for the keys. Standing by his side, you had an odd mixture of feelings.

At 18, most of your friends still lived with their families. It was a part of stepping into adulthood, but nonetheless, it felt strange to think that you were about to walk into a friend of yours’ own flat.

Upon entering the tiny space, you saw Bill everywhere. It did look like a 20-year-old’s place. There was a faint smell of cigarettes present and it was quite tidy, but not Molly-like immaculate. Just like Bill – the most laid-back Head Boy Hogwarts has ever had.

Going from the tiny entry hall there was a small kitchen, a bathroom, and a room serving as a living room and a bedroom, with a foldable couch.

“I was speechless too when I first saw it,” he joked, making you chuckle. “Make yourself at home, Y/N! You thirsty, want something to drink, water..?” He walked over to the kitchen and visually searched it. “Nah, I’m good for now, thank you,” you replied, walking over to the couch after setting down your bag. “…Booze..?” he continued, in a tone pretending to be ashamed of the question, a single hand holding a bottle poking out of the archway. “Sure, Weasley, let’s get hammered the night before a job. 7 AM, remember?”

“Eh, suit yourself,” he said, stretching his back while he walked over to the window. The sun was setting, the room was illuminated by its pinkish-orange rays. He opened the window, reaching one of his hands into his back pocket for a smoke.

You walked up next to him and leaned on the windowsill.

It was a beautiful evening. The warm air was blowing in your face, the sun setting low and you lost yourself, enjoying that moment. You felt an immense sense of freedom, like you could do just about anything at that point. Nothing was stopping you, all worries and responsibilities forgotten. All you felt was the open world in front of you, and Bill next to you. You were happy.

“We should probably get an early night. A good rest before leaving for Merlin knows how long won’t hurt,” Bill reasoned, breaking the silence, as the smoke from his last drag was leaving his lips. The sun was almost fully set now, the inside was getting dark. He stubbed the cigarette out on the outside of the wall, then tossed it into an old jar, already half-full with others.

“Right, yeah…” you nodded, pulled out of your daydream. “Do you want to use the bathroom first?” he asked.

You felt a bit odd using his shower, though just like any shower outside of home.

After turning the water on you allowed yourself to relax a bit. You took a look around the kind of cosmetics he used and it felt like learning some deep secrets.

You lathered your body and tried not to think about the less pleasant part of your job, namely, when would the next time you get to take a proper shower be, after this one.

A double knock on the door startled you. “Would you like tea?” William asked from behind the door. “Uhm… yes..?” you replied, subconsciously covering yourself. Even though there were a closed-door and a wall between you, it felt strange to speak to him while you were naked. After that, he was gone again, and you quickly finished your shower.

When you walked out, the couch was unfolded and the bed was made. On the floor, some distance from it, laid a make-shift bed out of blankets.

Bill was in the kitchen, sitting by the small table, looking out the window with a steaming mug in his hands. Another one was waiting for you on the other side of the table.

He looked up at you as you walked into the room, then sat down opposite him. “Thank you,” you said, sliding the mug closer to yourself. “I like having one before sleep,” he confessed, referring to the tea.

When Bill was taking a shower you had a look into your backpack, preparing for the morning, then looked out the window some more to pass time.

He walked out in a pair of boxers and a loose, weird sisters t-shirt. You wondered if that was how he usually slept or if he put the shirt on because of you.

A bit hesitantly, you walked over to the bedding on the floor, ready to tuck in for the night, but he stopped you.

“You didn’t think that when I offered you a place to crash, I’d make you the one sleeping on the floor,” he pretty much stated. “Noo,” you replied sheepishly, both of you knowing well that you did.

You walked over to your spots and laid down in silence, then you could hear the rustle of Bill’s bedding as he tried to get comfortable.

“Thank you, Bill,” you said, quietly. “Not a problem,” he replied, and you rolled onto your side to sleep.

“Night, Y/N,” he said, sounding as if he were falling asleep already. “Good night.”

When you woke up it was already bright outside. You rolled onto your other side and saw that Bill was still asleep.

He was sleeping without covers, curled up in a ball. His long hair was messy and his face half-buried in the pillow. You let yourself look at him for a moment with a small smile on your face.

Glancing at the clock, it was still early. You closed your eyes back, to wait until he woke up. When you opened them again, you could smell the breakfast being cooked.

Bill was trying to be as quiet as possible so you wouldn’t have to be up earlier than necessary. As soon as you realised what was going on, you felt giddy. You stretched in bed, then got up. When Bill heard the commotion, he poked his head out of the kitchen.

“Morning,” you greeted with a smile upon seeing him, making your way to where he was. “Good morning, colleague,” he replied, then got back to making food.

He appeared to have washed up and dressed already, his hair half-tied up into a bun. You sat by the table, wincing after hearing the term. “Colleague?” you asked, not amused by that banter. He chuckled with his back turned to you, but didn’t reply. “Tea, coffee?” he asked sunnily instead. “Coffee, please.”

He poured some into a mug, then placed the ready food on a plate and carried all that to you at the table.

“Thank you, Molly,” you couldn’t help yourself.

Bill snatched a kitchen rag off the counter and with an angry expression, placed his hands on his hips. The resemblance was uncanny and you found that funnier than you probably should’ve.

With a smirk, he let go of the act after you giggled and joined you at the table with his own plate and mug.

“How did you sleep?” he asked. “Pretty good, thank you. It didn’t take me too long to fall asleep in the evening. And I actually woke up before you did, but fell back asleep.” “Oh, wow.” “Yeah, how was your sleep on the floor? You seemed to be pretty comfortable,” you giggled to yourself, recalling the image. Bill cleared his throat, “I am a man of many talents, and sleeping anywhere is one of them.” “Okay, then…” you suppressed another chuckle.

“How d’you feel before your first job?” “Excited, I guess?” you answered truthfully. “I think I’ll do okay. You always said I’d be a good curse-breaker…” “And I stand by that.” “How did you feel right before your first job? What was it, some castle ruin in Wales..?”

“Mhmm, yeah…” he mumbled, chewing on his food. “I remember not being able to get a good rest because Fred and George stayed up and had a little emergency. They mixed up the powder of a few different types of fireworks and almost blew the whole house up. Excited to go to Hogwarts, they were. Charlie and I had to help them fix it without waking mum up so she wouldn’t find out,” he grunted. “So you’re already one up on me.”

Bill extended his hand to you, to help you up after you’ve fallen out of the Portkey.

“Ahh, I thought I was getting the hang of it, I landed in Egypt pretty gracefully,” you grunted while getting up, brushing gravel off of your butt. “Practice makes perfect, love,” Bill commented, already scanning your surroundings.

You found yourself on a dirt road, and though the opening for the path was pretty wide, there were miles of woods surrounding you. You had a rough idea where in central Europe you were situated, in a valley between mountains. You didn’t expect to find what you were you were looking for so easily, however, so all maps you could need were securely in your backpack.

The weather was pleasant, much cooler than Egypt for sure, but it was still the middle of summer. You tapped the watch on your wrist with your wand to change it to local time.

“6:06 AM – look, we went back in time…” you joked stupidly and Bill looked at you with a half-smile.

“We should move. From this spot, it shouldn’t take us too long to find some clues mentioned in those notes.”

Your goal was to find a tower, where over 500 years ago, a wizard named Halllegend Hugshot supposedly lived and carried out his research and experiments. The fruit of said research was the true purpose of your mission.

The only real problem was that apart from a few lucky apprentices, nobody has ever seen the tower. Halllagend was believed to have disappeared without a trace somewhere off the coast of the Black Sea, and the folk from a nearby dwelling, long abandoned and in ruin, said the area was always empty, uninhabited. And till that day it was believed to be only a legend, magical historians saying that Hallagend never set foot in that part of the world.

You went on quite the hike through the woods, the only thing to guide you were vague notes and a few inaccurate maps from the middle ages. Dawand Davisshot, for example, would find his way to his mentor’s residence by cutting through a cave that has collapsed centuries ago.

You and Bill had your lunch on the way, wanting to make as much progress as you could before setting up camp. Hours were passing, you’ve made your way up a smaller mountain and the only thing keeping you from believing you were completely lost – were occasional sightings of things like peculiar rocks or old trees that may have been the landmarks mentioned by the apprentices.

“You think when we get there, what’s next?” you questioned Bill a bit out of breath, to relieve boredom, well into the afternoon. “Hmm?” Bill muttered, pulled out of his thoughts. “We find the tower, we high five, we get inside and then what? See a desk in the middle of the room, and on it, a pile of parchment rolls waiting for us to take them? What do you think the place is going to look like?” “Guess I haven’t thought about that in much detail. Could be anything... But I doubt a regular building would’ve remained uncharted for that long,” he pointed out. “I suppose,” you agreed. “I’m just hoping for no dragons inside. I’ve had my share of dragons…” you mumbled, recalling your venture to the portrait vault and mostly, the time you joined Bill on his job at a dragon sanctuary.

You’ve noticed that he stopped and hesitated to go further, looking around and down at the ground.

You dug your foot around a bit. The ground was covered with dense thickets, it was easy to blend in with the rest while walking. Underneath, however, was not soil, but solid rock.

“Good one, Weasley,” you praised, having a closer look, and he didn’t reply. The mineral was like nothing you’ve seen before. You didn’t reckon it was Muggle.

When a single ray of sunshine got through the leaves above, when the clouds moved with the wind, shining on it, it almost glowed.

“The place looks like what Humpty Wanderer or whatever his name was described…” Bill observed, suspiciously. “Where’s the tower, though,” he didn’t hide his mild annoyance.

It was true, the opening in the trees stuck out in the middle of the woods, and all that rock seemed justly out of place.

With the lack of a better idea, you took your wand out and raised it. “You think a simple spell will break his defences?” Bill quipped defiantly.

Ignoring him, you opted to start with the simplest one – you cast Revelio nonverbally and the mineral started to glow underneath the cover. You could see now that it covered all of the circular area of the opening in the trees.

You looked at Bill with the smuggest smile. “Shove it,” he retorted in a friendly manner, then flicked his wand to get rid of the thicket. The general glow subdued and shapes started to reveal themselves. Shapes you recognised to be runes.

“HA!” you laughed “Don’t take ancient runes for your newts, it’s good for nothing, d’you know how boring it is?” you mocked the voice of Bill from a bit over two years ago, when you were finishing your fifth year at Hogwarts, about to start your sixth year, and he – graduate.

“Yeah, I take it back, alright… I’d be fucked without you,” he muttered, studying the shapes without understanding. Instinctively, you’d counter that. But instead, you smiled idiotically to yourself at those words, reading a bit too much into them.

Bill looked up at you expectantly and you blushed a bit. “So… would you..?” he prompted, bringing you back to reality. “Ah..! Yeah, yeah, of course…” you muttered, then went on to translate the message.

“It says the passage can be opened on the night of the new moon… the new moon..?” you looked at him desperately. Waiting around for the right phase of the moon didn’t sound very pleasant to you. “No, no, that’s in a few days. What is it today, the 22nd ?” “Yeah.” “Then that’s three days from now,” he said, with focus written on his face.

It made you feel a bit guilty, as if by translating the message you were the one making you two sit around and do nothing in the middle of nowhere.

You set up camp in a pleasant spot not far. Being one to fear an encounter with wild animals after dark, you made sure to set up magical barriers as well.

The tents Gringotts provided its curse-breakers weren’t the most luxurious, the goblins had better things to spend their gold on. Your tent consisted of two rooms – one, middle-sized, with a bunk bed, a table that could fit four people and a small, very basic kitchenette. Off to the side was a bathroom.

“Shotgun the top bunk,” you announced after Bill finished setting up the tent and the two of you walked in. He tutted and swore.

That evening you prepared supper for the two of you and as a peace offering after snatching the superior bunk, you also made some tea.

“Bill..!” you called out to him when you were done. He had been hanging around before, then disappeared. “Out here!” he answered, by the sound, from somewhere near the tent entrance.

Upon stepping outside, you saw two foldable chairs and a table, and Bill standing next to them, looking unsure.

“Ah, making a house feel like home,” you commented and Bill winked in reply.

You sat outside as it was getting dark. Your moods were mixed after that eventful day. You were exhausted after the whole day of walking and you weren’t exactly happy with what you discovered. You couldn’t know what would happen on the night of the new moon. All left to do now was wait around for three days and it could still be for nothing.

But you supposed it could still have been worse.

And so both of you weary, you got ready for bed and clambered into your bunks. You turned off the light and tried to get comfortable in the cold camp-bed.

“Night, Y/N,” said Bill, yawning, bringing you a bit of comfort. “Good night, Bill.”

And so the first day ended.

When you woke up the next day, your whole body ached. Bill was already up, it was past 11 AM. After making a teasing remark about how well you slept, he disappeared somewhere, while you groggily ate ‘breakfast’ and got ready for the day.

He was still absent when you finished, so unsure what to do with your time, you grabbed a book you took the liberty of packing into your backpack. However, after you positioned one of the chairs in the shade underneath a tree, you managed to read half a chapter before you saw him walking back towards the tent.

You were curious as to what he was doing but didn’t want to appear nosy. Glancing up from your book with a small smile, you showed you had acknowledged his presence, and hoped he’d start talking first.

He smiled back and walked past you, inside. You fought a battle with your curiosity, your fingers almost ready to close the book.

But you reopened it fully in haste and pretended to be immersed in it, when he came back out a minute later, after having refilled his water bottle.

He placed the second chair next to you and sat down with a heavy sigh. Agonizingly slow, he opened the bottle and quenched his thirst.

“What’re you reading?” he asked, curiosity in his voice.

You tried not to show your mild disappointment and raised up the book to show him the cover and let him see for himself.

“Mhmm… I’ve heard about it. I read her last book and wondered if this one was any good.” “I’ve barely read a few chapters but so far it’s alright,” you pondered.

Bill hummed in response. He leaned back in his chair and looked up into the bright sky, closing one eye due to the sun poking through the leaves.

“I took a walk and had a look around the area,” he started. You hummed this time. It was exactly what you were waiting for. “Yesterday not enough for you?” you asked. “Why, muscles achy?” he teased you, nudging your leg with his. He was fit, you had to give it to him. Ignoring your groan, he continued – “I found a nice spot by the cliffside. Maybe we could go there tonight.” “Why do you wanna hang around a cliff edge during the night?” “I thought it would be good for stargazing if the sky’s clear,” he explained, making you suddenly feel a few degrees hotter at the thought. “If we’re to camp here, might as well do something worthwhile in the meantime,” he reasoned.

“Wow…” you exclaimed, after arriving at your destination as the sun was setting.

This spot showed a clear view of the valley and the stream running through it. You could see all the surrounding mountains and the different various layers of flora at different heights.

“Told you,” Bill said in an undertone.

The cliffside itself didn’t look as dangerous as you had imagined. The spot was actually quite cosy, you felt sheltered. You put a thick blanket over a large log to sit on it.

The two of you admired the view almost wordlessly until the sun was fully set.

The starry sky prompted a bit of nostalgia in both of you. You reminisced your years at Hogwarts, talking of your shared adventures and friends. Of how you visited the Burrow for the first time and almost sabotaged your trip, wanting to prepare a gift for the Weasleys. Or how indecisive Bill had been with his career choice in his OWL year.

A cloudless sky during the night caused a chill in the air. The two of you had brought blankets but you still subconsciously sat a bit closer to Bill and leaned into his side, as he leaned back on his arms, looking up at the sky.

“Good thing I went with curse-breaker in the end,” he stated. “Yeah… and here we are,” you chuckled.

“I’m glad you’re here with me,” he said. Bill sounded different that night. He spoke in a tone you’ve never heard before. It was simultaneously deeper and softer, reaching into your very soul. And without thinking, you somehow spoke differently, too. Your voice was sweet and tender.

“We just make a good team,” you claimed with a smile. “Yeah,” he agreed.

There was a bit of a pause after that, after which he added – “…and I’d have bored my ass off otherwise,” making you laugh. “This camping trip’s not so bad after all…”

“Aaah, ah..! I almost forgot!” he began, straightening up abruptly. “I packed this…” he muttered, reaching into his own bag to retrieve a thermos with two mugs, one for each of you. He flicked his wand and the mugs filled themselves in the air, then floated into your hands.

And so the custom was followed. You went back into the tent before too long, and when Bill wished you a good night that time, it felt somehow better, spreading warmth through your body.

And so, the second day ended.

You felt a gentle stroke on your shoulder, that had nothing to do with what you were dreaming of. In an instant, you couldn’t even remember what you were dreaming of.

“Y/N…” Bill said quietly, standing next to the bed as you laid on your side with your back turned to him, and woke you up completely.

He retreated his hand, you took a deep breath, slowly opening your eyes, and stretched. When you turned, you saw him leaning his forearms on the railing. “I made breakfast and got tired of waiting,” he admitted, smiling a bit.

Indeed, you could smell food and coffee waiting for you at the table. The air was considerably chillier than the two previous days. When you got up and pulled a hoodie over your head, Bill opened the door a little to let a bit of natural light inside.

You sat at the table together, not saying anything, and for a moment you forgot why you were there in the first place. You forgot how inconvenient the delay seemed at first. You couldn’t place the feeling, but you were really happy about spending that time with Bill.

There he was, with all his cool aura – his hair half-tied up at the back per usual, slight stubble on his face, wearing a loose, grey t-shirt, fitted jeans and boots. And you got to see him with his resting face on, then furrowing his eyebrows slightly as he wondered whether to put raspberry or strawberry jam on his toast, while he sipped on his morning coffee. And nobody, and nothing else around.

He looked up suddenly, noticing you haven’t touched anything yet and pulling you back to reality, his blue eyes pierced into you. You dropped your gaze instantly and he did the same, you felt the heat reach your cheeks right away.

He cleared his throat quietly, possibly making the situation more awkward. “The weather got worse,” he began, having made his decision concerning the jam. “Yeah, it’s chilly, isn’t it?” you chuckled, hugging the hoodie tighter around yourself. Bill turned to you with a smile and you noticed once again, that he was wearing a t-shirt. “Right, of course…” you recalled all the times at Hogwarts when you’d wrap yourself in jackets and scarves, while he walked around in barely a thin long-sleeve.

You spend the rest of the morning each doing your own thing. It started raining in the early afternoon, providing you with the background noise of pitter-patter, the droplets hitting the tent’s surface.

Bill suddenly remembered he had packed his set of wizards’ chess, which kept you entertained for about a couple of hours.

“It is still gorgeous outside, though,” Bill pointed out, pulling the fabric covering the entrance back a bit to take a look.

He walked over to his bag with a purpose, grabbed a hoodie and pulled it over his head. “Care to join me..?” he asked. “In what?” you questioned in reply, confused as to what he had in mind. “Getting a bit of fresh air,” he answered, matter-of-factly. You stared at him with an expression suggesting the idea wasn’t very appealing, which only seemed to make him smile wider.

He snatched his jacket and throwing it at you, said – “Come on..!” with a grin, then pulled the hood over his head and walked outside.

Fully certain you had gone insane, you put on his jacket and joined him. He looked completely unbothered, content just standing there. Having cast the umbrella charm, you quickly skipped over to cover him too.

Bill dried a part of a boulder for you to sit on. “See? Pretty nice,” he noted and you scoffed in response. But his shit-eating grin meant you couldn’t keep a straight face.

It wasn’t bad, despite the rain it was quite sunny. You had Bill’s jacket on, keeping you warm from the wind, surrounding you in his scent, and his mood was contagious.

He reached into the pocket of his jeans. “You wanted to go out just so you could have a smoke, didn’t you?” you quipped. “Not just for that,” he countered with a cheeky smile, putting the cigarette between his lips. “Remind me, have I asked you before what your mum said when she found out that you smoke?” you put on a face of the deepest thought. “…she doesn’t know,” he answered, lighting it.

He was right, it was pretty nice.

You sat in comfortable silence. When he finished smoking, you put your head on his shoulder, almost pulled in. It came to you without another thought, to wrap your arm around his, your other hand resting in his elbow, and he rested his cheek on top of your head.

The sound of rain all around you, tapping against the leaves above brought you a sense of serenity. You looked at the sky above, wondering if you could perhaps spot a rainbow somewhere, as the sun poked through the clouds for a moment.

You felt the gentle weight lift off of your head and, almost instinctively, you lifted your head too.

“Do you think I’d look good with earrings?” Bill asked, thinking deeply.  “Or just like one, maybe..?” You chuckled, shaking your head. You couldn’t believe this guy.

“Probably depends on what kind of earrings you’re thinking of…” “Something cool,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders. “Ah, of course. Well then, I guess so. Would match your vibe,” you said without much thought, not looking at him.

He was suspiciously quiet, so you turned your head and saw the mischievous smile. “So I’m cool, huh?” he shrugged his eyebrows.

“Forget I said anything,” you shook your head again and tried not to smile or blush. “Fat chance. I’ll store this one deep down,” he announced. “Though I may have heard that one once or twice before…”

You had no witty comeback for that, and your façade cracked quickly. You started laughing and Bill joined in quickly. It felt light-hearted.

You didn’t know when his face had gotten so close to yours, he brushed a strand of hair off your face and his hand stayed on your cheek. His thumb brushed over your skin delicately and you leaned closer, leaving the last step to him.

He connected your lips, yet they were barely touching. He tested the kiss as if he expected you to push him away any second, and when he pulled away it left you awakened and frustrated.

He saw that in your eyes, while his showed shock. He kissed you once again, passionately this time, pulling you in. You kissed him back with just as much emotion, you wrapped your arms around his neck and his hood got pulled off in the moment. You failed to realise you broke the umbrella charm. One of his hands remained on your face, cupping your jaw, while the other found your waist, both of them felt as if they were made to be there.

He pulled away reluctantly. Only then you realised just how soaked the two of you were and laughed about it. Needless to say, you ran back to the tent hastily, to dry yourselves off.

And that night you could safely say that it felt, by far, the best out of all the previous times, to be wished good night by Bill when he lied next to you in the warm bed, as the sound of rain lulled you to sleep.

And so, the third day ended.

The final day before the new moon, the weather was considerably nicer.

You didn’t talk much on your way there. It was getting dark quickly, but you could see the spot in the distance – the almost courtyard-like area where the tower, or the passage to it, was supposed to appear, stuck out like a sore thumb.

You arrived there and waited. It got dark, and you still waited for something to happen.

“It said the passage can be opened, but not how to open it,” Bill pointed out.

You didn’t say anything. Truthfully, because he was right. And the fact that there could be something you should be doing right now, but instead, you were just standing there, was scary. You could be waiting until the very dawn and nothing would happen, and for your next chance, you’d have to wait for a full moon cycle, or come back to the goblins empty-handed.

“It’s… it’s still early, the sun has just set,” you attempted to stay positive, looking up at the dark sky and trying to find the moon.

It took some more waiting for you to start seriously worrying, Bill was pacing the area and smoking. But then you felt something.

Very strong magic in the air, it was like the whole ground was shaking, shaking your insides, while none of that physically happened. The moon shone through the opening in the leaves above, and once more, the rock below you started glowing.

This time the glow kept growing, it became unbearable, you had to close your eyes to protect them, and the magical force became so strong it was pushing you away from the circle.

This lasted for maybe two minutes, yet felt much longer. You saw through your eyelids that it was dark again, and nothing was pushing you away anymore. You were finally able to take a proper breath.

“You okay?” Bill asked, concerned, from somewhere behind you. “Yeah,” you answered and nodded, even though you could see nothing. You cast Lumos Maxima overhead and Bill finally joined you as you realised you stood a few meters away from the steps leading up to an old, wooden doorway. Doorway into the tower.

You looked at each other as if trying to find answers for what just happened. When you walked up the steps slowly and approached the doors, everything suddenly became eerily quiet. You could no longer hear the forest around you.

“What do you think?” you asked Bill quietly. “Just… just stay on your guard.”

You did so, but without seeing any other option, placed your hand on the door handle.

You knew immediately what happened, feeling it drive through your mind. It was enchanted, the entrance used Legilimency on you, but this was not your first time. You blocked your mind quickly, and the lock clicked soon. You pressed the handle and opened the door ever so slightly, just so it wouldn’t lock again.

“It was enchanted. The handle. Some security charm, it used Legilimency on me,” you explained, coming down from the shock. “Did you manage to block it?” Bill questioned, placing a hand on your shoulder. “Yes,” you replied as if it were obvious.

“Can you use Legilimency on objects?” he asked after a few seconds, remembering you were a natural Legilimens. “Think about it, Bill, you should have your answer. Though if something’s charmed to have sentience, maybe. Haven’t tried…”

You stepped inside, keeping your eyes and ears peeled for anything dangerous. Bill lit the lamps, and you were able to get a proper look at the spacious room.

It looked like a normal house. From the 1400s of course, but nonetheless. Not a hermit’s lair, not some kind of evil den, but a house someone lived in. It wasn’t even dusty, or cobwebbed. An illusion charm?

After searching the entire first floor you still didn’t come across a study, a lab, or anything alike. You were about to leave one of the rooms when you heard a familiar purr.

“He had a cat..?” Bill wondered, but your eyebrows furrowed. “A chimaera, rather,” you replied, making his face fall.

There was no other way out for you, anyway. Hoping your experience with chimaeras would prove enough for you to handle this one, somehow, you stepped back into the main hall.

The beast stood guard in the centre of the room, proudly, and didn’t show any signs of aggression just yet. It watched contently as you made your way along the walls towards the exit at first, but it didn’t like it when you got closer to the staircase upstairs.

Its purrs changed into growls and its hoofs kicked the ground angrily, giving you a clear signal to stop. The surroundings changed, the paint started to peel off the walls at first, everything began to age rapidly. The tower seemed to shake the stronger, the louder the beast roared, and threatened to fall apart.

There was no other solution now, but to fight it. Yet even for two certified, skilled wizards such as you and Bill, and adult chimaera was a dangerous challenge. Stunning spells were flying, you had to dodge attacks from the beast who could not decide whom to attack while thinking of a solution.

As you were getting tired, so was the beast, but that still didn’t mean your success was close. You saw your chance when it was about to pounce the ground in front of you. You got ready to cast the Conjunctivitis curse and raised your wand.

The chimaera hit the ground and you felt a sharp pain at the back of your neck, then everything went dark.

When you eventually came back to your senses, you felt incredibly tired. Your head was lying on something soft and warm. You could open your eyes, but you didn’t want to, you felt comfortable like that.

“Y/N..?” you heard a warm voice say as someone’s fingers delicately pushed some hair off your forehead. Bill’s voice, and Bill’s hand, you realised. And underneath your head, was Bill’s lap.

You opened your eyes slightly and saw his face, a bit shiny and dirty due to the dust that stuck to his sweat. He was relieved. You also noticed you were still inside the main hall of the tower.

“How do you feel?” You took a breath and wet your lips. “I could use a nap,” you admitted, making him smile.

You sat up with his help and felt the back of your head. It still hurt a bit, but probably not as much as it should’ve. You could feel a freshly healed wound there - Bill’s doing.

“Where is it?” you asked, impressed with how not only Bill remained intact after you’d collapsed, but also you were still alive. “I managed to push it back into one of the back rooms and close the door,” he answered, looking into space as if he couldn’t believe it himself.

You looked around all the rubble and remembered why you’d come here.

“Soo… all that for nothing, huh,” you said grimly. “Well, not quite,” Bill corrected you, “there’s still the attic.”

You carefully climbed the spiralled stairs, hoping for no more security beasts or charms. You took the door which stood out the most and hit the goldmine.

A room full of bookcases and worktables, measures, ingredients and lab glass. Little bottles everywhere, and above all, scrolls upon scrolls of parchment.

It felt weird to finally be done with it. You were almost sad to leave, as you hiked back down the mountain the next morning, but shook the feeling off instantly. You couldn’t know what the future held for you. What epic assignments were yet to come. One thing was certain.

“Soo…” Bill began, looking straight ahead. “…Still looking for a place to live..?”