#I have some other things this weekend but if I really concentrate I should hopefully be done soon?????

[vulnonapixes-dc-corner]

Remember when I told you all about the "Damian & Tim bonding fic, where Damian gets turned into a cat?"?

Well, I do.

I have two wips! One for a fic and the other is a small art sketch

"It's OK! You are OK! With me, you are safe!"

Tim hummed, as he gently rubbed the little fluff ball dry, making sure to clean its eyes and ears out in the process.

He had found it in a trashcan on patrol, all alone, shivering and seemingly abandoned.

The teen couldn't get himself to leave it there.

After all, he wasn't that cruel, and Damian would probably break his back again if he found out that he let an innocent animal die.

It meowed weakly, as he used two of his fingers to gently massage its stomach. He couldn't feel any swellings and injuries, so it should be fine. Hopefully.

"Hey, it's alright! We'll get some food into you and then you'll feel better."

The kitten looked too young to stomach solid food, so milk was it.

He knew that cowmilk was bad for cats, but almond milk should be fine, at least till he could get some special cat milk and wet food to ween the little one out.

After making sure that it was warm and comfortable on his couch, he made his way to his kitchen.

The search for some almond milk and a saucer to fill it in took him some minutes and when he returned to his living room, the cat was gone.

Gone was probably a harsh word, considering that he could hear some really pissed off growls from beneath his bookshelf.

It was quite impressive, considering that the animal making those sounds was barley bigger than his hand.

"Poor little baby, this situation must be quite scary for you."

He pushed the makeshift bowl next to the furniture, avoiding the sweep of tiny claws, before he all but collapsed on his couch.

Then he quietly cursed himself.

In the trouble of making sure that the kitty was alright, he had utterly forgotten about his own needs.

"I am such an idiot."

The vigilante forced himself back on his feet, as he glared at the couch.

Who knows what kind of toxins and germs he had gotten onto it now.

"You know, this totally ruins my whole week. I usually deepclean my furniture every Monday. But with all the blood and shit on my suit this can't wait."

He smiled gently towards the kittens direction, who had stopped growing when he started speaking.

"I will take a short shower, before cleaning the couch and taking my meds. Please try to drink a bit of the milk, alright?"

The teen was aware that the cat couldn't understand or answer him, but he wanted it to get comfortable with his voice

Soaking his suit in disinfectant, showering, checking his body for small injuries, going through his skincare routine, throwing his suit into the washing machine, getting a clean suit ready for the next patrol and starting up his textile-deep-cleaning routine took him nearly an hour.

It left him utterly exhausted and wanting to sleep.

But he still had to finish the cleaning, drink that disgusting, nutrien rich smoothie, take his meds and work on that case Duke asked him about.

His eyes wandered to the kittens hiding place and a smile appeared on his lips as he looked at the empty saucer.

"Good work! Eat a lot and grow stronger. "

The tiny head of the kitten popped out and Tim had to stifle his laughter at the animals unimpressed expression.

"Oh, Damian will absolutely adore you."

It meowed as Tim concentrated back on cleaning the couch.

"He is my little brother and he adores animals. I am planning to give you to him when the weekend comes around."

This was the safest course of actions for him and the one thing will guarantee a happy life for it.

The kittens eyes were watching him clean the couch, as he explained every step to it.

" Now we are just going to let the disinfectant soak in and let it dry. I'll take my medicine and then we'll try to get some more food into you! "

It actually came out of its hiding place when he brought out his yellow pill bottle.

Somehow, it looked as if he had offended it, as it meowed loudly at him to get his attention.

"This is just the medicine that I spoke about. I am sick, you know. A year ago, I lost my spleen due to an injury. I had a flare up a few days ago, since Steph decided to drop in unannounced. Its fine now though."

Steph had been hurt and he was the closest, so he was glad that she came to him instead of bleeding out somewhere.

But the fever he got afterwards was not so nice.

The kitty meowed, as it clawed at his leg, what was suprisingly painful.

"Whats the matter?! This hurts, you know?"

Tim picked the small animal up, as it growled angrily at him.

"You know. You kinda remind me of my little brother right now."

It had the same green eyes as him.

"You are even behaving like him right now!"

He smiled as it spitted in his direction, Biting and clawing at his hand.

Getting the hint, he gently placed it back onto the ground, where it quickly went back to his hiding place.

Tim couldn't help himself as he sighted, as he saw the blood running down his hand.

He needed to disinfect and bandage ut up as quickly as possible now.

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"Jason, calm down-, i cant understand what you are saying if you scream like this!"

Damian glared at the teen from bellow his hiding spot, as he placed back and forth in his living room, his elder brothers voice screaming through the speaker of the phone.

It was pathetic.

No Vigilante, especially one that studied under his father, should allow someone to yell at them.

[starlightsuffered]

Halfway Party

Warnings - dom female, scratching, dry humping, teasing, sub Timmy, unprotected sex

Timothée and I had been together almost a year now. Although he was probably the most beautiful human to ever grace the planet, sometimes our bedroom shenanigans could be very mundane. It wasn't as if I didn't enjoy every time, trust me, I did, but it was predicable.

I'd turn him on or he'd turn me on in some way, he'd get on top of me, a little foreplay, then he was fucking me.

We never really changed positions, and he was always on top.

I had never expressed this, for fear of scaring him off, but I usually enjoyed being the more dominant one. I'd discovered this a long time ago, but I never thought any boy would want that.

However, we had just said "I love you" to each other for the first time. Plus, we were celebrating the fact that ! was officially halfway done college this weekend. I thought that maybe this would be the best time to approach the subject.

On the night of my "halfway party" I was feeling guilty as hell. Timothée had already given me a new dress, a decadent bracelet, plus paid for all the food for the party. Maybe it wouldn't be fair to ask a new sexual act of him that he may or may not want. I kept telling myself not to think that way, a relationship was a give and take.

He wouldn't be scandalized that I wanted to try something new... hopefully. Also, I didn't have to earn the ability to talk about my preferences, I needed to stop thinking that way. Still, I was scared.

I might have lost my nerve if it wasn't so obvious through the night that Timothée was horny as hell for me.

Maybe others couldn't tell, but the strain in his jeans had started when I had come out in my form fitting black dress. He was also being rather handsy, fingers moving up and down my arms. He pushed himself as close to me as possible during the night. His eyes were dark with such a lust that it made my body ache and my cheeks redden.

Finally, my friends and family had all filed out. Timothée and I were alone. My knee was jumping nervously and I couldn't keep my hands still.

"I suppose I should clean up," I squealed, making to get off the couch. Timothée's arms immediately surrounded me and held me in place.

"To be honest," he said, his hot breath making chills run down my spine. "I had other plans." He nipped at my neck and it just made me want to pin him down and take him all the more.

"Timmy, I have to tell you something," | managed to get out.

His carnal actions immediately stopped and he pulled back. His green eyes darted over my face, trying to sus out the meaning behind my words.

"What?" He asked, and I swore | heard fear in his voice.

"Oh baby," | kissed his quickly. "It's nothing bad, just something l'm a bit nervous to say."

"Oh," his whole body relaxed, and he grinned lazily at me. "Baby you can tell me anything, don't be nervous."

"Okay," I looked him dead in the eye. I wanted to properly gauge his reaction, I didn't want him doing this just to indulge me.

"I have realized, over the course of my life, that there's something that really turns me on."

Timothée sat up straighter, eyes locked on my face. I didn't dare look down, but I believed his cock was probably hardening even further in his pants. That look of concentration always meant pleasure would be coming my way.

"I-l like to be more dominant, and in charge in the bedroom. I really get off to the feeling of power. I know that might not be your thing."

I cut myself off, sucking in a breath as I looked into Timmy's eyes. I was surprised to see his pupils blown out with lust. He was biting his lip and I could see his hand, fingers twitching to touch himself.

"That's definitely something l'd like," he said, voice huskier than l'd ever heard it.

That was all the permission I needed to take charge. I straddled him, and attached my lips to his. I ground down on him as our tongues moved together in our mouths. He was moaning like l'd never heard him moan before. I began to bounce slightly on his hardness as I tangled my hand in his hair and yanked his head back to access his neck.

"You're so gorgeous," I spoke into his neck. "You wouldn't believe the nasty thoughts I think about you."

Timmy moaned and squirmed. My lips were sucking on his neck like a vampire and I could not be prouder of the large purple and red mark I left when I came up.

"You're amazing," he breathed.

"You haven't seen anything yet," | winked and he bit his lip.

I aided him in taking of his shirt and I disposed of mine as well. I pushed him down on the couch and licked a strip up his chest. I began to lick and suck on his nipples. While I did this, one hand clawed into his back, and the other palmed his hardness over his jeans.

His moans were something different than ever before. Whiny, breathless, and heavy. It was beautiful. The whole display was as gorgeous as the ceiling of the cistine chapel. His heavy breathing, helpless figure, totally given over to pleasure, made my whole body ache with lust. I was already so wet, but I was also on a high I didn't want to end.

I kissed down his body as his hands massaged my breasts and unhooked my bra. He was gasping for air, his cock throbbing in his pants. I left two love bites on his hip bones and unzipped his pants. He was left in his black boxers, heaving.

I decided to tease him, running my hand from his neck to his ankle making sure to brush his cock lightly every time.

"Stop," he gritted out finally. "I can barely take it, please."

Hearing him beg practically had me devouring him. He was so beautiful laying there. His chest moving up and down rapidly, red and purple marks covering his neck, chest, and hips. I could still see where my nails had dug into him and where l'd licked his chest. His eyes were begging, his lips swollen from him and I biting them. He was the most lovely thing l'd ever seen.

"You beautiful boy," I crooned. "You want me to make you feel good don't you?"

I had taken on this persona and it felt right and good.

"Yes, please," he gasped.

I moved up and kissed him sloppily as I moved my hand over his member through his boxers. His little whimpers gave me life. But I knew him well, I knew when he was about to cum, so I stopped just in time.

"Cool down a bit," I ordered and climbed off him.

"What!" He demanded, sitting up.

"I said," I pushed him down onto the couch roughly.

"Cool down," I pressed a sweet peck to his lips and moved to the center of the room.

"You. Are. Awful." He panted. I shrugged, a sly smile on my lips.

I began to strip completely as he watched. I slowly pulled my dress the rest of the way down my body. Since he'd taken off my bra, I only had my panties left. His hand moved slowly towards his dick.

"Dont!" I commanded. He let out a breath of exasperation.

"Watch me take my clothes off," I said softly. "And take yours off too."

It didn't take long, both of us were only in our underwear at this point, but I hoped it bought us enough time so that we both didn't cum right away.

I approached him again, kissing him gently. I ran my hand over his body again, still standing over him.

"You know," | mused. "Since the moment I met you, I wanted you, not just physically but in every way. I love you more than anything. I love your body, and your looks, I love your personality, and the way you make me feel. I especially love your soul and heart. I am so deeply in love with you Timothée Chalamet."

Before he could get a word out I lined him up with me and sunk onto his throbbing cock.

"Fuuuuuck," he exclaimed.

I began to move up and down.

"Wait!" He said, and the way he said it showed he was using a lot of strength and self control to do this.

"You didn't let me answer. I love you too, more than the stars and the moon and the sun. You mean the world to me. You are amazing and I can't believe I get to be yours and you are mine."

I nearly teared up but I leaned down and kissed him gently. As I did that, I raised my self up and slammed down.

"Fuck me," Timmy begged and cursed at the same time. I obliged, moving up and down on him.

"Fuck you're so deep, you make me feel so good," I groaned as we moved. Timothée's hands dug into my hips, and I hoped it left bruises.

"You're so fucking sexy I can't stand it," he gasped. I smirked as I bounced faster, his hands feeling me up languidly.

"Baby l'm so close, can I come?" He asked. The fact that he asked me made my pussy ache even more, even though he was deep inside me.

"Yes, do it, come in me you amazing boy," I said kissing him.

With that, he let out a pornagraphic noise from his swollen pink lips and let his seed spurt into me. I made circling motions with his hips as I rode him through his orgasm. I came as he was finishing, small whimpers leaving my mouth as I felt him help me along by massaging my clit.

I finally collapsed on his chest cuddling into his warmth.

"Okay, I don't know if that was the same for you, but l've never cum that hard in my life. That was beyond amazing."

"I've never felt that good either," I admitted.

'So it was good for you?" He asked quickly. "So you'd want to do it again?"

"Little eager are we," | chuckled.

"Fuck yeah I am, that was heaven incarnate."

I kissed him deeply, so glad to have someone who matched so well with me.

"I've wanted to do that for a while, l've just been too nervous to ask."

His lips curled and his eyes brows raised.

"What l'm reading between the lines is that you have more dirty plans for me that you have fantasized about for a while."

''Maybe," I said with a wicked smile. "You'll have to beg and see." | winked at him and he pulled me closer. I felt more content than I ever had.

[yeehaww-sims]

I had some events happen and got busy earlier this month, but I'm done with 3/6 additional pieces of CC I wanted! I might add two more easy recolours in but I won't even think about it til the other 3 shirts are done.

Okay so. I know what my last few pride recolours are going to be!! I've got 4 shirts, 2 earrings, and possibly a dress. Doing a full 150 swatch recolour like that takes me 1-2 days, so I'm fairly confident I can get those finished pretty quick

[honeytae]

Hi!! Idk if you’re taking requests or not, but I was hoping I could request something along the lines of where you’re in love with your best friend, taehyung, but he doesn’t know and he’s getting married soon. you don’t tell him how you feel until the night of his wedding when you’re a bit tipsy from drinking your feelings away. you can decide the ending! thank you in advance if you end up writing this! hope you’re doing well and staying safe. Xx

hi darling! i’m so sorry this took so long for me to write. i couldn’t get it to a point where i was satisfied with it for a really long time, i still don’t feel that good about it honestly but hopefully it’s okay for you!!! i tried to make it angsty (yikes) so hopefully it’s not horrible lmao

tags: @ahgasearmyfan, @hoseokayy, @the1921-monsters

genre: angst

word count: 1.6k

warnings: um so much heartbreak, oc is a little (very) in denial about the situation and comes off a little toxic tbh, requited love but nothing they can do about it now, mentions of tae going into a panic attack

You couldn’t handle it.

You couldn’t handle the ‘congratulations to the happy couple,’ nor the Mr. and Mrs. Kim sign practically floating over their heads. You couldn’t handle the copious bouquets and all the preparations that went into this.

And you felt like a complete asshole about it.

Which is precisely why you decided to prematurely exit the event, doing yourself and everyone else a favor by leaving for the night to go sulk in your hotel by your lonesome.

The elevator ride up to your floor was miserable, your own battles within your mind coupled with the fact that your floor was the top one, making the ride excruciatingly long on top of everything else.

Rustling with the hotel key in your bag seemed to take forever as well, finally barging into your half unpacked space with a sigh. You quickly shut the door behind you, hoping you’d been able to sneak away from the hotel lobby without any guests noticing.

Shuffling further into the room, you sat on the edge of the king bed in the center of the room, placing your head in your hands at the mere prospect of this weekend.

Taehyung was getting married. Kim Taehyung, your best friend, the one person you’d been pining for since middle school, would be legally bound to someone else in less than twenty four hours.

Maybe you just shouldn’t have come. Despite sending red flags to Tae, you couldn’t think of a better solution than fleeing at this exact moment. Why did you think you could handle this?

Two knocks against the locked door had your head raising from its resting place, cursing under your breath at someone coming after you.

You didn’t feel well. That would be your excuse.

“Hey, you okay?” Immediately upon opening the door, Taehyung spoke the question out into the air, dark eyebrows knit in concern and kind eyes imploring yours for an answer.

“Hi. I’m fine, just a little tired, Tae.” You pressed your lips together in a hopefully believable smile, the man frowning before nodding at you.

“Me too. Can I come in?” He asked, the question completely innocent however making your heart rate a bit faster at the what if. What if things had gone differently? What if it was still a possibility for things to escalate between you two?

Cut it out. He’s about to be a married man.

You raised your eyebrows at him for a moment, then stepped back to allow him in, putting all your concentration on shutting the wood for a moment as you took a steadying breath.

“What about your party?” You wondered aloud, the man humming as he took a seat on your fully made bed.

“I’m tired of the parties. They’re exhausting.” He chuckled, covering his face with his hands as he reclined back on your bed.

Your heart skipped another beat at the vision, his tight pants leaving little to the imagination and buttons from his dress shirt stretched to new limits with his strained position. Diverting your eyes, you walked over to the desk chair in the corner of your room, reaching for a water bottle out of your mini fridge. Get a fucking grip.

Tossing one over to the bed beside Taehyung, you sat down in the plush seat, grateful that the man didn’t seem to notice your distance from him as you glanced out the window.

Until….

“Are you really okay? I feel like you’ve been avoiding me lately.���

At his sudden words, you froze, gripping your water a bit tighter as you brought your eyes back to his face. He was closer now than before, having scooted to the edge of your bed to lean toward you, eyes showing concern for you as you shuffled in your seat.

Taehyung was never one to beat around the bush, and at times like this, you really wish he would just brush some things under the rug as easy as you could.

“I’m good, Tae. Just have a lot going on, I guess. I’m sorry I made you feel like that.” You said, hoping to clear the air and dismiss the topic as soon as you possibly could. The man’s stare wasn’t helping your state any.

“No apologies. Just wanted to check in on you.” He sighed, seemingly disappointed with your lack of response before a hideous painting across the room caught his eye.

“What the fuck is that?” He griped, making you chuckle as he sat up to lean toward the art piece, squinting with his lip curled in amusement.

“It’s not so bad.” You shrugged, smirking when he turned back to you in bewilderment. Realizing you were teasing him, his eyes went back to normal size, a smile meeting his own lips at the return of your familiar banter.

“How can you sleep in a room with that shit? I feel like asking for a refund.” He shook his head, making you laugh before taking a swig from your water.

“Somehow I manage.” You replied, twisting the cap back on the bottle with a sigh.

It’s times like these that you feel as though nothing is wrong. Times like these that transport you back to periods of your life when Taehyung was just a call away, and you thought maybe, just maybe, you two had a chance. But that was over now. Those days were no more.

Because Taehyung informing you about a blind date then turned into him in a full blown relationship, a serious one at that, and soon enough they were taking big steps such as meeting the parents, moving in together, and yes, getting engaged.

Your friends had been just as shocked as you were, pitying you with deep sympathetic looks over Taehyungs shoulder as you hugged him in confused congratulations. It had all happened so fast...how did you manage to lose him forever?

Waking up the next day, you felt a particular heaviness on your chest. It was the day before the wedding, the rehearsal dinner turned into an entire day of partying for their guests. A celebratory day, if anything.

But waking up and getting all dolled up for this occasion was the absolute last thing you wanted to do, today or ever. You had always thought that you’d have much more of a starring role in Kim Taehyung’s life. Shaking your head to dismiss those kinds of thoughts, you cursed as you left your hotel room, wondering how the hell you’d be getting through this day.

Four martinis. Four martinis was how you’d be getting through today. The bartender had become one of your closest acquaintances over the past few hours, eyeballing you silently as he poured you yet another cocktail, your demands obvious that you were not drinking out of celebration.

Sitting at the bar, you contemplated everything. From the time you’d met Tae, you had been so sure that you two completed each other. Were you that naive? And fuck, why are you still thinking about this now? It’s over. You and Tae will never be.

Nearly jumping off your stool at a hand suddenly clapping your back, you shifted your gaze over to the arm belonging to Jungkook, one of Taehyung’s youngest yet wisest friends.

“You’re sulking.” He said plainly, dark eyes tracing over your faded features, briefly examining the drink in your hand before shooting the bartender a knowing look.

“You shouldn’t be out here.” You sighed, nearly breaking into a sob when his hand laid over yours, fingers fitting between your own in a comforting gesture. With one glance at the man, you gained all the information you didn’t want.

He knew.

You wondered how long he’d known. Jungkook, being the quiet and relatively introverted person he was, was an observer. He knew everything about everyone it seemed, by not speaking to them at all. He noticed everything.

You just hoped he didn’t notice the way your eyes started blinking rapidly, and that he’d instead just go back into the party without another word.

“Neither should you.” He replied to you, his tone holding nothing but concern as he tried to catch your eyes.

You just couldn’t hold it in.

“Well maybe if I wasn’t in love with him I’d be having a better time.” You mumbled, leaning your head down on your hands, elbows pressed to the tops of your thighs, sad and tired as Jungkook froze beside you.

Unbeknownst to you, a concerned Taehyung had also come to find you, stumbling upon that very scene as Jungkook tried to console you.

Meeting eyes with his older friend, Jungkook’s mouth gaped open for a moment, opening and closing like a fish out of water as you cluelessly rambled under your breath about how stupid you were to ever let yourself come here.

With a shaky exhale, Taehyung silently began to put it all together. The way you’d been working constantly lately, picking up every shift you could to decline his repeated attempts at getting together with you, the way you’d ran off last night and brushed it off as you being too tired. It was all adding up.

You were struggling with this as much as he was. Maybe more.

But what Taehyung could do about this years ago was no longer an option, his hands shaking at his sides as he spun on his heel and walked out of the lobby. He could briefly hear Jungkook call for him but ignored it, breathing heavily as he rounded one of the hallways leading to the restrooms.

Unshed tears misted over his eyes as he hugged a corner of the wall, feeling rather unsteady as he leaned his forehead against the cool surface. The burning pain in his chest had him sinking down to the floor in an instant, sobs wracking his shoulders with heightening emotions rising in his throat.

You’d finally given him the green light. And it was too fucking late.

[let-me-luve-you]

Dr. Holland

Tom Holland x Sister

Summary: Tom’s big sister is the hardest working person he knows. He is extremely proud of her and he can’t stop himself from talking about her during an interview.

Warnings: Overworked, maybe some angst, loving siblings, mentions of doctor work

MASTERLIST

Tom sighed as he got a text from you saying that you were scheduled to work the one week he was home. Another message followed saying you only had to work three days instead of the normal five. You were an emergency room doctor and you worked a lot. Tom was proud of his older sister. She worked her but off through medical school to get where she was. Now she was working her butt off to get the position you really wanted, Pediatric Oncologist.

Tom had been filming Spider-Man in America when you were going through medical school. You would call him to keep you company while you were studying. And when time was on his side, he would quiz you. Tom never thought he was smart enough to become a doctor, but he knew enough to get by now.

It was early Wednesday morning when you pulled up at Tom’s house. You had gotten off work at 6am and stopped by your house to shower and change clothes. Tom had texted you last night that he had a few Zoom interviews this afternoon that would take a few hours of his time. Tom told you that you were free to sleep in his room after breakfast. But with only a few days with your brother, you decided you could sleep at night when they sleep.

You took the key Tom gave you for when you house sit and let yourself in. The house was quiet so you knew everyone was still asleep. You moved towards the kitchen. You sat your purse down and went straight to the coffee machine. Normally you would drink tea, but after a long night and soon to be long day, you needed all the help you could get to stay awake. While waiting on the coffee to be made, you took out all the pans and ingredients you would need to make breakfast. You decided to make breakfast burritos since those were your favorite and you didn’t get them often.

Halfway through cooking the sausage, bacon, and eggs, Tom walked in rubbing the sleep from his eyes, his hair flying every which way. He walked over to you and gave you a big hug. You smiled into his chest.

“Still short, I see.” Tom said with sleep lacing his voice.

“Still rude, I see.” You said back.

Tom squeezed you tighter, “I missed you.”

“Missed you to bubs.” You pulled back and watched him walk towards the coffee pot. You gave a small laugh and turned back to what was at hand.

“How’s the hospital been?” He asked as he sat on the counter next to the stove so he could see your face while he talked to you.

“It’s been good. Being in the ER means inconsistent hours and long shifts. Dr. Hamilton is planning on retiring in the next few months and he's told them my name as a replacement. Hopefully that works out so I can finally be a Pediatric Oncologist.” You said.

“I know you’ll get it and you'll be the best at your job.” Tom said matter of fact.

“Thanks. I hope I get it. If not, I may have to switch hospitals. I don’t think I can stay in the ER. I had night shifts this week. Day shifts last week. I went from day to night on Sunday. I had six hours off to rest since they made me work this weekend. They messed up the schedule but if I asked for Sunday night off, they were going to make me work the rest of the week.” You said taking all the food you just made to the island. Tom followed you and sat at the counter. You started fixing his burrito.

“I can make my own you know?” He said with a laugh. “But honestly. Stick it out. No one is more deserving of that position than you. You care for the kids and you know exactly what you are doing. Everything will work out. I’m so proud of you. Don’t know if I tell you that enough, but I am.”

“Thanks Tom.” You smiled at him. After making your burritos, you continued to talk about everything in your lives. He caught you up on the movies he was doing. He explained what the interviews were for. You just stared at him in awe as you saw the passionate look in his eyes when talking about acting.

A few hours after breakfast, you went to sit with Tom in his office. You laid out on the couch joking with him before his interview. Tom’s phone rang and he saw that it was his manager so he answered. Ten minutes later when he hung up he looked at you asleep on the couch. He stood up and grabbed the blanket and laid it across you. He knew that you would be out the whole time he did interviews as long as he didn’t make any sudden sounds. Tom was grateful the call through his computer rang through his AirPods. That sound would have woken you up and he knows you need sleep. Tom clicked the green answer button and was met with a smiling reporter.

“Hello Tom. How are you today?” The reporter asked.

“I’m doing great. How about yourself?” Tom asked back. Talking quieter than he normally would for something like this. His eyes drifted up to you to see if you moved and he didn’t even see you flinch.

“I’m doing great. Thank you for asking. So my name is Gerald. I’m with Buzzfeed. And I wanted to start this interview off asking what you’ve been up to these last few months.”

“Well, I’ve been in Germany working on a movie. Can’t go into detail just yet about it, but news will be dropping soon.” Tom checked one more time on you before he moved his full attention onto Gerald. “Sorry if I’m talking quieter than usual. My sister is asleep on my office couch. She’s been working like crazy lately so I didn’t have the heart to wake her.”

“Your volume is perfectly fine. If you don’t mind me asking, what does your sister do? We know about your other brothers since they are more involved in your line of work. They even travel with you. But we don’t really know a lot about your sister.” Gerald asked.

“My sister is amazing. Her name is Y/N. She’s a few years older than me. She is currently a doctor at one of the hospitals here in London. She’s been an emergency doctor but she is working towards becoming a Pediatric Oncologist.”

“That sounds fancy. What is that?” He asked.

“It’s a doctor that treats children with cancer. Y/N has worked so hard to get to that point. She’s so caring and loving and knows so much that I think she would be the perfect fit in any hospital in that position.”

“You sound proud of her.” Gerald said, pointing out the fact.

“I’m incredibly proud of her. She is just so amazing at everything but I was in the front row watching her work to this point. I wasn’t ever great at school and she was always working for those perfect grades. She would let me study with her so she could help when I needed it. I was her first call when she was accepted into med school. I remember crying when she told me that because I knew the work she had put in during undergrad to get there.” Tom said as he looked up at you. You were still sleeping soundly and Tom smiled at that.

“When I was filming Spider-Man: Homecoming, she would call me. It would be six or seven o’clock at night where I was and so I knew it was around midnight her time. She just wanted my company while she studied. She was so used to us working together she needed me there to help concentrate. She would email me her note cards and I would spend hours quizzing her. We were close before that, but we were almost inseparable after that. She’s my big sister and I love her and I’m so, so proud of her.”

“It sounds like it. It’s refreshing hearing you say such great things about your sister. I bet the whole family is proud of the both of you.” Gerald added.

“I know we are all proud of Y/N. For me, I know my family is proud, but what I do doesn’t even come close to what she does. After not seeing her for months due to COVID, any good I do, will never compare to the good she does.” Tom said thinking of those awful months you refused to see your family so you didn’t put them at risk.

“Well, tell her we appreciate the work she does. We would love to meet her sometime. You should bring her around a set or press tour sometime.”

Tom laughed. “I’ll have to try. She always turns me down though. Maybe if I film in London. But she does always make it to my premieres. Thankfully we almost always have one here in London, so it’s easier for her, but she’s made the trip to LA a couple of times.”

“Can’t wait to meet her one day.” Tom smiled at Gerald. “So you said you’ve been in Germany…”

Gerald continued with his interview. Once he was finished with that one he went right into the next. He spent three hours doing interviews and you never woke up once. He was grateful you were getting rest. When the final interview ended, Tom went over to you and gently picked you up. You stirred in his arms.

“Tom?” You said tiredly and confused. “Where are you taking me?”

“My room. You need more sleep and I need a nap. We can go out for dinner afterwards.” He said as he sat you on his bed. He walked to the other side.

“Okay.” You said rolling over towards him. “I love you bubs.” You whispered. Tom wrapped you in his arms and kissed you on the head.

“Love you too y/n/n.” He whispered back before you both fell asleep.

[amberlynnmurdock]

Library Series (Pt. 17)

Pairing: Matt Murdock x Reader

Chapter Summary: You interview Camila Fredrick today. 

A/N: Hello, everyone!!! I finally got around to updating this story, thanks to all your lovely comments and kudos. Truly, that's what pushed me to write this sooner than later. You all inspire me and encourage me! I hope you like where this story is going. Thank you again for reading. It means the world!!!

AO3 LINK

Thanksgiving weekend left as soon as it arrived. Soon enough, you were sitting in the library with a pile of papers and notebooks preparing for finals that were on the horizon.

You always felt bitter the few days after that followed a holiday. It felt like all that waiting for the holiday was for nothing. The days leading up the holiday are a treat, and once the holiday is here, you enjoy it for the day, and the next day is back to reality.

The library was packed today with bustling students asking each other for last minute notes and homework assignments. Looking up from your text book, with the end of a pen in the corner of your mouth, you roll your eyes at their lack of commitment. It could never be you that saved everything for last minute. No, you were always on top of your work.

If only the work that you were studying right now was what you wanted to do. You’re counting down the minutes until you meet Camila Fredrick in person at a local coffee shop down the street from campus for an interview.

Putting away the boring chemistry notes inside your binder, you flip to the section labeled ‘JOURNALISM’ and go over the questions you came up with for Camila. The hardest part about being a journalist is that you have to ask the hard questions, even if it’s emotional or personal. So, you frown at the first question immediately, remembering you have to ask it.

“Can you describe, in detail, the moment the attacker found you?”

Telling this story is for the benefit of the public: that’s what journalism is. People should know that bad guys, like the one who attacked Camila, exist in the city, so people are aware of their surroundings. But also, to hopefully put an end to unnecessary violence.

It’s the sad reality of living in a big city.

Plus, you need this article to be perfect if you want it to be published in the school paper, The Columbia Daily Spectator. That’s only a small reason, though. You care about your fellow New Yorkers, the ones who are innocent. Their stories deserve to be told.

Your concentration is interrupted by the strong scent of Gucci and acrylic nails tapping the wooden table.

“Hey, boo,” Marci smiles as she sits across from you. Startled, you close your notebook and look around the library.

“You have to be quiet, Marci,” you scold under your breath as you see the girl at the next table give you a dirty look.

“Oh, whatever, everyone’s talking anyway,” Marci says, “Are you coming to the Alpha Phi party tonight?”

Raising both eyebrows, you ask, “huh?”

Marci laughs. “The Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity is having a party at their house tonight. Are you coming?” The way Marci posed the question made it sound more like an obvious command. She had a way of doing that. Sometimes, it was for your benefit, other times, hers.

“Hate to break it to ya, kid, I’ve got finals to study for and an interview to do later,” You reply firmly as you start to pack your things. If you give the amount of sass back to Marci, she usually backs off. Today, you’re not in the mood for her games.

Marci rolls her eyes, “You’re no fun. C’mon, you never go out with us. Just one night, you know you’ll pass your exams even if you don’t study! You and Foggy are so laaaame.”

“Us, as in, Paula and Amy, the ones who left your drunk on your ass for some frat boys who don’t know the difference between body wash and shampoo? Those friends?” You raise both eyebrows.

“I don’t talk to them anymore… well, they apologized, and I really want to go out tonight–promise I’ll be on my best behavior,” Marci said, although the reason why she’s asking you to go out is slowly dawning on you. She probably doesn’t feel safe with Paula or Amy, but she does with you. A part of you aches when you realize this, but you can’t spend your night babysitting your drunk friend when you actually have things to do. If you didn’t, you probably would be there.

You sigh, grabbing Marci’s perfectly manicured hands in yours, “look. I seriously do have a lot to do today. If I didn’t, I one hundred percent would be there with you. If you need me tonight, I’ll be up late, so call me and I’ll come get you at… Alpha beta whatever,” you truthfully tell Marci.

Marci gives a small smile, “okay, I’ll call you if I need you. I’ll bother Foggy first, though. Also, how was your break with Matt?”

Your heart jumps at the mention of Matt’s name. You blush, “it was really nice. Too quick, though. I’m counting down the days until the next getaway.”

“Are things getting serious between you guys?” Marci asks.

You shrug, not wanting to jinx anything. “Maybe?” You try to hide your giddiness, but you fail.

“I’m happy for you, babe. Anyway, I have to get going. This hair isn’t going to style itself, unfortunately.” And with that, Marci gets up from the wooden chair, blows you a kiss, and leaves.

You soon follow suit, packing your things up as you realize you’d have to meet Camila in a half hour, at 5:00pm.

~

Exiting the library, you walk down the pavement, crunching leaves as you step on them. In the near distance, you see Matt waiting outside a building for his next class, you assume. He’s wearing a royal blue long sleeve and jeans. You smile as you approach him. He always looks so pensive. It’s quite adorable.

He stands sheepishly against the wall, brows knit together, holding his cane in both hands so it stands in front of him. The soft wind blows his auburn hair back.

“Hey, you,” you smile as you approach Matt, placing your hands on top of his.

“___, hello,” Matt replies, kissing your knuckles. “I’m happy you found me.”

“Me too. I can’t talk for long, I’m about to meet Camila at the coffee shop down the street,” you tell him anxiously.

Something in his bright demeanor darkens at the mention of Camila. His smile fades, and his brows grow tighter.

“That’s today?” Matt asks, taking your hands off his and instead holding them.

“Yeah, remember? I’ve been thinking of questions all day,” you tell him, his worry making you worry.

“I remember now,” Matt trails off. He clears his throat, “do you want me to walk you there?”

You giggle at his offer, and immediately feel bad for doing so. He really does look concerned, but you’re not sure why. It’s just an interview, and it will be in a public place. There’s nothing to worry about, truly.

“It’s okay, I can get there on my own. Besides, don’t you have class?”

Matt looks up in your direction and composes himself, “Oh, yes, I do.”

Glancing at your phone’s time, you let go of his hands slowly. “I should get going. I’ll call you when I’m done, okay?”

“Please,” Matt replies. He leans in and kisses your lips, slowly, “be careful.”

“I will.”

~

Matt doesn’t have class.

Well, he does, but after your reminder that your interview with Camila is today, he decided his class has been canceled. Just this once. He’ll get the exam notes from Foggy later.

Matt rushes to his dorm room and quickly changes into his black outfit, leaving his cane behind and exiting through the window. Thankfully, it’s already dark out at 5:00pm at the end of November.

Matt slips between the campus’ entrance and alley ways all the way to the coffee shop you are meeting Camila at. He jumps up at a fire escape on the building, listening intently for your voice.

Does he feel creepy for doing this? No. Should he? Maybe. But he’s only here to make sure you are safe.

~

Clutching your bag closer to your chest, you enter the coffee shop and tell the hostess you are meeting someone here. You glance around the shop nervously. You only see a family of three in a booth near the window, a man in a suit sitting by himself in a corner table and three people at the bar. In the far left side of the shop, you see a dark haired woman with her hands folded, sitting alone. The TV plays softly in the corner of the shop.

You walk over to her, hoping your intuition serves you well.

“Camila? It’s me, ___,” You say softly with a smile.

The woman looks up–she can’t be more than five years older than you–and smiles. Her eyes are a striking blue color. Her stature is petite. You can see the bandage from the wound poking out of her black sweater.

“Hello, ___. It’s nice to meet you,” she says in a quiet voice. You sit down across from her. You set your bag on your left side and bring out your notebook and recorder.

“Thank you for being willing to do this interview for my assignment, and hopefully, for the school paper,” you tell her. Half of the sentence is meant to be grateful, but the other half is meant to let her know that her words are intended to be published. “Are you okay if I record our meeting?”

“Of course,” she nods her head, looking down. “I’ve been wanting to talk about it but the papers around here are so rude and nosey. It’s like they don’t even care about me, just what happened.”

“Am I the first person you are speaking to about this?” You ask in disbelief.

“Other than the NYPD that visited me at the hospital, yes,” she replies. “You are.”

“Well, I truly am honored and grateful for your trust in me. I promise I’ll tell your story exactly how it happened,” you tell her, setting up the recorder on the linoleum table.

A waiter comes by and takes your order. You ask for a water while Camila orders a decaf black coffee.

“So, please state your name, how to spell it, and how old you are,” you say clearly.

Camila clears her throat, “My name is Camila Fredrick. That is C-A-M-I-L-A F-R-E-D-R-I-C-K. I am 26 years old.”

“Tell me what happened from your perspective, from start to finish,” you say, beginning to take notes.

“I arrived at the local drug store to pick up over the counter meds for my daughter, some snacks, water and a lottery ticket. It felt like a normal day until I decided to go to this spot,” Camila begins with a shaky voice. You notice that she has a tiny accent. Your heart jumps when she mentions she has a daughter.

“Where was your daughter when this happened?” You asked.

“She was at home with my mother,” Camila answers.

“When I walked down the street from my apartment, not far from here, I felt like I was being followed. Do you ever get that strange, hovering feeling, like you’re being watched? That’s exactly how I felt. I knew it was getting late, but my daughter really needed some quick meds to help her fever,” Camila explains, gripping her coffee mug. “But, I ignored it and just rushed to the store. I didn’t have time to worry about something I thought was happening.”

“It was quiet, and dark out. I rushed inside, said hello to the shop owner and gathered the things I needed. Just as I was done checking out, and stepping outside the store, was when he started to yell at me,” Camila quivers, breaking eye contact, holding her tears back. “‘Don’t fucking move!’ The man screamed at me. And I mean screamed. It was the most startling, deep voice I’d ever heard since my ex-boyfriend. Who I think this guy was looking for.”

You pause in your notes, “you think whoever attacked you knows your ex-boyfriend?”

~

Matt is intently listening to your interview, and also intently listening for anything that may go wrong during it. So far, the guests of the coffee shop are okay–except for one suspicious character.

He can hear him breathing–slowly, carefully. Like if he makes one sudden move, something will blow up. He hasn’t touched the coffee he ordered in 15 minutes, since the beginning of your interview with Camila. It’s getting cold.

While Matt is keeping his focus on the man, and you, he can’t help but be shocked at what he’s hearing Camila say. It’s awful that she is being targeted for someone else’s actions and mistakes, and it’s even more awful that her daughter had to see her mother on the news like that, let alone be taken to the hospital for a gunshot wound. At the same time, it was infuriating.

~

“Yes,” Camila replies, eyes widening, “I believe so. He was screaming for money, saying he knows Bradley is hiding at my place, which he isn’t.”

“My ex-boyfriend, Bradley, had a lot of issues. That’s the reason I took Emily and I away from him. People would bang on the door at night looking for their money. I think he hid his gambling but not very well. I had enough of it because it wasn’t safe for me or our daughter. I couldn’t have random, older men around the place! So I left him. It’s been months, but I guess his mistakes are catching up to me,” Camila says sadly. “And now my safety is at risk. And Emily’s. And my mom.”

“The person who shot you… did you recognize him at all from those strange men that would come to your old apartment?” You asked inquisitively.

Camila takes a shaky breath. She looks around the coffee shop and lowers her voice, speaking into the recorder, “yes. I do.”

“Who was it? What’s his name?” You asked.

“Neil Benson. He would come around all the time. I thought it was about dumb gambling over sports, but when he started mentioning The Boss, I knew it was way worse,” Camila whispered.

You take a deep breath and flip your notes to the next page.

“The Boss?” You question. “Is that some sort of code name for a gang?”

“It’s definitely a code name, but I don’t know which or what gang it’s for. I have a feeling it’s something that is more than just this area. I think it has to do with this entire city. Whoever and whatever they do, they report to The Boss. I’ve never heard his real name,” Camila said, talking at a normal volume now.

“I bet Neil knows and I bet Bradley does, too. Do you know where Bradley is?” You ask.

“I haven’t seen Bradley in months…”

“Oh my, God,” Camila gasps as her focus falls on the TV playing in the front corner of the coffee shop.

“What’s wrong?” You ask in a panic, turning around to follow her gaze.

On WHIH news is a blonde woman and the title cards BREAKING NEWS is scrolling across the bottom of the screen.

“WHIH reports that the bail money, which was set at $10,000 for Neil Benson’s release has been paid off by a source that has not been disclosed. Benson is released and will face no charges since the bail has been paid. The victim will be compensated.”

You slowly turn back to Camila and find her crying. You shut the recorder off and take her hands.

“I’m sorry, Camila,” you reply, unsure of what to say, “I–I’ll make sure nothing happens to you. This story will get out and Neil and whoever he’s working for will not be hidden.”

~

By the time Matt hears the news, hears you tell Camila you’ll do what you can to keep her safe, Matt is too late. He jumps from the fire escape.

As soon as the news broke, the man who was sitting alone got up from his booth and walked outside the coffee shop door. Matt wanted to chase him, to get answers from him, but as soon as he turned the corner, the man got inside a large black vehicle and the vehicle sped off.

Matt, defeated, yells in anger as he hides in the alleyway again.

“Thank you for doing this, Camila. It took a lot of strength for you to be honest. I’ll walk you home and make sure you get inside safe, okay?” You offer Camila. Matt can tell you’re unsure of your offer, but say it anyway.

Camila is too upset to speak. Instead, she nods, and links arms with you.

Sometimes Matt hated how nice you were. You didn’t realize the risk you were putting yourself in by walking Camila home–let alone writing a news article about what happened.

Matt follows you and Camila the entire way to her apartment. And then, he follows you, to make sure you are safe.

He knows this can only get worse, now that the man knows who you are and you’re writing a story on what happened. Matt feels sick to his stomach, knowing a member of a gang now has you as a potential target.

His phone rings–it’s you.

[justhockeythings-blog1]

You look really good in my jersey

A/N: Let me know what you guys think of this one! I have a specific part that is my fave, bonus points to anyone who can guess it!

Request: Prompt : “You look really good in my Jersey ” with Morgan Rielly

You and Morgan had been friends for years, inseparable from the second you moved into the house next door to him. Many people over the years had assumed that you two were dating, starting as young as middle school. You had always shaken your head and laughed it off, ignoring the way that Morgan looked at you momentarily before agreeing with you.

Now, after nearly twenty years of friendship, you still had those rumors. Whether it was from your friends, his friends, your parents. It seemed like the two of you couldn’t do anything together without someone making a comment that you two should be dating or assuming that you already were. 

To be honest, you had realized that the feelings you had for Morgan extended beyond that of friendship when you were back in high school. You should’ve seen it coming, you had noticed the shift in your feelings, the way your stomach would flutter when he smiled at you. Your cheeks heated up more often when he said something kind. You two went to a dance together your senior year and you were convinced that you would pass out from fighting off those feelings.

You couldn’t have those feelings. This was Morgan, your best friend, practically your brother. Those were the same words you had repeated to so many people over the years and now you were struggling to convince yourself. 

Then college came, you went to your university and Morgan went off to make his star career come true. It had been easy to avoid those feelings when you weren’t seeing him every day, at least not in person. You two still kept up regular contact, between facetime, phone calls, and texts, it was almost like you weren’t hundreds of miles apart. 

When he was drafted, you were watching. When you graduated, he was there. He had been your date to your best friend’s wedding, you had been his to many events for the Leafs. It only made sense, after your years of friendship, that you found a job in Toronto and be by your best friend again. 

“So when are you finally going to come to one of my games?” He asked, cocking an eyebrow at you as you lounged in your bed, his face smiling at you from the phone in your hand. He was on a roadtrip in Montreal and still found time to call you, making those butterflies erupt in your stomach again. 

“What makes you think I want to come to your game?” You teased, to be honest this was the first time in a long time you hadn’t been able to go to a game. Throughout your friendship you had made it a point to go to every single game you could, especially in high school when your emotions were high. 

Now though, it seemed like your job and his hockey schedule never lined up to where you could go to a game in person. You were slammed recently, up to your ears in meetings, reports, and a big presentation coming up. You wanted to be at the games, you wanted to be at them all but you just hadn’t found the time.

“Ouch, I take back my invitation.” He laughed, placing his hand over his heart as if pained by your statement. 

You smiled a little, biting your lip as you eyed the box at the end of your bed. You had finally bit the bullet and purchased his jersey, your heart jumping when you had laid out the bright blue jersey on your bed and saw ‘Rielly’ sprawled out across the back of it. Now you just had to find a game to wear it to. 

“Once I’m caught up on work, I’ll try and make a game, I’m sorry Morgs.” You offered, using your childhood nickname for him. One you knew would soften him up no matter what. 

“That’s not fair.” He commented with a smile, in reference to your nickname usage. The nickname only you could use and the one that made his stomach flip every time you said it. 

“Of course it is. You love me for it.” You teased and Morgan had to pause at that. It was one of the many reasons that he loved you but before he could say anything another yawn left your lips. “I’m sorry Morgs, I gotta get to bed, I’ll talk to you later, yeah?”

As you both hung up, miles apart from one another, you both fell asleep thinking about the other. 

A week after your phone call you had finally gotten caught up on your work, your presentation had been approved by your boss, and you had taken a long weekend just for the occasion. Which meant it was finally time to go see your boy play live, in person. 

You had arranged to sit with some of the other girls, wanting to see them as much as you wanted to see Morgan play. It felt like your whole social life had taken a toll because of your job. You caught sight of your reflection as you made your way to your seat, smiling to yourself. You hoped Morgan would like your surprise, you hadn’t told him that you were coming tonight or that you had bought his jersey. 

“He’s going to love it you know.” You turned your head, pulling your eyes away from the ice for the first time since the game started to look at Zach’s wife.

“What?” You asked, playing dumb though you knew exactly what she was refrring to. The girls had been a part of promoting a relationship between you and Morgan before, this was only going to perpetuate it.

“I know you might not see it, but you two are madly in love with one another.” 

You felt the heat rise to your cheeks, turning your eyes back to the ice as the third period began. Thankfully, she let the conversation end there, turning it back to hockey quickly but the seed had been planted. You had always assumed that Morgan only saw you as friends, as a sister even. 

You accepted the fact that you were forever going to be in the friendzone, but one comment that you had heard a thousand times, sent your mind reeling tonight. You felt yourself losing concentration on the game as your mind went deeper into the idea that Morgan could be in love with you. You began to analyze every little thing that could have pointed to that outcome. The way he put his hand on your lower back at an event, how he would shift closer to your side when out at a bar full of creepy men, or how any time you fell asleep at his place he would cover you up and let you stay as long as you wanted. You had always assumed that was just him being a good friend, now though you wondered if it could have meant more. You were pulled from your thoughts by the final buzzer. A Leafs win would hopefully distract you from your thoughts about the boy you were about to see. 

You joined the girls outside of the locker room, knowing that the guys would have media but there had been talk of a group going out for a late dinner after the game. If you knew Morgan, you would probably end up along with the group and you were okay with that. 

You smiled as you saw him coming out, watching as he faltered in his steps when he realized what you had on. It made your stomach flip, it wasn’t like you had never worn a jersey or something of his before, but this time felt very different.

“Hey.” You broke the ice, moving to meet him where he stood and hugging him. “You did great tonight, nice goal.” 

You felt his arms wrap back around you, hugging you tightly as though the two of you hadn’t seen each other earlier in the week for lunch. He pulled away, smiling down as he took in your appearance once more.

“You look really good in my jersey.” He commented, his eyes raking over the jersey one more time, which inevitably brought a blush to your cheeks. 

“Glad you think so, it’s a little expensive for me not to.” You chuckled, shrugging your shoulders under the weight of his hands as they held you.

“You know what would make you look even better in it?” He asked, seeming to have a newfound air of confidence around him. You assumed it was from the win, little did you know that it was actually from the fact that seeing you in his jersey had finally given him the push to make a move.

“If we were sitting at a restaurant eating? I don’t know about you but I am starving and the other guys already left.”  You laughed and Morgan chuckled a little, shaking his head, he had to do this now before he lost his nerve.

“If you were my girlfriend wearing my jersey.” He commented, leaving you stunned as you stared up at him.

Your silence was making him nervous, maybe he had misinterpreted the signs. He was mentally cursing his teammates for giving him the push to ask you out finally, but seeing you in his jersey made him realize that he didn’t want to risk seeing you in anyone else’s. 

“You know what, just forget I said anything. Let’s go get food.” He rescinded, letting his hands fall from your shoulders, his cheeks a bright red. His stomach dropping at the idea that he may have just ruined his longest friendship on a whim.

“No, wait!” You grabbed his hand, stopping him from moving. “Ask me again.” 

He furrowed his eyebrows confused by your demand, “What do you mean?”

“Ask me again.” You insisted. “I don’t want to have to tell people that I stood there like a fish out of water when you asked me to be your girlfriend.”

He laughed at that, a genuine laugh, one that was filled with relief and joy at what your statement insinuated.

“Will you be my girlfriend?” He asked again, staring into your eyes to make sure you were serious about this.

“Yes.” You smiled widely, nodding. “Now can we get food?”

[daveyjacobss]

skeletons in the bathroom

racetrack higgins x reader

summary: it’s spooky season, and is there anything scarier than having to confront and admit your feelings for one of your closest friends? (or, in which y/n is helping race get ready for a halloween party and desperately trying not to think about how much she wants to kiss him.)

a/n: i did it!! a halloween fic out for october 2020!! sorry it’s so late in the month, life has been very hectic with an overload of assignments and plenty of politics induced stress. anyway this is unedited so sorry in advance but i hope you like it :)

masterlist

__________

This had been such a bad idea. Why on earth had she agreed to this? What kind of astounding lack of brain cells had led to her saying yes to attending her own goddamn funeral?

"Albert, you would leave flowers at my grave, wouldn't you?" She turned to look at him just in time to see him roll his eyes. Jojo and Finch, sitting across from them at their table in the library, both stared at her with equally confused and amused expressions.

"Y/N if you tell me you're gonna die one more time, I'll literally kill you myself." Albert fixed her with a halfhearted glare, brushing his hair out of his face. She groaned and dropped her head down on top of her arms, resting lazily in the tabletop. Jojo laughed quietly at her, but she didn't have the heart to give him a death stare in return.

"Out of curiosity," Finch started, effectively abandoning his work, "what kind of flowers would you want?" She lifted her head, pursing her lips in concentration as she thought the question over.

"I don't know, either something really pretty or something ridiculously dramatic." Albert sighed beside her, finally putting his pencil down. Jojo had stopped actually trying to get work done a half hour prior. "Like, some pretty marigolds or daisies would be cool, ya know? But, also, a single red rose would have a very nice effect." Jojo nodded along with her.

"What about black dahlias?" He asked. Y/N perked up at that.

"Oh, yes! Definitely achieving that she-was-probably-murdered-and-the-killer-is-leaving-flowers vibe." She high fived Jojo while Finch shook his head at them. Albert hit her from her right side—lightly, but she let out a loud "ow!" anyway.

"Can you stop moping and acting like you're gonna die? You're the one who got yourself into this mess." She went back to being miserable immediately, groaning again for effect.

"Will someone please explain why she's dying?" Finch asked, directed more at the other two boys than at Y/N. Albert rolled his eyes again.

"Race asked her to do his makeup for his skeleton costume before the party tonight and she said yes, but now she thinks she's gonna die when she does it." He punctuated his words with a pointed look at her which effectively communicated all of his exasperation as well as the sentiment he had been expressing to her for almost two years, that she should just go for it and ask Race out. She ignored it completely.

"I am going to die!" She threw her hands in the air for dramatic effect, giving Finch and Jojo her best 'I'm in despair' look. "I'm gonna have to be ridiculously close to his face—and his lips—for way too long! I'm gonna either go insane and launch myself out the fucking window or die of embarrassment."

All three boys laughed at her. Insulted, she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted at them.

"Y/N, it'll be fine," Finch said, pretending to wipe tears from his eyes. "Anyway, why can't you just ask him out already and not have to deal with the funeral arrangements?" She offered him her best deadpan stare.

"C'mon, Y/N," Jojo chimed in. "What's the worst that can happen?"

"Oh no, don't get her started," Albert groaned.

"The worst that could happen? Are you kidding?" She looked at them incredulously. "Well, for starters, I could tell him I like him and then he could be disgusted because why would he ever like me back when he's him and I'm me, and then, because he was your friend first and things are super awkward between me and him, we drift apart, and then I lose all of my friends and I die alone with no one to leave black dahlias on my grave in order to entertain my dramatics." Finch blinked, staring at her with wide eyes as if he couldn't quite believe what he had just heard.

"Hold on," Jojo spoke up again, face contorted with anger. "He would not be disgusted. Even if he didn't like you back, which he does—"

"Does not," she grumbled.

"Does too," they all answered in unison.

"He wouldn't be mean about it," Jojo continued.

"And we wouldn't stop being your friends," Albert added.

"Plus, even if we suddenly become arch enemies I'm totally still leaving black dahlias on your grave for dramatics," Finch grinned, winking at her. That got her to laugh a little, smiling back at him.

"I just..." She sighed, her shoulders slumping. "I don't want to ruin anything, and I don't want everything to change between us. I'm fine being his friend, that's enough for me. It's just hard to keep my feelings in check when he gets too close to me." Her eyebrows furrowed while she fidgeted with her fingers, not liking how vulnerable she felt while telling all of them that. Albert's arm slid around her shoulders, bringing her into his side. It was awkward and uncomfortable leaning across the gap between their chairs, but she enjoyed the comfort anyway.

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," he said gently. "You have our support either way." Jojo and Finch nodded, both smiling encouragingly at her. She smiled back at them, moving to gather up all of her papers. The boys followed suit, shoving everything back in their backpacks.

"Thank you," she said quietly just as they were all pushing their chairs in.

"Anytime," Albert grinned brightly, throwing his arm around her again and leading them out of the building. A wind blew as they walked out into the October sun, sending a chill through her body and causing her to lean into Albert's body for warmth. They all started walking in the direction of their on-campus apartments, pointing out the most colorful trees and joking about the upcoming party with easy smiles.

"Speak of the devil," Jojo muttered from behind her. She went to turn back to look at him and ask what he meant, but Albert pulled her more securely against him and she laughed.

"Hey guys!" Finch called out, waving wildly. She looked in the direction he was facing and saw Race walking in the opposite direction with Romeo across the street from them. She felt heat rush to her face automatically, lifting her hand in a small wave while sporting a shy smile. Albert and Jojo waved enthusiastically with Finch, receiving an equally energetic wave from Romeo and a small wave from Race. Y/N tilted her head in confusion, frowning. Race never missed the chance to make an ordeal out something as small as seeing his friends across the street, was something wrong? No one else seemed concerned, though, and their small group kept moving. If anything, Finch and Jojo seemed amused, snickering quietly behind her and Albert.

They parted to go to their respective apartments, all three boys giving Y/N a hug goodbye. She took full advantage of their attempts at comfort, holding them tightly and burying her head in their chests. Once she was back in her apartment, her roommates thankfully back home for the weekend, she dropped her bag on the floor and took a deep breath. Race was set to come over a little while later to get ready for the party, that left her some time to clean up a little. He wouldn't care if the apartment was dirty, but she couldn't get rid of the urge to make sure the counters were decluttered and the bathroom where she would be doing his makeup smelled nice. Plus, at least it would give her something to do to distract herself from her ever growing anxiety.

She was definitely going to die.

__________

Race was ten minutes late, but Y/N had already figured he would be when his "omw" text didn't come until a minute after he was supposed to be at her apartment. He grinned at her when she opened the door, arms (adorably) holding the straps of his backpack that she assumed was carrying his costume.

"I wasn't sure if you would want me to put on the costume before or after the makeup," he said as he walked in. "So I just brought it to change into." She liked the way he looked so comfortable in her apartment, facing her casually with his hair messy from the wind. She smiled softly at him, unable to contain her ever present joy at seeing him.

"Before, definitely. If you put it on after you might mess your face up." He nodded, already shrugging his bag off his shoulder.

"Your room okay?" He asked, gesturing in the direction of her bedroom.

"'Course. Just don't mess with anything in there." She playfully pointed a finger at his chest and he laughed as he moved into her room and closed the door behind him. She walked into the bathroom, taking deep breaths and trying to tell herself everything would be okay. Her and Race were friends, and she was perfectly capable of helping him with his Halloween makeup like a normal person. Maybe. Hopefully. Kinda. Probably not. God, she was hopeless.

He found her in the bathroom obsessively reorganizing the makeup, dressed in his full skeleton getup. She smiled when she saw him in it, happy that he hadn't picked something with a good that would have concealed his beautiful curls. With his lanky stature and gangly limbs, the costume worked perfectly for him. He grinned back at her, doing a little shimmy that made her laugh.

"You like?" He wiggled his eyebrows at her and she shook her head in a amusement.

"It looks good," she confirmed, their usual joking banter hindered by her nerves. "We should get started so we have enough time, I still need to get changed and finish my makeup, too." She patted the bathroom counter and he followed her hand, hoisting himself up so he was sitting on the counter facing her, swinging his legs.

She tried not to think too hard as she started on his face, going in with a layer of white before anything else. She could feel his breath on her wrist, but she tried not to think about it. Thinking about it meant her own breath would hitch and then, because their faces were so close, he would notice. She brought a hand up to his jaw to steady his face and resolutely did not think about how easy it would be to pull him to her and kiss him.

Part of her wanted to listen to the boys. She wanted to say fuck it and tell him how she felt about him. She wanted to flirt with him while she had him at her mercy like this, wanted to lean in and put a hand on his thigh for balance just to see how he would react. She wanted to know if his breathing would change, if his heart would skip a beat, if he would look at her with wide eyes or if he would simply smirk and carry on. Or maybe he wouldn't do anything, because it would nothing but a meaningless gesture to him. But, god, she wanted to try. And she wanted to kiss him so badly.

Still, the other part of her triumphed. The part that told her he didn't feel the same way about her, that to him she was just a good friend and if she went and did something stupid she would ruin that.

She asked him to close his eyes and he did so obediently. She took the chance to look at his lips while he wouldn't be able to notice, realizing how quiet he'd been the whole time so far. Once his face was fully covered with white he opened his eyes and she took a small break, giving herself some time to calm down her erratic heart beat. He kicked his legs out again without her standing in front of him to block them.

"So," he started, staring down at his feet instead of looking at her. She tilted her head slightly, waiting for him to continue. "You and Albert, huh?" Her eyebrows furrowed and she stopped short as she went to grab a brush, paused in confusion. "What's going on there?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, trying to laugh to diffuse whatever tension had just overtaken the room but only managing a nervous chuckle.

"You two looked pretty cozy earlier, outside. Do I gotta start preparing myself for you to be acting all gross and couple-y whenever we go out now?" His voice sounded strained, like he was trying to force the question to be casual. She figured it was because he was upset Albert and her wouldn't tell him something like—which, they totally would if that was at all a possibility. Which it wasn't. The whole idea was so ridiculous a strangled laugh bubbled out of her throat.

"Oh, god no. There is nothing romantic happening between me and Albert." She looked down at her hands, avoiding having to look at his face. "No, it was just cold, you know? And he was trying to comfort me because I was upset." Suddenly he was there, standing in front of her. He gently tilted her chin up to look at him and used his other hand to grab hers.

"Babe, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

She was going to cry. She was going to burst into tears, standing in her own bathroom with Race's touch overwhelming her senses. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that he was so handsome and funny and kind and loving. It wasn't fair that whenever he looked at her she felt like no one else existed. It wasn't fair that she couldn't breathe with his hand still resting just under her chin. And the universe was just playing dirty having him call her babe like it was nothing, like it didn't make her heart swell in her chest. Like it didn't absolutely break her. She was definitely gonna cry, her eyes already watery.

His concern only seemed to increase when he saw the distraught look on her face. He tried to take another step toward her but she moved backward, detaching herself from his hands. She breathed deeply, running her hands through her hair as she tried to keep herself from sobbing. He looked so worried—so sad—and it just wasn't fair.

"I'm—" Her words got caught on the lump in her throat. "It's nothing, really. I'm just being dumb." He looked at her disbelievingly.

"Y/N c'mon, you're clearly upset, let me—" He cut himself off at the way she back away from him again while he reached out, hurt flashing across his face. "Here, why don't we just skip out on the party? I'll stay here with you and we can watch old Disney Halloween movies or something." She wanted that so bad, she wanted that more than anything she had ever wanted. But she couldn't, it would only hurt her more.

"No," she sniffled, regaining her composure. "No, you should go. I might stay back, I dunno. But I don't wanna keep you from having fun."

"Hey." His voice was soft, the corners of his lips turning upwards just slightly. He was so beautiful she could have died over it. "I always have fun with you, party or not. If you don't go, I don't go."

"God, Race. You can't just—you can't say things like that." She huffed while he blanched in confusion. "It's not fair."

"What? I don't—"

"Listen, I'll finish your makeup, yeah? And then we'll go to the party and we can pretend like this never happened. Okay?" He nodded mutely, slowly positioning himself back on the counter. The concern wasn't gone from his eyes and his mouth was set in a frown, but he complied.

Not crying was a constant effort the entire time she finished his skeleton makeup. She felt her lip quiver at more than one point and Race's eyes kept darting down toward it. She did her best to keep it steady, not wanting him to see her cry. He had seen her cry before, of course, over classes and movies and the like, but there was a special kind of shame associated with him seeing her cry over him.

It wasn't until after she was done that he spoke up again. "Do you not want to be alone with me?" He asked it so quietly she was sure it must not have come from him, used to his loud, boisterous voice. Her heart broke all over again.

"That's not it, Race. You know that, right? It's not your fault I'm upset." It wasn't, really. If she was going to blame anyone it would all be on herself.

"What, then?" The joking tone was back in his voice, clearly trying to diffuse the tension and brighten the mood. "Too afraid you won't be able to control yourself around me?" Yes. "I know you'd love to jump these bones." She laughed despite herself, playfully hitting his arm. Her reaction made him smile again, and she was glad. He always knew how to cheer her up.

It only took a little while longer for her to change into her costume (just a regular witch in shades of black and purple) and put on her makeup. Race watched her as she put on her dark lipstick, making her nervous and subsequently causing her hands to shake, but she made it through alright.

They left just a bit before the party was supposed to start, Y/N shivering in the cold air as they walked. Race glanced at her a few times, seemingly conflicted, before cautiously wrapping an arm around her. She leaned into his touch and he gripped shoulder more firmly, pulling her into his side. When they stopped to let a car go by she turned to him and wrapped both her arms around him, basking in his warmth. Race was like a heater, generating warmth from the day she met him. He returned her embrace, rubbing her back soothingly.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He mumbled into her ear. A shiver went down her spine at his voice so close to her ear, but she nodded, holding him tighter. They were later to the party then they should've been, having spent a good amount of time in that embrace. It had made her heart all fluttery, not to mention the way it did somersaults every time Race looked at her for the rest of the walk (which was a lot, he must have been really worried).

She expected him to split off once they entered, going to look for some of his other friends, but he stuck by her side. It made her smile, the butterflies in her stomach going wild. They went to grab drinks together and ran into Finch.

"Hey!" He smiled dopily, clearly a little tipsy already. "The makeup looks great," he gestured at Race's face. "And you two look so cute together." Heat rushed to Y/N's face as she quickly took a sip of her drink in order to avoid having to respond. Race simply laughed.

"Yeah, Y/N did an awesome job, right? I knew she would, though. I could feel it in my bones." Y/N groaned and Finch cringed.

"That was awful, dude." Race grinned proudly anyway, waving as Finch left to go back to the friends he was with.

"Did you pick this costume just so you could make bad jokes?" Y/N turned to face Race, raising an eyebrow. He winked, which was all the answer she needed. She wanted to give some sort of sarcastic remark in return, but the wink made her giggle nervously. He seemed content with her response all the same.

About three thousand skeleton jokes later (he had literally greeted Davey by saying "bonejour." Davey had promptly turned around and left the two of them without saying a word), Y/N and Race were sat on the couch together, chatting amicably. She felt better with a bit of alcohol in her veins and a few buckets of false hope from the fact that Race hadn't tried to leave her side once the whole time they'd been there.

"You're such an idiot," she laughed uncontrollably as he relayed a story about him following a squirrel across campus the week prior.

"What can I say?" He grinned cheekily. Her smile dropped.

"Don't you dare—"

"I'm a bonehead." He knocked on his head for good measure.

"Okay that's it, I'm leaving." She moved as if to get up before Race reached out to grab her arm.

"Y/N, no!" He managed to get out through his laughter. "Don't leave me bonely!" She stared at him in disbelief.

"You're the worst," she groaned as she let him pull her back into her seat next to him.

"But you love me anyway." He poked her side and she looked at his face. The makeup looked good, she had to admit, but she wished it had been able to mask his face better. Because looking at his face was still looking at his face, makeup or no makeup, and she had a bad habit of getting caught up in looking at his face. His features seemed to tense, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed harshly. "Drinks!" He said suddenly, breaking their staring contest and practically jumping out of his seat. "I'm gonna go get us more drinks." She nodded, eyebrows furrowed as she watched him scurry off. That had certainly been strange.

"Fancy seeing you here." She turned to see Albert falling into Race's spot beside her, grinning around his own drink.

"Hey," she smiled, adjusting her witch hat.

"You and lover boy work things out yet?" She punched his arm and he gaped at her.

"Shut up," she hissed. "It's not gonna happen, let it go." He rolled his eyes.

"You sure? Because, from what I've seen, he hasn't stopped staring at you all night." She glared at the redhead, pouting.

"Stop giving me hope, asshole. It just makes this worse."

"Makes what worse?" She looked up to find Race standing in front of them, two drinks in hand. She took one from him with a smile.

"Nothing," she shook her head. "Albert's just being annoying."

"Isn't he always?" Race asked with a smirk the same time that Albert said "hey!" Deciding this would be her best chance at payback for teasing her about her crush on Race, she pushed Albert off the couch. Race laughed loudly, stepping over his friend to return to his seat. She smiled brightly at him and he grinned back, bumping her shoulder with his. She had to take a drink to stop the flustered laughter from escaping her throat.

"You two suck," Albert groaned from their feet. It only made them laugh more, still giggling even as Albert stood up grumpily and walked away without saying goodbye.

"Your costume looks really good, by the way." She turned to Race, her smile faltering. "I didn't tell you earlier, but I like it." He said it so earnestly, looking right into her eyes. The only thing she could think of was hoping the boys were ready with those black dahlias, because she was a total goner.

"Thank you," she said softly, lost in his gaze. She thought about them in the bathroom, how she had wanted to put her hand on his thigh just to see how he would react. Thinking of what Albert had said and taking another gulp of her drink, she did just that. She leaned forward and put her hand on his thigh to steady herself. He froze. It was hard to tell over the noise of the party, but she thought she might have heard his breath hitch. She couldn't look away from him, her eyes once again finding his lips.

"You spent so long on this makeup," he muttered. "And it looks really cool." She tilted her head in confusion.

"Huh?"

"I really don't wanna ruin it. I'm sorry."

"Why would you—"

But then he kissed her, so no question she could have asked mattered anyway. He was kissing her. Oh, Albert was gonna laugh so hard when he heard about this.

She kissed him back fervently, one of her hands tangling in the curls at the back of his head while the other remained on his thigh to keep herself steady. One of his hands rested lightly on her waist, squeezing just slightly, while the other caressed her jaw. It felt like in the bathroom earlier that night when he had tilted her chin to look at him, but so much better.

He pulled back before she was ready, eyes still closed as she unconsciously chased his lips. She opened her eyes to see his makeup smudged and definitely some her lipstick on his lips, a warm feeling settling in her chest. But his mouth was pulled into a frown and it sobered her quickly. He was pulling at his hair, his eyes wide with panic and sorrow.

"I'm sorry," he panted. "You're upset, I shouldn't have done that. I've been trying to cheer you up and now I've, like, totally taken advantage of you when you're vulnerable and—"

"Race." He looked at her, face practically begging for forgiveness. She reached for his hands with a small smile. "You're not taking advantage of me. I was only upset because I thought I didn't have a chance with you." She shrugged slightly, averting her eyes. He gaped at her.

"You didn't have a chance with me? Are you kidding?" He tightened his grip on her hands, pulling himself closer to her. "Y/N, I've been pining after you since, like, the day we met. You're ridiculously out of my league." She looked at him with wide eyes, meeting his gaze. They both broke out into grins at the same time before she was leaning in again and he was following.

He tasted like candy and alcohol and she couldn't have asked for anything better. They slid closer to each other on the couch until her hands were clasped together behind his neck, playing with his curls, and his were holding her waist. She couldn't get enough of him. She didn't think she would ever get enough of him. They were both breathing heavily when they pulled away again, foreheads resting against each other.

"You know," Y/N breathed. "If that whole 'just the two of us spending the night at my apartment and watching old halloween movies' offer is still on the table...." He laughed quietly, his head falling to the crook in her neck.

"Definitely still on the table." He pressed a light kiss to her neck and she was dragging him into a standing position immediately, fully ready to get away from all the other partygoers. She wouldn't be able to handle it if his hands wandered any further than they had already gone, she needed time to breathe and process—preferably away from the crowd.

He held her hand and lead her through the sea of people to the front door. Jojo caught sight of them as they made their way out and, presumably seeing their joint hands and messed up makeup, whooped at them. Y/N laughed and Race stuck his tongue out at his friend.

"Which movie do you wanna watch first?" She asked as they walked back, holding onto his arm and leaning into his side.

"Oh, definitely Halloweentown." She smiled, pulling him in for another kiss. He chuckled when they pulled apart. "You know, I would say a skeleton pun right now, but I don't have the guts to ruin this moment."

"Oh my god, Race."

__________

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[mymelodyheart]

Miles Between Us Chapter 1 ~Stories She Wrote~

PICTURE SOURCE

PART 2 OF  WONDERWALL SERIES

Hey guys, I'm back and thrilled to give you part 2 of WONDERWALL series, Miles Between Us. It is a continuation from my holiday ficlet, All I Want For Christmas Is You. If you haven't read the first part, I suggest you do if you wish to get an insight into Jamie and Claire’s history (Here is the link) Otherwise, this ficlet can also be read as a stand-alone.

I know All I Want For Christmas Is You ending was bittersweet, but it had to be done. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been a Part 2 in this series. I had to leave the story open to possibilities if it is to have a chance of growing. And besides, making this into a series allows me to take breaks from writing and refresh my brain in-between ficlets. So I hope this next part of the story will make up for leaving you hanging all these weeks.

Anyway, before you continue, I'd like to thank you for reading, commenting and giving feedback to my stories. They're all very appreciated even if I sometimes don't comment back. As a hobby writer, I always look forward to your response, and they spur me to continue writing. Without the readers, I wouldn't be here. So thank you for being part of my writing journey.

If you wish to read this on AO3, here is the link.

So now everything is said, without further ado, I wish you all happy reading. ❤️

 Previously ...

Claire Elizabeth Beauchamp and James Fraser met and fell in love during the Holiday Seasons. Unfortunately for their budding relationship, after two weeks of a whirlwind romance, Claire has to return to London to finish some work commitment that could take a year to fulfil. It doesn't help matters that Jamie's PTSD condition prevents him from visiting her as loud city noises can trigger panic attacks. They are both in love with each other and are willing to find out where their relationship will head to. But can they find a compromise to bridge the gap of hundreds of miles to give their love a chance?

    After sitting on her bed most of Saturday working on her laptop, Claire Beauchamp rolled her neck and stretched her back, her arms extending above her head. She flinched when her joints cracked. 

Over the past few days, her boss, John Grey, forwarded manuscripts and drafts from the author she was working with. She hadn't eaten anything all day, and her stomach was beginning to grumble, and her eyes blurry from reading.

She'd read so much in the past hours, she was practically cross-eyed, and the bridge of her nose hurt where her specs rested. Words upon words had sifted through her brain, but now the lines were beginning to blur together.

She glanced back down on her laptop and opened a file in her document folder, her eyes scanning through lines she knew by heart. She'd been going through her own work lately wondering if she had what it takes to be a writer. Someone who would give her an honest opinion ought to read it before contemplating getting herself a literary agent if she was to start a new chapter of her life and take that leap of faith in her dream career.

A sudden urgency took over, and she needed Annalise to read her work, like right now. Which reminded Claire, her friend was away with Willie, shopping and sight-seeing. He was staying over their place for the weekend for the first time since she and Annalise left Lallybroch. After declining their invitation to join them earlier, the loved-up couple left her to her work with the promise of dinner when they returned.

She was about to reach out for her cold coffee from the bedside table when Raiders of the Lost Ark's theme song blared from her phone. At the same time, a picture of her uncle Lamb appeared on the screen. He was wearing a high-crowned, wide-brimmed, weather-beaten fedora hat and had a lopsided grin plastered to his thickly stubbled face. Rugged, she thought, just like her favourite pair of distressed leather boots, and very Indiana Jones.

Smiling, she tapped the answer button and put the phone on speaker. "Uncle Lamb! Long time no speak!" 

"Sweetheart," he started in a deep familiar voice, "how are you?"

She frowned and pushed her laptop aside. Something was off. "Oh you know, same old ...just finishing work and ..." 

"On a Saturday?" he asked, cutting her off.

"Look who's talking."

He chuckled. "You're young. You should be out. There are so many things to do in London ...especially on a Saturday. "

Claire rolled her eyes but opted to change the subject instead. She wasn't ready to give her reason for working overtime nor share her future plans nor talk about the handsome Scot she met during her holidays. Not just yet, anyway. "So ...to what do I owe the pleasure of hearing your voice, dear uncle?"

"What?" he said gruffly, pretending to sound offended. "Can't I call my favourite girl in the world and check up on her?" 

She mentally sighed. Something must be up since her uncle never called. It was always she who usually phoned, and when he did call on a rare occasion, it was either because something had happened or he was in London. She dismissed the latter since she knew he was in Papua New Guinea. The next conclusion she landed on was his health but thought it absurd. Her uncle was strong as an ox, ate healthily, only smoked the occasional cigar and regularly went for doctor's check-up, a requirement in his job as an archaeologist travelling to remote places.

Unless. "You sound suspiciously chipper. Let me guess ...you met someone. There's a woman in your life." 

He coughed like he was choking on a drink. "No! Why would you say that?" 

Alright, he sounded repulsed by the idea enough. Or was that denial? "I don't know. You seem so ...how shall I say it ...unlike yourself. You normally skip the niceties and get to the point." 

He lets out an impatient breath. "Claire, darling, am I really that awful?"

"No," she replied, ignoring the ache in her throat. She missed their time together but tried not to make it apparent in her tone. He was a busy man, and the last thing she wanted was her uncle worrying. "You don't seem like you're rushing off to anywhere. It's rare you sound this relax."

"It's way past my bedtime already," he sighed. "And besides, work is on stand-by at the moment until we get the license to start digging on site. People here are so damn laid back, and nobody seems to be in a hurry to process the paperwork. I'm not about to hand out cash to speed things along even if bribery is rampant here."

"I see. So you're in Port Moresby then?"

"Yes. As soon as we have the license sorted out, we'll be flying to Lae first thing tomorrow. Hopefully, anyway." He cleared his throat. "Speaking of paperwork, I received an email from my lawyer. Your trust fund has matured, dear. I'll send you the details where to go to and who to contact, and maybe you can start planning your life. Perhaps take a sabbatical and travel with me if you wish."

Ah yes, the trust fund. 

After her parents died, everything they had owned was put into her trust fund by her uncle to secure her future. She'd already received a small lump sum when she turned eighteen, and the money had afforded her, though small and cramped, a decent rental two-bedroom apartment in London with high windows, which was premium in this expensive city. And Annalise, her best friend and roommate made enough money to help pay the ridiculous expensive utility bills. Her own wage just about covered the other expenses with almost nought left for savings, but she hadn't worried knowing there was money in place in her name. She was counting on it to support herself when she pursued her dreams of writing.

"About that, I think I'll let that sit in the bank for a while. It's not like I need the money right now, nor do I have the time to spend it."

"As you wish," her uncle replied. "And another thing I need to discuss with you ...South Lodge ..."

"What about South Lodge?" South Lodge should have been her family home if her parents hadn't died, and she knew it was a highly coveted property because of its historical significance. It was never put into the market for sale since her uncle thought it wasn't his place to decide. It was put on a twenty-year lease to a high profile politician, its payments going towards her trust fund.

"The lease is up, and the occupants will be moving out soon. Unfortunately for you, that information made it to the local news and you were mentioned as the legatee. So don't be surprised if you're bombarded with offers now that your name is out. I'm willing to bet, property investors and developers will be itching to get their hands on it."

Claire took off her specs and pinched the bridge of her nose. God, she hated adulting, paperwork and dealings with lawyers. Maybe she should just sell South Lodge and be done with it, so she could concentrate on her future plans. What do I need a five-bedroom house with one acre of garden in Oxford for? "I'll think about it, uncle. I just have a lot of things going on at the moment. I'm quite sure those things can wait."

"Of course dear."

"Thank you for letting me know." She thought of Jamie, and the Highlands and how much life was a lot simpler there. She really needed to double her effort to tie up loose ends in London and have a heart to heart talk with Annalise. Is her relationship with Willie serious? If not, her friend would have to eventually find a new roommate. After quickly glancing at her bedside clock, she realised they would be here soon and hopefully with a takeaway. Annalise did mention something about sorting dinner out tonight.

"And Claire?"

"Yes?"

"Your upbringing hasn't been the most ideal. Enjoy the money and treat yourself. Don't spend your life doing things that don't bring you joy."

She smiled. Her uncle must have had a rude awakening of some sort to sound so philosophical. Or probably, he did meet someone special. Either way, she wasn't going to push for any answers for now. She really needed to get out of bed, do a few stretches and have a shower before Annalise, and Willie arrived. "I'll try," she finally said.

"Good. I'll let you get back to whatever you're doing."

"Sadly, yes." She shut her laptop and got out of bed. "Take care of yourself, alright? And I'll phone you sometime next week after I've figured out our time differences." 

"Absolutely, sweetheart. Talk soon." 

"Love you, uncle Lamb." 

"Love you, too." 

She terminated the call with a swipe on her screen and rubbed her eyes. She'd been working for seven hours straight, and her eyeballs felt like they're made of sandpaper. Glancing at the corner table, she smiled when she saw Jamie's gifts. Willie had brought them with him when he arrived last night from Inverness. She knew Jamie was making up for his absence, but it couldn't be helped when there's the danger of his PTSD condition worsening in the city. To her delight and surprise, he'd sent her a leather-bound journal, a framed selfie photo of them together, driftwood bookends he made and a box of her favourite Lindt chocolate.

With a contented sigh, she made a mental note to call Jamie after dinner. And to ask her boss first thing Monday morning if she could take her work to Scotland the following weekend to surprise her boyfriend. After all, she was just taking her uncle's advice, and after the work, she'd put in the last couple of weeks, and the extra hours she planned to do the next few days, she deserved a little joy in her life.

..........

Claire leaned forward, and nervously examined her best friend's face. Annalise was hunched down, scrolling her laptop, tongue darting out as she read the paragraphs on the screen. 

What's that look for? Doesn't she like it? She couldn't tell. It was the first time she's showing her work to anyone, one of the stories she had written during her spare time before embarking a career as an editorial assistant for Dreamcatcher Publishing Company. She needed to hear her friend's opinion to know if she even had a small chance of becoming a writer.

Annalise took her sweet time, and Claire wasn't sure if her inscrutable expression was a deliberate act to prolong the suspense, or if she genuinely had no reaction to what she's reading. If it was the latter, Claire would definitely kiss her dream of being a writer goodbye. If it's the former, she's going to strangle her friend for making her suffer. 

She heard the door to the apartment open and close, followed by the sound of keys jangling and heavy footfalls, announcing the arrival of Willie. He'd stopped by to order some food at a local Indian takeaway while Annalise headed straight home to prepare the table for dinner. Instead of calling out to him, she held her breath for Annalise's response. 

Just when Claire was starting to accept her hope of being a writer would never amount to anything other than a pipe dream, she saw the reaction she impatiently waited for. Annalise's mouth formed a comical O, followed by her eyes' widening and random shallow sighs. 

Yessssssss! 

This was massive. Despite Annalise having seen works from established authors Claire had edited for, she'd never witnessed her friend looked this excited. Annalise simply couldn't hide her gobsmacked expression, even if she tried.

"Oh, dear Lord," she whispered, her gaze flicking to Claire and then back to the screen. "Why didn't you tell me you had this? I knew you wanted to be a writer, but this ..."

"So?" 

Annalise took a massive deep breath, her fingers almost shaking. "Oh my God, Claire." 

"Oh my God, wot? Oh my God good or oh my God, bad?" Claire asked, even though she already knew deep in her bones, what the answer was. But she desperately needed to hear the words.

"This is bloody good," she said, as she went back to a previous page, and reread it all over again. After a couple of minutes more, a slow smile started to spread across her face, as she stole a few cheeky glances over at Claire.

Claire knew she could rely on her friend to tell her the truth. If her work had been bad, friend or not, Annalise would have been forthright and told her the hard facts. Nevertheless, she tamped down her own growing excitement. "The question is though ...is it good enough for the mass?" 

Without hesitation, Annalise nodded vigorously, her blue eyes big as saucers. "Oh, Claire, are you kidding me? You really have no idea, have you? Of course, it is! I need to read the rest. Please tell me it's finished." 

Claire relaxed for the first time and slumped back against the headboard of her bed, relief soothing her wild heartbeat. "It's finished."

Annalise let out a whoop as she gripped the laptop tightly. "Oh my God! Give me everything ...I won't be able to sleep tonight if I don't read at least one more chapter of this story." 

"I've got ten more finished materials."

"Oh my God, oh my God! You're killing me. I want it all."

Willie poked his head by the frame of the doorway to her bedroom and eyed them suspiciously. She wasn't sure what he expected to find, but his eyes narrowed when he saw Annalise's flushed face. 

"What are ye both up to?" he asked, frowning. "Ye sound like ye're looking at porn on the internet." 

Annalise grinned and motioned him over. "Sort of." 

Willie hesitantly entered the room. "Sorry?"

"In actual fact, much better than porn ..." Annalise announced, smirking at Claire.

"Annalise!" Claire wheezed when it dawned on her, her friend must have been reading the sex scene part.

Annalise reached out and reassuringly squeezed Claire's hand whilst looking at Willie. "Take a look at this. Claire wrote it."

Annalise handed the laptop to Willie, and both of them earnestly watched his face to gauge his reaction. As he sat down on the edge of the bed and read, Claire knew he would be the real test. Willie being a bloke, she didn't expect him to have the same reaction as Annalise, but she hoped he would appreciate the storyline and plot. Claire already understood, if her story was going to be good enough to be published, its success would be based on women's purchasing power. If he liked her style of writing even a smidgen, then she would be laughing. 

Claire held her breath in anxious anticipation, and approximately a minute and a half later, she got her response. 

His eyes bulged out, and then the tips of his ears glowed with red. In all sort of ways, he was so similar to Jamie but yet so different. But there's no mistaking how vibrantly their ears always lit up when they're embarrassed. Or moved. 

"Kind of explicit," he commented hoarsely, before tucking a tongue into his cheek as if trying to find the right words to say. "But it is an intriguing story with great flow and interesting characters. It's no' the genre I would typically read, but the first few paragraphs of what I've seen so far are riveting. It makes me want to read more."

Annalise, enthusiastically nodded in agreement and waved a hand in the air. "There it is." 

"Ye have a gift, Claire," Willie added, eyes still fixed on the screen and working overtime as his focus became more intense. "The dose of mystery ye've woven into the lines is remarkable and intelligent."

She felt herself beaming in vindication. "Thank you." 

He briefly glanced up at her. "Now that I remember, Jamie did vaguely mention ye wanted to be a writer."

"That's the plan," she beamed.

"Good. Because if ye can produce something like this, then yer talent is wasted on editing other people's work."

"She's got ten more finished stories," Annalise piped in.

Willie arched an eyebrow at Claire and continued reading, and when he finished, he shook his head and let out a low whistle. "Is Jamie the inspiration for this story?"

Her face heated. "I ...ah ...wrote that years ago. And ...um, I've revised and edited it a million times in the past. I wanted Annalise to read it first and find out if it's good enough to be published."

Annalise grinned at Willie, still looking a little flush like she was having a physical reaction to the few lines she'd read earlier. "So what do you think?"

Willie didn't miss Annalise's excited reaction to the story. "It's verra good but I didnae realised graphic scenes affected ye so much. Ye're beet red!" 

"Only when it's very well written," Annalise smirked, taking the laptop from his hands and moving towards him to sit on his lap. 

Willie pulled Annalise closer and kissed her, and Claire sighed. It's both beautiful and terrible being in the presence of people, so in love. While she's ecstatic to see her best friend smitten and happy, it made her sad that Jamie couldn't be here with her. She missed him terribly, and it's only been a fortnight since she had last seen him.

After a few seconds of watching them unashamedly snogged in front of her, Claire clapped her hands, and they both immediately pulled away. "Right, that's enough you two. So, where's the dinner I was promised?"

Suddenly looking self-conscious, Willie promptly lifted Annalise from his lap, plonked her down onto the bed and jumped up, and Claire couldn't help but grin at him.

"Right on it," he muttered, before disappearing from her bedroom.

Annalise laughed and playfully shoved her shoulder. "Passion killer."

Claire ignored the jest. "So you really think I should publish my story?"

Her friend nodded excitedly. "Absolutely! You should have let me read it sooner. From what I've seen so far, you have good, solid material, and I'm convinced, when I read the rest, it will not disappoint." She stood up and smiled. "Come on, in as much as I'm all fired up after reading your story, I'm famished." She got up and left the room.

Instead of moving from her position, Claire stared at her work for a few seconds and just breathed. Although Willie and Annalise were sincere with their praises, she couldn't help but still feel nervous. This next step in her life could either turn out to be huge, or it could get her mocked out of a dream career she loved. 

Pushing aside her doubts and thinking of Jamie, she quickly compressed a copy of her story's file and sent it to him via email to read, hoping he would like her written work too. Who knew, maybe, after reading it, he would be as fired up as Willie and Annalise. 

After hearing the whoosh of the email sent, Claire launched herself off the bed to join her friends, looking forward to Jamie's reaction later and daydreaming of a future in Scotland with her love.

[jeonjk0504]

why didn’t you say anything about the racism bts have faced these past days :(

Hey anon!

I actually haven‘t been online here because of the racism debate. I was on twitter and was supporting it there on two accounts nonstop! if you want to follow me, my @ is also jeonjk0504 :)

You are completely right though, i should have spoken up on my platform here sooner, to educate my followers on this really important matter!

If i make mistakes or should word things differently, please let me know, as you can tell i‘m not native.

The short version:

Credits to @ squishykosmos (twt)!

What happened?

3 days ago, the german radio host Matthias Mattuschik from the station Bayern3 spew racist remarks about BTS because of their MTV Unplugged cover of coldplay. He is a fanboy of coldplay and only wanted to introduce their song ‚Fix you‘ but somehow it was necessary to explain to his listeners why it was an utter insult that BTS had an MTV unplugged concert (he called it paradox, because it‘s a boyband) where they were allowed to cover his favorite song. Coldplay allowed the cover by the way and even commented on it positively.

Here are two links from his original rant, translated in english:

https://twitter.com/bts_updates_ger/status/1365211269133971458?s=21 (Part 1)

https://twitter.com/atinystrawbery/status/1365052883771785219?s=21 (Part 2)

As a german i know that to other people our language sounds quite agressive in general, but this is a whole different level. This isn‘t said in a jokingly way, it‘s pure hatred.

He called BTS a virus against which hopefully there will be a vaccine soon, that their cover of coldplay is blasphemy and that they are little pisser who should get a 20-year vacation in North Korea. Considering the rising violence against Asians all over the world because of Covid, his speech is extremely harmful and normalizes hate against Asians apart from the fact that it was racism in it’s purest form. Why the wish for a South Korean Group to have vacation in the North Korean dictatorship is inhumane and racist, i hopefully don‘t have to explain further. He even said, he can‘t be xenophobic, because he drives a korean brand car (which turned out to be japanese). The new ‚i can‘t be racist, i have a black friend‘.

This also hasn‘t been the first time, in 2018 he made an antisemetic comparison between smoker and jews for which he got a little attention, but no consequences.

Furthermore ARMY dug up a picture on his instagram from 2020 with the caption ‚ Is more evidence needed?!?,‘

A short note:

What makes this even more infuriating is that the radio station is regulated by public-law and german citizens are OBLIGATED to pay for it. We literally are forced to pay money to a radio station that broadcasts openly racist slurs! And no, it‘s not allowed. They have policies that explicitly say they are not allowed to discriminate, they have to support diversity and have to be politically and economically independant.

Do they give a fuck? Apparently not really.

Did Bayern3 answer the hashtags and the pressure?

They did, first came a short nonpology where they said that the show, which Matthias Matuschik is broadcasting, is known for his direct and honest opinions and that he could have worded it better. They are sorry if anyone felt insulted, which is excusing the feeling of the fans, but not the act in itself.

After Army answered with the hashtag ‚Racism is not an opinion‘ and various media coverage surfaced, they posted a second ‚apology‘, where they -again- said that they are distancing themselves from what was said and Matthias has always been an avid supporter of refugees so he is very far away from being a racist. (Supporting refugees doesn’t excuse you from saying racist things though.) Matthias stated that he is shocked from the reactions, that he is ‚sorry if people felt what he said was racist‘ and that his family is getting death threats. (which is in no way acceptable of course.) They would review what was said so it doesn‘t happen again.

Here you can read the statements in german and translated in english:

First statement: https://twitter.com/bts_updates_ger/status/1365087239756259330?s=21

Second statement: https://twitter.com/bts_updates_ger/status/1365305564050382849?s=21

This would have probably been the beginning of a conversation, if Matthias wouldn‘t have went to facebook after his second apology to like a supporting post that basically stated that the topic is way overhyped and in the 80s you were allowed to say your opinion without people getting butthurt (this is a short form.) He completely revised his remorse literally the same day after the updated apology and supported a statement that was gaslighting the people who critized him. You can read the facebook post here:

https://twitter.com/traveltomyrm/status/1365321397342461957?s=21

Since then: Nothing. My mom told me yesterday they‘re playing dynamite a lot, i told her to switch the channel.

News Coverage

Thankfully, we got a lot of support from I-ARMY and K-ARMY, otherwise we wouldn‘t have been able to trend the hashtags day and night and kept them in the top categories in germany and worldwide. We also got a lot of support from international media who called out the racism and put them into context in really amazing articles. (Also K-Media and J-Media but i only have screenshots, no links) Here are a few of them:

https://rollingstoneindia.com/xenophobic-german-presenters-comments-about-bts-are-just-the-tip-of-the-racist-iceberg/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrolli/2021/02/26/bts-were-once-again-the-subject-of-racist-on-air-remarks-and-received-a-pathetic-non-apology/

We even got celebrities like halsey, max, lauv, steve aoki, JJ Ryan, DJ Swivel, Liam McEwan, Zara Larsson, MTV UK, Columbia Records and some more bring attention to the issue and show their support for BTS in the face of racism.

This support was probably the reason why we even got a second ‚apology‘, because guess what? German media ain‘t having it. Since the beginning of our protest, i think i saw 2 articles in total which actually called it racism, various newspapers and online magazines were downplaying it by talking about ‚insults‘ and concentrating on Matthias calling BTS pisser instead of quoting the actual racist remarks he made. We got no TV news whatsoever. So naturally, german locals looking at this protest think that Fans are going on a rampage because their favorite boygroup got insulted.

It has been maddening. The radio station and host have been trying to sit this whole thing out for days, in hope we lose energy over the weekend and it‘s draining to not be heard or taken seriously. For me it‘s still a priviledged perspective, because i don‘t have to bear consequences when this thing is over, one way or another. But for Asians in our country, also some of my friends, this horror in times of covid will continue. The lack of serious German Media coverage has been frustrating and embarrasing to say the least, but also shown again, that the topic gets overshadowed by prejudices against KPop, the fanbase and Asians as part of satirical fun (which it isn‘t).

Why is that?

This is my personal take and not a deep analysis, just my personal observations: Germany might be progressive in a lot of aspects, but they still have deeply ingrained every day racism against asians and they have a huge problem realizing and admitting to that. We don‘t have a lot of asian representation and there is a huge alieniation from asians for a lot of german 50+ (also less, but those are the ones in power mostly). Racism against Asians is not seen enough and people don‘t empathize, partly because they‘re white privileged people who don‘t have to live with certain stigma, partly because they simply don‘t care to educate themselves about minorities in their own country. This ignorance is widespread, if it doesn‘t happen in front of your doorstep, it‘s probably nonexistant. It‘s also not only reserved for Asians, january 2021 we had a talkshow where 5 white german people talked happily about what minorities such as Romani people think as insulting or racist. They did get a lot of backleash because obviously they talk about matters, without letting minorities be part of the discussion, but real consequences? Nope.

I doubt that this protest will get Matthias Matuschik fired (which it should if you are openly racist on a public platform), because the pressure is too low and the radio station has shown with their first statement that they thought it‘s rather funny than problematic. But i don’t know what‘s going to happen. Apart from being an ARMY, i am an adult who condemns racism in any way or form. Why german media chooses to overlook the essence of the debate and makes it a hystercial fanbase issue is beyond me.

If you want to have a look yourself, you can follow German Fanbase accounts, such as @ BTS_UPDATES_GER for updates in german and english.

And at last, here is a thread on how german media reproduces Anti Asian Racism : https://twitter.com/storiesbythuy/status/1366073706817196046?s=21

German Armys are trying to come up with a plan to gain more attention for the topic at the moment, so we‘ll see how things turn out! Please support us if possible!

[ae0nx]

FRUITS BASKET S3 EPISODE 8 RECAP AKA THE KYORU CHRONICLES PART 2 (plus a quick recap of eps 3-7)

aaaaaaAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!! I gotta get it out of me otherwise I won't be able to concentrate on work and I will be scrolling through the tag till the day I die. Everything from episode 3 of Season 3 literally hit me like an avalanche - literally cos I marathoned 3-7 over the weekend which I wouldn't advise unless you want an accelerated heartbeat - and I'm starting to realise... maybe I just wasn't ready for season 3. Despite asking for it, haha. Not gonna put as many screencaps for this one cos tumblr editing bay be trippin and I just don't have time nor emotional energy to be fighting with the picture uploads, sorry lol

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

Episodes 3 - 7

I spoke before about how (despite my feelings about the characters) the English dub VAs for Akito and Shigure pair up really well audibly. And I think I feel the same way about both Yuki and Machi's English VAs! They both have the same soft spoken yet scratchy element to their voices almost like they are holding slightly back. Although, I'd argue that Yuki has been losing the element of slightly holding back as the anime has gone on which I wonder if the same would be included for Machi's performance?

I really like the presentation of Machi's trauma through her family's expectations to be perfect and how physical it is? How Yuki kind of encourages her to let it out in a healthy way? (Btw the whole chalk breaking scene in the meeting was SO FUCKING SMOOTH. YUKI IS A NERD BUT HE IS SO EFFORTLESSLY COOL A LOT OF THE TIME)

The age gap between Isuzu and Haru for sure isn't the worst age gap in this anime/manga but it's still a bit... hmm...

Episode 4:

In all seriousness, I know Akito deserves some sympathy but it doesn't change the fact that I still see her as a villain. Hurt people hurt people but it doesn't mean they should get away with it, I was honestly pleased Haru got that big confrontation with Akito to tell her WHAT'S WHAT but it was also somewhat... merciful?

Hiro's growth has been so beautiful to see, him realising there are bigger things than him from the event with Rin to his relationship with Kisa to then the birth of his little sister.

Kureno choosing to get his hands a little dirtier and paying the ultimate price for it (as far as we know so far in the anime lol) was great, he is the moon side of Tohru's sunshine.

Shigure... I still don't really get him and Akito's relationship. It's clear he's waiting for Akito to grow the fuck up but at the same time he's not creating an environment for her to grow and develop. He's decided to go with the 'tough love' route which I'm still deciding whether I like it or not tbh. Sometimes it feels necessary, at other times it feels shitty. I respect that he knows he's a scumbag and I don't deny that there are people out there who take revelry in the fact that they are awful but at the same time, him remaining unchanging despite everything feels... unrealistic. But considering throughout this story he doesn't seem affected by trauma, it's understandable, I guess?

Also... that scene where Shigure ponders about whether he should've been with Tohru is THE creepiest creeper shit he's EVER done in this series. No. 🙅🏾‍♀️

Momiji is best bunny boi regardless of how tall and 'manly' he becomes. 🐰His scene with Akito was so authentically him and he really did that shit. We love him. <3

I love the way that the curse breaking should (on surface) be a happy event considering all the trauma the zodiac went through because of it but it's presented mostly as loss as well as happiness. It's the realness of getting out of a bad relationship

Shigure basically laying it out to Tohru how Kyo means nothing in a very taunting way was an excellently painful scene and I choose violence. It was heartbreaking seeing how worthless they all saw Kyo compared to how Tohru saw him but... by this point I was just living in the pain so 🤷🏾‍♀️

The story visually showing how Isuzu is more willing to be soft after her whole ordeal through her fashion choices (e.g. the pastels, the cardigans) was really nice. And Haru being happy about Isuzu making friends with Tohru was cute!

It was nice we saw that Kazuma was still wary about whether Tohru loved Kyo for the right reasons, you'd assume after everything Kazuma would love Tohru as a match for Kyo but he's so emotionally intelligent and also just a protective Dad! Yay, good parenting!

Tohru's confession to loving Kyo was amazing however I still adore Kyo's confession a little bit more. Just a bit. Lol. However, if you add the moment later in episode 8 it trumps it completely. Ethereal goddess.

Kyo and Tohru's grandfather having a scene together was great and nice

Now that I think about it, I wish there was more a visual link in the story between Tohru adapting her speech to imitate her Dad and Momiji adopting his Mum's German accent. Albeit for slightly different reasons, it just adds to the unique connection Tohru and Momiji have. In short, I'm seeing this ship with my third eye now. I get it lol

I don't wanna screencap the scene where Kyo is haunted by both his deceased mother and deceased Kyoko and potentially deceased Tohru because it's the stuff of nightmares. But, it was a wonderfully done scene. You definitely understand fully and clearly why Kyo buried all of that trauma under his hatred for Yuki (I CAN'T WAIT FOR EPISODE 9, YOU GUISE!)

If Akito is a villain, Ren is the final boss. Although, with her type of villainy... I feel like I can kind of enjoy a bit more. She reminds me of a Greek God in the ways she master manipulates people and her desperation for control and power (I just read 'Mythos' by Stephen Fry, it's a great read lol)

It lowkey feels like every female character who's comfortable in expressing their sexuality in this story is punished in some way for it... this is an incomplete thought

Shigure as a child feeling like they should all be pitied is so... mature... I feel like I need more of an explanation for why Shigure is the way he is

Akito's ego death with Kureno? Amazing. I loved that she was at least aware enough to realise how Kureno had been coddling her all this time but again... doesn't excuse her crimes

But anyways...

EPISODE 8

Honestly? I really don't have much to say about this episode besides 3-5 points I wanna get out of my head. It's not a bad thing at all, it's just that there's still a lot left to play out from this 'arc' and this season in general that I wanna complete my thoughts on.

But I'll start with this:

Lol, isn't it funny?! Isn't it heart-wrenchingly funny how the relationship between Kyo and Tohru has kinda reverted back to how they were at the start of the series? The coldness of Kyo at the beginning of this episode (and throughout) was a bit of a gut punch considering all the light and fluffy moments that we've gotten between the two since the True Form arc.

Talking about the True Form arc, I feel like this episode is somewhat a repeat of the same emotions, same trials of the True Form arc. Kyo still 'runs away like he always has' but this time we get him being the most honest and confrontational with his own emotions and trauma than he ever has been during the course of this whole story. While trusting someone (Tohru specifically) for the first time with the whole truth of his story! He always seems to move one step forward and then three steps backwards and while it's a tad bit frustrating, it feels very... real. I'll probably complete my feelings how this arc reflects the True Form arc when we finish this section of the story in future episode(s).

Considering the fact that 80% of this episode is Jerry Jewell monologuing as Kyo and I never got bored really just sells his performance. Kyo was being incredibly cold this episode and yet the range of emotions through his performance made it feel understandable enough for you to empathise with it.

BrattyKid!Kyo to lighten the mood 😹I still wish he and Hiro had more of a relationship, I feel like they could have taught each other a lot. Well... mostly Kyo teaching Hiro tbh

Kyo rejecting Kyoka for her honesty and kindness and then later rejecting Tohru? Oh... kid...

Wow, I felt so good about that whole episode of Kid!Yuki helping Kid!Tohru get home and then it's slightly soured knowing KID!KYO was running about the streets alllll night into the morning?!?! I really did feel Kyo's frustration at not getting that win to actually do something right. And the irony of that being linked to him being unable to save Kyoka from the oncoming car?

Honestly, I don't know what my feelings are on Kyo being unable to save Kyoka. I don't even know what my feelings are on Tohru pretty much pushing that aside in favour of her feelings for Kyo. It's... complicated and I've been mulling it over in my head for the last 10+ years hahah However, if I was in Tohru's position I think I'd eventually come to a point where it feels like it's too late to really do anything about how bad I'd feel about it. Kyo's intentions weren't horrid, if anything he was just being a scared kid and he's allowed to be that. I just wish Tohru had a bit more time to evaluate it but considering she knew her mother well and assumes that wouldn't have been the full scope of what she had said, I don't have much of a problem with it in general

Lol, I love when Tohru gets a 'FUCK YOU, I LOVE YOU' moment with Kyo. 😂Another reflected scene from the True Form arc... only thing is that this time... it doesn't quite work. 😕

(Again, I love how all of these reflections are resolved in later occurences in response to the duality but I'll get to it next week when it shows hopefully)

Laura Bailey only had a few sentences in this episode but she killed it as always. Comparing her performance in 2001 to now is just... growth!

Ok, so Yuki automatically gets Best Boi in this episode for meddling and chasing after KYO of all people. Showing how he's personally done with hating Kyo. Realising Kyo is pretty much the only person who'll make his mother happy. I think he also lowkey wants to understand Kyo? But, we'll get to that next week.

....Oh yeah, Akito is there.

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

In total, I liked this episode even though it has me anxious for the next one. We finally get the full picture of why Kyo is the way he is! Ahhhh - a weight off all our chests, I'm sure. I kinda don't like that they put the ending theme at the end of these episodes - the joyfulness doesn't really match up with the intense theme? But, that's just a minor gripe. And hey, maybe they just want the audience to know... it's all gonna be okay :)

See you next week!!!

[itstittycitybaby]

From the Ashes we are Born (Part 9)

 A/N: First things first if you read this through you are now a sinner sorry I don’t make the rules. Secondly, thank you @lazy-potato-author�� for this request! I hope you enjoy it! I have another request that will be out either this weekend or in the beginning of next weekend, so make sure to keep an eye out for that. After I get these requests out I might take some more it just depends on my schedule. This is a smut fic but V is not railing you in this one, because with a bullet wound it’s just not gonna happen lmao. Also, V is a switch and no you cannot tell me otherwise. Anyways I hope you guys enjoy reading this!

Warnings: smut, nsfw 18+. Fingering, bit of dirty talk and praise. Enjoy my fellow sinners.

V grunted; one of chancellor’s men had managed to pelt him with a bullet. Thankfully, it didn’t hit anything important but it hurt like hell. V winced when he tried to laugh. The trouble he would be in once he got home to his darling was something he admittedly was looking forward to. Not the scolding, or the lecturing, but being able to see your face again. V’s right hand held tightly over the wound as he hobbled back to the shadow gallery. He couldn’t tell if he was bleeding badly thanks to his attire, but the sharp pain did not ease. It felt hot, like it was burning him. V laughed bitterly which caused him to wheeze. He knew too much about fire and how its unforgiving flames swept over your skin. V cursed himself; he promised he would be more careful from now on. Just a bit of a ways farther, he told himself.

“V!” He jumped at the voice of his love. Your eyes shifted to the hand holding his side as he leaned on the dining table. “Hello there darling,” V wheezed out, wincing. There was a simmer of anger in your eyes as you watched your boyfriend lean on the table for support. Godammit, you thought. He just got home! “V, what happened?” He didn’t say anything as he removed his daggers and hat and placed them on the table. You worried over him like a mother hen which made his heart swell at the thought. Though, he couldn’t help but feel guilty. V grunted, “I think I got shot.” “You think?!” You sighed turning away from your masked boyfriend. “Stay right there I’m getting the first aid kit,” you shouted over you, dashing towards the bathroom. Cursing, you grabbed it from under the sink and hurried to V. His breathing sounded irregular and he was gripping onto the table. The leather gloves were gone and his scarred hands turned white from the pressure he was putting on the edge of the table. The pads of your feet burned from running so fast but you didn’t care. “V I’m gonna need you to sit down.” “I-I can take care of it my darling, y-you...need some rest.” With a heated glare you repeated, “Sit.” V shrunk, which caused another grunt. Gently, you slung your arm around the good part of his torso and led him to a kitchen chair. You set the first aid kit on the table beside the belt of daggers and V’s hat. One layer down. “V..you’re not gonna like this but we’re gonna have to take off your tunic.” Silence. “V,” you said softly. “I need to look at the wound before it gets worse.” He sighed, causing him to curse softly in pain. “Alright, my darling,” he replied. There was a hint of sadness in his tone.

 Giving him a reassuring smile and a kiss on his head, you helped your boyfriend shimmie out of the top. V let out a hiss as the tunic sank onto his wound. “Sorry,” you said sheepishly, being more careful to get him out of the damn thing. The blood made the tunic stick to the wound and really it was just a sticky gross mess in general. A gasp threatened to claw its way out of your throat once you got the tunic off. V’s chest was burned, heavily burned. There were scars littered across it with an angry reddish colour. You swallowed your surprise, though. V was already ashamed and insecure. V’s head was low, refusing to look at you in the eye. Even with his scars, he was still beautiful. “V,” you whispered. “You’re beautiful.” His head shot up out of surprise. A groan left his lips as a flare of pain flashed him.“Right sorry,” you exclaimed, remembering why the both of you were here in the first place. Grabbing your supplies you knelt down in front of him. “Stay still as best as you can, if you need something to hold onto you can squeeze my shoulder,” you muttered.

You’re beautiful. The pain was sharp but dulled once he kept replaying your words in his head. V was anything but beautiful; he has blood on his hands. His skin was far from beauty. Disgusting. Mortifying. Every time he saw himself in the mirror he couldn’t help but sneer. His angel had to be lying to him. V’s head perked up at the sound of gauze being unwrapped. “After this you should be done,” you said. “Just be careful; we don’t want the stitches to bust, so no moving around without me,”  you softly chided. “You have to be more careful V. I don’t want something bad to happen to you.” He didn’t say anything, just kept trying to focus on the feeling of being patched up. The wound just throbbed now and to his right the bloody bullet lay on the table. “Why do you lie to me, my darling?” The tips of your brows furrowed in confusion as you bandaged him. “What?” “You said I was beautiful, love,” V said softly , “I am many things but I do not have beauty in me.” “Yes, you do. I haven’t been this happy in years, V. You’ve shown me patience and compassion. You look at me like I’m the most perfect thing in the world. Your voice is deep and rich. I love your scars V. They tell a story. Whatever happened was awful and you shouldn’t have gone through that, but,” you said, double checking the gauze you put over his wound. “It shows that you survived something and you’re still here to tell the tale.”  There was a mischievous glint in your eye. Leaning up, you placed a kiss to his chest. V froze; his blood felt cold and underneath the mask his cheeks flushed (thank god you couldn’t see it or you’d tease him relentlessly). V’s breath hitched at the feeling of your soft lips greeting his chest with a kiss.

 You sent him a wink before getting up and putting the supplies away. “After I get back, wanna watch something,” you asked, gesturing your head to the living room. V nodded. He didn’t trust his voice right now. You sent him one last smile before heading into the living room. V was alone with his thoughts again. The only thing he could think about was your soft lips on his horrid skin.

The hot mug of tea warmed his bare hands. The Princess Bride played on the old television. The lights were off, the T.V. gave off a soft glow but other than that the both of you were surrounded in darkness. V’s darling sat comfortably next to him, her eyes glued to the screen. He couldn’t concentrate on the film playing even though he enjoyed it. He felt vulnerable and bare without his tunic. The scarred burns and roughness of his skin was a hard reminder of the torture he endured. Everyday he was reminded of the need for vengeance and the underlying anger beneath his heart. V knew you deserved better; you deserve someone who wasn’t horrid looking or angry. You were kind and loving (albeit a mischievous minx at times), who saw the good in people. Even then, you understood V’d need to restore balance and peace. England needed a new era, it’s people have suffered for too long. Whoever took up that spot was not in his hands but hopefully, he’d be able to rid London of the monsters lurking in the shadows.

V was not paying attention to the movie. Sure, it was your favorite and not his, but he was more attentive. His posture seemed tense and uncomfortable. It made you sad knowing that V thought of himself unworthy and felt insecure. Though, you could hardly blame him. The scars that covered his torso were great in numbers and his skin was angry and raw. It reminded you of the silent rage and danger hidden underneath your boyfriend’s persona. V had never hurt you and he was an amazing lover, but you could feel the hatred. The thought excited you. The anger was quiet but whenever it came out of the shadows, it was violent. Witnessing V in battle was something you always watched in awe. Slowly, you tested the waters. You shifted closer to your masked lover. Very slowly you put your head on V’s bare shoulder. He became rigid and stiff as a board but eventually he sunk into you. V’s head rested on yours; the guy fawkes mask kissing you with its lips. He seemed more relaxed but still alert to your movements as Buttercup tumbled down after Wesley. “They’re so dumb,” you giggled, the bright orange dress Buttercup wore flying behind her as she rolled down the hill. “Sure they may not be the brightest but they’re in love, darling,” V replied smoothly. You snorted, “Of course you’d be seeing the romance of it.” 

He just hummed in reply, holding you closer to him.The end of the movie was nearing. V couldn't stand it any longer. You had snuggled into his side and every so often placed small kisses over his chest. He thanked the heavens for loose fitting breeches because he started feeling a bit warm. V could see the idea formulating in your brain. It made him smirk beneath his mask. A faux innocence you had put on but V knew his darling better than anyone else. You were clever and cunning but V was faster. Gently, V placed his hand on your left thigh. V smiled in victory when he heard your breath hitch. In his peripheral vision he could see your cheeks start to get flustered as you squirmed underneath his grip. V paid no mind though; if you wanted something you would have to ask. It amused him that one little touch seemed to make you compliant. Heavens, the things he wanted to do to you. Patience, he told himself. You weren’t going to give up that easily. After a few minutes with no new tactics, you relaxed once more focusing on the movie. V’s hand didn’t stray further up. Instead it stayed there stubbornly. Once V knew for sure you were focused on the movie, he carefully brought his left hand to his face. With deft fingers he carefully untied the mask and placed it beside him.

 Oddly enough you seemed too transfixed with the movie that you didn’t notice what your scheming boyfriend was up too. The soft glow didn’t show off his features too much, so he wasn’t too worried about you suddenly turning and seeing his face.V waited patiently for a few moments and then he struck. You didn’t really think too much of him shifting around until you felt rough lips kissing your jaw. “V-V,” you asked a bit breathlessly, leaning into his chest to give him better access. V  seemed to know exactly what spots on your neck and jaw were sensitive. How he knew where to softly kiss and nibble was beyond you. Again, V proved to be perfect at doing anything. “Yes, love,” he replied, his lips kissing at the spot where your jaw met your neck. “W-what are you doing?” Your back was pressed up against him and your head laid on his shoulder. You couldn’t see his face; his head was littering your jaw with soft kisses. “Should I stop?” “N-no,” you squeaked out in reply, cheeks turning red. V’s hands trailed down your stomach towards the hem of your shirt. He chuckled at your shyness. His hair tickled your neck lightly.  Slowly, he hiked up your shirt over your breasts. Your nipples hardened as the cool air hit them. The sight made him groan. They were soft and plump. “You’re an angel my darling,” he said huskily. “Look how gorgeous you are.” V’s lips returned to your neck. A whimper escaped your lips as his clever fingers gently circled around your areola on both of your breasts. Your nipples tingled, begging to be touched. Even though your thinking started to stop and everything felt hazy you were careful not to brush up against V’s wound. A madman, you thought. You mewled as his fingers finally started rubbing and pinching your nipples. V’s teeth nipped and sucked at your neck, leaving small red bruises in his wake. 

Your cunt started to throb with need and you fought the urge to grind on his thigh for some sort of release. Suddenly, it stopped. “H-hey!” “Ah ah ah,” V tutted. “Pay attention to the film.” “B-but..” you trailed off helplessly. “Do I need to repeat myself,” V asked, voice growing lower. “If you don’t pay attention I’ll stop.” Grumbling, you turned back to the movie. V chuckled; it sounded more sinister than his usual laugh. The noise alone made you feel tingly with excitement.“Good girl,” V purred, kissing the top of your head. You shivered. V maneuvered you in front of the T.V with his chest behind your back. Immediately, his fingers found your nipples again. You whimpered as they pinched your nipples lightly and rolled them between the pads of his fingers. His lips found your ear and V gently suckled on your lobe. You tried so hard to focus on Buttercup getting married to Prince Humphry. You didn’t want your boyfriend to stop. You wanted to be good. The fogginess in your brain threatened to take over. Heat pooled in your belly and you throbbed with need. V had barely started and you were already putty in his hands. “I love these,” he rumbled, kneading your tits with his hands. “They’re soft and warm just like my darling.” You shivered at his words much to his amusement. “Please V,” you whined. “Please what angel? Use your words.” Your face heated up. “Y-you know w-what I mean.” “I’m afraid not my darling,” he replied. V was grinning behind you as he watched you trip over your words. “Hm,” V said, mockingly pretending to think. His right hand crept down to the waistband of your skirt. Your eyes widened. V’s hand sunk under the waistband of your skirt. His hand hovered over your panties and you held in your breath waiting patiently. Finally, V’s fingers rubbed small circles over your clit over the fabric. “F-fuck,” you breathed out as his index finger added a bit more pressure. 

“What was that,” V asked, movements ceasing. Irritation bubbled in your chest. “Stop teasing me V it’s not fair,” you whined, trying to buck into his hand. V laughed, giving your neck a kiss. “Tell me what you want then, my songbird.” “Can you...use your fingers and…” you trailed off, squirming from his gaze. “Oh my darling, but I am using my fingers, but apparently that’s not enough.” “V!” “Alright alright my love, I just enjoy seeing you flustered.” V’s fingers shifted your panties aside. Gently, he spread apart your cunt. You moaned as his finger rubbed gentle circles around your clit. He knows what he’s doing. It didn’t surprise you, V was spectacular in everything he did. All thoughts ceased when V’s middle finger entered you. It stung a bit but he carefully searched for that spot. And when he found it, that’s when you lurched backward into him. V grunted in pain. “Oh my god I’m so sorry! Did I accidentally-” “Darling,” he interrupted, “I’m fine, relax.” The fingers on your left hand held the arm of the couch tightly to steady yourself more. You eyes rolled in the back of your head as V’s clever fingers curled into you, the pads of his fingers hitting that spot perfectly. The pressure on your clit didn’t cease either;you weren’t focusing on the damn movie anymore but V didn’t seem to care. He littered your neck with more kisses and bites. “Fuck,” you cried out as he added another finger. “My angel is taking my fingers so well,” V cooed. 

His thumb on your clit rubbed a bit more harshly, but it felt so good. “I wonder how you’ll react to my cock. But that’s for another time.” His left hand snuck up to your left nipple again and started messing with it. Your moans filled the room and you thanked god for being so underground. V’s lips found yours, but with the pressure on your clit and his fingers rolling over your nipples you struggled kissing him back. V chuckled at this, snaking his tongue around yours and exploring your mouth with it. V’s fingers brushed against your clit and that delicious spot one more time, causing you to cum. V’s left arm curled around your stomach, making sure you wouldn’t fall. You trembled in his hold as your orgasm started to take over. V whispered praises and supported you on his lap. V’s hand left your cunt and fixed your underwear and skirt again. “You did wonderfully my darling,” V praised. Your bones felt heavy and so did your eyes. “Are you well enough to get up,” he asked gently after a few minutes. Nodding your head, you carefully slid off. To his surprise, however, you knelt in front of him, parting his thighs. “Love-” “Shh,” you cooed, eyes twinkling with mischief. “It’s your turn, my darling.”

[bqstqnbruin]

Teach me something 2

It is 2:30 in the morning and here I am dropping something that is so cheesey we should call it fondue (ignore me I’m tired)

BUT this is the fic that I was talking about that I decided is going to turn into a four part mini series, so I hope you like this. Sorry for typos, but y’all know me well enough by now to expect them.

Read the other parts: part 1 // part 3 // part 4

---------

“Hey, guys, come on! I asked you to do this silently, this is not something we’re doing as partners,” you yell over your students. “The only reason you should be talking right now is if you are asking me a question and Josh is the only one doing that right now.”

Your students are not listening to you; it was the end of the day and a beautiful day at that. With the weather getting warmer and nicer compared to the winter you just had, the last thing your students wanted was to be doing chemistry; they wanted to be outside. 

“Excuse me!” you end up yelling, something you hadn’t done before, causing some of your students to jump, “If you’re trying to be louder than me, it’s not going to work. Do you want to see how loud I can be?” You couldn’t believe you were yelling at your students, but for some reason, you were just at a breaking point. You see Annie across the room, eyes wide, shaking her head no at you being the loudest one, “Annie is saying no, do you guys agree?” 

The students murmur in agreement, not talking and leaving the classroom in an awkward silence. Before turning back to Josh, you close your eyes, taking in a deep breath to try to calm yourself down a little before talking again, “I’m sorry guys, but I did say that this was something you should be trying on your own. If you have questions, ask your partner quietly. There is no need for me to have to shout over you.” 

The entire week had been absolute chaos: the lab you wanted to do with your students didn’t work the way you wanted to, the warm weather was causing your students to act absolutely batshit by the end of the day, you hadn’t seen your husband since Sunday because of how busy he was gearing up for the playoffs with the Flames, and you were just overall falling behind on everything you wanted to do. Nothing was going right for you. 

You sit down for the first time since lunch, your students working quietly the rest of the period, only whispers of sound as they asked each other questions they were probably too afraid to ask you at this point. The bell rings, signaling the end of the week, your students scurrying out as fast as they can, hopefully just to get outside and not to get away from you. 

Searching through your desk, you finally find your phone buried under papers that you had to take home and grade that weekend. The end of the quarter was coming up, and you had at least seven assignments to get through and put in your grade book. Shoving them in your bag, you find Matthew’s contact, hoping that he was finally out of practice to pick up. 

“You have reached the voicemail box of: Matthew Tkachuk,” you hear his voice intertwined with the automation for the voicemail greeting he was too lazy to customize, “Please leave a message after the tone.” 

“Hey, babe,” you say, looking at the ring on your finger, “I’m done for the week, I’m probably going to be heading home soon but I want to try to get some grading done first. Any way you can pick something up for dinner tonight? I’m exhausted and I just don’t feel like cooking, unless you want to. Ok, call me when you’re out of practice. I love you, bye.” 

You keep your phone out on your desk, sound on for if Matthew actually calls you. The entire week had been a game of telephone tag, and you were praying you would finally catch each other before actually seeing each other at home. 

“Hey, Mrs. T?” 

“Oh, hi, Nazeem, what’s up?” you greet one of your students as he comes in and sets his bag down on the lab bench.

“I was wondering if you could help me with those K problems?”

You sit down and get started, working on practice problems and trying to reteach him the equilibrium problems, “Ok, so for this problem, are we at equilibrium?”

“No.”

“How do we know that?” 

“Um, because it says that,” he hesitates, scanning the words of the practice problem again, “the concentration of the NH3 is 0.405 molar, and it asks for the direction of the equilibrium shift?” he guesses.

“Yes, but you’re guessing aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” he admits, causing you to let out the first small laugh you had all week.

“Ok, so with these problems, it’s important that you know you can’t just use K, right? Because K is used for what?”

He stops and thinks for a moment, brow scrunched as he tries to answer your question, “When you have initial concentration and you’re looking for equilibrium?”

“You’re guessing again,” you tell him as he just nods admitting to it, “You clearly know the answers to what I’m asking, there’s no need to guess. Trust your answers, you’re going to need to on your final. But if we aren’t going to use K, what are we going to use?”

“Q.” 

“Exactly. Calculate that, and then call me back, I’m going to grade some stuff, ok?” He nods, putting his head down to his paper to get to work. You go back to your desk and start grading, checking your phone to see if Matthew had at least texted you back. Nothing on your screen but the picture of your first kiss as husband and wife that you had as your background for the last couple of months. You would give anything right now to go back to the month leading up to your wedding last summer; you and Matthew were both off from teaching and hockey, spending a month of bliss together doing whatever you wanted. 

“Mrs. Tkachuk?” you hear Nazeem ask, snapping you out of your daydream, “I think I got Q.”

“Let’s see. Ok, so you found that Q is 0.233, while K is given as 0.00542. So what does that mean for the equilibrium shift?”

“It shifts to the,” he starts, hesitating, only to be interrupted by the sound of your phone playing John’s Legend’s Stay With You, the song that was your first dance at your wedding. “Do you need to get that?” he asks, looking panicked that you would leave him for your phone call.

You knew it was Matthew calling you back, but you were with a student, therefore, still at work, “No, that’s just Mr. Tkachuk. I can call him when I’m on my way home.” The two of you get back to the problem, working for another half an hour before he finally says his mom was there to pick him up.

“Thank’s Mrs. T!” Nazeem calls, rushing out the door to meet his mom in front of the building. 

Finally able to go back to your phone, none of your grading done that you had wanted to get done, copies that you just remembered you had to make for Monday, and a new voicemail to listen to. “Hey, love. Sorry I missed you. I’m just getting out of practice. I have an early day tomorrow and then they just told us today that we’re leaving for Dallas on Monday instead of Tuesday like we were originally supposed to. I’ll see you at home, but is there anything specific that you want me to get? Chinese, Italian, sushi, burgers, etcetera, etcetera. Honestly, all of that sounds good to me. Ok, I love you, bye.” 

You send the stuff you need printed, pretty much sprinting down the now deserted hallways as you were probably the last teacher there. “Hey, Matthew. I guess you’re driving? God, I can’t wait to get home and see you, especially since I’ve seen you all of, what, twenty minutes since last week? And get whatever you want, I don’t care, but oh, can you please do the dishes? They’re piling up in the sink and I’m pretty sure most of them are yours,” you tell him, even though that doesn’t really matter. The copier starts growling at you, spitting out the copies as you pray that it doesn’t crap out on you in the middle of the print job, “Sorry, that’s the copier. Remember the day I told you about being in the Stampede, you wanted to push the buttons on this thing? Maybe next time you come you can play with it, admin said when it breaks for it good we can get a new one. Welp, ok. I love you, see you at home.” 

You get back to your classroom, stuffing the folders with the fresh copies, thinking back to that day a few years ago when Matthew had been doing the same thing. Matthew hadn’t really been in to visit during the school year since, but he was always the first one to offer to come in when you said you needed help with something, even if it was something he couldn’t help with. 

Driving back to your apartment, you just want Matthew to call. Packing up your bag and lugging out the 210 or so things you needed to grade, plus the material you needed to play the lessons for the next week that you were still struggling with actually exhausted you. The only thing you wanted to do was go home and see your husband for a night before he had to be whisked away a day earlier than originally planned to spend what would now be six days in Texas. 

But the NHL and the Flames were pretty good about letting the guys know about schedule changes. It seemed sort of weird that the organization would let them know only a few days ahead of time. You could text Noah or Johnny and ask them about it, but what would that say about your marriage to Matthew that you’ve been together for less than a year and you’re already going behind his back to get information?

You know what? Screw it. “Call Johnny,” you say to Siri, Johnny’s contact coming up on your car dash. 

“Hello?” you hear him ask, clearly tired from the day he had.

“Hey, Johnny, it’s Y/N.”

“Oh, hey, Y/N. What’s up? Is Matthew ok?” 

“He’s fine, I just needed to ask you something,” you start, trying to figure out how to phrase it. You can’t straight up ask him if your husband was lying to you, but how to you put it otherwise? “I just wanted to check in; I heard you guys just found out today that you leave on Monday instead of Tuesday? I figured I’d offer to pick up some last minute things since I’m already doing it for Matty.” 

“Oh, no, thanks. I’m all set. They told us about it last Wednesday, though. Matthew didn’t tell you?” 

So he was lying? Or did he just forget to tell you until today? Either way, he shouldn’t have said that they found out today, he could have just said he didn’t remember. “I mean, I just remembered today. You know, long week, my students driving my crazy, normal stuff. But if you need anything, let me know. Tell Sean and Elias the same for me, too.” 

“Gotcha. Bye, Y/N.” 

He hangs up, leaving you to pull into your spot at your complex just in time to see Matthew running out the door. “Hey, babe!” he says, kissing you as you get out of your car. He was unusually happy for someone who seemed so tired on the phone. And for someone who just lied to his wife. “I’m running out to get the food now; I’ll be back in fifteen?”

“Ok,” you say, without being able to get another word in before he gets in his car and speeds off. You didn’t even know what you were eating, but at this point you would eat anything. You grab your bag, momentarily forgetting how heavy it was, lugging it inside to your place. All you wanted was to have a nice evening with your husband, one of the last ones you would probably be able to have for a while.

Wandering into the kitchen to put clean out your lunch bag, you find the sink full of dishes, indicating that Matthew had not loaded the dishwasher, even though you had asked him to. Sighing, putting your bag down on the counter, you get to work on the dishes. You probably needed something from the sink in the near future, and something told you Matthew wasn’t going to be getting to this any time soon. 

Digging through the dishes, you prayed that none of them had started growing new substances that you didn’t want to deal with. Loading the dishwasher to capacity and still having more dishes, you sigh and just hand wash what was left. Mugs from last the beginning of the weak, plates, utensils, until you saw it: the handle of one of your favorite mugs, the rest of the mug not attached. Careful to dig around the rest of the sink, you found the rest of the mug, smashed under the weight of the dishes that had been sitting there. You had only liked the mug so much because it was the biggest one you had; there was nothing that special about it.

But it was enough for you to break, just like the mug had. All of the stress of the week came out right there, with you crumble to the floor crying, pulling your knees to your chest with your back against the cabinets, pieces of the mug still in your hands. Everything was getting to be too much, between constantly feeling behind at work, coming home almost every night to an empty apartment, doing everything to keep the apartment clean by yourself, and Matthew never being home was destroying you. You knew this would be hard when you said yes, but you never thought it would be this hard. 

“Hey, babe, I got us burgers,” you hear Matthew call, walking into the kitchen, “Oh, my god, Y/N, are you ok?” He puts the bag down next to you, getting on the ground and pulling you into him. “What’s wrong?” he asks, kissing the top of your head. 

You hold up the pieces of the mug, trying to stop crying. “Shit,” Matthew lets out once he realizes what you’re holding, “Did you drop it? Why are you sitting down, there could be shards on the ground.”

He picks you up off the ground, grabbing the food with his other hand. “No, I didn’t drop it,” you hear yourself yell, all of the crying turning into anger, “I found it broken in the sink because I have been asking you to do the dishes and the weight of everything on top of it probably broke it!” 

“I’m, I’m sorry,” he stammers out, “I’ve been busy with practice and we’re leaving soon, and-”

“Like I haven’t been busy? I have a weeks work of assignments to catch up on grading, I need to plan the rest of next weeks lessons, make the tests for my AP kids because last years sucked, plus I’ve been the one keeping everything clean and the one thing I asked you to do, you couldn’t even fucking do that. Plus, you lied to me about when you found out you were leaving on Monday instead of Tuesday.”

“What are you talking about?” 

“Johnny told me.”

“You were talking to Johnny?”

“Yeah, I was talking to Johnny; I’m friends with him, too, remember? I asked him if he wanted me to pick anything up for him before you guys leave, like I always do, and he told me you found out last Wednesday? Why would you lie about it?”

“Well, what about the fact that you lied to me about dancing with the stampede?”

You stop and look at him, his face red as you can tell the anger is boiling up inside him. He hated that you had to go behind his back like that. But, you were due for a fight, you just wish it wasn’t over something so stupid like this, especially when he dodged your question in the first place. 

 “What are you talking about? That was five years ago. And I never lied to you about that!”

“It’s not like you told me the truth.”

“That doesn’t mean I lied about it,” you say, both of you raising your voices each time as if to outdo the previous voice level, “and if we’re really going to hash out and bring up stuff that we already said doesn’t matter, what about that time we went out with the guys and ran into, what, five girls you had hooked up with before you met me? How about we talk about that?”

“That doesn’t matter,” he snaps. 

“Oh, it doesn’t? It doesn’t matter that you introduced me to them as your friend when we were engaged, only for one of them to tell me about all the sexcapdes you had, none of which I knew about. But that’s right, we had a night when we talked about all our past relationships to get them out in the open, hookups included, but I guess those girls just slipped your mind, didn’t they?” As soon as the words left your mouth, you regretted it. 

The look on Matthew’s face was one you had never seen before and never wanted to see again; the pain in his eyes as his face calmed from red to pink, trying to figure out if any of this was worth it. He turns around, facing the counter instead of you. He couldn’t take the look on your face any more than you could take the look on his.

“How can I expect to raise a family with you if you can’t even wash the damn dishes, Matthew!” 

He whips around, eyes wide. “A..a fa-family?” he stammers out. “Are you?”

“What?” you ask, not sure what he means. “Oh, no, no I’m not. I’m just saying. We’ve talked about kids. We both want kids, hell we even already have names picked out. But how the hell am I supposed to be able to depend on you when you’re home to take care of children if you can’t even take care of you and me?” 

“I do take care of you! I have done nothing but love you and support you in what you do with your life. You think that you would be living here if it weren’t for me?” He says, immediately recoiling at what he just said. He knows that teachers don’t make a lot of money, but he always loved that you were so adamant about doing something you were passionate about. “Y/N/N, I’m so-” he starts to say, walking towards you.

“You know what?” you cut him off, not wanting to hear any more from him. Of all the things he could have said, that was probably one of the most hurtful, “You have been my husband for almost a year,” you say, your pointer finger pressed to his chest, not fully pushing him away, but enough that he won’t come closer, “It’s time you start fucking acting like it.” Before he can get another word in, you turn on your heels and walk away.

“Where are you going?” he calls, trying to come after you.

“I’m going to Rory’s.”

“No, you’re staying here,” he says, trying to beat you to the door.

“No. You’re staying here and you’re going to figure out how to be a husband. I’m going to my friend’s place. I don’t care if that’s one less day with you at this point because if we don’t do this now,” you stop yourself, looking at the absolute pain in his eyes. You know you shouldn’t say it with his eyes glassing over with tears like they are, “then who knows how much longer we’re going to have.” 

“Y/N, don’t leave,” Matthew pleads as you grab your keys, trying to ignore him. You could feel the tears coming back, but you couldn’t stay here with him. You go to your car, thinking that Matthew wasn’t following you. Pulling out of your spot, you see Matthew coming running, not fast enough since you pull away before he can get to you. 

You drive around for a bit, debating on if you should even go to Rory’s or just go home. She was the one who had convinced you to tell Matthew about the Stampede, you knew she could give you advice with this. Knocking on her door, trying not to start crying again, she doesn’t answer. You should have called, you should just go back to Matthew.

“I’m coming!” you hear Rory call on the other end, just as you were about to leave. She opens the door, dressed like she’s getting ready to go out, “Hey, love, are you ok?” 

She pulls you into her place as you start ranting to her about the fight that just happened with Matthew. “I just, I don’t know what to do. I love him, but I can’t keep doing things alone.”

“Did you tell him that?” 

“No. I said he needs to figure out how to be my husband.”

“Look, you’re free to stay here for as long as you need to, but you need to go talk to him. Your marriage isn’t going to work unless you talk to him, just like I told you when you wouldn’t tell him about the Stampede,” she says, getting up and going to her kitchen. 

She was right. You needed to go home to Matthew, but what would you even say to him at this point? What more could you tell him to get through to him that you needed your husband to actually act like your husband? You sit there on her couch, definitely intruding as she runs around her place getting ready to go out with her boyfriend, telling you not to worry because “he won’t be here to pick me up for another hour or so, he’s always late like that.” Meanwhile, Matthew was blowing up your phone with texts and calls that you weren’t answering. 

This wasn’t fair to him; you shouldn’t be doing this. “Hey, Ror?”

“Yeah, Y/N/N?” She walks back into her living room to find you standing and trying to dig your keys out of your bag. “He wants you to be happy. Go talk to him.” 

You rush home, definitely breaking a few traffic laws on the way. “Matthew?” you call once you get in the door. You look down, seeing the hallway lined with rose petals, an almost overwhelming smell of vanilla coming from candles that were lit in your home. “Matty?” 

You follow the petaled path into the kitchen to see Matthew sitting at the table wearing blue dress pants and a white button-down, the outfit that he knew you loved on him, your favorite dinner sitting at your seat, along with a bottle of your favorite wine. “What is this?” 

“I’ve been the worst,” he says, getting up to go to you. “I should have done the dishes before you asked, I shouldn’t have forgotten to tell you about leaving earlier and then lied about it, I should be at your beck and call at all times. I’m going to help you with your grading this weekend because the only place I’m going to be before I leave is at practice or by your side and no where else. I’ll even break into the school with you so we can break the copier.”

You can’t help but laugh, tears forming in your eyes, for the first time not out of sadness or anger. “You would do that for me?”

“I would do anything and everything for you. You are the love of my life. We said for better or worse, rich or poor, sickness or health until the day we die, and I know that I have never said anything that I meant more before I said that. I love you, Y/N, and I’m sorry if I haven’t been showing it,” he says, pulling you in for a hug.

“I love you, too. And I just need to you to do things when I ask you to. If I’m asking you for help it’s because I really need it.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I will, I just can’t lose you,” he says, tears starting to form in his eyes. 

“The only time you’re going to lose me is when you wander away from me in the store,” you say. He laughs, wiping away the tear that had fallen from his eyes.

“I know you said we weren’t starting a family yet, but what do you say we go and practice?” he asks, kissing your forehead. 

“I think you’ve had enough practice,” you tell him, smiling. His eyes grow wide, the smile on his face doing the same. Picking you up off your feet, he whisks you away to your bedroom, definitely not needing any more practice.

[popculturebuffet]

Schedule Reshuffling and my thoughts on the True Colors Debacle

Well.. this weekend has been a crapstorm professionally. Personally not so much: I’ve had a nice lunch, went on errands, bought a dollar store transformer and named it Murderboat, found a transformer dog that’s also a motorcycle, went garage sailing.. it was nice. 

What wasn’t.. was finding out Friday, out of NOWHERE, that the hotly antipciated Season 2 Finale of Amphibia, True Colors, would be delayed a week. This was unusual to me as Disney is usually extremely good with scheduling.  It’s the main reason I do Disney Shows for regular coverage: CN usually releases the episodes in bombs on their app beforehand meaning i’d have to cover 6 or 7 at once, Nick only reveals what the episodes are a few weeks in advance, and streaming tends to release episodes by season making it easy to cover them all at once, with exceptions like Invincible which I MIGHT have done.. but I already was doing final space and by the time I decided to just wait and do a full season review invincible was too far in and I didn’t have the space to do all the episodes so far. Point is I need consitancy to do a show week to week: it’s something that has to have a guaranteed slot on my schedule, and means I have to keep one open till the end of the month before just in case. 

Thankfully while you’d THINK this would mean i’d have to let go of a review entirely and destroy my entire schedule while desperatly waiting for the episode to be put back on it, you’d be wrong. Surprisingly the scheduling was annoying but not a huge issue. I simply moved my Lilo and stitch review up a day.

 Granted ironically enough that got delayed as I had a busy day yesterday and didn’t get it finished before I went out, and then passed out not long after getting home. But unlike Disney i’ll not only apologize if that happens but fully own up to the fact I screwed up about it. Yeah as of this time Disney STILL hasn’t apologized for this or what happened next. As of this article this is all that’s up on their  tv animation twitter, i.e. the one place most likely to talk about this.  

So yeah all they had was a shocked face and a “stay tuned yo!” not even an actual rescheduled date and time. In contrast series creator Matt Braly genuinely apologized, and even COVERED for them, saying the episode needed to be fine tuned. As today would bear out that wasn’t true.. BUT I can’t blame a guy for wanting to make fans less upset with his bosses and to try and keep them calm after this level of a curve ball, especially since he was likely the angriest of all of us at Disney pulling this. And ESPECIALLY since it will NOT be airing next week as theirs a marathon thing going on, but instead two weeks from now at the earliest... after a full Season’s build to this. 

So yeah this was a huge fuckup. Given Disney makes these schedules way in advance and had made this one weeks in advance, there was NO good reason to keep this episode off air and none to not premept something else rerunning. YOU MADE ADDS FOR THIS EPISODE AND IT AIRING YESTERDAY. HOW DID YOU NOT CHECK ANYTHING BEFORE FRIDAY. This is fucking inexcusable stuff. You are a multi trillion dollar company, one of the biggest media empires on earth.  This shouldn’t happen. And look i’ve had to deal with a LOT of delays over the past year. Cornoa moved most movies back a year. Even completed ones. I’m still waiting on Free Guy and Bob’s Burgers: The Movie despite both clearly being done. But given the pandemic, theaters being a no go and streaming not having been seen as a viable alternative yet for distrubutors or rental, it is now, they had no real choice. 

This is not that. This is you making some sort of computer error and somehow not seeing it till it was too late. That was preventable. That should be something your past by now. We should not have to wait two whole weeks because you fucked up. You have TONS of reruns in the schedule, move something around for fucks sake! 

Oh and it got MORE fucking embarssing today because the episode LEAKED. Yeah. That happened too. I have not watched it. I’ve read spoilers because I ran into some while trying to figure out how the episode leaked and if it was kosher to watch it. 

It’s not though: Matt Braly asked all of us in a tweet not to watch it. And I will say this: If you DID and weren’t aware of said tweet when you did.. you are okay. You didn’t know, and you were just pissed off and frustrated and like me when I was going to before reading that, figured “Fuck Disney, they really screwed up. “ And while that’s still true.. i’m not going to punish Matt Braly for thier fuck up by watching his work before he wants me to. This leak, on itunes for the record, was not his fault, this scheduling error was not his fault, and he is clearly at a breaking point here. The guy seems like a genuinely nice, kind compasionate person who gladly supports us the fans, and really loves making this show and has given me hours of wonderful television through it. The least I can do is wait two weeks to watch the episode in full and get context for what I read and avoid any other spoilers. He’s earned it and he’s also even deleted a tweet RIGHTFULLY expressing frustration just so it won’t risk his or his crew’s livelehoods or the possiblity of finishing the story. 

So yeah obviously I won’t be reviewing it till it comes out in hopefully two weeks. As I said my schedule is flexable enough, up until the last week of the month as that’S Goofy Week, hyuck, that I can just rearrange episodes. And while i’m certainly not THANKING Disney for this, their bullshit does mean i’ll be able to do the Danny Phantom episode Materinal Instincts in time for Mother’s Day. So some good came out of this but not enough.

This is one of the most ABJECTLY EMBARASSING, dickish and stupid things i’ve seen a compnay do. That i’ve seen THIS company do. The only things I can think of WORSE from Modern Disney are:

The corproate culture of homphobia: Not letting Penumbra just come out and say she’s gay, fighting back against most representation, with Owl house being such a victory because not only did it happen , not only was it the lead btu Dana Terrace fought tooth and claw to get it through and have a bisexual lead with a female love intrest and have it be explicit, and hiding the fact Out, a short CENTERED around a gay character’s struggles coming out, is about a gay man despite the fact it opens with a gay space cat riding a gay space dog out of a rainbow and we learn the character is queer within a minute of the film

The filming of the Mulan Remake in a region of china that has RELIGOUS CONCENTRATION CAMPS, caring more about getting a funding bonus and the film’s chinese box office than basic human denceny.

Disney is a company I DO love. I woudln’t write about their stuff so much on this blog if I didn’t. But their also a company that frustrates me to no end, time and time again making dumb selfish decisions and now they’ve outright hurt one of their creators. They’ve hurt his work by delaying it, they’ve hurt his fans and they’ve hurt the show’s reputation by claming an episode would air and then withdrawing it because THEY fucked up. Sure most of US, the older fans on here will know.. but the kids watching won’t and that could damage the show in the long run. So yeah, fuck this whole situation, hopefully i’ll review te episode in a few weeks. 

[nitannichionne]

If He Was YOUR Fan Chapter 16: Monday (A Henry Cavill Fan Fic)

Chapter 16: Monday

You get up earlier than usual, having spent the night at Henry’s. You awaken to the smell of coffee, basically because you took the time to set the timer. He finds this a pleasant surprise, having never thought to do it, and takes a minute to serve you coffee, smiling about not having to wait to get to the filming site to have some. You fill water bottles and hit the door, Kal being the only one who had breakfast. You decide that you really should stay at your own place on Sundays from now on so as not to interfere with his work rhythm or your own. You are at the gym really early, so early, you steal a nap in the car. Even Kal naps in the car. But Henry? Superman, yes, though a bit of a sleepy one, but after a few swallows of coffee he’s ready to go.

                                          “How are you holding up?” he asks, having finished a set. You take a ten minute walk on the treadmill, which you usually don’t do, but you have time. The coffee and adrenaline have brought the electricity to his eyes and the glisten to his skin, highlighting curves of toned muscle. You pause. He looks something like this after sex, but honestly, more intense.

“Hanging in there, honey,” you say. Your breath catches. Wait, you call Stella honey from time to time, especially when smarting off, but saying it to him now seems…you smile widely. “Elliptical, here I come.”

He gives you a wink, and you both move on with your workouts.

You are halfway through when Archer, Stuart and Stella arrive. Relieved that Hannah isn’t with them, you greet them brightly. “Hey, guys!”

Stella greets you with a warm hug. “You look like you survived!” She smiles and glances at Henry, who is working out. Her voice lowers to a whisper. “You stayed with him?”

It was a good thing you could read lips, because she barely got the words out. You give a small smile.

“Ohmigosh!” Stella covers her mouth, her eyes going as wide as saucers. She takes you by the arm and leads you further away. “So…what happened?”

“He was worried about me, and picked me up so I stayed with him,” you say simply. “Good thing, too, we barely made it before the storm broke and—”

“Oh. My. Gosh.”

“What?”

“He’s the lookalike, isn’t he?” She shakes her head at me. “There never was one?”

You lock elbows with her. “I need you to just not say anything especially to Hannah.”

She gasps, eyes going wide again. “I can understand that.” She crosses her heart. “I won’t tell a soul.”

You feel yourself relax. “Thanks—”

“We workin’ out or what?” Archer asks with a frown.

Henry turns and looks at him.

“Just a second, I’ve got one for you!” you call nervously, and look in the mirror to see Henry’s jaw clench.

“What is going on?” Stella asks. “I’ve never seen Henry look like that. He’s usually upbeat.”

“I need to know something,” you tell her. “You guys didn’t know you left me behind. right?”

“No!” Stella’s eyes went wide again. My, but she was an owl today. “Hannah said that someone told her.”

“Someone?” you frown. “No specific name?”

Stella exhales heavily. “No.” She loses eye contact with you. “That doesn’t seem right, does it?” She looks up hopefully. “Maybe it was Colin or Cindy?”

You remember that Cindy was also checking people out. You didn’t work with her as much as Hannah so maybe Cindy mixed you up with someone else. You were willing to settle for that. You didn’t want to think someone wanted something bad to happen to you. “Makes sense.”

“Either way, it ended well, right?” Stella asks hopefully. She uses the mirror to glance at Henry. “Is that why he looks so…unhappy?”

“He’s concerned, is all,” you say. “He is the main in this production, so he takes safety and production seriously.”

“You sound like public relations,” she teased.

“Ha, ha, ha, the money would be good,” you shrug. “I might need a ride, though.”

“There’s room for sure—”

“It’s Archer’s car,” you point out. “How did the weekend go?”

“We went to their place in town, and Hannah and I took Stuart’s room,” she shrugged simply. “But honestly, we mostly all slept around the telly in the living room.”

“Sounds like you guys had fun,” you smile.

“But it was just you and Henry—”

“And Kal,” you add quickly.

“Not kissing and telling?”

You shake you head, and Stella squeals.

“Archer got room in the car for my friend?” Stella asks.

“Always,” he nods, but doesn’t look at you.

You feel a loss, but manage a smile. “Thanks.”

“Sure.” He looks at Henry and you check the mirror. His cap is lower than usual as he works out, his eyes somewhat shaded from view, but his jaw is set and he looks serious as he curls.

You work out with Stella, and Archer works out with Stuart. You challenge them to do three circuits of eight machines, a minute on each. You catch Henry trying not to laugh as you all do it, some doing well, some not as much. You know the guys are using too much weight, and only suggest they lower it once, but they don’t listen. You and Stella don’t do more than fifty pounds on each of the machines, but the guys were trying to go twice to triple that.

“I can’t believe we did all that in thirty minutes!” Stella smiled, her face bright.

“Gotta have a short intense workouts in case you can’t do an hour,” you pant. “I actually prefer them. We are about to be on our feet all day, anyway.”

“Yeah, all day workout!”

“I got like twenty-thousand steps one day—” You are stopped when Archer steps in front of you and inhales deeply.

“You smell different,” he says in a low voice.

You shake your head. “How would you even know?” You step past him and head to the showers. You shower and dress quickly, a few minutes behind Stella. Henry pulls you aside as you get ready to leave.

“Everything okay?” Henry asks.

“Yeah,” you nod.

“What did he say to you?”

You scoff, “That I smell different.”

“You probably do,” Henry smirked. “You showered with me.”

You feel your cheeks heat.

“No worries, darling,” he grins. “you just used your own stuff, right?”

“Right.”

He kisses your cheek. “Have a good day. Talk to you soon.”

You stretch up and kiss him back shyly.

“Talk to you later,” he whispers.

“Later,” you say and turn to go, only to see Stella waiting for you by the door.

She smiles widely and waves good bye and you walk out. “He looks into you!” she says excitedly.

“Stella.”

“Okay, okay!” Stella bumps you and makes you giggle. “Come on, this is thrilling!”

“He’s actually…not what you think, Stel.”

She gives a low whistle and shakes her head. “If you say so.”

You get in the car, and there is an awkward silence.

“Well, heigh-ho, heigh-ho!” Stella says with forced brightness. “or, how is you say?”

You laugh, “I owe, I owe.”

Stuart laughs at that, and Archer smiles and shakes his head. “Off to work, Arch!”

“Here we go.” Archer starts the engine and speeds off.

The morning goes well enough. You try to keep your head down and work, but you find yourself looking for Henry when you can. You chastise yourself for it, but after the weekend you had with him, it’s normal to want him so soon, right?

You are startled by a hand on your shoulder and look up to see Colin.

“Hey,” he greets.

“Hey,” you smile, grateful he can’t tell that you were thinking about Henry and not fully concentrating on your work.

“Glad you’re okay,” Colin nodded.

“Thanks,” you smile, but slightly frown. He didn’t call you back that day, did he? “Any idea about how the mixup happened?”

Colin shook his head. “Actually, no. I talked to Cindy and she isn’t sure either, and we are so, so sorry about that.” He paused. “But you caught up with Stella after all, right?”

“My ride came, yes,” you say evasively.

“Great,” Colin grinned. “No harm, no foul.”

“Yeah.”

“Talk to you later,” he says and leaves.

That didn’t give you much information at all. From the sound of things, he didn’t know what happened either. Resolved and a bit happy to think of it has a mix up, you continue on with your work, part of you reliving the events of the weekend.

Your phone chimes and you look at it.

DAL: Thinking of you.

YOU: Thinking of you.

Now you can’t do anything but smile.

Thanks for reading! I enjoy comments, and please let me know if you want to join the tag list:

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Also, please feel free to check out my other Cavill Fan Fics. Wisdom and wellness to you.

[shhhlikeme]

Hello, could I have a request? If it’s not too much of a bother, maybe about kenma having a crush on a foreigner who’s still new to speaking Japanese, so he teaches her how to speak better, gets to know her better and finds out she’s also a gamer? Sorry if it’s too specific, I love your writing!! 🥺

Thank you so much for reading my work! I adore Kenma he is everything so thank you for requesting him. I didn’t want to stop writing this! I hope you like it!

Kenma x Foreign Student Reader

——————————

You were the absolute ONLY thing that could take Kenma’s attention away from his Nintendo switch

When you trotted into class silently that day as a new student that just moved to Japan from [Your City] Kenma just scribbled in his notebook like he always does when the teacher is talking because he didn’t hear you come in

The teacher asked you to introduce yourself and you did, shyly and in less than accurate Japanese

This got catboy’s attention

When Kenma heard your angelic voice he lifted his head up from the paper for the first time that day

Baby boy is smart af. He doesn’t even need to listen in class and he gets straight A’s

His eyes widened when he saw you. You clearly weren’t from here and he didn’t know how he felt about that

He takes a mental note that you looked.....different.

Um, good different.

VERY good different. He realized, as he studied your features

Kenma thought you were beautiful and although your introduction had grammatical errors, he found your mistakes quite adorable

You sat in front and to the left of him which was ideal for Kenma because you couldn’t really see him staring

Since Kenma is a gifted student he is always abnormally bored in classes. His teachers always took away all of his electronics so he didn’t even try anymore. This current Modern Japanese class was no exception until you joined, and as the days went by he found himself not even missing his electronics for the first time in his life because he shared that class with you

He has you to look at now

You were so pretty and interesting to him.

He wished he could talk to you

Hiding behind his hair so that he wouldn’t get caught with red cheeks and all, he sighed admiringly as he watched you listen diligently to the teacher. The way you looked when you were concentrated made Kenma’s stomach hurt because you were just so cute. Watching you made him wish he had Kuroo’s confidence when it came to girls

Maybe he would ask Kuroo for advice, albeit a mortifying thought

Day after day in class Kenma watched as you read the teacher’s lips in hopes of slowing down the language in your head better. When everyone got a worksheet in class Kenma always did his work fast and just smirked to himself because you would quietly sound out everything you were reading and translate it to English.

So cute

Kenma knew his fair share of English because of his American gamer friends, so when he heard you translate a Japanese word incorrectly, which would have been detrimental for your grade on this paper, Kenma wanted so badly to jump in to help you

But he was anxious

In silent panic, he watched you whisper the wrong answers out loud because you had translated one early sentence incorrectly .

Oh no.

You were going to fail!

What would Kuroo do??? Kenma thought.

In his animated mind, he conjured up an air bubble version of Kuroo looking down at him and lecturing him, telling Kenma that: “you are like blood that should flow towards the blood that has the most attractive body covering it which is obviously a reference to the cute foreign girl you have a crush on so STOP BEING SUCH A WUSS AND HELP HER, KENMA!”

Kenma shook his head violently. The air bubble version of Kuroo disappeared.

God, even in his made up thoughts his best friend was obnoxious

Kenma’s volleyball team, Fukurõdani’s volleyball team and Hinata all knew Kenma’s true personality.

They knew that Kenma wasn’t a shy person like most people initially think when they see him alone in the corner. In fact, he wasn’t shy at all. He just didn’t like people. Learn the difference.

And when Kenma did like specific people he still wanted them to stay at an arms length

So why did he like you so much? He was convinced that he wouldn’t mind having you closer than an arms length because of how pretty you are. Kenma liked looking at aesthetically pleasing things, and in that respect you were much much better than his games or his volleyball friends.

But jumping in to save your assignment still wasn’t him. It just wasn’t Kenma. He didn’t chat to others in class and enjoy it like everyone else in this school. He liked chatting with Kuroo, Shōyō, and his gaming pals, sure. But everyone else was slightly annoying.

But not you.

He wasn’t annoyed by you despite the fact that he’s been watching your embarassing quirks for over a week now. He felt quite the opposite for you, actually...

Completely unaware of Kenma’s daily analysis of you like you always were, you smiled as you finished your work. Ready to leave, you collected your paper, preparing to hand in the open-book assignment worth 40% of your grade. But before you stood up you felt a delicate hand on your arm, halting you.

“Uhhhh.......” You look up to see the most gorgeous boy you’ve ever seen in all the countries you’ve been in. He had striking cat-like eyes that made your heart beat faster and his voice was soft and alluring.

With a serious face, he removed his hand from your arm and pointed to your sheet. In perfect English he said, “That means “theatre audition” actually. Not “movie theatre.”

You were shocked that his English sounded better than your Japanese

Kenma felt a burst of pride within because he could infer that he impressed you with his English

You blushed and quickly started erasing the subsequent answers. “Oh my gosh, thank you so much.”

You expected the gorgeous boy to walk away after that but you were even more taken back when he pulled up a chair next to you.

His sudden movement blew breeze in your direction which wafted the mango-scent of his shampoo toward you. You almost salivated. His hair was so shiny, he was so beautiful and to top it off he smelled to-die-for.

“You made minor translation errors in question 1, 4 and 5 too. Mind if I help you? My name’s Kenma.” He asked hopefully, still speaking to you in impeccable English.

You introduced yourself too while blushing some more and of course you accepted his help

Throughout the rest of class, Kenma, talkative as ever—asked you a bunch of questions in order to get to know you. You shared with him that your parents were divorced and that you decided to move from [Your City] where you lived all your life with your mom to move in with your dad in Japan for high school and University because you loved/missed him. You told him that your dad spoke Japanese to you as a baby but you lost a lot of it living so far away and having no one to practice with.

Kenma became more and more intrigued by you. He could listen to you talk all day which would probably give his best friend a heart attack since Kuroo was put on a strict talking time limit that kicked in after 3 hours.

The more the cat boy learned about you the more he wanted to learn. Especially when you mentioned that your favourite hobby included gaming.

Kenma, being fairly asexual but attracted to you, was unfamiliar with the way the concept of you gaming turned him alllll the way on.

He imagined you beside him during his gaming weekends wearing a baggy t-shirt & just your underwear underneath like he wears.

Damn

He flushed

Let’s just say Kenma had trouble shifting inconspicuously under the desk to adjust his tightened pants when he thought about you gaming.

He mentally prepared to get himself off on the thought as soon as he got home tonight

Yep. You officially had him wrapped around your finger, and you didn’t even know it.

You had no idea that that conversation would go on forever

You had no idea that Kenma had always denied tutoring others when the Modern Japanese teacher asked, and that is why the teacher gladly allowed you two to work together

You had no idea that the rest of the class was ASTONISHED by the quiet and stunning setter of Nekoma (who does everything in his power to not be approachable and avoid social situations) going out of his way to keep a conversation going with another student

You had no idea that all the Kenma admirers were soooooo jealous of you right now

You had no idea that Kenma would glare back at the girls who glared at you and try his best to become your friend in the coming weeks

You had no idea that you both would enjoy every moment of your close friendship. A bit too much

You had no idea that, weeks later, Kuroo would force Kenma into confessing to you, even if it was over your favourite game as avatars... and you would cry tears of joy

You had no idea that you would lose your voice cheering for your boyfriend at Nationals........twice.

You had no idea that upon graduation you two would adopt an adorable kitty and name her -cinema-

You had no idea that years later, Kenma would become the husband of your dreams and that shortly thereafter you would give birth to the most beautiful cat-eyed baby girl that was a splitting image of her stunning bearded father

Just imagine daddy Kenma all grown up with a beard omg

No.... as you sat there in class trying to repeat after him the Japanese sentence on the worksheet, you absolutely had no idea

But

When Kenma asked for your number at the bell and you blushed beautifully again, he felt butterflies in his stomach by the sight, and that’s when

He did have an idea that all of that would happen.

Because love-struck Kenma wouldn’t accept anything less.