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emiewritesthings · 4 years ago

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doctor, doctor - jay halstead

jay halstead x fem!reader

summary: in which y/n takes it into her own hands to look after a sick jay

a/n: i’m not gonna lie i think this is one of my fav things i’ve ever written, i would really appreciate some feedback and p.s the beginning of it is based on that scene from brooklyn 99 :)

masterlist

“okay, it’s 10 o’clock, meaning halstead is officially an hour late to work,” y/n announced as she appeared from the break room with a mug of poorly made coffee. looking around, she had immediately distracted everyone in the room with her playful smile. “okay let’s do this, theories!” she encouraged, taking a sip with excitement, but immediately regretting it as s he spat it back in the mug and abandoned it on adam’s desk as she leant against it.

“uh, he forgot to set his alarm?” antonio suggested, willing to play along with the little game that y/n had created. however clearly his answer didn’t suffice as y/n scrunched up her nose and shook her head in disappointment.

“you are a detective in a unit that just last week rescued 5 people kidnapped and used as chess pieces in a human sized version of the game and the best you could come up with is he forgot to set his alarm? pfft, disappointing, dawson. who’s willing to take this seriously?” she scoffed, brushing his idea off with a simple roll of the eyes as the group laughed at her ridiculousness.

“maybe he has been murdered by a gang looking for revenge.” adam piped up, earning a sudden and rather forceful slap on the back as y/n cheered. her eyes looking over at antonio as she gestured towards the less experienced detective.

“yes, that’s what i’m talking about. bit dark, ruzek, but better than dawson’s,” y/n hummed, adam clearly pleased with the praise he had received by the pretty detective. “any one else wanna shot?” she offered it out into the room, suddenly the sound of rolling wheels on the chair had everyone turn to face al who was munching on a ham sandwich.

“he walked into the middle of a drug ring, slept with the kingpins daughter and is now having limbs removed, one by the hour.” suddenly an eery silence fell in the bullpen as al suddenly disappeared back to his desk and everyone was left with an image that she was sure was burned on the inside of everyones mind.

“uh, okay, someone might want to arrange a psych check for olinsky asap,” y/n mumbled, pointing in the direction where he had once been and looking around as if checking that she hadn’t been the only one to hear al’s suggestion. “anyways, all of you are wrong. clearly he has joined a motorbike gang and now makes his money on the road striking off names on the government’s hit list.”

just as the room erupted into discussion about how idiotic this conversation was, as well as their ideas, the sound of footsteps caught y/n’s attention as she arrived at her desk. however as he reached the floor, the reason for his absence was clear.

“woah, you look like death.” adam chuckled, it immediately being silenced as jay sent a deadly glare his way. with his skin paler than normal with undertones of green, a layer of sweat draped over his forehead. jay flashed as smile at y/n as he passed, reaching his desk and collapsing on his chair with a wince.

as everyone went back to what they were doing, y/n found herself straying her eyes away from her computer screen for longer and longer periods of time until she found herself by his side with a sickly sweet grin, pun intended.

“i don’t wanna hear it, y/l/n.” jay mumbled, massaging his temples with his fingers hoping it would somehow sooth his pounding skull. whilst usually he had every minute of his day just to hear the woman chat away about whatever crossed her mind, he had found himself in quite the state since last night, leaving him restless and irritable.

“believe it or not, i just wanted to make sure you were alright,” y/n’s entire demeanour crumbled as she melted at the soft features of his face that came with being so vulnerable. but from the look in jay’s eyes, it was clear he didn’t 100% believe her excuse. “and to ask what the hell you think you are doing here? you are sick jay, you need to rest.”

it was very rare that jay found himself ill. in the years that y/n had been working by the man’s side, she could count on one hand the times she had seen him with so much as a cough. in fact she had called him captain immune system for a period of time when she realised he was pretty much indestructible. y/n couldn’t deny the concern bubbling in her gut seeing him so weak.

“i’m fine,” with her eyes slitted in a look that practically shouted ‘bullshit’, jay continued. “i promise, it’s just a little cold. nothing serious, i think i’ll survive.” he joked dryly, finding it incredibly hard to look away from y/n for her eyes were filled with a warmth that he knew was an expression usually saved for those she cared deeply about.

“yeah well, you need to take care of yourself, jay, i’m being serious. chicago can cope if you just have one day off, get your energy back.”

y/n was reminded of the times she had the exact same words spoken to her by the exact person that didn’t seem to want to take them onboard. every time she had so much as a sniffle he would be straight over with some soup that his mother used to swear by and the name of a box set that he would put on for the two of them to watch as he sat stroking her hair in order to try and convince her body to rest. neither of them had anyone else to take care of them, so had taken it upon themselves to be that person for the other.

“now, i’m gonna go tell voight that i’m taking you home before you infect this whole office.” before he could object, she had already ran (not literally but jay was impressed by her speed walking) to her boss’ office. knocking on the door, with a sweet smile and a sea of words running off her tongue so quickly that voight had to agree just to shut her up, y/n returned by his side. “come on, germ face, your carriage awaits.”

“you know i love it when you talk dirty to me, y/l/n.” winking at her, y/n giggled as she supported him back down the stairs and out of the station. the two chatted away, y/n explaining how she thought al was secretly a sociopath and jay filing her in on the newest instalment of his apartment block drama until they pulled up in front of jay’s apartment building.

as they walked through the door, jay’s arm resting around y/n’s shoulders as he struggled to find strength, they managed to reach the sofa before y/n’s body gave up. both of them letting out large breathes before looking at each other and falling into laughter.

“you hungry, i could try making your mom’s soup?” y/n asked, as she pushed herself up to look down at the man. her hair falling down around her face and tickling jay’s skin. “i’m sure it won’t be as good as her’s but i’m willing to give it a try.”

the way she was sat with the large window gleaming light behind her, y/n almost looked like an angel. her eyes and smile were wide, with her beauty wrapping its hands around jay’s neck squeezing until his head felt light and he nearly reached up to touch her porcelain skin. but jay had noticed the sensation way before he was blocked up with a cold.

“yeah, uh, that sounds nice.” jay agreed with a minimal amount of sass, but y/n didn’t seem to notice as she moved off the cushions and towards the kitchen. she had pretty much memorised the recipe when jay had finally given it to her on her birthday after offering to pay for it multiple times. whizzing around the kitchen, she was too busy to notice the tired eyes admiring her from afar.

jay wished his mom was alive to see the woman that she would have loved. all the times he had brought girls back to his family when he was younger didn’t add up to an ounce of the beauty and power that y/n held in her middle finger. the way she bit back at his wit, but also had the ability to spot when he was upset from the other side of the city. she was everything her mother wanted in a daughter in law, everything she wanted for her little boy.

“okay, give me your honest opinion. i can take it i promise.” y/n sudden appeared with a tray that held a large bowl of the semi-thick orange liquid, a glass of water and a couple pills. approaching jay, she carefully helped him up from where he laid and placed it onto his lap. “actually that was a complete lie, do not tell me the truth. i may just cry.”

“why thank you, nurse y/l/n.” he teased.

“it’s doctor actually.” she quipped back.

jay chuckled lowly, as he grabbed the spoon and took a large spoonful to his mouth. feeling the slight sting of his tongue at the heat, it was only when the flavours hit that he was suddenly transported to an earlier time in his life. a simpler time. only this time there was y/n by his side.

“the verdict?” she prompted, taking a seat besides him, pulling her knees up to her chest.

“not sure whether i want to tell you, don’t think you’ll fit in this room if your ego grows any bigger.” y/n grinned as she leaned over to press a kiss against his shoulder. jay closed his eyes at the contact, feeling the ache in his body freeze for a moment as it registered the tingling sensation. “all jokes aside, it really is good.”

“i’m glad, your mother was a smart woman.” she nodded, leaning forward to turn tv on. jay continued to spoon the soup into his mouth, as y/n chose a show that they both had started together and had refused to watch another minute without the other. y/n leaned back making herself comfortable, having already texted voight telling him that she would most likely need the entire day off, and getting the go ahead, she had no plans other than being by jay’s side for the next however many hours.

it was sometime in the early evening and the tv continued to emit light, but neither jay nor y/n was paying any attention to the drama. jay, with his head on y/n lap, was leaning into her touch as her short, thin fingers ran through the dark strands that sprouted from his scalp. his body wrapped in a blanket that y/n had grabbed from his room, he felt completely at peace.

“you know what, i think you are more bearable when you are at death’s door.” y/n joked quietly, as the forest green eyes were exposed back to her own. jay groaned in annoyance, realising that there was no sweet y/n without the sharped tongue y/n. a trait he adored, but at his own expense.

“and to think i was starting to think you had gone soft on me, y/l/n.” he hummed, wishing he could forever have her giggle on repeat wherever he went, for the sound made goosebumps run down his neck and down his arms, like some kind of magic that only y/n possessed.

“as much as i love you, i can’t risk my bad ass reputation for you.”

although jay was sure it was just part of her banter, the moment the ‘i love you’ fell off her tongue, he found himself wide awake, unable to push past the feeling in his gut as it looped over again and again in his mind. y/n could see the conflict in his face, as he glanced up at her with something she had never noticed before.

“you mean it?” he asked.

“mean what?” confused, her fingers fell from his hair, making jay regret ever opening his mouth.

“do you really, you know, love me?” he knew he had committed too far to try and retreat. maybe he could blame it on the fact he couldn’t think straight, although she was like a lie detector that wouldn’t let such a bogus excuse pass. y/n blinked down at him, watching as he sat up to look at her with a hunger that needed to be addressed. swallowing the lump in her throat, y/n nodded.

“of course, you are one of my best friends, jay.” it was true, but it wasn’t the full truth, both of them knew that.

“i didn’t realise we had started lying to one another,” jay’s eyes were soft, as he reached to place his hand against her cheek, smiling as she slowly leaned into it. closing her eyes, she tried to find what direction she was looking for, but didn’t dare take the first step. without even thinking, jay jutted forward and captured her lips before they could form a single syllable.

gently, but passionately, jay and y/n moved their lips against the others. the feeling was ever-growing as the kiss deepened and deepened until they had no choice to pull back, deprived of their ability to breath. as jay’s eyes came back into view, y/n, for the first time in her life, had lost the ability to form a sentence.

“we just...” she began but it ran off quickly. jay chuckled.

“we did.”

the two sat in silence, examining the other one’s face until y/n found herself moving forward until she was sat in his lap, legs wrapped around his waist as she pressed her lips against his. just like before their bodies and minds were set ablaze with desire and what had remained unspoken for what felt like forever. jay had nearly completely forgotten about the illness that had put him in the care of the woman that he craved more than anything else the world had to offer.

as their lips parted ways, suddenly the air had thinned and everything felt... normal. jay’s lips were unable to break out of the large grin mould that y/n had put them in, which was soon mirrored by the young woman. a small giggle escaping her lips.

“if i get whatever it is you have, i expect the exact same treatment.”

“only for you, doctor y/l/n.”

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traumasurvivorshelpingsurvivors · 2 years ago

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TW for gaslighting, verbal and emotional abuse as well as self harm.

my nickname is isa

I’m looking for maybe advice and support?

so, I think my brother is abusive. I’m 20 and he’s 19. i recently started going to therapy due to the sexual abuse I faced as a child/teen and in a random bout of confidence I confided in him and told him what had happened to me. he offered a smoke, but overall didn’t react. and I guess I liked that he didn’t, it made me feel okay because lord knows i was not prepared to cry that night. later on maybe about a week after, I was watching tv and he comes beside me and is trying to get my attention. i play along and we’re teasing and he’s poking fun and he says “hey isa, hey, wanna see this message this gay guy sent me? he’s trying to get with me, he’s trying to molest me, he’s gonna rape me” and I just couldn’t move. i was horrified and when I told him not to say that, he waved it off as a joke and because I’m me, I let it go. another week passes and I’m in the kitchen just chopping nuts for some bread I was making and from behind me he asks what the time is. our oven clock is broken so I say “oh it’s 12 something” and it gets quiet and he says “isa, what do you do in this house? do you have a job, do you make money, do you do anything?”. And I thought he was being fake serious so I played along and said “I go to school” “school…that’s it?” “Yep” and when I turn around he’s just pissed and he has this look of just pure hate.

“When I ask for the goddamn time give it to me, don’t give me that bullshit” and I was just shocked, I kept asking if he was serious and he just kept cursing me out “You’re so stupid, you’re such a fucking bitch. Why are you always so difficult”. And I couldn’t take it, I got my keys and drove to some park and cried just asking myself why I was even here. It’s not the first time he’s yelled at me like that, on more than a few occasions he has punched a wall or gotten in my face to where I can only cry, he’s slapped me once too but to be fair I slapped him first. He was talking about how he wants to kill himself and I panicked and gave him a tap on the cheek, and I didn’t mean to it was honestly just some reaction and before I could apologize he slapped me back, hard. it was kind of funny actually he said “these hands are rated E for everyone, you hit me I’ll hit you back”. i don’t think that really counts though since I did it first but idk. and now he hasn’t said a word to me. he’s ignoring me, won’t speak to me, won’t do anything. and I just don’t know. usually after he yells at me like that he avoids me or gives me a “I’m sorry” text and then we go back to normal but, this time rattled me more than I thought it would. and I don’t know. is he abusive? am I exaggerating? i love him and want to forgive him but, I know it’s not that simple. he was admitted to the psych ward not too long ago and diagnosed with OCD and I get it you know he has some issues he has to work through and I’ve tried to be nicer or just less difficult but no matter what I do it always ends the same. He doesn’t curse out my other siblings, it’s always just me.

Hi isa,

I'm sorry about what you've been through and are going through right now.

OCD and any mental health issues for that matter are no excuse for abusive behavior. What you described sounds abusive physically, emotionally, verbally, and perhaps even psychologically as well.

I don't think you're exaggerating. There is nothing you did or could do to deserve abuse. It sounds like he reacts disproportionately to the situation. You don't deserve to take this. I'm wondering if your parents or guardians are aware of his behavior. If anyone has any tips or suggestions please feel free to add on.

I hope I could help. Please let us know if you need anything.

-Bun

#mod bun #trauma talks #trauma details #abuse #emotional abuse #SA #tw r #isa

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dr-spencer-reids-queen · 4 years ago

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Poison: Part One

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader

Word Count: ~1.8k

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill, fluff and angst

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there is any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated.

Feedback is gold, and it’s the only currency I take

"What is food to one is to others bitter poison." - Lucretius

Cases involving children are never your strong suit. The last one with Billie Copeland was just so hard, you’re not sure if you can be involved in another one--that is until you learned what this case is really all about. Yes, there is a child involved, but the bigger picture has a much larger scale than children.

You have to remind yourself that you need to focus on the case and not on Spencer. It shouldn’t even be a hard thing to do, but something happened between you two when you took him to the bookstore right next to your apartment. After checking out a couple of books, and after Spencer had read virtually all of them, you decided it was kind of late and that you needed to get home. The store was closing very soon anyway, so Spencer opted to walk you home.

When you got to your door, he decided to give you a kiss on your cheek, but you moved your head at the last minute. He accidentally got the corner of your mouth, and that messed up his whole thing. Based on his reaction to your mouths almost touching, you know he can’t be that interested in you. If he were, then he would have just kissed you right there and then. Instead, he stuttered a goodbye and left.

You haven’t been able to stop thinking about him since. Does he like you? If so, then why won’t he just kiss you? If he doesn’t, then why does he agree to go on these dates with you. Whenever you two go out, you clearly state that this is a date, and he doesn’t say anything that dismisses that idea. Sometimes, you just wish you knew what was going on inside that big brain of his so you can dejumble it and tell him what the fuck is going on. You’d do it now, but you have a case that needs your full attention.

Apparently, a man and his son were driving down the road one night when the father pulled to the side of the road and got out. He walked into the woods, the son followed after him, and the father beat him almost to death. The son is in the hospital undergoing critical care while the father is in the psych ward. You’re not sure how it happened or why, but you know that it did. Hotch and Gideon got hold of the interrogation video sent over by the New Jersey Police Department.

Detective Hanover is the person who is going to be in charge and is also the person who you will be working with the entire time you’re in Jersey.

“State trooper took this before the paramedics showed up,” the detective says and shows Jack Fisher, the father of Eric Fisher, a picture of his unconscious body. “He's unconscious and has four broken bones. He's gonna be in the hospital for a month.”

“I didn't hurt my son,” Jack sighs.

“Do you remember removing the tire iron from the trunk?”

What, he used a tire iron? You gasp softly and put your hand to your mouth as you continue to watch.

“No! No!”

“What's the last thing you remember?”

“I picked Eric up from school on Friday, for the weekend. Who would do this?” he cries softly.

Hotch ends the video there and addresses the entire briefing room.

“This happened two days ago in Beechwood, New Jersey. Mr. Fisher had ingested LSD one afternoon and didn't come down until eighteen hours later.”

“The hospital reported six other patients who ingested LSD in the last twenty-four hours. The hospital called the CDC, then the CDC called us,” JJ finishes.

“So, a bunch of people got spiked. What makes it a BAU case?” Derek wonders.

“They each received ten to twenty times the normal dose.”

“That’s enough to kill a small child,” Spencer informs.

“Or cause a grown man to try and kill him with a tire iron apparently,” you sigh.

“Of the seven victims, there was one death and one coma. This is from the hospital's security footage the same night Fisher lost it,” JJ explains and uses the remote to put a different video on the screen.

It’s of the hospital that is in complete chaos. People are shouting, pushing, yelling, and apparently, having seizures. One man is on a stretcher, and he’s clearly on something. The doctors around him try to push past the madness of people to get him to a room while the nurses have their hands full of scared and angry patients. This wasn’t a spike or an overdose…

“These people didn’t get spiked. They were poisoned,” you reveal.

“Of the seven victims, Gail Norman was the only death. She was seventy-eight. She ran out into the middle of the road, and she was hit by a car. She was DOA,” JJ reveals on the plane ride over to New Jersey.

You’re sitting next to Spencer in one of the seats that are super cramped so that they can fit four of them in on either side of a small table. You’re sitting by the window, so essentially, Spencer is blocking you in. He’s not a big person, but because you have romantic feelings for him, it feels like a fucking trap.

“The other potentially fatal case is nine-year-old Brittany Canon. She fell out of a treehouse and fractured her skull. She's in a coma, but the doctors don't know if she's going to come out of it,” Hotch says.

“How do you wanna handle the press?” Gideon asks the liaison.

“We still don't know how these people even got dosed. I think it would be irresponsible to issue a warning without specifics. It'll just cause panic. I did notify the local PD, though, to be discreet.”

“How is it possible that none of these people knew how they got poisoned?” Derek wonders.

“None of them remembers anything about the day it happened,” you say and gesture, but your hand brushes up against Spencer’s leg.

You blush and mutter an apology, but he doesn’t say anything about it. He looks at you and blushes as well, but he is better at hiding it than you are.

“These people were so messed up; it's made it difficult for local PD to retrace the victim's steps.”

“So, we need to go on precedent. We know there are four types of poisoners who target multiple victims,” Gideon starts.

“There's the true believer--the political terrorist/religious cult. There's the extortionist--the product tamperer that holds the business hostage in exchange for money. The prankster--it’s usually a younger offender who doesn't mean any harm, and it's basically just a big practical joke to them. Then we have the avenger--someone with a personal vendetta who chooses poison as their weapon,” you explain the different types of offenders.

“We need to find out as quickly as possible which type he is. Because with the exception of the prankster, all these types commonly test their poison on a small scale before appearing at a larger attack.”

“Then, let's hope this one was just a prank,” Derek scoffs.

"I suggest we split up the victims and see if there's a pattern to the victimology,” Gideon suggests.

“Most of them are still in the hospital. I'll call local PD to meet us there,” Hotch confirms.

“I'll check the lab reports. Maybe there's a clue to the unsub's motive in the specific nature of the poison he used,” Spencer calls dibs.

“I can't imagine anybody could want this to happen.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll head to the hospital with you. The kid may not be able to tell the doctor anything, but I certainly can. I’ll be able to see what really happened if his mother allows it.”

“Good,” Gideon nods once. “We need all the answers we can get.”

The hospital is buzzing with panic, fear, sadness, and grief. Many people are dying in this hospital, and to someone like you, you’re not sure you can be here for much longer. Hotch, Gideon, and the rest of the team don’t really understand how this all affects you. Normal people like the ones on your team see this hospital for what it is. They see people grieving and people crying, but they allow themselves to be separated from their emotions. They can walk into a loud crowd and tune out all the conversations and emotions without even thinking about it.

Not you. You’re completely different.

You walk into a crowd, and you’re overwhelmed by not only the physical sensation of people all around you, but your mind is also crowded. Your mind goes into overdrive as it inspects each person to make sure they are not a threat. To make sure that they are who they say they are. A normal person can see a kid walking down the street and not know they are kidnapped while you are able to determine that.

You walk into this hospital, and every single emotion of every single nurse, doctor, patient, and family member immediately go to your shoulders. Someone can be dying on the very top floor, and you’d feel how sad their family members are as they watch their beloved ones slip away. There could be someone in the next room receiving bad news, and it’ll be like you’re receiving the same news. It’s not fun living with your abilities, and you’ve caught yourself wishing it would all just end. However, you think about everyone you’ve saved, and it somehow all makes it okay.

“Detective Hanover, Beechwood PD,” the detective that was on the surveillance tape introduces himself to you, Gideon, and Hotch.

“Agent Hotchner, this is Agent Gideon and Agent Y/L/N.”

“Thanks for coming down on such short notice. The doctor said he may have permanent brain damage. I've never seen anything like this,” he sighs and looks at Eric, the little boy who was beaten by his own father.

“Well, let's hope we can help him.”

“Have you had a chance to review the victim's files?”

“We're especially interested in talking to the boy's father,” Gideon says.

“We'd like to get a sense of why he turned violent while the lab analyzes the specific nature of the LSD he was dosed with. we'd like to get our own sense: was it the drug itself or was there something else going on? Hopefully, that can give us a little bit of a window into the motive of the offender,” Hotch explains.

“He's in the psych ward.”

“Well, we'll keep it short,” Gideon replies.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll meet up with you two. I’m going to talk to the mother,” you offer, and Hotch just nods.

wanna be tagged? add yourself to this document! if your tag doesn’t work, find out why!

@averyhotchner @lets-be-gay-for-the-angel @fan-girl-97 @paulaern @inkstainedwritergirl @estrela-rogers @abitchforjay @kwbaby24 @redsalv20 @joonie-centric @spencerreid-mgg @sixpencespencee @boygenius-reid @reidemandweep @prophecyflame @happynekochan1

#poison #series rewrite #criminal minds series rewrite #spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fic #spencer reid fluff #spencer reid angst #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #cm #cm fanfiction #season 1 episode 13 #s1e13

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p-artsypants · 4 years ago

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I’ll Handle This (10)

In Which Marinette Says the Thing

I was the most excited about this chapter and had most of it written already. :)

Also, I bumped up the rating a bit because there’s extremely mild nudity in this chapter.

(Ao3 | FF.net)

—

She looked fierce. Nails done, a cute, white skirt (that she hadn’t spilled her breakfast on!) and a red and white polka dot blouse. She was cute, she was hot, and she was ready to nab her man!

Said man walked into class wearing...

Oh boy.

A leather jacket, with no shirt underneath, a kilt, and knee high combat boots. There was not a single person that didn’t stare at him.

“Sup nerds?”

Nino entered with him, slightly chuckling, like he had heard a very funny inside joke.

Marinette gawked at him. “Adrien...”

“Aww! Pooh Bear! Look at how cute you are!”

Marinette’s initial horror in his appearance turned into excitement. He called her cute!

“Adrien, do we have to have this dress code talk again?” Miss Bustier sighed.

It turned out he did have a shirt on under the jacket. A black button-up. He untucked the flaps, and buttoned them, unevenly, to cover his sweet sweet bod. “Better?”

Miss Bustier shook her head, but urged him to sit down.

“Soooo,” Alya asked, with a wiggling eyebrow. “Are you wearing that kilt...properly?”

He grabbed the hem, squeezing his knees together to shuffle shyly. “You wanna see?”

Marinette burst into color. “Adrien!”

He laughed, “oh, I’m just kidding. I’m wearing boxers under this.”

“Alright everyone, get in your seats, it’s time to start!”

—

Marinette tried to do her very best to stay calm. But the very idea that a confession to Adrien would be happening today kept her distracted.

She stared at him, watching as he scrawled notes...in Chinese? He really was an overachiever!

The day passed in a crawl, Marinette fretting every minute.

Then the lunch bell rang, and students began to pack up for break.

“Adrien?” She blurted, her hands shaking.

He turned and looked at her, grinning, and lowering his sunglasses to flash her half-lidded eyes. “You rang?”

“Um...can we talk together? Er, go somewhere together to talk? I have something I want to tell you.”

His grin turned into a full tooth smile. “Of course! Where to?”

“Um...mom’s got stuff for sandwiches, if you want to come over.”

“Sounds wonderful!” He packed up his bag, and then held out his hand for her.

He wanted to hold her hand! Ah!

Nervously smiling, she put her hand in his, and let him lead her from the room.

At the risk of having a horribly awkward lunch, she took the lead, and led him upstairs to the slowly emptying third floor.

“What’s up here?”

“I...can’t wait anymore. If this makes things weird, you could probably catch up with Nino or the guys...”

He very gently touched her cheek. “I told you I wanted to have lunch with you, and I will. So say whatever you have to say.” He took his sunglasses off and put them on his head.

Marinette took a huge breath. “Now, I just need to know...who is the real you? Are you...is this who you are, and you were suppressing the rebellious, chaotic side? Or are you putting on a show?”

He blinked at her, eyes wide. “Whatever do you mean?”

“I mean...I support whoever you are. I want you to feel free to be you, and celebrate what makes you special, but...” she tucked some hair behind her ear, a nervous motion. “I just miss the boy I fell in love with.”

“Marinette...”

“I love you no matter what, though! I promise! I just...your kindness, your shy sweetness and honesty really captivated me. That day when you gave me your umbrella, and you went out of your way to apologize for the misunderstanding. You didn’t have to. I was the one that jumped to conclusions, but you wanted to make friends and get on the right foot with me. Your laughter, your smile...I was a goner.” She hugged the strap of her purse. “So this new version of you has been jarring, but...if I’ve been reading your signs right...?”

He pulled her into a hug. “Oh Marinette. Sweet, kind, thoughtful Marinette. You’ve figured me out. This is all an act. Except my attitude towards you. I feel the same.”

“You...love me?”

“Yes. More than I can express.”

She raised her head, tilting her chin and slowly closing her eyes.

The gag kiss during truth or dare was one thing, but Adrien would kill Plagg if he kissed Marinette in earnest like this.

Instead, he pressed a finger to her lips and smiled at her confused look. “Not yet. The timing isn’t right. If I could give you the world, I would. In fact, anything else, I’ll give it to you. You have my heart, and that will be yours as long as you want it. But I don’t think you want a relationship right now.”

“I’m confused...” Marinette said, her lips trembling.

“I want to protect you from my father and Lila. If I make you my girlfriend, they will try to hurt you to get to me. I’d hate to ask you to wait for me, since you’ve finally gotten the courage up to confess...but would you wait?”

Marinette reached up to hold his face, letting her thumb pass reverently over his cheek. How had she gotten so lucky to fall for a man so thoughtful? So loving?

“Adrien, I’d wait a hundred years to be with you. It’ll be our secret for now.”

He kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry. I know you wanted more from the conversation-“

“Just knowing my feelings are returned are enough. Thank you.”

He took her hand again. “You still want to feed me sandwiches? Do I still deserve it?”

“Of course you do...My Prince.”

Plagg almost retched, but he schooled his face into an adoring grin before he faced her again. “That’s adorable!”

“You like it?”

“I love it!” It was just cheesy enough for Adrien.

“Then that’ll be your nickname...in secret. No one else will know.”

“I think you’ll come to find that our little secret will be so much more fun between us.”

—

After lunch, Plagg and Marinette returned to school. They stopped holding hands as they approached the building, but they stood close and bumped each other coyly.

The behavior didn’t go unnoticed by Alya or Lila. But Alya was the only one to confront them.

“You two seem close,” she asked, twinkle in her eye.

“Oh, we just had a very funny lunch together.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yep. Some great inside jokes. You had to be there.” Plagg sent a wink at Marinette and she seemed to swoon on the spot.

Plagg let her go back to her seat, ignoring the whispering from the girls behind him.

They thought he couldn’t hear them. He could.

Nino bumped his elbow. “Everything cool dude?”

“Absolutely. I’ll tell you later.”

—

Later came after school, of course. The second Plagg and Nino were away from school property, Plagg blurted out, “I’m a genius. I got Marinette to confess her undying love for Adrien. Boo-yah!”

“What?!” Nino shrieked. “Dude! She’s been trying to get that out for months! How on earth—no, wait. I know the answer.”

“Confidence.”

“And obvious flirting.” Nino scoffed. “Adrien always threw out the line, ‘you’re such a good friend’ in front of her. It was like wearing a big sign that said, ‘I will reject you!’”

“I’m right here, you know,” Adrien said, poking his head out of Plagg’s jacket. “And to my defense, I was trying to be faithful to—“

Plagg covered his mouth before he could accidentally reveal Marinette as Ladybug. “No excuses, lover boy!”

Thankfully, Adrien seemed to realize the mistake he almost made and nodded. “Fine, fine. I appreciate that you didn’t kiss her...again. So now what? Have we fulfilled that part of the contract yet?”

“Not quite.” He held up the ring. A paw print with three pads faintly shone on the surface. “Once a condition is met, you’ll hear the ring give its telltale beep and a pad will disappear. Once the paw print completely vanishes...well, you’ll be back in your own body anyway.”

“So...what do I need to do? She already confessed to me.”

This was a conversation better had without Nino involved. Of course he was a bro, and would be helpful for things. But Ladybug’s identity should still remain a secret.

“Nino...” Plagg began, with a drawl. “How much do you know about the birds and the bees?”

Nino sputtered. “HA! BYE!” And he made an about face and hurried towards home.

“Wait Nino!” Called Adrien.

“We’ll meet up with you later!” Plagg sang after.

Adrien looked to his body. “Please tell me you don’t have to...get up to some nasty stuff with my lady. Sure, it’s my body, but you’re like a bazillion years old and I was rather hoping to wait until marriage—“

“Calm down, Romeo. No, there’s not any hanky panky involved. I just needed to get Nino to leave without saying, ‘hey leave’. If he’s going to be suspicious, I need him on a whole other wavelength.”

“Okay, so if there’s no horizontal tango happening, then what are we doing?”

Plagg slipped the ring off his finger. “You need to spend time with her. Tell her or don’t. Just spend time with her outside of school and akumas and get to know her better. For an alibi, tell her that you haven’t been feeling well and you need to be in proximity of the Miracle Box. Then have her send her earrings to me so things stay even.”

“Will she go for that?”

“Probably. You know her better than I do.”

“What about the ring? Don’t you need to wear it because we’re switched?”

“Nah. It should be alright for a little while. It should stay with my body though.”

“Okay...I guess...I’ll go see Marinette.”

“Have fun!” Plagg wiggled his fingers in a farewell and started walking to where Nino had disappeared.

Nervous as all get out, Adrien fled to the bakery, trying to figure out what he was going to tell Marinette.

When was it appropriate to come clean? How long should he wait? Should he blab at all?

Soon, he was hovering above her trap door, and peering inside. Marinette sat at her desk, music playing as she worked on homework. Her head bobbed to some tunes.

“Okay, she thinks you’re Plagg. So she’ll welcome you in and listen to what you tell her. And if she finds out you’re Adrien, then she loves Adrien and everything will be fine. Right? Right!” He psyched himself up.

Using his poorly practiced phasing powers, he entered her room and came to float by her desk. “Hiya pigtails!” He chirped, in the typical Plagg style.

She jerked, before turning to him. Her eyes landed on the ring and widened with surprise. “Why do you have that?! Is Chat okay?! What’s wrong?!” She stood, and nearly knocked over her chair.

Even Tikki looked surprised.

“Everything is fine!” He rushed to rectify. Then he remembered Plagg’s crafted lie. “Mostly. I haven’t been feeling very good, so I think I need to be closer to the Miracle Box for a little bit. I brought the ring for you, if you would send Tikki to Chat for a little while. That way he’s covered in case there’s an Akuma attack.”

Luckily, she bought his dirty fib and started to remove her earrings. “Oh, well if you aren’t feeling well, that means Chat won’t be in top form. We can’t have that! Of course we can trade!” She took the earrings off and handed them to Tikki, before putting on the ring.

Adrien felt a tingle down his spine as the black metal turned rose gold on her dainty finger.

“Is he at home?” Asked Tikki.

“No, come with me, I’ll tell you.” And he escorted her up to the balcony.

“Did Plagg put you up to this?” She asked, once outside. “This seems like one of his hair brained schemes.”

“I mean...he came up with the excuse...but I thought Marinette’s confession today would fulfill one of the conditions of the contract, but it didn’t. Plagg said I should just spend time with her.”

Thankfully, Tikki was the nice one. She patted his paws. “I’m sure you miss her too. I won’t say anything. But I will be having a word with Plagg about this whole thing. He should know that body swaps don’t always work!”

“Don’t tell me that! I’m struggling as it is!”

“Sorry!” She giggled. “Why don’t you go on in. Be prepared though. She’s been all sighs since ‘Adrien’ returned her feelings today.”

If he could blush, he would have. “Oh boy...”

“Where am I going?”

“Oh, Plagg is staying with Nino now. He left home. And uhhh...Nino knows. About me, not Marinette.”

She scoffed. “That rascal.”

“Thanks for understanding, Tikki.”

“I’m understanding with you, because you’re the victim of a manipulative, chaotic creature of destruction and havoc.”

“He can be a bit of a turd.”

“What am I doing? You could be spending time with the love of your life! Now, go on!” Tikki pushed him towards the door before flitting off to Nino’s.

Suddenly faced with seeing Marinette again, and continuing to lie to her face, he sheepishly returned to her room.

She had ducked out for the moment, and he found himself alone.

Alone, but surrounded by dozens of pictures of himself.

Knowing about her crush put these photos in a different context, for sure.

“Just a fan” she said. She was a big fat liar too!

“Adorable, isn’t he?” Her voice grabbed him while he was off guard.

“Uhhh...I guess? For a human?”

She giggled, and set down the plate of cheese danishes onto her desk. “That’s Adrien. He’s kind of my boyfriend. It’s not official yet, but he loves me.” She smiled widely. “He told me just today.”

“‘Kind of’ your boyfriend? You’re okay with that?”

“He can’t date right now because of his father. But he asked me to wait for him. I’d wait a thousand years for him.”

His heart hammered in his chest. “What about three years? What if he can’t date until he’s 18?”

“That’s fine.” She said nonchalantly. “We can still hang out. We can focus on school and drama doesn’t have to come between us...”

“And if someone else available comes along?”

Marinette couldn’t know the real reason he was asking that question. She just fondly patted his head. “Sorry Plagg. I know you care a lot about Chat, but Adrien...Adrien means the world to me. I love Chat too, but in a different way. And he’s not available, not to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Chat will always just be my partner. Can only be my partner. We couldn’t date if I wanted too. It would be too difficult.” She sat back at her desk and sighed. “It would hurt too much.”

Adrien was struck speechless. How was he even supposed to respond to that? Was that an admission that she actually did have some feelings for Chat Noir?

It didn’t matter. Not now. “I didn’t mean to put you on the offensive. I was just...curious, is all. I’m happy you’ve found someone who loves you.”

She smiled at him then, scooping him out of the air and scratching his cheek with her finger. “Thanks Plagg. I hope I didn’t come off as snooty. I know you care about Chat. But he can fight his own battles.”

Her words made him feel like garbage. She had no idea, of course. Because up until the body swap, Adrien’s battles were not being fought. They were purposefully not being fought, because he was too chicken shit to upset anyone.

“Yeah...he’s brave alright...” he muttered.

Marinette settled down at her desk and continued on her homework.

What was a boy to do? He sat on the desk, and helped himself to the cheese danishes.

They were almost worth the trip over here by themselves.

“Enjoying yourself?” Marinette asked, eyebrow quirked.

At that, Adrien realized with thinly veiled horror that he had been moaning.

Eek.

“These are the most delicious things I’ve ever had!” Or maybe it was because Plagg had only fed him Camembert until now. Sure, Plagg’s taste buds were attuned to the foul stuff, but after a while, the same foods over and over get old.

Marinette just smiled at him fondly and continued with her work.

Would it be odd to look at her? Would she notice? He certainly found it hard to look away. He couldn’t stare at her during school. Not as Plagg, and not as Adrien from now on.

She tapped her pencil against her perfectly kissable lips, scrunching her nose and narrowing her eyes as she studied the page. It was adorable, but more so, it was the same face she made as Ladybug, when she was trying to solve her Lucky Charm.

Was it hindsight? Or if he saw Marinette making that face, would he have realized it?

Would he have cared enough to look at her?

Of course he would! He argued with himself. Marinette was always special, and her being Ladybug only elevated her in his mind. It was a match that made sense. Of course she was Ladybug. No one else could be so…wonderful.

But faced with her, and not knowing what to say or how to begin to explain the truth, he had to ask himself the tell tale question:

Did he like Marinette now because she was Ladybug? Or did he always like her, and was only in denial?

He begged it was the second. It had to be.

Her qualities were the same. There was nothing about Marinette that made him recoil or actively deny her identity.

Scratch that, Marinette was ridiculously clumsy.

But besides that, they were the same.

“Thinking about something tough over there?” Marinette asked.

“Huh? Oh. Uh...yeah. You know how it is.” Like that made any sense.

“Right. Like I could understand the problems of a Kwami.” She teased. “If you need to talk, I’m all ears.”

Soon. Soon he’d explain everything. But right now, he was just too nervous and scared of her wrath. “Thanks Marinette. I appreciate it. But I don’t want to distract you from your homework.”

She shrugged a little, not wanting to pry, before going back to work.

Adrien and Marinette shared the cheese danishes, and occasionally talked as she worked. When she got severely stuck, he would throw her a few hints.

Then she stretched, finished. “Oh thank goodness! I’m so tired, and I could use a lazy evening.”

“Marinette! Dinner time!”

“Well, after dinner, I’d like a lazy evening.” She scratched Adrien’s head. “Let’s just hope there’s no Akuma attack.”

“Fingers crossed!”

“You’ll be fine up here alone?”

“Of course. Have fun with your parents.”

“Oh,” she wilted. “Should I tell them about Adrien?”

“Why not?”

“I’m just scared that my nosy parents will ask a hundred questions. And we’re not even official.”

“Maybe by mentioning it now, when it becomes official, it won’t be much of a shock.”

“And maybe we can avoid another disaster like when my dad got akumatized. You’re right.” She couldn’t help but sigh. “Well, I’ll tell you how it goes!” And she went downstairs.

Adrien sat on her desk, scanning the walls and taking in all of his pictures. She really loved him, didn’t she?

And how long had that gone on, and he never noticed?

Was it okay to snoop? Of course morally and ethically, no, it wasn’t. But he was technically her sort of boyfriend. It couldn’t hurt.

Right?

So he snooped. Just a precursory glance through her belongings. It was all very innocent.

Until he found the pink half-circle book. Her diary.

Maybe it was the influence of Plagg’s magic in him. Or this whole experience was turning him into a rascal.

But he opened the book and started to read.

The entries were pretty innocent too. Day to day things, balancing life as a superhero and a student. She mentioned him a few times. Using phrases like, ‘golden hair’, ‘handsome face’, ‘emerald eyes’, and ‘abundant kindness’. She wrote about the times they interacted. From him catching her when she tripped, to the glances they shared. Just the smallest interactions between them, she cherished.

It almost made his heart hurt with how moved he was.

And then there was an entry whose content made him feel a different sort of pain. She recounted a day he had not experienced. Her encounter with his akuma, Chat Blanc.

He read the pages, soaking up every heart breaking moment. All the cruel things he had said to her that he would have never known. Why hadn’t she said anything? Was it too painful? Or did…

Did she think he didn’t need to know?

The diary slammed shut as he was finishing the entry, and a very angry and embarrassed Marinette stood over him, glaring. “Little snoop.”

“Yeah yeah, cats and curiosity and all that. So sue me.”

She took the book away and put it in a box with a lid. “Remind me never to leave you alone in my room ever again.”

“Aw, you’re no fun.”

She walked away, heading to her dresser. “Are you like this with Chat, too?”

“Oh, I’m much worse. You have no idea.”

She laughed at him, and took her pajamas out of her drawers.

Then without warning, she took off her pants.

And Adrien’s mouth went dry. He watched as she slipped on her pajama pants, and then took off her shirt, and even her bra, before putting on a loose t-shirt.

He was not going to get that image out of his head for a long, long time.

She turned to him and started talking like nothing had happened. “So what do you want to do? I’m all done with homework, and so as long as there’s no Akuma attack, I can do whatever I want. What do you and Chat usually do?”

Adrien didn’t know how to tell her he didn’t really have free time. Plagg just looked up cheese blogs on his phone, or watched a movie while Adrien worked on homework.

“You pick. I’ll just watch if you want to play video games or design.”

“I’m actually kind of tired. I might just watch videos in bed.”

“Sounds fun! Can I join?”

“Sure! Whatever you want, Plagg.” Marinette climbed her ladder up to her loft and settled against her pillows. She pulled a fuzzy blanket around her legs and sighed in content. “Just what the doctor ordered!”

Adrien hesitated a moment, trying to decide where to sit. Her shoulder? Her stomach?

But Marinette took the choice away and patted her chest, just above her heart.

Eagerly, he settled, curling his tail around his body, and absorbing her body heat. She scratched between his ears and made him purr almost instantly.

This was heaven. When he got his body back, he’d lay his head here. Hopefully, she’d scratch his scalp just the same.

The videos played on her phone, just memes. Every time she chuckled, her chest would rumble with the noise, and fill him with joy.

He could hear her heart beating. The heart she had opened for him just today. A heart that he lived in.

And then her phone started flashing with a red light. And akuma alert!

“Uh oh!” Marinette clicked on the alert, checking out the details. “It’s a sentimonster! Come on Plagg, we can’t leave Misterbug out to dry!”

As she scaled the ladder to her balcony, he panicked. How was this going to work? Was she going to notice once they transformed? Would he be able to hear her thoughts like he could when Plagg transformed?

Would he look through her eyes?

She raised the hand with the ring on it. “Alright! Plagg, Claws out!”

Nothing happened.

“Um...Plagg, Claws out?”

“Oh.” Adrien gasped, “oh no.”

“Oh no what? Are you broken? Do I need to fix you?”

“No! I mean—sort of, but you already did your part! I’m just...”

“Plagg, what’s going on?”

He sighed, screwing up his lips and unintentionally showing his fangs. “Um...I’m not...I’m not actually Plagg.”

She stared at him, brows furrowing and eyes narrowing. “Then...who are you?”

“Promise you won’t be mad?”

“No guarantees!”

“Well, okay.” He gulped. “I’m...Adrien?”

She blinked. “Adrien? Like...no. No no no not like Adrien Agreste, my new supposed boyfriend?!”

“That’s me! Hi P-Pooh Bear?”

“What?!” She shrieked. “How?! When?! What—“ she snatched him out of the air with firm hands. “HAVE YOU BEEN ADRIEN THIS WHOLE TIME?”

“I mean, I’ve been Adrien my whole life,” he awkwardly chuckled.

“No, no don’t joke with me right now.” She sniffed. “How long have you been like this?”

“Um...about two weeks now. Since that day he came to school in a crop top.”

Marinette shut her eyes tight, a few tears slipping past her cheeks. “That long...”

“Marinette?”

“So it was all a lie? Plagg’s just—messing with us? With me? You don’t really—“ she squeezed her eyes shut and started crying in earnest.

“No! No Marinette! Of course I love you! I’ve always loved you, you know that! The second I learned you were Ladybug, everything made sense! I was so happy and I told Plagg he had to win you over. Please Marinette, this was never supposed to be malicious.” He nuzzled against her fingers, offering up a purr. “I promise.”

With her free hand, she wiped her face. “Alright, well suppose I believe you. What happened? Why are you like this?”

“I made a deal with the devil. Plagg, specifically. He said he was tired of me complaining all the time. So he said he could solve all my problems if I just agreed to it. Then I woke up in his body.”

“What problems?”

“Well...my unrequited love for you, for one.”

She blushed.

“My relationship with my father for two, and the third is Lila’s harassment.”

“Oh, I get it now.” Marinette sighed. “That’s why he was doing all those things...”

“You mean dressing like a moron and messing with Lila?”

“Yes. And flirting with me.”

“To be honest,” he scratched the back of his head. “I would have flirted with you earlier if I had known you were Ladybug. I liked you before, I was just trying to pretend I didn’t, because I wanted to be loyal to...well, you.”

She held him softly in her hands. “We’ve made a mess of things, haven’t we?”

“It was for our own good. Secret identities and all that.”

“You almost sound like you just repeat that to yourself, but you don’t believe it.”

“I had to repeat it to myself,” he urged. “Every day. Because I so desperately wanted to be with you, to spend time with you out of the suit. I was so lonely and I thought, if there was one person I could trust with my identity, it had to be you. But I wanted to honor your wishes. I just hoped to wear you down, eventually.”

She passed her thumb over his cheek and whiskers. “I had been thinking about it, ever since I became the guardian. I wanted to keep you safe, but if something happened to Plagg and you couldn’t transform, no one would know. I’m not upset with you, Kitty. Though I wish this reveal had happened a little more...mutually.” Suddenly, her eyes widened. “What are we doing?! We have a sentimonster!”

“Aw let him fight on his own! He deserves some sort of punishment for this and I have yet to come up with a good one.”

She chuckled. “Alright, fine. We’ll give him a few minutes and see how things are going.”

“You’re taking this better than I expected.”

“I’m in shock.” She chuckled, a little hysterical. “It took me so much courage to confess…and it wasn’t even to your face. That would happen to me.”

He floated out of her hand and nuzzled her face. “All that matters is that I know. We can’t be together quite yet, but the second I get my body back, I plan to make you mine.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely, Bugbear.”

She kissed between his ears. “Okay, My Prince. I look forward to it.”

The ring on her finger beeped, and a paw pad faded out.

“What was that?”

Adrien sighed with relief. “The condition has been met.”

“Condition?”

Just then, a swath of Ladybugs rushed over the city, righting whatever the Sentimonster had ruined.

“Well, looks like he didn’t need our help after all.”

Marinette laughed slightly. “They have been doing this a long time. It probably only took them this long to get it because of travel time.”

Adrien nodded. “So, just to clarify, you aren’t mad at me?”

“Of course not! It sounds like Plagg tricked you. Though I am mad at you for reading my diary…and watching me change!”

“In my defense, I was not warned you were going to change.”

“Still you could have turned around!” She blushed.

“Sorry, Bugaboo, I guess I was just a little star struck.”

She bopped him on the nose. “Now don’t try to flatter me to get out of being caught.”

A yoyo wrapped around the chimney above their heads, and Misterbug made his appearance. His very jarring, ancient appearance. He wore black leggings with a red loincloth around his waist. His shirt was cropped and had billowing sleeves. The mask was just a cloth that tied around his lower face.

“Well well well, I figured if you weren’t on the battle field, you were busy having a lover’s quarrel.” He smirked, the smile only creasing his eyes.

Marinette looked to Plagg. “Dearest Sunshine, do you mind terribly if I abuse your body?”

“Be my guest.”

Marinette wound up a punch and socked Plagg right in the shoulder.

“Ow! Hey, that actually hurt.”

“I hope you, you monster! How could you hurt my poor, sweet, innocent Adrien!?” She cuddled him close to her cheek.

Plagg scoffed. “Puh-lease. There is nothing innocent about that boy. Spots off.”

The pink light faded, and Adrien’s body remained. It was almost hard to look at him, even though she knew it wasn’t really Adrien.

“Oh, now she gets all shy~!” Plagg taunted. “I should have retransformed when I landed. Maybe she wouldn’t have punched me!”

“You deserved it.” Tikki said, flatly.

“Yeah, whatever. So? How’d it go?”

Marinette held out the ring. “It beeped?”

“Excellent!” He took it off her finger. “Two to go!” He slipped the ring on and took off the earrings. “Now I just have to focus on Gabriel and Lila. I think Gabe’s getting ready to crack. Lila though, I might have to push a little harder.”

“Thank you for the warning,” Marinette added. “It makes me feel better that I might not have to put up with her for much longer. So I can take a little damage.”

Adrien frowned. “Can’t I stay with Marinette a while longer?”

Plagg huffed. “I mean you could…but then you couldn’t see the absolute chaos that I planned.”

Adrien winced. “Ugh, fine. I’ll go with you.” He turned to Marinette, pressing a kiss on her cheek. “Bye Bugaboo. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Okay Kitty. I love you!”

Adrien’s heart nearly burst with love. “I love you too!”

“Gross.” Plagg gagged. “Alright, time to go! Adrien, Claws Out!”

—

Chat Plagg Noir returned to the Lahiffe residence, and swung in through Nino’s window.

Nino for his part, was nearly dancing in panic.

“You good, my man?”

Nino shook his head frantically. “There’s a policeman here for you! I tried to stall as long as I could, and said you were asleep and a heavy sleeper! But I think he’s about to burst down my door!”

“A policeman? What for?”

“I don’t know! He just said he had to talk to you!”

“Claws in.” Plagg walked over to the door, and exited, pensively watching the uniformed man in the living room.

“Did you have a nice nap?” The man asked, arms crossed.

“I did, until I was shaken awake. Is there a problem officer?”

“Adrien Agreste, you are under arrest.”

#miraculous ladybug #ml #fanfiction #I'll handle this #marinette dupain cheng #adrinette #adrienette #adrien agreste #adrien and plagg #body swap #identity reveal

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sushigal007 · 3 years ago

Text

To the O’Mackeys! Jules: Not you.

Hobby Leader: Hey. Jules: OH MY GOD. Hobby Leader: Don’t yell at me, you’re the one who got a whole bunch of hobby enthusiasm in the last eight years since you were last played.

Gabe: By my calculations, if you got a hobby point each month, you could’ve maxed out every hobby by now. Sure, if you ignore the three years where I was too busy sorting out my CC to actually play the game. Gabe: By my calculations, shut up.

One step closer to his LTW!

Gabe: CHESS. Betty: Whatever, nerd.

Meanwhile, Jules calls up her boyfriend, Justin.

Jules: I’m gonna be straight with you, I wanna get laid. Right now. Justin: I’ll be right there!

Justin and Jules: Let’s do this. My auto homework mod:

Jules: FUCK. My auto homework mod: Still no.

Gabe: The only thing rising around here is my career and that’s just the way I like it.

They did at least manage to fall in love. Jules: Sooooo... wanna play?

Justine: Not quite what I had in mind. Jules: It’ll have to do until something distracts my dad.

Gabe: *is distracted*

Finally they get down to it!

Townie: I heard someone did woohoo? Other townie: I don’t see it in the paper.

Townie: Oh yeah, she definitely did it. Please stop.

Townie: PSYCHE! I just wanted the paper all along!

If I’ve learned anything from teen movies it’s that frat houses cannot be shut down, you gotta sabotage that shit. So let’s bring in the sorority!

SUCCESS!

Gabe: Nah I’m just gonna fuck with the Greek houses some more lol.

Jules: Yeah, my dad’s kind of a big deal, but he’s not as great as me.

Secret Sue: I know someone who’s pretty great!

Jacob: That guy? Seriously? Townie: Nobody asked you.

Jules: Wanna play for cash? Ripp: Absolutely not.

Gabe spends all his free time now playing on the swing.

Jules brings home Ivy Copur every day to gossip about the various uberhood randos. Jules: -And then he pissed himself! Ivy: No way! Really!? Jules: I don’t actually know, but it’s statistically likely.

Oh yay, a genie lamp! Matchmaker: Ehhh maybe I should’ve left the one that sets things on fire? Next time.

Gabe: I notice you don’t have the flu any more. And thank fuck for that.

Don’t know why I screencapped a picture of local thirst trap, Leod McGreggor. Leod: For your followers. You’re right. Here you go guys, my treat, don’t say I never give you anything.

Social distancing.

Gabe had the day off, so I sent him out to the Film and Literature hobby lot. Gabe: Booze me up.

Gabe: Is ‘Spot the dog’ an instruction or his name? Hobby Leader: Please go away and sober up.

Evil Witch: Have some pain rain. Gabe: Ow ow ow ow ow Marissa: Tee hee it tickles.

Mrs C: COVER UP, YOU DIRTY HARLOT!!! Gabe: It’s just board shorts- Mrs C: I CAN SEE YOUR BULGE, YOU FILTHY SLAG!!!

Meadow: Should we... Sharla: Nah, let’s just stay here and look cute.

There’s only room for one Grand Witch on this lot! Which one gets to stay? There’s only one way to find out!

Sorry Sandra, we already have roaches.

No.

Gabe started writing a novel and I really wish we could write the blurb at the beginning when we pick the icons, because I’ve already forgotten what it was about.

Tomatoes!

I sold them rather than stocking the fridge and of course, it immediately ran out, so Gabe had to nip out for groceries.

Jules: How do I look? Pretty good!

Finally, Gabe made good enough friends with the witch to learn her secrets!

Gabe: I HAVE THE POWER!

Jules wanted to invite someone over, so I let her call up Melody Tinker. Jules: I need you to tell me all about college. Melody: I dunno how much help I’ll be, I haven’t actually had any classes yet.

Gabe: So you’re off to college today? Jules: Yep. Gabe: I’ll miss you.

That said, it didn’t take him long to find a way to deal with the loneliness.

Patricia: So... would it too crude to make a magic wand joke? Gabe: Yes.

Gabe: But do it anyway.

Gage: And now for my next trick, I’ll merge with the desk.

Will: Is that a porno!? Gage: No, It’s literature.

Do’t do that. Gage: Sorry, am I making you uncomfortable? Yes. Gage: Good.

And the week ends with him turning Jules’ room into a little witchy study area. Gage: As Education Minister, I wish to set an example by furthering my education. Gage: Also I wanna learn how to send a swarm of bees after the next person who kicks over the bin.

UBERHOOD INDEX

#sims 2 #premades #Uberhood #O'Mackey

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weasleypogues · 4 years ago

Text

newbie on set pt.2 (r.p)

so i got a lot of requests saying to do a part two so i hope u guys enjoy lol :) also!!!! i’m gonna put little twists on it here and there because it’s going to be like shes going into season 2 and sarah and john b are in the bahamas

read part 1 if you haven’t already :D

part 3 part 4

tag list for the series so far: ivebeenthinkingboutu nas-marie-loves-u k-k0129

masterlist.

after a lot of preparation with fittings, readings, rehersals, and everything in between, you were finally shooting today. you and the cast had excitedly texted back and forth in the group chat but rudy made sure he also texted you on the side as he was eager to still get to know you.

you, madelyn, and madison sat in the makeup and hair trailer, gushing about the scenes you were shooting today and how excited you guys were to just be in south carolina and have fun like they did last year.

“did you see the tiktok i sent you?” madison asked madelyn, giggling and glancing at you because you were the once to convince madison to send it in the first place. madelyn glared at the two of you snickering, as she rolled her eyes but couldn’t fight back the giggle.

“yes! i did! i see them everywhere. ‘relax b john, i have a gutter, get you’re head out of the brother’ or ‘it’s not like i’ve never seen a gutter before, get your head out of your ass john b’, they literally fill up my page!” madelyn responded, laughing her ass off. you guys were referring to the hundreds of tiktoks that mocked that line in the first season. you threw your headback in laughter, tears coming out of your eyes. your hairdresser lola glared at you playfully and placed your head forward again because you kept interrupting her. you blew her a kiss in the mirror as a joke and she laughed.

“you guys are something else..” she trailed off, a huge smile upon her face.

“are you nervous for today (y/n/n)?” madison turned to you and asked. you let your cheeks fill up with air before letting the breath out slowly, in deep thought. you hated to say it but you were literally terrified. you didn’t want to be the reason that a scene that should’ve taken maybe 60 minutes at most to shoot could take longer because you weren’t working to your full potential. “i’ll take that hesitation as a yes..”

“i just don’t wanna fuck up. like no one does, but if i did it on my first day it would be all i think about.” you responded, twidling with your thumbs.

“you did amazing at the table read and great at rehearsals, you’re gonna do great today.” madeyln smiled, reassuring you. “especially......because your first scene is with rudy today.” she smirked, sending a wink your way.

you felt your face grow hot and cowered in your seat slightly, but not enough that lola couldn’t continue working on your hair. you and rudy had been texting nonstop ever since you guys left the restaraunt after the first table read. you have to admit, he was very flirty but you always seemed to psych yourself out because you caught on that he was just an outgoing and friendly guy. but madison and madelyn snapped you back to reality that he wouldn’t play footsie’s with just anyone or constantly text them if it wasn’t something that crossed his mind.

someone with an earpiece, walkie talkie, and clipboard walked onto the trailer saying that he needed you and madison for a scene. as sarah and john b were in the bahamas, you guys weren’t getting any scenes with them for a little while. you walked out of the trailer with string bracelets and other accessories practically covering your wrists, neck, and ankle to make you look more summer-y and pogue like. you walked towards where you guys were shooting a scene in the wreck and placed the apron around your body, talking to madison.

“lady pogue! baby pogue!” you heard a familiar boy yell and you turned around to see rudy and jonathan. jonathan had on a green tshirt and grey cargo shorts, accessorized with a beaded necklace and a hat on backwards. you pulled him in for a hug first until he was pulled away suddenly. before you knew it, you were in rudy’s arms being given probably the best hug in the world. you giggled and looked up at him as you pulled away.

“you just couldn’t resist me, i get it.” you joked and raised your eyebrows. rudy laughed and let a smirk grow onto his makeup-bruised face.

“how’d you know?” he responded somewhat sarcastically. you rolled your eyes and pushed him away playfully, in doing so you admired his arms as he wore a white tanktop and backwards hat as well.

“you guys ready to get started?” you all heard jonas yell out and you let out a deep, nervous breath and nodded.

“you got this, (y/n).” madison reassured you, rubbing your arm lightly before the three of them got into their spots at a table at the wreck. you fixed your hair slightly, hiding your script from plain shot of the camera and tightened in apron that wrapped around your waist.

juliet walked towards the group of three pogues sitting at a picnic table at the wreck. she had just moved to the outer banks with her parents and brother for some business thing that involved her parents and real estate. however, whatever sum of money her family had didn’t stop her from finding a job and getting out to do her own thing. nick carrera was kind enough to give a sixteen year old girl with no restaraunt experience a shot at waitressing at the wreck. he said it wasn’t difficult and that his daughter, kiara, had fun.

juliet had worked a couple of shifts with kiara and they had fun but juliet didn’t want to over step her boundaries. her next table to serve was kiara and her two friends, jj and pope? juliet couldn’t remember if that was their names or not. kiara had talked about them but said that it had been a couple of months since they’ve seen each other because they lost two friends at sea. juliet decided it was probably still a touchy subject and didn’t want to invade anymore in fear of upsetting kiara.

however, kiara did mention that she had not seen pope or jj in a long time. juliet wasn’t sure if they had agreed to take some space or they drifted apart because of the lost friends. so when juliet saw kiara sitting at a table with two boys that fit the descriptions of her old friends, it clicked in her head. they looked like they were in a deep conversation and she thought maybe she should give them a second instead of interrupting them for a simple drink order. juliet shook her head to snap out those thoughts and walked up to the trio.

“hey kie, anything i can get for you guys to drink?” she built up the courage to ask, giving a small smile to the trio with her pen and paper in hand.

“just waters good for me, juliet. boys?” kiara started, sending a kind smile back to her.

“same here.” pope brought up, fiddling with his fingers as it was clear they were in the middle of a deep conversation. juliet lowered her head to write on the paper and felt a wave of regret wash over her because she felt bad for interrupting the rekindling group.

“juliet? like romeo and juliet?” jj asked, looking at juliet with a small smirk on his face. juliet took a second to take in the fact that the blond kid in front of her face was bruised and cut up. he clearly fucked with the wrong people, probably kooks from old stories kiara had told her on break one day. juliet nodded with an awkward smile.

“like shakespeare intended.” juliet responded, fixing her hair slightly as a natural mannerism.

“got a romeo? or do you want one?” jj replied with a wink. even in character, you felt your cheeks get hot because if you remembered the script correctly, that was not rudy’s line. he improvised. as you all played off that improvised line, kiara kicked jj from under the table which jj didn’t hesistate to flinch and rub his shin. “fiesty...”

kiara looked up at juliet, sending her an uncomfortable smile in a way of saying ‘sorry for him, he’s always this stupid’. “he’ll just take a water.” kiara flat out said because jj just failed to respond to juliet’s initial question.

“on the rocks!” jj joked to ease the awkwardness as juliet walked back towards the wreck to fetch them their drinks.

you heard the director yell cut and let your body somewhat relax from it’s on screen state and turned back around. “cute line, rudy! s’all you got?” you hollered over towards the trio, as you walked towards them.

“c’mon, you gotta admit, that was funny. i had to make it a little more authentic!” rudy defended himself with his hands up. you rolled your eyes and shoved him slightly on the shoulder for almost messing you up on the first day if it wasn’t for the rest of the cast who played along so well. you let your elbow rest on his shoulder, exchanging a couple of words between madison, johnathan, and rudy in between takes. now you understood what all the hype was about.

---

after a long day at work, you packed up your backpack in your trailer, pulling your charger out of the socket. as you glanced around one last time, making sure you didn’t forget anything you heard a knock at your door.

“come in!” you hollered out, although you didn’t let your eyes leave the surrounding areas.

“hey.” you recognized the voice as rudy’s and felt your heart flutter lightly and looked up at him. his rosy cheeks and messy blond hair almost made you melt on the spot.

“what’s up?” you asked, throwing your backpack over your shoulder and grabbing your phone. rudy took a couple of slow steps towards you and now you two were basically inches away from each other.

“i was wondering if you were up for dinner tonight?” rudy asked, rubbing the back of his neck. he was clearly nervous, but for what?

“yeah i’m down! what do the rest of the group have in mind?” you responded, pretty obliviously. rudy let out a big breath because he thought he had gotten the hard part over with.

“actually, i was thinking you could come around to mine and i could cook something....like y’know. just the....two of us?” rudy responded, his face slowly growing red as he avoided eye contact with you.

a huge smile grew on your face and you saw as rudy slightly relaxed himself as maybe this was a good sign. “like...a date?” you answered. you felt bad that maybe you were egging it on more and making him clearly more stressed but you needed that clarification for yourself.

“uh, that’s what i had in mind?” rudy stated, with his eyebrows raised. you lifted on your tippy toes and placed a kiss on his cheek. as you took a step back, you stared into his blue eyes and smiled.

“a date it is.” you answered. you never in your life thought that you would have the confidence to do that, so it wasn’t a surprise that your heart was racing fast and your hands felt sweaty.

you walked past him and opened the door to the trailer before turning back. “you coming or what?” you asked.

rudy did not even hesitate to follow after you.

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unsteadyshade · 4 years ago

Note

Hmm 52 and or 62 monochrome for the prompts

from this prompt list. a friend sent me a video, and that is what this was inspired by. i remembered your prompt, anon, and i just rolled with it. i should start mentioning that prompts might take a while, but better late than never. i hope you enjoy!

"Come on, show off those glutes!"

Blake glares at her best friend and teammate currently recording her from her phone. Unfortunately, Yang is unfazed and continues grinning. They're both sweaty and covered in grime from their soccer game, and all Blake wants to do is take a shower.

"That's the last thing I want to do."

"It's for a good cause, promise!" Blake narrows her eyes. She's too tired to overthink things, but she does notice Yang occasionally glancing behind her at something. It makes her curious enough to do the same, albeit in a much more subtle way. What she sees is a white-haired woman who looks strangely familiar despite Blake not associating with anyone with hair like that. It's only when Nora, another teammate, passes by after snatching a magazine from her boyfriend's hands that Blake remembers who that stranger is and smirks.

How can Weiss Schnee escape her mind? The woman was featured everywhere, especially in recent times with her delightfully controversial decisions as CEO of the SDC. Blake thinks that it was a long time coming, however more could be done. She knows progress for Faunus and other marginalized people takes time though, a lesson ingrained ever since she was a child. That any progress was made at all after Weiss somehow managed to convince the board to agree with her is a point in her favor.

Of course, that isn't the only reason the CEO catches Blake's attention. The press had been speculating for a while that Weiss had been seeing suitors, and not all of them were men. Granted, that could just be the tabloids looking to spin a story, but Blake's bisexual heart couldn't help but hope. She may never get a chance to meet the woman, but it's a nice thought.

Well, maybe things can change. Blake isn't sure if it's a good thing that they happen to be in the same hotel at the same time so close to each other, but the inner romantic in her can't help but think about fate. She shakes her head, clearing her thoughts. If nothing else, she can verify one thing. And even if she embarrasses herself, at least it'd be a fun video to watch back later.

Blake gives the blonde a look only able to be deciphered by years of friendship, and Yang only grins back. It'd usually be her that would suggest something chaotic, so the rare reversal is nice. Yang tosses her the soccer ball she's been carrying like a trophy, and Blake easily starts juggling it.

In her peripheral vision and with the way Yang's grin widens, Blake can tell that the woman behind her has stopped walking. What she's doing, Blake isn't sure, but she does hear fabric rustling. She guesses that Weiss has decided to lean against the wall either to watch her since they're blocking the hallway anyway. It's been a while since Blake has used her soccer skills to impress anyone, so she hopes Yang won't tease her too badly if this is a bust.

Following several minutes of juggling the soccer ball, Blake deliberately kicks it over to where she suspects Weiss is still standing. After picking it up slowly--Blake won't admit that she might have been distracted by the CEO's legs and that pretty skirt--she stands and flashes an apologetic smile. There's a pretty pink in her cheeks, so Blake thinks that she has to be at least a little impressed with her earlier show. She takes a chance and winks.

Oh, that blush is gorgeous. Blake smirks--that roguish one Yang had been caught by when they first met--and speaks, lowering her voice in a way that she'll blame on exhaustion if asked. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to block the hallway." She ignores the snort of laughter from her best friend and leans against the wall directly in front of Weiss, pleased to learn that she is taller.

"Isn't that what you're doing right now?" The CEO crosses her arms and raises a brow, and somehow Blake is the one who feels small for a moment before blinking away her surprise. Blake feels foolish for feeling this way but supposes she should've expected some level of intimidation from a successful businesswoman. Still, she's going to continue to try and impress her until there's absolutely no chance left for her.

"You could say that...but now I have a reason to keep you here."

"And that would be...?"

Well, here she goes. The moment that'll decide whether she'll get teased mercilessly or a slap on the back from her best friend. "To invite you to watch me practice."

There's an agonizing moment of silence as Weiss takes that in broken only by another snort from behind her. Then, the businesswoman takes out a card, elegantly writes a set of numbers on it, and hands it to Blake with a small smirk. "Don't text me the wrong time or location or else I'll be sorely disappointed. I'll see you there, beautiful." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yang is still laughing by the time they make it to the park. Honestly, Blake is just glad that she wasn't laughing more than she did earlier and sighs. At least they've showered. She hopes they won't be sweating too much. "Yang, come on. I need moral support, not any more of your jokes."

"Okay okay...just one more time! She called you beautiful, and you stood there gaping like a red-faced fish for five minutes!"

"It couldn't have been that long..." Blake mumbles, trying very hard not to think about Weiss's smirk after seeing her reaction and how much she wanted to kiss it away. A slap on the back abruptly takes her out of her thoughts, and she stumbles a bit before righting herself with a glare aimed at the grinning blonde.

"Maybe not, but I'm still proud of you! Got a number and demonstration?"

"Don't say it like that."

"But that's exactly what this is. You wanna show off for her even more than you did earlier, and I'm here to help with that." Yang's voice drops solemnly. "This is the only time I'll let you embarrass me on the field."

Blake rolls her eyes. "Just help me warm up."

"Looks like you'll have to do without that. She's here."

"What?!" Blake whirls around, and sure enough, Weiss is making her way over to them. Yang gives her two thumbs up before jogging a ways away. Of course the CEO would arrive early. "Hey." Blake greets with a nervous smile.

Surprisingly, it also seems that the seemingly composed woman is also nervous when she smiles back. "Hi."

They stare at each other for a moment too long to be considered friendly until Yang wraps her arms around them and winks at the shortest woman. "You ready to watch your girl pummel me?"

"She's not--"

"I'm not--"

"Great! Let's have some fun." Yang jogs off, and Blake isn't sure if she should be mad or glad that they're now sporting matching blushes. She clears her throat, Faunus ears flicking awkwardly due to her nerves.

"I hope you enjoy what I have to offer--not that I'm offering anything like--" Weiss's tiny giggle stops her, and Blake swears her heart skips a beat at the sound. She wants to hear more, especially when it's accompanied by that radiant smile. It gives enough confidence to wink. "Enjoy the show, princess." Blake says, the nickname slipping easily from her lips. She doesn't stick around long enough to see Weiss's reaction, psyching herself up for playing.

As she plays, Blake is focused on the game, though she does catch the occasional glimpse of Weiss watching her. The knowledge that those sharp eyes are observing her as closely as she likely scans everything and everyone else gives Blake a surge of confidence. It's not recklessness that drives her as she moves around, but freedom to fall into something--someone new.

And when Yang finally calls for an end, Blake is smiling wide. Her friend is conversing with a teammate. Meanwhile, she's sweaty but still feeling adrenaline coursing through her for a different reason as she turns to the approaching woman. Blake is just energized enough to blurt out the first thing on her mind.

"I've seen the way you look at me when you think I don't notice."

A brilliant blush quickly spreads across Weiss's face at that, though she does an admirable job of acting like it isn't obviously there. She huffs then rolls her eyes while crossing her arms for extra effect. "Where else was I supposed to look?"

"Well..." Blake gestures to her best friend. "What about my teammate?"

Weiss purses her lips, as if considering that, and Blake hates how her attention is immediately drawn there. "She is...certainly an option, but you've managed to capture my attention more." Blake's heart skips a beat at that, and she swallows before speaking again.

"Have I captured enough to earn a date?"

Weiss stares for a few moments, and Blake can feel her heartbeat rise with the subtle upward curve of her lips. "You have. How does dinner sound?" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blake would've complained about having to shower for a second time if she wasn't doing it for a second date. What she definitely doesn't complain about is her date opening her hotel room door and rendering her momentarily speechless with a backless silver dress. If this is what she can look forward to by taking chances, then she figures she should take more in the future. When she is able to talk again, Blake supposes honesty is the best policy.

"You look amazing tonight."

Weiss's smile is just as amazing, and Blake is fortunate enough to confirm that their lips fit together quite well hours later.

a/n: this was so ridiculously fun. thank you for the prompt, and i hope you enjoyed!

#anonymous #rwby monochrome #monochrome rwby #checkmating #asks #monochrome #weiss schnee #blake belladonna

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imagine-docx · 4 years ago

Text

the cute barista and his crisis.

Summary: You spent the night at home, while your roommates were out partying. Suddenly, a random number called you ranting to you about how much he hates life. [college!barista!]

Warnings: hella sexual jokes and references, swearing, and hating post-secondary, as per usual.

A/N: hope you guys are still doing well and i hope you guys are staying safe! 💛 - Amanda

┍━━━━━♥♠♣♦━━━━━┑

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday consisted of either early morning classes, midday classes, and the occasional class that ran past 8 pm. Fridays were the only day you can claim as yours, but of course, you had to work.

It was Thursday and the cool New York air was engulfing you and your roommates as the three of you made your way to the usual coffee shop that was a little bit off campus. “Gonna ogle the cute barista again?” Wanda nudged.

“Ah yes, young love,” Nat snickered.

“Shut up,” you felt the heat rise up to your cheeks, “I think he’s cute, but he probably has so many girls fawning over him.”

“Remember, we are the one cute girls in the coffee shop,” Nat said, opening the door, “After you, m’lady.”

That resulted in you and Wanda letting out a laugh, “Okay incel,” Wanda responded. The three of you glanced up at the menu, “I’m feeling tea today, but what kind?” Wanda said.

“After that comment, poison flavoured,” Nat muttered.

You let out a laugh, “You’re quite spicy today, go for a spiced tea.”

Wanda stuck her tongue out at Nat, “That’s why she’s my favourite roommate,” Glancing back at the menu, “Is Russian spiced tea good?”

“I don’t know, ask your favourite roommate,” Nat said.

“Bitch.”

The cute blond barista came up to the register, “You ready? Or do you need another minute?”

You felt Nat pinch your left ass cheek, and you nudge your elbow into her ribcage, “Yeah. Can I get a caramel iced coffee?”

“Of course, what else?” He asked.

“Can I get a cinnamon dolce latte?” Nat spoke keeping her hand near your ass cheeks.

“Of course, and for you?” He indirectly asked Wanda.

“Russian spiced tea please.” She spoke.

“That’s $17.60, here or to go?” He asked.

“Here,” Wanda said, while digging in her backpack for her wallet, “Credit please?”

“Aww, we love it when our sugar daddy treats us,” You snickered, resulting in a laugh from Nat and the barista.

“It’s only because she bought dinner and you bought dessert last night,” she grumbled.

“Go take a seat, and I’ll bring the drinks over when they’re done.” He spoke, which resulted in a hums of thank you from the three of you and you guys walked over to the usual booth you guys inhabited when you were here.

“Is there a reason that my poor ass cheek got abused?” You asked.

“He was checking you out,” Nat bluntly stated.

“No he wasn’t, he was doing his job.” You stated.

“And I am a natural redhead,” she sarcastically said.

“Wait, it's dye?” Wanda practically cried out.

The three of you laughed, and went over your plans for the next weekend. Nat had work and was doing rehearsal for the Russian dance competition that was happening in a few weeks. Wanda had to work and was also seeing her brother Pietro on Sunday. You on the other hand had to work, and had to have a comparative essay done by Monday.

“You’re so lucky you’re done your midterms,” Wanda said, “I’m still struggling trying to wrap my head around platyhelminths.”

“But see, you watched me and laughed at me for only surviving off of coffee and fruit snacks for three weeks straight. Now I am prospering and living my life and you have a midterm on Monday,” you said.

“You looked like death around the apartment,” Nat laughed, and the cute barista brought over your drinks.

“Russian spiced tea, cinnamon dolce latte, and caramel iced coffee,” he said, passing around the drinks, “And a tiramisu square.”

“Uh, we didn’t order this?” Nat asked.

“The table over there sent it,” he responded, pointing his head over to where a group of boys were sitting.

“Thank you,” the three of you hummed and there went the barista.

“You know,” Nat leaned into you, “He has a nice ass.”

“Nat,” You hissed.

“America is proud of that ass,” Wanda snickered.

Suddenly the group of boys that sent the dessert got louder, trying to get your attention. You rolled your eyes, “God, I hate men.”

“Except for the pretty blond one with a nice ass,” Nat said, digging into the tiramisu.

“I second that,” Wanda said, taking a bite of the piece on her spoon.

Suddenly the frat boy cult got even louder, Nat rolled her eyes, and moved your hair from the base of your neck, “What are you-” Then came a long lick from the base of your neck to your jawline. Suddenly the frat boy cult shut up, “Jesus Christ, warn a girl.”

“Why are you acting all shy now? You weren’t this shy last weekend when I was doing body shots off of you at the back of the apartment,” Nat said, nonchalantly.

“You may have shut up the frat boy cult, but the cute barista is so red you can confuse him for a bottle of ketchup.” Wanda stated.

┍━━━━━♥♠♣♦━━━━━┑

Two weeks have passed, and you would go into the coffee shop whenever you had over an hour worth of a gap, or before work. Today is one of those days. It was Friday, and you were due to start your shift in forty-five minutes.

Walking into the shop, there was the cute barista working the front. You didn’t catch the way his eyes practically lit up upon seeing you. “Just you today?” He asked.

“Yes sir,” you said, giving him a smile.

“Caramel iced coffee?” He asked.

“Of course,” you said, digging in your bag for your wallet.

“Don’t worry, it's on the house.” He said, “Here or to go?”

“To go, please.”

“You got it doll,” and with that you stood off to the side and waited for him to make your drink.

“Caramel iced coffee,” he called out.

“Thank you, have a good day,” you called out before making your way to your shift.

“You know you look like a lovesick puppy,” Bucky said to Steve.

“That obvious?” Steve asked.

“Yeah. Also, remember, Happy is gonna take that coffee out of your paycheque,” Bucky said patting Steve’s back.

“If it’s for her, Happy can have my entire paycheque.” Steve responded, going to clean up.

“Ugh, teenagers and their hormones,” Bucky spoke.

┍━━━━━♥♠♣♦━━━━━┑

You, Wanda, and Nat sat on your shared living room floor eating the steamed dumplings and sushi that you ordered for dinner. “So you saw the cute barista boy today,” Wanda said, “Soy sauce please.”

Nat handed her the sauce before taking a california roll for herself, “His ass still thick?”

You nearly choked on the dumpling you were eating, “Fucking Christ, Nat.”

“You can’t miss that ass!” Nat tried justifying, “He walks in, and his ass walks in five minutes later.”

Wanda choked on her iced tea, “He wore this white shirt that was way too tight for him, God that left nothing to the imagination,” you said recalling the way his muscles moved when making your coffee.

“Someone’s having a wet dream tonight,” Wanda said.

You threw a soy sauce packet at her head, “No! I don’t even know his name.”

“See that’s a problem, she can’t moan his name if she doesn’t know his name.” Nat laughed.

You threw a soy sauce packet at her head, “The both of you need to get laid.”

“So do you sweetheart, and by the big muscular blond with the thick ass who works at The Petite Bean.” Wanda said, nearly dodging another soy sauce packet.

┍━━━━━♥♠♣♦━━━━━┑

The next Friday night you were at home by yourself eating a sandwich from the bodega that was next to your building. Wanda and Nat went to this party, you wanted to go, but after your shift, you were exhausted and just decided to call it a night.

Taking the last bite of your turkey sandwich, you got up and threw everything out, and decided to go and take a long hot shower. You stood at the tv debating whether or not you should turn off the documentary on whales, but you decided not to as it helps serve as background noise.

You showered and threw on a massive NYU hoodie and some pyjama shorts. Getting out of the shower, you headed back to the kitchen, dug around in the cabinets for a snack of a sort, and headed back to your position on the couch.

You were scrolling through your Instagram, when a random number called you. You answered because you never know it could be Nat or Wanda in trouble. “Hello?”

You heard a shaky breath from the other side, “Oh sorry, I have the wrong number.”

“Hey, before you hang up, are you okay?” You asked.

“Not really-”

You cut him off, “Did you want to talk about it? I have the time.”

“Are you sure? I don’t wanna bother you,” the man from the other side of the line said.

“Of course, shoot,” you said.

“Midterms got the worst of me. I’m practically failing chemistry, why did I take chem? Like I’m an art major, the fuck am I doing in science? Then the girl I dated for a little keeps coming by the place I work at with the man she cheated on me with, and that shit still stings. Then, there’s this cute girl who keeps coming by the place I work, and I can’t seem to talk to her. She’s like this ball of sunshine, and I don’t think I can talk to her. Do you have anything fucked up happening in your life? Or is the lord hating on me?”

You laughed, “Unfortunately, no. With the chem thing, don’t be so hard on yourself. Courses get to the best of us, we are so reliant on a GPA, when it doesn’t even guarantee a job after practically killing ourselves for this degree. Failing one course isn’t so bad, just don’t fail more than three, that might result in academic probation. Honestly, if she cheated on you, fuck her. She doesn’t deserve any of your attention, if she was the one who gave you up. And with the other girl, just slowly ease her into it, ask her how her day has been, ask her about the weather, if she’s holding a book or something, try to bond with her about that.”

“You sound like a psych major,” he joked.

“Psych minor,” you corrected, “Socio major. From what I know you can’t be a science major. So what do you major in?”

“Art history, and minor in regular history.”

“Oh, we got a huge history fan don’t we?” You joked.

“Biggest nerd in Brooklyn.”

That same night the two of you stayed talking until 4:30 am, before he heard you yawning and telling you to get some sleep. You both bidded your goodnights and the moment your head hit the pillow, you knocked out.

┍━━━━━♥♠♣♦━━━━━┑

The following morning, or afternoon at that point. You stumbled into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee, and heard Wanda and Nat groaning about how they need Advil. You opened the door to Nat’s room and saw the two of them practically cuddling. You threw two bottles of water, and the bottle of Advil at them before heading to the washroom to brush your teeth.

Once you were done, you sat on the counter of the kitchen drinking your coffee, you heard stumbling from the hallway. Suddenly, a disheveled Nat appeared, she was sporting bedhead, smeared makeup, a black lace bra and some random sleeping shorts that looked like they belonged to Wanda. “Good morning sweetheart,” you cooed.

She flipped you off before making herself a cup of coffee, “Never drinking again.”

“Nat,” Wanda whined, “Please I need a cuddle buddy.”

“You have another roommate,” Nat reminded her.

Wanda nudged your legs open and curled up into your frame, “My favourite.”

You laughed while patting her head, “What happened?”

“So much booze, free booze.” Nat stated.

Free booze to university kids was like feeding candy to a toddler. “Alright cuddlebug. I have errands to do, I gotta go shower.” You said trying to push away Wanda.

“No, please don’t.” Wanda latching onto you harder.

“She’s gonna make her way down to Manhattan to see the cute barista,” Nat joked.

“Harhar, I’m going to the bank and I need to mail out this return. The green dress was too big, had to order a size down.” You said, finishing off your coffee, finally pushing off Wanda, “Also why the fuck would I go to Manhattan to see the barista.”

“Dick makes you do crazy things baby girl.” Nat said.

┍━━━━━♥♠♣♦━━━━━┑

While you were getting dressed your mind ran onto the man who called you last night and ranted to you about his life. You decided to call him back and check up on him. After three rings he picked up, “Hello?”

“Hey, you called me last night and we talked for an hour and a half about some super deep stuff, you okay?”

“Oh, yeah, thanks for checking up on me.” He spoke.

“Not a problem, if you ever need to rant, you can always text me.” You said shoving your wallet into your bag.

“Are you sure? I don’t wanna burden.” He asked.

“If you need a friend, I am here for you.” You said.

You two exchanged names, before both of you had to go. And that started your texting relationship with a man named Steve Rogers.

┍━━━━━♥♠♣♦━━━━━┑

You came back home from your errands trip and brought bagels for the two hungover disasters you call your roommates. You walked back in and saw Wanda and Nat under the pink fur blanket watching the whale documentary you were watching last night. “My baby is back,” Wanda said excitedly.

“I bring bagels, because bagels make us happy when we are hungover.” You said placing the bag on the table, “Two rainbow bagels with strawberry cream cheese. Two poppy seed bagels with tuna salad on both.” You said handing each of them their own bagels.

You grabbed your own two before plopping next to them, “If barista boy doesn’t domesticate you, I will.” Nat said.

You laughed before you felt your phone buzz in your pocket, you got a message from Steve asking about the bagel place you usually get your stuff from. “Who’s Steve?” Wanda asked.

“New mans?” Nat exclaimed.

“You’re replacing barista boy before you could even dick him down?” Wanda cried out.

“No, Jesus. I haven’t even met Steve-” Wrong phrasing you used there.

“You’re back on tinder?” Wanda asked, “I thought we were doing it together.”

“No, he accidentally called me last night and we talked for an hour.” You said nonchalantly taking a bite out of your bagel.

“A threesome with barista boy and Steve? Wow someone’s getting some,” Nat said, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Jesus Christ Nat.”

┍━━━━━♥♠♣♦━━━━━┑

As per usual, you made your way into the cafe getting coffee before your shift. Noticing the barista, you again missed the gleam in his eyes when he saw you. He mustered up the courage, “Hey, how are you?”

“I’m good, how are you?”

“I’m doing good,” You smiled.

Steve felt his knees weaken at your smile, “The usual?”

“The usual,” you said, paying and going to message the roommate group chat about the tight light blue shirt barista boy was wearing today.

“Alright, here you go.” He said sliding you the coffee and a straw.

“Thank you, have a good day,” you said before slipping out of the shop and heading to work.

“So you took the girls advice and asked her about her day, look at you making big moves.” Bucky nudged Steve.

“One step at a time Buck,” he said, going to clean up his station.

“Hey, you better have not given her another free coffee,” Bucky called out.

┍━━━━━♥♠♣♦━━━━━┑

After several weeks of messaging Steve, you learned he also attended NYU and both of you worked around your schedules, trying to meet up. The two of you finally decided to meet on campus. You picked a morning where you, Nat and Wanda had a two hour gap just in case something happened and he was in fact a 50 year old pervert with a thing for third year students.

You: hey i’m in the student centre

Steve: Hey, I’m sitting, I’m wearing a black jacket and a white t-shirt

You looked up and almost screamed, as if the gods were playing a joke on you. It was your cute barista boy. Okay, being rational, he could happen to be here at the same time, wearing the same out- nope, no way. “Steve?” You asked, approaching the table.

Looking up from his phone, he was shocked as well, “H-hi,” he stuttered out.

“Can I sit?” You asked.

“Of course.”

“So I guess you were helping me, try and talk to you,” he finally spoke out.

“Wait, what?” You asked, confused.

“The girl I was messaging you about, was you,” he sheepishly said.

You didn’t know how to respond, “Really?”

“Yeah, if you don’t feel the same that’s okay.” Steve said looking down at his fingers.

You took his hand in yours, “No, I like you too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Nat keeps trying to get me to ask you out. But I kept talking myself out of it.” You said.

“How about I treat you to the finest thing this campus has to offer and we can talk about how we both are idiots,” he offered.

“It better be the Wendy’s,” you joked.

“Only the finest for the finest,” he winked at you, resulting in the blush staining your cheeks. He stood up and put his hand out, upon standing up you took his hand and was about to exit the student centre.

You heard Nat speak loudly to Wanda, “She’s getting dick, I’m so proud of her.” You wanted the ground to create a blackhole and swallow you whole.

Until you heard another voice, “BuckBuck! Our baby Steve is all grown up and getting pussy.”

You looked to see Steve blushing, turning back and flipping him off, “Fuck off Sam.”

Of course, both of your roommates were the worst.

224 notes · View notes

artificialqueens · 4 years ago

Text

Galactica, Chapter 44 (Group Fic) - TheDane/Veronica

A/N: Click here if you’re looking for previous chapters (or here if you’d rather read on AO3). 💫

Last Chapter: Sutan gave Violet a token of his affection.

This Chapter: Violet works her ass off, Pearl feels restless, Courtney takes action, and Bianca has a surprising encounter.

***

Trixie smiled to himself as he walked around the floor, watching his designers all work on their various bits. They were still only getting into gear, the prêt-à-porter part of the collection now in the hands of tailoring and Bendela. Jovan and Blu were the designers who oversaw that process, the rest of them now focused completely on the runway show.

Trixie had sent out an email to everyone that Monday, outlining the timeline for the couture concepts. Couture was a lot more difficult to plan, since those outfits were typically made in the design department by the same designer from start to finish. It wasn’t haute couture, which meant they still used machines, but it took time to make the elaborate gowns and high detailed pieces Trixie knew Raja and Fame expected them to deliver.

“Hey boss.” Trixie turned to look at Gia, the woman smiling at him. “Can you take a look at these?”

“Of course,” Trixie walked over to Gia’s station, the concepts for their custom-made jewelry all laid out on her desk. They had started to get the first samples from the jewelers they used, Fame insisting that Galactica didn’t use anyone else's designs unless they absolutely had to.

“I like this,” Trixie took the small dangling earrings Gia had handed him. “But I think this,” Trixie pointed at a necklace, “needs to be redone. The chain looks too flimsy.”

Gia nodded, noting it down. Trixie knew Bob was taking care of the shoes, their first samples of the heels Fame wanted arriving in the upcoming weeks.

“Good job,” Trixie smiled, squeezing Gia’s shoulder before he walked away and over towards Violet’s table.

He liked having Violet on his team, the woman clearly more than ready to do the work, but they were still finding each other. Trixie was actually a little sad that Violet’s wasn’t confiding in him yet, that it seemed like she believed that they weren’t on the same team and that he wasn’t there to help her, which Trixie believed to be the most crucial part of his job.

If his designers failed, he failed, and with them the company.

Violet had built what seemed like a little fort of fabric rolls, the sewing table that was attached to her desk piled high with shades of ivory and cream, boxes of golden beads stacked on top of each other.

Violet was leaning over her desk, gigantic headphones over her ears, a miniature embroidery frame placed on it. Trixie watched for a minute, Violet’s clever fingers sewing rectangle beads in long lines on what seemed to be the base structure of a bodice.

She didn’t acknowledge him, whatever music she was listening to drowning him out, and Trixie wasn’t going to interrupt her flow, excitement curling in his belly at whatever Violet was going to pull out.

***

Violet finished the row she was working on, her fingertips raw and red from the intricate work she was doing.

She realized that her back was aching, and as she stood up to stretch it out, her shoulder radiating a moment of pain, her eyes fell on the gigantic clock above the design floor door, time a little past 6.

Huh.

She hadn’t noticed that it had gotten so late, since none of her coworkers had left. Violet looked around, her headphones still over her ears. Normally, the floor would be deserted by now, but instead, she saw Max surrounded by parchment paper and rulers. Alexis was draping a gorgeous golden fabric, Kiara was elbow deep in a structured top, and when she looked over at Jovan, he was bent over a bucket of what had to be dye, the chemical scent reaching her nose now that she was paying attention.

Violet raised her hands above her head, her shoulder aching terribly as she popped her joints. She wasn’t anywhere near done, and didn’t have any reason to go home, but she still needed a break, so she grabbed the glass she had sitting on her desk, making her way towards the breakroom.

Violet kept her headphones on, not really in the mood to talk to anyone, but when she turned the corner, she saw Blu standing by the microwave, the ginger haired woman holding what looked like a cup of ramen, shoveling it into her mouth.

“... Blu?” Violet pulled her headphones off, resting them around her neck.

“Oh!” Blu turned around, her hand flying up to cover her mouth as she swallowed. “Hi.”

“What are you doing?”

“Eating this?” Blu titled her cup of noodles. “I know it isn’t the most glamorous meal-”

“No, I mean-” Violet didn’t know how to phrase it without sounding like a bitch. “You’re usually the first one to leave.”

“Ha!” Blu laughed, putting her food down and leaning against the break room counter. “I am, aren’t I?” Blu smiled. “When we’re not on crunch, we all rush out of here like rats trying to have a semblance of a normal life.”

“Ah…” Violet nodded her head. “That makes sense.”

Violet had thought her new coworkers were just a little lazy, that they didn’t want to work, but it seemed like they were simply sprinters, while she had always seen herself as more of a marathon runner.

“I’ll go back to happy hour as soon as I get the chance, but for now, I’m eating ramen for dinner. Like a champion.” She flashed a bright smile, drinking the rest of the broth and chucking the container into the trash can across the room, lifting up her hands in a victory motion. “Back to the grindstone!”

***

Pearl rested her chin in her hands, watching Adore dig into a pile of Buffalo wings in the hipster gastropub where they’d chosen to have dinner. The first time she watched Adore eat with all the grace and dignity of a 12 year old boy, she’d found it cute. Charming, even. But now, suddenly, it just seemed gross.

She pushed her own plate away, her food barely touched, sighing slightly as she twirled a piece of hair around her finger.

“You okay, baby?” Adore asked, wiping at her face with the back of her hand, which only spread the hot sauce around.

“Uh...yeah. I’m alright.” Pearl smiled, knowing that Katya would tear her a new one if she let her bad mood explode all over Adore. “Just not very hungry.”

“Aww, I’m sorry.” Adore reached out, plucking a steak fry from Pearl’s plate. “Wanna wrap this shit up and take it to go?”

“Nah, that’s okay. You enjoy,” said Pearl.

“Everything okay here?”

A delicate hand slid a stack of napkins onto the table. Pearl looked up to meet the eyes of their waitress, a petite girl with dark eyes, honey-blonde hair gathered in a ponytail, one strap of her tank top sliding tantalizingly down her tanned shoulder. The nametag resting above her perky tits read “Abby.”

“Thanks,” Pearl said, gesturing to the much-needed napkins, and Abby winked at her.

“Is there anything you need?” Abby asked, eyes raking over Pearl’s body in a way that made her shiver. “Another round, maybe?”

“Yeah...I could go for another round,” Pearl said slowly. She flipped her hair over her shoulder, making sure to show off the low cut top she had worn under her leather jacket, her wrist flexing.

“Coming right up…”

Pearl watched as she sauntered away, wondering how much of the swinging hips were for her benefit, when Abby tossed a glance back over her shoulder, giving Pearl a tiny, secret grin before turning to the bartender.

Adore cleared her throat, and Pearl snapped back to attention.

Right.

Date. Adore. Best behavior.

Got it.

“You know, I’m really psyched that you’re coming to Thanksgiving. I think it’ll be good for Bianca to get to know you better. So she can see what a great person you are for herself,” Adore flashed a hopeful smile that suddenly made Pearl feel sick with guilt.

Why couldn’t she just commit to this awesome girl and stop being such an asshole?

“Yeah, no, that’ll be cool.”

“Totally,” Adore smiled.

Pearl polished off the last of her beer, watching as Adore dipped one of her wings into the blue cheese dressing, nose wrinkling just slightly as the chunky white sauce dripped off the hot wing on the way to her mouth.

“Um, I need to go use the restroom,” Pearl said, sliding off her stool.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Adore asked, concerned.

“Yeah. I’ll be right back.”

Pearl steeled her nerves before heading to the bathrooms, just as Abby approached their table with a glass of beer on a tray.

“And where are you running off to?” she asked coyly, fluttering her lashes.

“Bathroom… Is that okay with you?”

Abby giggled. “I’ll try not to miss you too much.”

Pearl laughed, shaking her head as she continued on her way.

***

“Hey Pearl?” Adore asked, pulling her bomber jacket tighter around herself, the November chill an unhappy reminder that winter was around the corner. They were walking home from dinner, and Adore couldn’t stop thinking about that waitress.

It wasn’t like Pearl had done anything wrong--just a bit of light, harmless flirting. Two weeks ago, she’d probably barely even have noticed. But ever since that conversation they’d had about being open, Adore found herself on high alert, mind racing every time her girlfriend so much as glanced at someone else. Which was a lot.

“Yeah?”

“Are you sleeping with anyone else?”

“You mean like tonight?” Pearl joked, and Adore forced out a strained laugh.

“I’m serious.”

“Not at the moment, no.”

“Then why-” Adore paused, unsure of how this conversation should go. “Why not just…try being monogamous?” Adore felt horribly exposed, and even a little scared, but she wanted this to work, wanted them to work. “I mean I know I don’t want anyone else, so…”

“I like the idea of being able to be spontaneous. Without it being like, a big thing,” Pearl explained, shrugging her shoulders. “I mean, I think you’re great. But sometimes…It’s like no matter how great pizza is, sometimes you want a burger. You know?”

“Please.” Adore scoffed, adding an eye roll for good measure.

“Adore-”

“You mean burgers like the waitress tonight? Is she the thing you’re suddenly hungry for?” Adore demanded.

“Will you please chill?” Pearl looked genuinely uncomfortable, the expression one Adore had never seen on her girlfriend’s face before. “There are people around.”

“It’s New York, nobody gives a FUCK!” Adore yelled the last word for good measure, no one turning around, which proved her point. “Answer the question!”

“You’re acting like a child,” Pearl said calmly, and if Adore wasn’t mad before (she was), now she was absolutely fucking furious.

“I am asking a very simple question! Was our waitress tonight the type of girl you like to fuck? Or, I’m sorry, was she the burger you’re craving?”

“Yes! Yes, she was. Does that make you happy?” Pearl asked, stopping and turning to Adore, one hand on her hip.

“Yeah, I’m thrilled. Can’t you tell?” Adore sniffled, trying to hold back the tears pricking her eyes.

“I can’t talk to you when you’re acting like this,” Pearl said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone.

“Fine! Then maybe I’ll just go home by myself tonight!”

“Fine.”

“Fuck you, Pearl!” Adore turned and stomped down the street, back in the direction of the subway, hands stuffed into her pockets, finally letting the tears stream down her cheeks.

***

“Lovely eyes,”

Violet looked up, the expression on Sutan’s face telling her that this wasn’t the first time he had said her name. She was sitting in bed, back resting against the headboard, doing her very best to distract herself from the wrapped ice cubes she was holding in her right hand.

Not that her phone or the puzzle game Katya had suggested she tried ages ago actually helped.

Her fingers stung, but not as badly as her feet had in the ice baths she used to endure as a professional ballet dancer, those sometimes so painful she had cried and had to be held, Milk whispering into her hair that everything would be okay.

“Yes?”

She had stayed at work until past 8, actually expecting to go home and crash, dinner completely forgotten, when she had fished her phone out of her bag, a text from Sutan asking if she wanted to come over.

Violet had been exhausted, getting everything ready for her presentation in the morning leaving her completely drained, but she liked spending time with Sutan, and even if she was never going to spend the money herself, she loved the thread count of his sheets, his bed a guarantee of a good night’s sleep.

The fact that Sutan chest had quickly become her favorite place to dose off not something she’d be willing to admit unless she was being tortured.

“Do you need more ice?” Sutan smiled, looking out at her. He was hanging up his shirts, the dry cleaners bag on the door to his walk in closet. Violet knew Sutan had a housekeeper, but he apparently preferred to handle his closet himself, which Violet guessed she understood. “I still can’t believe you’d-”

“I’m fine.” Violet cut him off, moving off the bed so she could stand up. It was sweet that Sutan worried, actually, really sweet, but Violet knew her body, and most importantly, she knew her body's boundaries, and this, this wasn’t anywhere close. “I am.”

Violet had slaved away all day, Fame and Raja making their judgement calls on who got accepted for the couture line and who didn’t tomorrow, and if Violet’s fingers had to bleed for her gown to be accepted, that was a price she was more than willing to pay.

She walked over to Sutan, stepping into his space, the block of ice still in her hand as she got on her toes, pressing a kiss against his lips.

“I promise.”

***

Pearl closed the door to her room with her foot, her body warm and relaxed, her hands drying her hair with her towel.

She had taken a shower as soon as she had gotten home, the annoyance at how Adore acted crawling under her skin. Pearl threw herself down on her bed, picking her phone up from where she had left it earlier that evening.

“Huh…” Pearl bit her lip. She had expected to see several calls from Adore, or at least a text, but there was nothing, her phone devoid of any notifications from the other woman.

Pearl rolled over, lying on her back and looking up at the ceiling, her stomach uncomfortable with the sensation that she had probably hurt Adore, the expression on her face when they had broken apart painful to look at.

Pearl sighed, tapping her fingers against her stomach. It was a new sensation for her to be unsure, but if there was one thing she knew, it was that Pearl Liaison never texted first.

***

“And you better make it quick!”

Fame watched as Courtney left her office, the blonde closing the door behind her, leaving her and Raja alone. It had taken the majority of the afternoon, but they had finally finished the selection of the looks that entered the final running towards the opening and closing spots.

Fame loved the couture presentations, the designers really showcasing their enthusiasm and personalities since they only had half finished products to present. She liked being able to touch, to see the delicate dreams and the decadence that was a signature of couture.

“Tea?”

Fame already knew that Raja would say yes, the pot on her desk one Ivy had brought over when the redhead had found out that they would be staying at Fame’s.

“Hold the sugar please.”

Fame smiled, grabbing two of the jade green teacups Ivy had brought along too, quickly pouring them both a cup. It wasn’t often that she took the time to just relax at work, that she took time to simply sit with Raja.

“Mmh,” Raja inhaled, the orange blossoms creating the most delicious fragrance.

“Mmh indeed,” Fame chuckled, taking her first sip of the hot tea, allowing herself to sit back on the ivory couch.

“So, we sent the list off.” Raja looked at her. “How are you feeling about the direction right now? You’re not going to decide that you hate cream and ivory on February 2nd, are you?”

“Uh! How dare you,” Fame huffed, actually feeling a little offended. “That was one time.”

“One time too many.”

If anyone but Raja had said it, Fame would have punished them severely, but as it stood, Raja was one of the few people in her life who could get away with openly criticizing her.

“I’m an old woman, Famie.” Raja smirked. “My heart can’t take the pressure.”

“Please,” Fame rolled her eyes. “Don’t take that attitude with me.”

“Someone has to keep you in check, darling.”

“I don’t need to be kept in check.” Fame had to keep from rolling her eyes again, Raja toeing the line of what was acceptable. “If anything, I need support right now.”

“Hmm?” Raja raised an eyebrow, her cup at her lips.

“We’re celebrating Thanksgiving with Patrick’s family, and his mother always wreaks havoc on my skin,” Fame groaned. Patrick’s family was coming to New York, his two sisters and brother all showing up with brats and partners in tow. “I swear, every year it’s the same. If we wanted to have kids, we would have had them by now.”

***

It just wasn’t fair, Aiden thought, staring at his rejected prototypes. He had killed himself all week to come up with 4 different couture concepts for the opening and closing looks, and all of them had been shot down.

This morning, they’d presented their designs to Fame and Raja, each of the designers getting less than a minute to pitch based on sketches, samples, and preliminary construction and then the upstairs bosses had spent all afternoon discussing them, an email sent to the whole design team announcing the finalists a little before 5 pm.

Which was why Aiden was the only one still there at 7, the disappointment of not being included taking over an hour to really settle in. To transform into anger at the utter unfairness of it all. He rose from his desk, wandering over to Alexis’ desk, where 3 dress forms were standing, all of them in looks that made it through. He supposed, though, that was pretty standard, Alexis being one of the most experienced designers there who’d been at Galactica almost as long as Trixie, her specialty being draping the kind of elegant gowns that Fame went gaga over.

No, he wasn’t mad about Alexis.

But Violet...how could that girl catch every single break since the second she walked through the doors? He glared at her muslin prototype, the skirt flaring out, the muslin bodies structured and stuck to the mannequin. On Violet’s table, she had left behind the actual bodice, golden beads sparkling, a portion of the skirt laid out with the intricate pattern. It felt tired and overworked, something he refused to identify burning in his stomach.

Anyone could do beads, anyone could do what Violet did, but unfortunately, he wasn’t in charge, so she continued to get away with it.

Aiden let out a huge sigh, trudging back over to his desk to pack his things.

Another shit week down the drain.

***

After Miss Fame’s comments about her hair, Courtney needed to do something drastic. She knew that Fame’s own salon was a fancy place in SoHo called Jujubee’s, so she’d called to get an appointment. At first, the receptionist told her that there was a 2 month waiting list, but when Courtney name-dropped Miss Fame, sort of accidentally implying that her bossreally wanted to get her in as soon as possible, she’d put her on hold for less than a minute and then informed her that she had an appointment on Saturday with the owner of the salon herself.

Courtney was pretty proud of herself, if a bit intimidated, entering the salon. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting from the owner, but it certainly wasn’t the adorable, friendly woman with a cute little baby bump.

“Hi, you must be Courtney. I’m Juju. What are we doing today?” she said, shaking Courtney’s hand warmly and turning her chair to face the mirror.

“Oh, um...I work for Miss Fame at Galactica, and-”

“Yikes, sorry to hear that,” Jujubee quipped, and Courtney’s eyes widened. “That’s a joke, honey. She’s one of my best friends.”

“Oh. Right.” Courtney laughed nervously. “So, she um...she found out that I was doing my own color and uh-”

“Oy. Okay well…” Juju inspected Courtney’s hair closely. “It doesn’t look too damaged. I think we should fix up your roots, and maybe take down some of the brassy tones in your color, give you a cooler, brighter blonde? That’ll really suit your complexion. And this cut...I’d like to take off a couple of inches, just to make sure we get all of the split ends, maybe some layers in the front...and how do you feel about bangs?”

“I...like bangs.”

“I think they’ll really frame your face nicely.” Juju grinned, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Just relax, we’re gonna take good care of you.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much!”

Pretty soon, Courtney’s nerves disappeared entirely, and she was chatting with Jujubee like they were old friends. She found herself wondering what this down-to-earth, funny, warm person had in common with Fame, and then felt a little bad.

There was obviously a whole side to Fame that Courtney didn’t get to see--she already knew that from Adore. And besides, Bianca was warm and hilarious, and she was also close friends with Miss Fame.

A few hours later, Courtney looked and felt like a brand new person, bouncing from the seat excitedly. That is, until it was time to pay. She’d looked up the prices beforehand, of course. But the cost of an “owner cut” wasn’t listed on the website. She figured it would be a little more than their listed prices, so when the receptionist handed her the bill, she nearly shat out a brick.

Eight hundred and fifty dollars.

Courtney was already planning to split the bill on two cards, but this was insane. Her heart began to pound. What was she supposed to do? It’s not like she could say “oh, forget it”--she already had the whole damn service. She swallowed down the lump in her throat and asked the receptionist in a quiet voice, “Um...can I spread it out on 3 different credit cards?”

The girl rolled her eyes disdainfully, holding out her hand to accept the cards.

“You know,” she said, swiping Courtney’s cards through the reader. “There’s a Supercuts three blocks down. Maybe you should try them next time.”

Less than a minute ago, Courtney had felt like a million bucks, and now she felt like gum being scraped off the bottom of a shoe.

“Are you gonna add a tip?”

A tip? On top of that price? Oh well...she was gonna be paying off this trip to the salon for months anyway, might as well go all in. She took a deep breath, holding her head high.

“Yeah, add another $150 to that purple card,” she said, trying her best to keep her face impassive, put on a haughty air so that the receptionist wouldn’t see how much she was shaking inside. “And thanks for the advice.”

***

Bianca entered the book shop, large sunglasses obscuring most of her face, hair under a silk scarf, trying to be as incognito as possible. She beelined straight for her favorite section, avoiding the few other customers.

Most of the time, Bianca didn’t mind the fame or attention from the paparazzi. After all, it was a sign of her success, and she had nothing to hide--she never left the house with a hair out of place, and she could hold her liquor like a champ. Some days, though, like this one?

All she wanted was to enjoy a lazy Saturday. Pick up some books, treat herself to a nice, simple lunch at the café next door, just be a human instead of a minor celebrity.

She was paging through a Natalie Woods biography when someone interrupted, asking softly, “Bianca?”

Shit. Spotted. She turned around with a sigh, but when she saw the person who’d spoken, her aggravation was instantly replaced with a smile, dimples deep in her cheeks.

“Courtney! Hi!”

She looked like absolute perfection, in a fresh blow-out, hair falling in sexy, beachy waves over her shoulders. Her soft, fuzzy green sweater brought out her beautiful eyes. Bianca found herself amazed at how she managed to look better and better every time they saw each other.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, I know you were probably-”

“No, I’m glad you did.” Bianca offered another smile. “So um, what brings you here? Do you live in this neighborhood?”

“No, I live in the Bronx. But was just over at Jujubee’s getting my hair done-”

“Ahh...well she did a stellar job. She’s a true artist.”

“You think?” Courtney fingered a lock of blonde hair.

“I’d give her more credit, but...she had a pretty good canvas to work on, so…”

Courtney smiled, biting her lip, then asked, “Do you think Miss Fame will approve?”

“Definitely not.”

Courtney’s face fell, for just a moment, brow creasing with worry, until Bianca reached out to touch her arm.

“Fame likes to be the hottest blonde in the room,” Bianca clarified, adding, “So yeah. She’ll hate it.”

They exchanged a small, conspiratorial smile before a pink tinge began to creep into Courtney’s cheeks and she looked away.

“What’ve you got there?” Bianca asked, gesturing to a stack of paperbacks in Courtney’s hands.

“Oh, I’m just...I’m just browsing, really. Killing time for a few hours before I have to go to a class in midtown. But who wants to hang out in midtown?”

Bianca laughed. “And? What kind of books do you like to browse?”

“Um…” Courtney looked a little embarrassed before admitting, “I’m trying to make my way through Oprah’s book club.”

“A worthy intellectual goal,” Bianca chuckled.

“Yeah, well. I’m on a spending embargo after the salon, so I’m probably just gonna get them from the library instead.”

Bianca held out her basket. “Throw ‘em in.”

“No, no, really, that wasn’t, I mean you don’t have to-”

“Throw them in,” Bianca repeated. “You’ve been putting up with my sister’s shenanigans for years, you deserve a couple of paperbacks. I insist.”

“Thanks.” Courtney carefully placed the books into Bianca’s basket.

“You’re welcome,” Bianca winked, strolling towards the register and placing her basket on the counter.

“You know, Adore puts up with my shenanigans too,” Courtney said. “It’s a very symbiotic relationship.”

Bianca smiled to herself, thinking about how sweet it was that she felt the need to defend Adore from the mildest shade. She handed her card to the clerk and turned back to Courtney.

“I’m sure it is. So uh, listen...I was about to head next door for lunch-”

“Oh, sorry to have kept you-”

“No, um…” Bianca chuckled, feeling awkward as fuck. “No, that’s not what I meant. It’s, um, a cute place. You know, if you’re into the whole healthy, organic, locally-sourced seasonal thing...which I take it you are.”

She gestured to the reusable canvas bag in Courtney’s hands, which she’d pulled from her purse to use rather than the bookstore’s plastic bags.

Realization began to dawn in Courtney’s eyes, a smile tugging at her lips as she said, “Guilty.”

“So, um, since you’re trying to kill time...maybe you want to join me?” Bianca signed the receipt and handed over the books, placing her own into her large shoulder bag, knowing that she’d probably not have refused the plastic bag if she were here on her own. Well, whatever--it was still a win for Mother Nature, right?

“Yeah!” Courtney exclaimed, then seemed to catch herself, adding, “I mean, if that’s what you want...”

“I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.”

“A straight shooter, eh?”

“So to speak,” Bianca smirked, and Courtney giggled.

“What a true role model,” she professed with a flutter of lashes.

“Always,” Bianca laughed, guiding her next door with a hand on her lower back.

***

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spaceskam · 5 years ago

Text

Follow up to this for @insidious-intent ❤️️ (warning: suicidal thoughts and depression again because it do be like that)

ao3

Alex woke up slow, his skull feeling like it was stuffed with cotton and his limbs feeling like they’d been filled with concrete. He didn’t want to move, much less be awake.

The longer he stayed awake, though, the more he realized that he had to actually be awake. He’d almost gotten out of that, almost found a way out. The fact that he had to still get up and keep existing brought unwarranted tears to his eyes. His chest ached and he curled in on himself, tears falling from his eyes that he refused to open. He took shaky breaths and tried to calm himself, but that was hard. He didn’t want to be here.

“Alex, are you awake?”

It was the first sign that he wasn’t actually alone and he instantly grabbed his blankets, pulling them over his head. He tucked them in around him to form a tight cocoon. That’s when the person in the room decided it was a good idea to touch his arm. Alex curled further in on himself and hoped they’d get the fucking memo. He wasn’t a fucking petting zoo.

“Alex,” the voice said again and Alex realized it was female. Instantly, he wondered where Michael was. The last thing he remembered was him promising he wasn’t going to let go. Where was he now?

“Go away,” Alex groaned, tears still falling freely. There was no sign of them stopping and he had no plans to come out of his blanket cocoon until they did. Maybe not even then.

“I want to talk to you,” Maria said.

Alex’s body ached and he buried his face in the pillow beneath his head. He was in his bed. How did he get here? Who put him there? Who let her in? Who took off his fucking prosthetic? His skin suddenly felt too tight, itchy and irritated and like he wanted to climb out of it completely.

“Alex, seriously, this is important,” she said. Alex squeezed his eyes shut and his chest felt too heavy and it felt too hot. If he was alone, he would’ve made a little space to breathe. But he wasn’t alone and he would rather suffocate than let her see him cry. “Okay, then I’ll just talk and you listen.”

He didn’t respond, didn’t give her the satisfaction of him even moving. Where was Michael?

“Why didn’t you tell me you were still in love with him like that?” she asked. His heart clenched and he had to bite down on his hand to stifle any noises. “When you ran back in there... I thought I was going to lose you. Both of you.” Alex took deep breaths, trying to tune her out and convince himself to go back to sleep. “He said you didn’t want to make it out. Do you really feel like that? Like you have to die if you can’t be with him? Because that’s scary, Alex.”

Her voice was so soft, so concerned, but it felt more sinister than when Michael had seemed so proud of himself for finally playing hero. Why was everyone like this? Why didn’t she get that it wasn’t all about Michael? Why didn’t she get that this feeling wasn’t new? Why didn’t she get him? What happened to friendship?

“Kyle thinks you need to get help. Real, institutional help. And I think he’s right,” Maria went on. Alex found himself crying even harder and it had nothing to do with the fact that she was saying he needed to get help. It was the fact that she thought she had any right to tell him that. Where was Michael? What happened to never leaving? “We can’t force you obviously, but, as your friend–”

“What are you doing?” Michael asked, suddenly there and, instead of relief, Alex was filled to the brim with fear. Would he have to hear them kiss? Would they gang up on him when he was at his lowest? Would they refuse to give him a moment to breathe and relax and readjust? Would they throw him to the side again? “DeLuca, seriously, I thought we all agreed to leave him alone for a little bit.”

“You aren’t leaving him alone,” she told him, voice much colder than it had been when she’d been talking to Alex. He took a steadying breath as the conversation shifted. Sure, it was still about him, but he wasn’t involved and that was better.

“We almost died less than 24-hours ago, I feel like I’m welcome,” Michael said.

“I’m his best friend, I’m welcome,” she returned. Silence fell over them and Alex wiped his eyes dry before new tears came and why couldn’t he just be left alone?

“Maria,” Michael sighed, “I just don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Okay, so, what you’re just going to choose him?”

Alex curled in on himself even more if that was possible. Leave, leave, leave, leave, leave.

“Yeah,” Michael said. Like it was easy. Easier than it’d ever been. Alex held his breath in confusion. “Yes, I choose him. I thought I wanted something easy and not tied up, but you are tied up in everything too. I can’t get away from it, but I can try to be better. And he makes me better.”

“Right,” Maria scoffed, “Because I didn’t try.”

“I’m not doing this right now,” Michael said. Why was he suddenly an adult? Did the hero complex actually level him out? “We can talk about this later. Let me focus on Alex right now.”

“I want to focus on him too,” Maria insisted. Michael let out a deep breath.

“I just don’t think you’re welcome.”

“You’re such an ass.”

Alex kept still until she was gone, only then making a tiny hole in his blanket to breathe. He didn’t know how to process being chosen over someone else. That didn’t actually happen. Did it even count if that someone else had actually been chosen a billion times before you were? It didn’t feel like it.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Michael said. Alex couldn’t see him and he wasn’t sure he wanted to. He wanted to go back to sleep. “I’m sorry about that. Did I wake you up?”

Michael didn’t touch him and Alex wondered what was stopping him. Maybe he was too scared to. The bed shifted nonetheless and Alex’s breathing slowly managed to even out, the crying subsiding for a later time. Because he didn’t leave. He was right there.

“Sorry, again. Everyone stayed over last night because they were anxious and didn’t wanna be alone. I put you in here and kinda locked you away because I know how you are. Kyle still slept on the bench at the foot of your bed though, so that should make you feel good.” And it did. “But everyone kinda filtered out to go to work and I went to make coffee, that’s why I didn’t realize she came in here. I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault.”

“He speaks,” Michael said softly, shifting in the bed. Alex could almost feel him from how close he was, but he didn’t touch him. He still wanted to know why not. Maybe he didn’t want to. Maybe he was choosing him, but not like that. Or maybe this was his idea of being better for him.

“Why aren’t you touching me?” Alex asked, voice cracking from lack of use or the fact that he’d just been crying or the fact that he still was hurting. Maybe all of the above.

“Was waiting for the okay,” Michael said, sounding like he was relieved. He moved towards him, tucking himself around the cocoon Alex had made without disturbing it. His arm draped over Alex’s waist and his thighs so his hand could rest over Alex’s knee to keep him in that ball he’d made himself. His other arm went over Alex’s head, his finger tips a few inches away from the breathing hole he’d made. There was absolutely no way that he could’ve been comfortable, but Alex loved him for it a little more. “I’m gonna wait for your okay from now on. I think that’s where I always went wrong. Always assuming and pushing. Gonna follow your lead from now on.”

“I can’t lead.”

“You’re the best leader I know,” Michael promised him, “And that’s saying something, because I’m surrounded by a whole group of people who see themselves as leaders.”

Alex knew he should’ve laughed, but he couldn’t find it in him to do so. He just focused on this, on Michael. That was easier than focusing on his own thoughts.

“Yesterday was scary,” Michael whispered, “I keep thinking about it and I... I was too ready to risk it all, but you... Alex, please talk to me when you feel like that. Or someone. I know it’s not easy, but... I know you’re tired. Lean on me.”

Alex felt those stupid tears prick his eyes and he shook his head. How was he supposed to lean on someone who had an amazing track record for pushing him away? Michael pressed a kiss to the back of his head.

“Okay. Lean on Kyle until you can trust me. He’s there and, I might not like him, but he loves you so much and I love him for that,” Michael went on. Alex didn’t really believe that either. He just wanted to sleep more. “He made you an appointment with your therapist and sent in a new prescription for your antidepressants that you decided to stop taking. I know you and I know you don’t want to be institutionalized, but that means you need to work with us, okay? Please?”

“Why is it okay for you to risk your life, but I do it and suddenly I need a whole fucking psych evaluation?” Alex demanded, but his body was too weak to move. His skin felt unbearably hot, but it was the only sense of comfort he’d had in awhile and he wasn’t giving it away.

“It’s not okay that I did that,” Michael said, “But I did snap out of it. You... didn’t.”

“Double standard.”

“Maybe.”

“Fuck you.”

“Keep going.”

“You can’t just suddenly act all high and mighty, like you know better because now you feel better about yourself. It’s unfair and stupid and selfish and it makes me feel like a fucking joke. I’m not just your fucking magical love interest to make you feel good, I’m not only here for you, I’m not here to just be apart of your story, Guerin,” he told him. Michael clutched his knee and nodded his head, one of the fingers in front of Alex’s face moving beneath the blanket to gently tap his nose. It should’ve been infuriating, but Alex damn near melted.

“You’re right. You’re not just a pawn in my story and I am selfish and stupid. But I’m not trying to act like I’m better than you,” Michael told him, “I’m just trying to be what you need. You’re always what I need, so why can’t I return the favor? Just... let me try.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“I don’t expect you to.”

Alex took a shaky breath and moved his shoulder back to press into his chest. Michael pressed back.

“Share the weight for once and I’ll spend the rest of my life proving it to you,” Michael told him, “And in the meantime, we find little things. Like, for example, I watered your plants. How’s that for trustworthy?”

Alex found himself smiling just a little bit. Even if it fell as soon as it came, it was still a smile.

“How’d you know they needed to be watered?”

“You have a calendar on your fridge, I read it when I was adding your therapy session to it,” he said simply, “Lean on me. And Kyle.”

“And Kyle.”

“Yes.”

Alex let out a breath and nodded, agreeing if only because he wanted to see if it was real. What was the worst thing that could happen if Michael let him down? He’d already been at his lowest. He could never be worse than he was yesterday. And if he ended up back there then... He’d handle it then.

“I love you,” Michael added, “Just... I realized I’ve never said it in a normal situation. But I do. I love you. I love you so much.”

Alex didn’t say it back. He didn’t have to.

He fell back asleep not long after, still in his arms with the hope that this would be a new normal.

#malex #malex fic #michael guerin #alex manes #roswell new mexico #my fic #anti maria deluca

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jungle321jungle · 5 years ago

Text

Virgil’s Guide To Avoid Accidentally Falling In Love With Your Boss’ Boss: Step Four

Virgil’s just trying to fake his way through life, but when he finds it hard to shake his hot boss’ boss’s attention- on account of their adopted sons being twins- things get complicated. Ao3

~~~~

Step Four: Don’t Bond With His Kids

Days had passed and while Roman seemed happy once more, Virgil still felt as if he needed to do something for his son. To show that he really truly cared and loved him. He just wasn’t sure what.

He couldn’t afford to take him anywhere too special. Not with his car currently being the bane of his existence. Perhaps he could bake Roman something special? No, Roman would simply be upset that he wasn’t included in the baking. Maybe he could have a “Roman Day” and let the boy pick whatever he wanted to do?

He paused considering what Roman would ask him for when a voice cut in his psyche.

“Hey Storm?” Michael asked bringing Virgil’s attention back to the meeting. “Can you run this report up to Mr. Ekans? Get some feedback?”

Virgil blinked in surprise as all the eyes in the conference room turned to him, but he nodded and took the folder and headed out.

The secretary- Lian- looked up as he approached.

“I was sent to get feedback on a report,” Virgil explained.

She nodded and reached for the phone but hesitated as she did so, “May I say something Mr. Storm?”

“Sure.”

“Mr. Ekans has been through a lot- and I understand it’s not really my place, but can I ask you to be respectful of that?”

Virgil quite frankly had no clue what she was talking about, but he nodded nonetheless, “Of course.”

She nodded satisfied and reached for the phone, “Mr. Storm is here for revisions.”

Inside Dee sat at his desk and gave Virgil a casual wave as he walked in. “You usually don’t bring things to me for revisions.”

Virgil shrugged and sat across from him and handed over the folder, “I was asked to be the runner today.”

Dee nodded and took the folder and grabbed a pen and began to look over the report while Virgil scrolled on his phone. But after a while Dee gave a frustrated sigh.

“Can I be honest with you?”

Virgil looked up, “Using corrections would be harder if you weren’t.”

Dee’s expression was serious as he ran a hand through his slicked back hair, “This... this is trash. Everything about it. It’s not in the format I want, there are spelling mistakes, math is wrong, and more. It’s like it was written in two minutes. Like tell me, what- what were you thinking? Are you joking with me or something? ‘Cause you know I don’t like to joke about work. And this needs to go in my report to the CEO tomorrow. Talk to me Virgil, what the hell happened?”

Virgil’s eyebrows knitted in confusion, “How would I know?”

Dee gave a groan, “If you don’t know that goes to show this was written in two minutes... Just be straight with me, did you put any effort into writing this?”

“I didn’t write it.”

“What?”

“I didn’t write it,” Virgil said again. “Michael was supposed to write it with input from Jeff.”

Dee raised an eyebrow and pulled over the cover page for Virgil to see. “It puts you as the sole author.”

“But I didn’t... I’m just the messenger...” he took the page and looked at it confused, before something caught his attention. “It also spells my name wrong... it’s Vigil Storm.”

“...So it does.”

There was a long pause before Dee collected all the papers in front of him. “I don’t know what’s going on, but this needs to be redone before morning. I’m gonna need to put you on fixing this, because I know you’ll actually do it well regardless of it you did or didn’t write it.”

“It’s gonna take all day, and then some,” Virgil realized quietly.

“Then start.”

Virgil gave a sigh, “Yes sir.”

~~~~

The sound of chattering children found its way to pierce Virgil’s concentration. He looked away from the computer screen and it’s numbers and letters which blurred together as the sound grew louder.

“I thought he had two kids?”

Virgil shook his head as he tried to focus once more. He was almost done, the math just wasn’t adding up. Once he fixed that he was done. He was free.

“Dad!”

The sound of Roman’s voice caused Virgil to look up and turn to see his son standing there beaming. Surprised he pulled his son in for a hug and looked up at Dee who lingered in the cubicle entrance, Remus and Logan by his side.

“It’s almost done,” he informed Dee. “I gotta fix a math issue I know is there, but I don’t know how I’m missing it. I’m just barely off.”

Dee nodded and moved closer to look over Virgil’s shoulder at the spreadsheet, “Oh I see what you mean. Those two should equal and they’re not.”

“It’s because you have a seven there instead of a one.”

Virgil looked to Logan had taken a post on his other side. “It’s here,” he said pointing at the screen.

Virgil’s eyes scanned for a moment before he did as the boy said, “Logan you are a genius. Thank you. I have been staring at this for over an hour.”

Logan seemed taken aback by the praise, but he didn’t say anything so Virgil hurriedly finished everything up. “I’ll send it to you now,” he told Dee.

“I’ll look it over after dinner,” he promised.

“What's for dinner?” Roman asked Virgil.

“Whatever I decide to order.”

“I want Chinese!”

“I want Chinese too,” Remus tossed in.

“We have food,” Dee disagreed.

“We don’t have Chinese. Why don’t they come over for Chinese and then you two can work together?”

“Virge?”

Virgil shrugged, “You're driving.”

“Then let's go, we can order in the car.”

~~~~

“I’m sorry for being hard on you today,” Dee apologized suddenly. “And I suppose my constant checking in to see how it was going didn’t help.”

Virgil shook his head, “You're my boss. It’s to be expected now and then, and I have a feeling that you would’ve been a lot worse had it not been me...”

He shrugged, “I am guilty of playing favorites... And I guess that’s why everyone in your department has been giving you a hard time.”

Virgil looked at him in surprise, “What?”

“I’m not stupid Virgil. I talked to Nadine, she said that recently a lot of people have been treating you wrongly lately because of how I play favorites. They thought you were trying to one up them for a promotion. And that’s why they put your name on that report, right?”

“I...”

“You don’t have to confirm or deny it,” Dee told him. “Just know, that I know.”

“Dad, can we just have a sleepover?” Roman asked looking away from where he and Remus were playing some game on the floor.

“We need to go home at some point,” Virgil answered, grateful for the distraction.

“Yeah, but Mr. Dee is gonna drive us home and then he has to drive us to school in the morning. If we stay here it's less driving!”

Virgil paused to look for a flaw in that logic, to look for a way to not think about the implication of sleeping in his hot boss’ boss’ house.

“You could stay,” Dee stated and Virgil thought he might die of embarrassment then and there. “Well Remus can give Roman some clothes. As for you- you’re skinny sure- but you could definitely fit my clothes.”

“Sleepover!” The twins shouted in excitement.

Virgil was given the guest bedroom down the hall, and a clean set of pajamas to wear.

“We can pick you out an outfit for tomorrow in the morning,” Dee told Virgil bringing in a set of towels and setting them on a dresser. “You’d look great in one of my suits.”

Virgil hoped he wasn’t blushing too deeply at the comment, “My rent is less than one of your suits.”

Dee chuckled, “Just don't stain it and it’s fine.”

“My son is a walking stain.”

“Yet another thing he and Remus have in common.”

“Are they all asleep?”

“It took a while, but yes they are.”

“Good... good.”

“Well, I’ll let you be... goodnight Virgil.”

“Night Dee.”

~~~~

Virgil had been on the way back from the bathroom when he found Logan standing in the hall. The boy was standing outside the room which was Dee’s, but he didn’t seem to have any urge to knock.

“Did you need him?” Virgil asked.

Logan blinked up at him before he frowned and moved away from the door, “No.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

Virgil decided not to push at first, and instead moved to walk off when he noticed a tear in Logan’s eye.

“Is something wrong?” He asked squatting down to look Logan in the eye.

Logan shifted his weight, but didn’t respond.

“You might feel a bit better if you to tell me or your dad, but if you don’t want to that's okay too.”

“You and Roman are all Dad and Remus care about anymore. He even had us stay with you...” Logan said after a pause. “I was mean, why won’t you just hate me and go away?”

Virgil’s mouth opened and closed in surprise, “I would never hate you. And I’m sorry that-”

“Go away! Papa is gone so it was just supposed to be the three of us! But now you and Roman are here, and I don't want another dad to make Dad sad again! I just wanna- wanna-” the tears which had been welling in his eyes finally fell and Virgil felt his heart break. He wanted to pull the boy into a hug, but he had a feeling Logan would only shove him away to make it worse.

“I’m sorry Logan,” Virgil said quietly. “I didn’t mean to take time away from you. But I promise I won’t hate you. And I’m not sure if I can just go away, but know that I’m not trying to take anyone’s spot okay? And I know Roman isn't either. He’s just excited that he has a brother... and actually I was hoping that you’d spend some time with him so he could have two.”

“They don’t want me around,” Logan disagreed through his tears.

“That’s not true. I’m sure they both want you around, just like your dad does, and just like I do.”

“You do?” he asked rubbing at his eyes.

“Of course I do. I would still be at work right now, if you didn’t show me what I did wrong. And if you still don’t believe me, then how about tomorrow everyone plays a game that you pick? Okay?”

Logan nodded, “Okay.”

“Can I get a hug?”

Logan moved forward to give him a hug which Virgil happily returned. After a pause he stood and took Logan’s hand and led the boy back to his bedroom.

“Thank you Mr. Virgil,” Logan told him as Virgil tucked him back in.

“You can just call me Virgil. Night Logan.”

“Good night.”

Dee was sitting on the bed when he got back.

“You are magical,” he declared.

“What?”

“You and Logan. It's amazing it takes Logan forever to warm up to people and you accomplished it in under five minutes.”

Virgil shrugged, “Well, he was crying. And I suggest you talk to him come morning.”

Dee nodded and stood, “I will, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re an actual gift.”

Virgil tried not to blush, “It's fine. I’m sure you’d do the same for Roman.”

Dee didn’t seem to have heard him, “And I thought I was falling for you before.”

A pause. “What?”

“I said, ‘and I thought I was falling for you before.’”

Virgil’s face heated up as his heart drummed in his chest. “I-I heard you, but um... what?”

Dee smiled as he came closer and Virgil subconsciously backed up into the wall, “Your obliviousness is just as attractive.”

“What?” his voice only came out in a squeak.

Dee gave a laugh as he moved away, “We’ll talk in the morning. Goodnight Virgil.”

“What?”

~~~~

Step Three - Step Four - Step Five

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#virgilsguide #dad!au #dad!virgil #dad!deciet #dadciet #kid!logan #kid!roman #kid!remus #boss and employee #thingsssssssssss

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poc-movie-supremacy · 4 years ago

Text

Blackbird: Summer Nights

Rick and Beth are on a date! They’re about 20 (for timeline: yolanda and Beth wouldn’t join the army for another about 4-5 years)

----

Her laughter is the sweetest sound in the world. He could be in this pain for hundreds of years if it meant hearing her giggle.

Beth rubbed a hand on her boyfriend’s back. “I think that’s enough food for tonight. I’ll get the check.”

“No,” Rick groaned. He leaned into her side and pulled the food closer to him. “I can finish it. I got this.”

Beth shook her head fondly at him. “Oh you can? I’m going to get the check anyways. I’m done.”

Rick whined and buried his face into her shoulder. Beth patted his cheek, but had to leave him to pay the bill. When she got back he was groaning and struggling to finish the food. “Oh, honey. Stop eating if you’re full.”

Rick wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face into her neck. Beth rubbed her arm up and down his side. “Don’t wanna waste the food.”

“That’s what the bags are for.” Beth shifted a little so she could put away all the food. Rick grabbed the packed and bags and they made their way out of the restaurant.

“Gimme your keys.” Beth held out her hand for the keys to her boyfriend’s car. Rick look down at her confused.

“Pardon?”

“You’re acting half drunk let me drive us home,” Beth explainer matter of factly.

Rick really didn’t like anyone driving in his car. “I’m fine to drive. Really it’s ok.”

Beth eyed him carefully. Subconsciously rick straightened up under her gaze. When she deemed him fit to drive, she nodded. “I trust you.”

Rick leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Thank you, Bethy. I won’t let you down. He put their takeout in the backseat while Beth sat in the passenger seat. Rick started the car and drove off. Beth rolled down her window and quietly listened the cicadas chirping.

“This is the first summer I didn’t go see my family in California. Usually we go around early august. a few times when I was a kid, my parents sent me on my own for the whole three months. Well they flew with me there, but I stayed the whole three months unlike them. It’s what Courtney and I bonded on.” Beth murmured aloud.

Rick looked at her softly. That explained where she was those summers he didn’t see her. “Do you miss them? Your family I mean.”

After a few minutes, Beth nodded. “There’s nothing quite like a California summer. My cousins lived near the beach and we would walk there almost daily. Ice cream almost every day and long walks on the pier. One time we went swimming at night. That shit was fun.”

“Sounds lovely.” Rick had only ever been in Nebraska, so he couldn’t relate to Beth’s experiences. He took her word for it though. California seemed pretty cool.

“I need to take you there one day. Maybe we can road trip there. When we graduate college. You, me alone preferably, but Courtney and Yolanda, Henry, Cindy, and the rest of them might end up tagging along.”

“We’ll just have to plan it in secret.” Rick jokes. Long trips with Beth sounded like a dream.

Beth snorted. “We can try. Blue valley has its perks though. You can see the stars hear the bugs chirping. Less polluted here.”

“All thanks to mayor mahkent. Never thought I’d be saying that one day. That guy gave me the creeps when I was a kid.”

Beth nodded in agreement. “I didn’t really like him either.” One of her hands was dangling out the window, while her other hand reached for Rick’s. “You excited for college?”

“I don’t like being away from you. Lot of thinks are changing because of the war. The psych teacher enlisted.”

Beth was surprised. She knew things were bad, but she didn’t realize people were already enlisting. “Are you going to enlist?” She really hopes he says no. Beth really doesn’t know what she would do if he was overseas.

Rick shrugged. “Maybe. If they need me I’ll put my name in, but for now I’ll be here in the states with you.” Rick squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Would you enlist?” Rick asked. Like Beth, he really hoped his other half wouldn’t enlist. There were so many dangers overseas, in war, that he couldn’t protect her from.

“Not for the army no. I don’t like guns. Maybe for their medical portion. I’d help them that way. I know Courtney and Yolanda are both itching to sign up.” Beth noticed Rick tense up when she mentioned her thinking about enlisting. She grasped one of his hands in both of hers and brought it to her lips.

“I’m not enlisting, yet. It isn’t even on my mind. Right now I’m here with you, ok?” Rick gave her a small smile but didn’t say anything.

“Tell me more about your vacations. Which one was your favorite?” Rick asked her. He spent the rest of the drive to their respective houses happily listening to his girlfriend ramble on. A slow smile stretched across his face as he drove on. The cold wind from the drive pushed his hair back and fireflies danced around the expansive fields. He took his time getting them back not that Beth seemed to mind. There was nothing like lazy car rides with your loved one.

#stargirl #beth chapel #rick tyler #hournite #ella's stargirl fics #we're all fic writers here #blackbird

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breakingsomething · 4 years ago

Text

the fall part fifteen - the topic of forgiveness

basic summary: marvin does an emotional speedrun. chase attempts an apology. a storm is coming.

trigger warnings: mentions of medication, hypnosis

tagslist: @synonymsforzombie @spicydanhowell @skyewardlight @dreaming-of-stories-and-stars @cest-mellow @graveyardlettuce @lower-your-expectationss

marvin had had hangovers before, but this one was just awful.

the hotel was nice though. someone that he assumed was staff had brought him toast and apple juice, which he was immensely grateful for. it helped his headache ease. then he'd spent the morning psyching himself up for getting up and going to face his brothers again, which he really didn't want to do but knew he'd have to eventually. he supposed he couldn't avoid his responsibilities forever. ugh, everything hurt.

"what was the name of the man who paid for my room last night?" he asked the receptionist as he finally worked up the energy to check out. the woman smiled at him, the computer screen lighting up her face as marvin waited patiently, clinging to the desk for support. he was tired as shit. maybe he should have taken advantage of the free room and slept longer, but he knew his brothers would be worried. he wondered how many frantic texts they'd sent him before remembering anti had stolen his phone. the thought shouldn't have been funny. yeah, he needed a nap.

"it was… anthony berlin," the woman told him, pushing up her glasses as she looked at him. marvin nodded. he didn't recognize the name, like he'd expected. a small part of him had thought the interaction between them had seemed very familiar, but of course he'd been drunk out of his mind. he probably was just imagining things.

"thank you," he said gratefully, and flashed a small smile at her as he left. this hotel was pretty nice, actually. he wondered how much it had cost for a room, but decided not to ask that as well. once outside, the cold air practically slapped him in the face. well, that was one kind of wake up call. he should definitely go back home now.

he didn't.

he walked to naomi's instead. she'd managed to move back yesterday, though the shop was closed and likely wouldn't reopen for a little while. he went up the fire escape and knocked on the side door, whistling sharply to let her know who it was. it took her only about a minute to answer, and marvin breathed a sigh of relief when she did.

"why are you on my fire escape?" was the first thing she asked. she looked different from the last time he'd seen her; bags under her eyes, hair yanked back into pigtails, fringe hanging in her face. "i mean, good to see you. uh. yeah. good to see you."

"good to see you too," he said softly. he tapped his shoes on the metal bars, avoiding the thin vines that had woven themselves through them. he cleared his throat and glanced back up at her. "do you wanna go somewhere? the beach, maybe? we could go sit at the gazebo and get fish and chips? or -"

"fish and chips sounds good," she interrupted. a grin split her face. "let me get dressed very quick. i'll be out in five minutes."

five minutes later, they were on their way down the steps and towards the high street, talking casually like the events of last week hadn't happened. it was only once they'd arrived at the shop down the street that naomi quietened, lowering her head and silently taking marvin's hand.

"they're going to start me on carbamazepine," she murmured. "that's usually used to treat epilepsy, but it's effective for bipolar as well. the lithium wasn't working anyway, so they're easing me off of it. i should be good in a month or so."

marvin blinked, then smiled wide. "oh - naomi, that's great!"

she snorted, turning her face away so he couldn't see her grin. "yeah, i suppose. i'm - i'm sorry about my breakdown. i know i must have scared you."

he squeezed her hand gently. "you're ok. i've… i've dealt with things like that before. henrik sometimes has flashbacks and barely recognizes us when we try to help him. we're always there for him, and i'll always be there for you."

naomi's lips parted, and her eyes flickered away. "oh, uh - thank you. thank you, marvin, i… ugh, i don't know why you put up with me sometimes. but thank you for it."

they each got a container of fish and chips, then walked to the gazebo, grabbing a spot on the benches. "you'd think there'd be more people here so early on a - what day is it?" marvin said as they ate. "thursday?"

"i think so," naomi said. she threw a chip across the ground, and above twenty seagulls immediately flew down and began fighting over it. "lost track of the days. they're all the same, anyway. boring." she glanced at marvin. "unless you're visiting. those days are easier to manage."

marvin went silent, staring at his plastic fork. it was a minute or so until he spoke again. "are you really ok? now, i mean. i imagine that - breakdown, was, uh… something that'd been building up for a while."

she sighed, crossing her legs over each other. "i guess. i do feel better, yes. i'm going back to therapy and i believe new meds will help a lot. i just… it scares me, the way my magic exploded like that."

marvin hunched further over himself, resting his elbows on his thighs. "has that happened before?"

"mm-hmm," she hummed. "never to that extreme, but yes. i suppose that happens when you - when you're bottling up so much emotion inside of you. you can just explode."

she kept talking, but marvin was staring down at his food with unfocused eyes, suddenly not hungry. he had lashed out at chase with his magic. had that been why? maybe marvin wasn't as composed and put together as he thought he was. maybe. but he was supposed to be the big brother now. he couldn't afford any explosions like that again.

"- anyway, what's been happening with you? it seems all i've talked about is myself," naomi was saying. marvin jolted, snapping back to attention guiltily with wide eyes. naomi giggled at the look on face. "daydreaming a bit there, pyro?"

he laughed. "maybe, maybe. sorry. i'm - doing fine, yeah, fine." he decided not to mention the storm or anti or his own magic explosion. she didn't need more stress on top of her own. "do you wanna walk down to the beach? i'm sick of sitting still, and we've been here for like, ten minutes."

"sounds about right, you adhd ridden bastard," naomi joked, and they set off again, chatting about nothing the way they always had. it made marvin's head hurt. something about how… how usual, how samey this was. it was like the past three months hadn't even happened. like it was april and they'd just celebrated chase's birthday and jackie had come home with a huge cake, having forgotten henrik was supposed to be getting it, and chase had ended up with two cakes that he'd shared with the kids and even stacy when they'd come round to give them his presents. marvin remembered on that specific day they'd sat out the back and ran about like idiots for a few hours, even some of the adults. jackie had lifted louise onto his shoulders and marvin had taken connor, and they'd raced up and down the garden, stacy occasionally yelling for them to slow it down before they got hurt. a few neighbourhood kids climbed the fence to play with them, and eventually it had turned into a right party, every one of them laughing so hard their chests hurt, the heat of the sun making them all dizzy and warm. it had been such a good day. and to think that all that time, anti had been chained up in jackie's makeshift base under that shop, tortured and hurt. just the thought of that made the memory sour. why had that been better days?

"you know, everything's been so strange lately, hasn't it?" naomi said, stirring him from his thoughts. they had arrived at the stone steps down to the beach, and naomi was walking down the wall with her arms outstretched so she wouldn't fall. "ever since you, uh, found anti. like, there was the veil breaking, the resurface of the black magic people, that weird ass storm…" she stumbled, then leaped from the wall to the sand of the beach. "a lot has happened in just three months."

"yeah," marvin murmured, kicking sand into the air. the wind blowing off the water was salty and cold, messing up his already scruffy hair. "it's all shitty! all shitty. let's just… let's run down to the bottom of the beach and then go back up towards the park." he glanced at naomi, grinning. "what do you say?"

naomi's eyed flashed with mischief. "i say... i have a head start," she said, then took off running like a child, sand flying behind her.

"hey!" marvin called. he raced after her, the wind roaring in his ears, nearly slipping on the unstable ground several times. he caught up with her right as she reached the second flight of steps. "that was - that was cheating, you asshole - rematch, rematch!"

"catch your breath first, pyro," naomi grinned. they sat at the top of the steps next to the park, the grass still wet from the rain. marvin doubled over and rested his head on his knees, breathing hard.

"you're - terrible," he gasped. "swear to - god, i'm - gonna - get you back."

"pfft. you wish." she ruffled his hair, and he gave a small shriek of annoyance. she laughed at his reaction and leaned back to look at the sky, laying her back on the grass. "it's getting dark already. think it's gonna rain again?"

marvin laid back too, facing upwards. the sky was getting very grey, black clouds rolling in. "maybe," he agreed after a moment. "hopefully not for a little while."

they just rested in each other's presence for a while, warm and comfortable. "i missed this," naomi murmured. "just sitting doing nothing like this. it feels like i'm always doing something these days."

marvin nodded, yawning contentedly. "yeah, i get the feeling. so much shit always going on." he raised his hand to the sky, twirling faint strands of magic round his fingers, small and controlled. "i just wanna run around and do random bullshit again."

the wind rustled the trees, people playing faintly in the background of the park. it was a while before naomi spoke. "do you think raymond's alright?"

marvin startled. he had barely thought about raymond since he'd been taken, mostly because the memories hurt and he didn't like to think. a small stab of guilt hit him, and he turned his face, cheek touching the cold grass. "i dunno," he mumbled. "i hope."

the truth was, raymond had now been missing for almost a month, and hecate was starting to lose hope for finding him. marvin never thought he'd say it, but he hoped he'd be ok. the two of them had been really close, once. and as much of a dick as his ex was, marvin didn't want him in the hands of jackie.

"remember the day we met?" naomi said. she raised her arm next to marvin's, and several dead leaves flew off the ground to rotate round her hand, visibly getting greener and brighter as they spun. "you were running from him cause you owed him money. you ran into my shop to hide. that's how you set my door on fire, ha!"

marvin found himself giggling at the memory. "oh my god, yeah. and i was hiding under the cash register bit while you told him to fuck off in swedish? holy shit, that was fantastic."

naomi's arm shook with the force of her laughter, and she bumped into marvin, resting their hands together in the air. "i wish you could have seen the look on his face, he was raging. i suppose we have him to thank for us meeting, actually, which is very weird." she turned towards marvin, dark eyes twinkling. "that's pretty funny, when i think about it. the irony, ha -"

she froze. marvin opened his mouth as if to say something, but just licked his lips and swallowed, mouth dry. was she implying what he thought she was?

"can i kiss you?" he said without thinking. his heart was pounding so hard he could feel it in his fingertips, which were now entertwined with naomi's. he wondered dimly if she could feel his heartbeat.

"i'd like that," she whispered.

marvin leaned forwards, eyes fluttering shut, and pressed his lips to hers before quickly pulling away. "shit," he giggled, covering his face with his hands. "i've forgotten how romance works."

naomi laughed. "no, you're doing it right." she rolled over and bumped their noses together. her breath was warm, chocolate eyes sparkling like stars. "this is peak romance. kiss me again."

and he did.

the yelling started as soon as he got in.

"where the fuck were you?"

"henrik, calm -"

"chase, i told you to let me -"

"no, i told you not to be an asshole!"

marvin just stood there and took it. he couldn't be bothered to say anything back. really, it was amazing how quickly a good mood could dissipate in this house.

"jesus, marvin, are you even listening?" henrik cried. his face was blotchy, hair mussed like he'd just been asleep. he poked a finger into marvin's chest, face screwed up in anger. "you didn't come back for hours, you sent us one bullshit text saying "oh, i'm taken care of for the night," and then you don't message us again! what are you playing at?"

marvin sighed, closing his eyes. "i never texted you, henrik."

"- and you even think you can - you what?"

marvin winced at how cold henrik's tone had gone. "i didn't text you," he said, loud and clear. "anti stole my fucking phone. i spent the night in a hotel then went out with naomi. is that ok by you?"

henrik blinked, mouth falling open. "you - i - i thought you'd gotten your phone back! who texted us saying you were alright if -"

"don't know, don't care," marvin muttered, before pushing past henrik and standing in front of chase, speaking to him only. "i'm sorry i lashed out. i should have been more in control and i shouldn't have gotten so upset."

"no, i was being the asshole," chase sighed. he leaned against the oven, bouncing on his heels and biting his lip. "i was mad about something else and took it out on you. i'm really sorry."

marvin nodded. "well, then that's settled," he said. "problem solved. i see no more reason for us to fight anymore."

"i - what - no!" henrik spluttered. his glasses had fogged up with his anger, and he quickly took them off to wipe them. "i'm not done -"

"i don't give a shit." there was no warmth in marvin's voice, no emotion at all. "i'm done. i'll see you guys later."

and with that, he raised his chin and matched out of the room, head held high until he got to his room and collapsed against his door, trembling and eyes stinging.

he sighed softly, breaths shuddering. maybe he should have asked naomi to borrow her phone so he could message his brothers like he'd originally planned to do. to be fair, he'd gotten a bit preoccupied. a smile spread across his lips, and he gently touched them with the pads of his fingers like a lovesick teenager. well, something good had happened today. something different. maybe that was what he'd needed.

"i'm going for a walk."

henrik barely looked up from his computer. "sure. go for it." then he blinked, suddenly softening and looking up at his brother with tired, pale blue eyes. "and… be safe. are you alright?"

"mm," chase grunted, already yanking on his jacket and pulling on his boots. "i'm fine. i'm gonna - meet lucas, actually. i should be back soon."

henrik pursed his lips, nodding slowly. he glanced back towards his screen, but his eyes kept flickering back to chase, concern etched in his face. chase ignored it. he had shit he had to do.

he needed to apologize to lucas. in person. he'd already texted him, but felt like he owed him a real life apology for running out on him like he had. chase had no clue what he was going to say - sorry i freaked out when our faces got too close, i have childhood trauma relating to my sexuality that's scarred me for life - but lucas had agreed to meet him next to the train station, and chase was already rehearsing what he was going to say in his head. hopefully they could be friends again after. he'd hate to lose a friend to something so dumb.

"sir! excuse me, sir, sir!"

chase whipped round at the sudden frantic cries. running up behind him was a man with curly black hair and a long coat, freckled face pale and panicky. he stopped and doubled over, trying to catch a breath. "i'm sorry - but my - my children, my two sons, they've disappeared and a woman down the path told me she'd seen them come up here with some man - have you seen them?" he was shaking, eyes wide with alarm. "please - i can't lose them, please help me!"

chase made several stuttering sounds, fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. his chest tightened in sympathy for the man; chase had lost his own kids before, and he could feel the man's panic in his own heart. lucas was going to have to wait. "i haven't seen them, i'm sorry," he said, and the man sobbed with dismay. chase held up both hands, stepping forwards. "but i'll help you look for them! they came this way?"

"yes, yes," the man cried, his scottish accent thickening with tears, swiping at his face. "i asked several people, a woman with a pram told me she'd seen two boys, black hair like mine, coming this way. i'm - i'm so sorry to bother you, oh god, i'm just so sc-scared…"

"hey, it's ok," chase comforted, flapping his hands awkwardly. "i'll help look. come on, let's see what we can find."

the streets were oddly empty. strange, it wasn't even six o'clock yet. "what are your kids names?" chase asked, attempting to distract him.

"dolos and apate," he babbled, tripping over his shoelaces as he walked. "they're twins, seven years old, my wife chose the names because she loves names that mean things. she died recently and there's been - there's been no one else to help me look after them…"

"i'm - i'm sorry," chase said, eyes scanning his surroundings as they got deeper into the city, farther away from the train station. "uh, what's your name? i forgot to ask that, i'm sorry."

"ronald," he said, getting farther away from chase as he walked faster. "i know, such a difference from my kid's names - fuck, i don't know what i'll do if i can't find them!"

"sl-slow down!" chase wheezed, clutching at his side. ronald paid no mind and raced round a corner, disappearing from view. chase cursed silently. "ronald - be careful!"

it was only when chase turned the corner too that he realized something was wrong.

in front of him was was the music shop. silent aside from the blowing wind, birds cawing in the darkening sky. ronald had completely disappeared, and all chase could hear now was his ragged breathing and the blood pumping in his ears.

"ronald?" he said softly.

a sudden, blood curdling scream suddenly rang out from inside the store.

chase wasted no time. he took off like a shot, shoving the doors wide open and darting inside. "ronald?" he cried, bouncing round the room looking for a door. there was nothing, just a small back room that was completely empty apart from a charred guitar. "ronald, where -"

and oh, shit. there was a door behind the place that had once probably been a cash register, slowly opening to reveal what looked like a white hallway, where chase could hear faint screams emitting from.

his first thought was to call the police. he dialed the number as quickly as he could with shaking fingers, waiting for someone to answer. eventually, after far too long, someone did. "hello?" came a man's cockney english accent. "brighton police, what's your emergency?"

chase quickly filled them in on the situation, all the while walking slowly closer to the white door. he felt like something was drawing him closer, calling him, even. "that does sound serious," the policeman was saying, somewhere far away. "do you know if the man is alright? he's screaming, yeah? well, that's not ideal. maybe it'd be best to go see he's ok."

"yeah," chase mumbled softly. his head felt like it was full of wool. "maybe i should."

he could hear the policeman laughing as the phone slipped from his hands.

the hallway was painted white, no doors or windows, slanting downwards to a large silver door at the end. and it was the sound of the door behind him slamming shut that snapped him out of his strange trance, eyed widening with the gravity of the situation as he realized he was somehow trapped.

"hey - hey, let me out!" he screamed, sudden panic filling his veins and making him immediately lightheaded. "no, no, no, this isn't funny, let me out, please, please let me -"

"chase," came a familiar irish accent. chase took a sharp breath, not daring to look. not daring to turn towards the source of the voice he hadn't heard since the owner of it had threw him in the air with black magic. "chase, i want you to listen to me."

someone was tapping on marvin's window.

now, the problem with this was that he was on the second story, maybe ten feet off the ground. he hauled himself off his bed, shoving his laptop to the side and blinking away his headache. he'd been so caught up in messaging naomi that he hadn't even noticed the room had gotten dark. it had probably been staring at the bright screen that had caused the problem. he yawned, rubbing his temples, and threw open his curtains to see -

"oh, you're fucking shitting me," marvin shouted. he threw his hands up in the air, staring at the man who was somehow ten feet in the air, clinging to a pipe with shaky fingers, grinning proudly as he looked in. anti tapped the window again, managing a small wave before gripping the pipe again.

marvin shut the curtains.

the frantic banging started up again straight away. marvin rolled his eyes and opened the curtains again. "what do you want?" he asked flatly, glaring at anti hugging the pipe tightly. he was pale and trembling, soaked through from the rain, nose bleeding with a bruise over one eye.

anti made a face and attempted to mouth something. marvin furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head, not understanding. it was harder to tell what he was trying to say with no tongue in his mouth. eventually, marvin managed to decipher it. "you got mugged?"

anti nodded. marvin gave a despairing sigh and dragged a hand down his face. "ok. give me one good reason why i should trust you."

anti opened his mouth again, but suddenly his fingers slipped and he nearly fell, scrabbling to find a foothold so he wouldn't be left dangling in the air. his breathing visibly quickened, and he shook his head rapidly, mouthing one word over and over. marvin couldn't tell what it was, but he could also tell that anti was absolutely going to fall if marvin didn't let him in.

part of him wanted to shut the curtains and just let him go. another part of him wanted to open the window and smack anti's hands off the pipe himself. and another part of him, a much more depressing part, just didn't want to see anyone hurt anymore.

"you're so pathetic," marvin said flatly. anti nodded solemnly.

with a dramatic eyeroll, marvin pushed open the window, reaching out an arm to pull anti inside. anti gasped with relief as he left go of the pipe and tumbled to the floor, slamming his head off marvin's desk. marvin didn't move to help him.

anti groaned in pain. but by the time he'd sat up, marvin had a glowing hand held in front of his face. "this is a damage spell," he growled, pressing his other hand to anti's chest. "i've just wound up all the power based magic in my body and compressed it into my hand. i will not fucking hesitate to shoot this through your goddamn skull if you so much as touch me or my brothers at any point. i will eviscerate you. do you hear me? i will eviscerate you."

anti nodded again, eyes wide. the second marvin let go, he scrambled back into the wall, breathing heavily and clutching at his neck.

marvin narrowed his eyes, lowering his hand just slightly. "now. tell me what you're doing here or i throw you back out the fucking window."

anti didn't even attempt to respond. he just stared at marvin's lit up hand, his pupils dilated. he swallowed, almost completely unmoving.

marvin sighed and shook the magic from his hand, distributing it throughout his body again. "fucking hell," he muttered, and sat back on his heels. "hurry up and talk. i'm getting sick of the sight of you."

anti blinked and raised his hands to sign, but they were shaking so badly he couldn't seem to move them properly. marvin frowned and touched one of them, yelping. "fuck - you are so goddamn cold, how are you even alive?"

he paused, then tugged down anti's right hoodie sleeve, making him flinch. his wrist was still somehow bruised and painful looking. "how did you even do this, anti?" marvin despaired. "i'm just - fucking hell. how did you climb up in this state?"

anti's eyes had gone slightly unfocused. he didn't appear to be listening. marvin groaned. "here - do you have my phone? you can communicate using that."

anti shook his head, and marvin sighed again. "didn't expect so," he muttered, and went to get his computer off his bed. before handing it to anti, he held up a hand in warning again. "break this and you die. i'm not fucking playing around."

anti made a face and slowly flapped his hands in a circle, trying to warm them up enough to type. "the phone and also your kitchen knife got taken when i got mugged," he wrote slowly into an empty google doc. "sorry."

"of course," marvin sighed. "of course. so what do you want?"

anti hesitated before writing the next part. "can i borrow your computer?"

marvin didn't even have any words. for a moment he just stared at anti, open mouthed, before raising a hand and slapping him across the face.

anti yelped loudly and made an exaggerated what the fuck face. marvin curled his hands up with rage, digging his nails into his palms. "you - you, you - you fucking dare even -" he was shaking with anger, tears picking the backs of his eyes. "oh, you fucking infuriate me!"

anti attempted to write something again, but marvin cut him off, slamming his laptop shut. "no. get out. get the fuck out. i don't know why i decided to let you in here. get out."

"wait!" anti signed quickly. "i'm trying to -"

"no!" marvin cut off. "i don't want to hear it -"

"i'm trying to find -"

"i'm giving you ten seconds to get out or -"

"i'm trying to find dapper!"

marvin froze at that last sign. anti looked like he wanted to retract his statement as he saw the look on marvin's face. "you fucking what?"

anti shrank back briefly before sitting up again, trying to regain some scrap of dignity. "i've been looking for dapper," he signed, keeping his eyes trained on marvin. "he's nearby, i know he is, and i -"

"if you think we're letting you near him ever again," marvin said quietly. "you're wrong."

they were interrupted by the sound of anti's stomach rumbling loudly in the quiet room. anti winced and pressed his hands in on his stomach, trying to silence himself. "hungry?" marvin asked with a raised eyebrow. anti flushed, rolling his eyes. he shook his head, removing his hand from his stomach. it immediately started up again and anti hissed through his teeth, curling in on himself.

"i should… probably get you food," marvin said quietly. he still had no clue why he was doing this. why he was giving anti second chances. he breathed in and out, trying to calm himself again before speaking. "fucking hell, why am i even bothering…"

he stood, blowing air out his cheeks as he thought. "you're not staying the night here," he said firmly. anti looked like he wanted to protest, but lowered his hands after probably a second of self reflection. marvin nodded, satisfied. "and i'm not letting you use my computer. especially not for - that. but i will get you food and water and an ice pack for your wrist, cause you're really pathetic and as much as i despise you, i don't wanna find your body on the floor of a bus shelter one day. you got all that?"

anti bobbed his head slowly. marvin glared down at him. "now, stay quiet while i get you shit."

anti's shoulders slumped down, and he gestured to his mouth, making a face of seriously?

marvin groaned. "i mean it, anti. shut the fuck up. if henrik finds out you're here, he'll kill you. and i will let him. got it?"

"fine," anti signed, glancing away. "i'll shut up."

marvin grabbed the doorknob and shook his head. "i can't believe i'm trusting you again," he muttered, before opening the door and immediately coming face to face with henrik.

for a moment, neither man said anything. then henrik started. "trust who again?"

marvin's heart was racing. "uhhhh… myself?" he nodded quickly, his palms suddenly sweaty despite the cold. "giving myself a pep talk. you know, gotta stay on my toes." he laughed nervously, and he hoped anti had had enough sense to duck out of sight in case henrik peeked in. henrik glowered, and for a moment marvin was completely convinced he knew. then the other man lowered his gaze and sighed.

"ok, sure. marvin, i'm - i'm sorry i was an asshole to you. we can't keep going in fucking circles like this." he laughed softly. "not to sound like that arschloch. honestly, i hope he's suffering in the rain out there. i can think of no one who deserves it more."

marvin winced. "uh, yeah. i'm just gonna -" he gently pushed by to get down the stairs, desperately praying that henrik wouldn't look in his room. "i'm gonna make food. 'scuse me."

"marvin," henrik called, and marvin briefly screwed up his face before turning round again. the doctor was looking down at the floor, wringing his hands awkwardly. "i - i'm genuinely very sorry. i know i… didn't sound sincere before. probably because i wasn't being sincere. but now i am." he took a sharp breath between his teeth. "i think we should stop fighting. put all this anti business behind him. i think we can now both agree that anti is an untrustworthy bastard, right?"

marvin bit the side of his lip, guilt welling in his chest. "mm-hmm," he hummed, beginning to step down the stairs. "i'm - sorry too. i am. thank you for… yeah."

his heart pounded as he darted through the house to the kitchen. and as he started on making a sandwich with a packet of crisps, he wished and wished jackie had never picked up that fucking necklace.

"jackie," chase said, voice unsteady. "jackie, i don't - i don't… i don't understand."

jackie nodded slowly. both his hands were raised next to his face, covered by a pair of gloves. red hoodie, mussed hair, goggles on top of his head; he looked almost the same as he always did. but chase knew this wasn't the same man he'd once called brother. the blue of his eyes had turned a solid black, and although chase couldn't see his necklace, he knew it must be underneath his shirt. he wasn't even wearing the thick glasses he could never see without. chase took him in, heart pounding in his ears.

"just listen to me a second," jackie said softly. chase nearly sobbed at his voice. "please. i need to -"

"where's ronald?" chase demanded loudly. his eyes darted back and forth, looking for any other way out of this tiny hallway. "and i've - i've called the police. they'll be here soon."

jackie sighed, then tapped the back of his gauges. "come in," he murmured, and suddenly the silver door behind him opened up, two people stepping through. one was ronald, dead eyed and stiff. the other was a tall blonde man chase didn't recognize, wearing a trench coat and holding a bat. jackie gestured towards each of them respectively. "chase, this is rhudy. and this… this is aaron, our dear policeman. also my boyfriend."

"'ello, 'ello, 'ello," aaron said in a mocking tone, flashing chase a grin. ronald - rhudy - didn't move. just stared straight ahead without any expression on his face. chase felt sick.

"you tricked me?" he spat. "you - this - this is the boyfriend that hurt henrik?"

aaron rolled his eyes. "no, i'm one of his many other boyfriends. i'm the one he saves specifically for when he needs someone to pretend to be a policeman."

jackie turned and shot aaron a glare before turning back to chase, softening. "i want to talk to you. there was no evil intentions behind this, i swear. i just needed you to listen."

"this is where you kept anti," chase managed. his lip was quivering, and he blinked hard so he wouldn't cry. "this place, this weird b-base of yours - why? i don't understand. and why him?" he waved a trembling hand towards rhudy. "what's wrong with him? why does he look like that?"

jackie took a step forwards, just slowly. "i built this place to hold anti, yes. very high tech, but i had help." behind him, aaron straightened, tilting his head up proudly. "and rhudy is - no one important. well, he is, but not to you."

chase shook his head, fear pulsing in his veins. "why's he so… dead looking? why did you lure me here?"

"well, to answer your first question… he is dead," jackie explained, like it was nothing. "i killed him. accidentally, of course, and i didn't realize until recently. this is his soul you're seeing. i control it." he lifted a hand, and rhudy immediately followed, blank faced. jackie smirked. "like a little puppet. remember when anti was younger and always called us his puppets? oh, the sweet sound of the tables turning… warms my heart."

chase's breathing quickened, his stomach rolling. he could taste the bacon tortellini he'd eaten for lunch in his mouth again. "you - he - jackie, that's so fucked!" he squeaked, ashamed of how wavering his voice was. "that's so fucked, i - what do you want from me? answer the question!"

aaron opened his mouth, but without even turning round jackie held up a hand and aaron silenced himself, huffing and leaning on his bat. jackie looked suddenly serious. "chaser, i want you to believe me. this necklace - it's… corrupting me." his hand drifted towards his collar, and he clutched at something beneath his hoodie. jackie winced in pain, and chase's heart tightened. his brother looked up, desperation visible in his dark eyes. "i want rid of it, but i don't know h-how… i feel like something bad is taking over my mind, m-making me do things… i don't want to be like this. i don't, i don't." he shook his head, screwing up his face. "i'm so sorry i hurt you."

everything about this screamed danger. but chase found himself taking another small step forwards, lifting a hand to touch jackie's arm gently. "i knew it wasn't you," he choked out. "i told marvin and henrik. i told them. i said that you were still in there, that your magic was just hurting you - i'm sorry i doubted you, i'm -"

jackie suddenly pulled him in for a hug. chase didn't even hesitate, just immediately melted into it, clinging to his brother like an anchor. jackie was cold. he had always been so warm.

"i'm sorry," jackie whispered, voice cracking. "i love you, chaser, i love you with all my heart."

"i love you too," chase sobbed. he opened his eyes briefly, and looked at aaron and rhudy. rhudy didn't move or react. aaron was looking at his phone, bored. he glanced up to give chase a small, wicked smile, eyes glittering.

"tell me you really love me," jackie said. there was something in his voice that instantly put chase at ease, making him relax in jackie's arms, warm and sleepy.

"i really love you," chase murmured.

jackie's grip tightened on his back. "tell me you'll obey."

"i'll obey," chase said, even quieter.

jackie pulled away, smiling and facing chase head on. oh, his head was spinning. he felt so empty, his thoughts gone. "good," jackie grinned. "good. now listen closely."

he leaned into chase's face. "you're going to go straight home and forget you ever saw us, or that you came to this store at all," he whispered, voice dripping like honey, filling chase's head. he nodded sleepily. jackie smirked even further. "you're going to wait until i tell you i need you. understood, chaser? nod again if you understand."

chase hummed softly, bobbing his head mechanically. "i understand," he said flatly. "i understand."

jackie pushed him away gently, turning chase towards the door and opening with a few button presses. "by the time you've left the store, you'll have forgotten everything," jackie told him, his voice far away. "remember what i told you. i love you, chaser."

true to his word, by the time chase had gotten back out into the now pouring rain and the colour returned to his eyes and face, he didn't remember a thing. had he been planning to meet someone? he didn't think so. no, he needed to go home. go home and wait until he was needed. needed? needed for what? his thoughts screamed. chase shook it off. fuck, he had forgotten to take his meds this morning. must have been why he was so confused suddenly. it must be.

he hummed to himself the whole way home.

anti was right where marvin had left him. leaning against the wall under the window, shivering and burying his face in the curtains. marvin sat down beside him. "made you a sandwich. it's, uh, bread and butter with like, a full bag of cheese and onion crisps. i also have a bottle of water. it's tap water. and a pack of ice." he placed the last one on anti's wrist under his sleeve. anti sat up, hissing through his teeth at the pain. his eyes darted back and forth across the room, and marvin frowned. "are you alright?"

scowling, anti nodded, yanking his hand away and pulling it close to his chest. silently, he grabbed the water bottle and clingwrapped sandwich and stuffed them in his hoodie pockets, not meeting marvin's eyes.

"you're welcome," marvin said sarcastically. anti rolled his eyes and tried to push himself to his feet, managing to get onto the windowsill again.

"yeah, you'll have to go back out the window," marvin deadpanned. anti scrunched up his face, and marvin pushed him aside to open the window again. "i know, it's terrible. but like i said, i don't want henrik to see you."

anti made another face as the sound of pouring rain picked up ever louder through the open window. marvin threw his hands up at anti's reaction. "what? what is your problem?"

anti just shook his head and swung his legs out the window again. "i don't know how the fuck to climb down," he signed, glancing down to the floor below. marvin huffed loudly.

"don't care. have fun." he tapped anti's shoulder, making him flinch. "don't come back here again, ok? fucking christ."

anti rolled his eyes and grabbed hold of the pipe again, giving a small gasp of pain as he clung to it with his injured hand. marvin only watched him go for a moment before straightening and wandering back to his bed, flopping down and pulling his computer back onto his lap.

there was a sudden yelp and a loud thump from below.

marvin immediately leapt up again and raced to the window. anti was on the ground, flat on the grass. "fine!" he signed up at him, giving a thumbs up. "fine!"

he staggered to his feet, swaying painfully. marvin huffed and slammed the window shut again, closing the curtains. this time, he definitely didn't look back.

chase came home an hour later.

"how was your meeting with lucas?" marvin asked with a supportive smile. henrik had filled him in on the situation, and he was going to try and help chase as much as he could with it. "did it go well?"

chase blinked, resting an arm against the doorway. "meeting with who?" he mumbled. then he shook his head, mouth falling open slightly. "oh. oh, oh, oh shit. oh shit!"

marvin furrowed his eyebrow in confusion. "chase, what? did you - did you meet up with him?"

chase palmed his forehead, groaning loudly in despair. "i didn't, i meant - i forgot, christ, how did i forget that?"

marvin gaped. "you forgot? how do you forget - how do you - isn't that what you went out for in the first place?"

"yeah!" chase's eyes were wide with sudden panic. "yeah, how could i forget? i just walked around and then came back, i must've gotten really lost in thought - oh fuck, he's gonna hate me, marvin!"

marvin placed his hands on his brother's shoulders, looking him in the eye. "chase, bro, calm. it's ok. we're all very preoccupied, this is heavy shit we're dealing with recently. just tell him the situation." he lowered his voice. "have you looked at new therapists? you just seem so spacey lately."

chase nodded slightly, bringing his head forward to rest on marvin's collarbone. "mm. i did. i promise i'll show you later… i'm tired, marvin."

"i'll help you upstairs," marvin said softly. he knew chase sometimes got like this where he randomly forgot things; it was a symptom of depression, he knew. chase murmured something into his chest as marvin wrapped an arm around him, assisting him in stumbling out of the kitchen into the hall. he could hear henrik on a call with someone in his room as he walked by. "you just rest, drink water, feel better tomorrow."

and if chase noticed the tone change in marvin's voice, he didn't say anything. he definitely didn't see marvin's face crumple as chase fell onto his bed, drifting off almost immediately. and when marvin left the room, shoving his hand in his mouth to stop himself from crying out, he thought about how much he missed the days that henrik, jackie and jamie were all here together when chase got into states. how he didn't have to do it alone. something heavy sank in marvin's chest. he chose to ignore it.

don't cry, don't break. just deal with it and move on.

and he did.

#jacksepticeye #boop writes #chase brody #marvin the magnificent #henrik von schneeplestein #jackieboy man #antisepticeye #naomi gudmundson #rhudy o'donnell #aaron mckenzie #the fall

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winchesterbrotherstan · 5 years ago

Text

Agents of Shield- Pilot (1.01)

Pairing: Leo Fitz x Violet Ward (OC)

Summary: Coulson gathers the group, Violet is reunited with her long lost brother, they pick up a stray, and Grant tries to be an angry dad

Warnings: cursing, uhh blood i think?

Word Count: 6086 (not that long)

“Leo, what are you doing?” My voice was a low grumble as I turned my head.

“Trying to fix the fan so it stops making that bloody clicking noise.”

I rolled my eyes at the curly haired Scot, pulling my pillow out from under my head before chucking it at him.

“Come back to bed.” I snuggled further into the blankets and closed my eyes.

“But Violet...” He trailed off and sighed.

I felt the bed sink beside me as he crawled in next to me, worming his way under the covers.

“We have to be on Coulson’s plane in two hours. Let’s just relax.” I twisted around to face him, the blankets still up to my chin.

“I just hate the noise.” Fitz pulled me against him, my forehead against his warm shoulder and my hands curled against his stomach. “And I know you do too, darlin’.”

I melted at the pet name, slouching against him as I pressed a kiss to his shoulder. I heard him chuckle and his chest rumbled before he kissed my forehead. I felt myself drift in and out of consciousness, his heartbeat under my ear lulling me back to sleep.

“Love you.” He mumbled, rearranging ourselves so my arms were around his neck and his head was on my shoulder.

“Love you too.” I tangled my fingers in his hair and pecked the side of his head.

We stayed like that for a while, both on the verge of sleeping and awake. A loud knock at the door startled us both. Fitz yelped as I flinched, sitting up blearily.

“What?” He shouted, flopping back onto the pillows.

“Agent Ward, I need to speak with you.”

I forced myself out of bed and shuffled to the door, pulling my hair back behind my ears as I opened the door, greeted by an antsy Coulson.

“It’s four in the morning. What’s wrong?” I tugged on the sleeves of Fitz’s flannel, pulling them down my arms.

Coulson sighed before looking up with a grimace.

“What is it, sir?” Fitz was behind me now, hands on my shoulders and as confused as I was.

“Violet. We found your brother.”

I would’ve stumbled backward if Fitz wasn’t holding me steady. I felt my eyes sting as they welled with tears.

“You found Grant?” I could feel myself shaking.

“Yes. He’s joining us on the mission. Are you gonna be okay?”

I nodded before looking back up. “Does he know that-”

“No. I haven’t spoken to him yet. I think it’s best that he finds out in due time.” Coulson’s gaze was sympathetic, and I could feel Fitz staring at me out of more concern than pity.

I nodded again. “Okay. Thank you, sir.” I shut the door in his face and closed my eyes.

Maybe I’m dreaming.

I heard thunder roar outside and rain started to hit the window.

“You alright darling?” Fitz put his hands on my waist this time and led me back to the bed, pulling me to sit next to him.

I pinched the bridge of my nose as I nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“It’s going to be okay, Violet. I promise.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

I looked up at him and nodded once more, head cleared this time. “I know.”

***

“You okay, Violet?” Jemma asked me, concern in her voice.

I nodded. “Yeah. Just nervous.”

“Don’t wanna see your brother after all this time?” Fitz pressed a quick kiss to my head before passing by me, taking one of the bags from the floor and packing it into the lab.

“Scared to see if he’s changed.” I answered truthfully, laying on the floor in front of the lab doors.

“Whoa whoa whoa! Watch it! That’s the night-night gun.” Fitz scrambled over to take it from Jemma.

“Well it’s on my stuff and it doesn’t work and there’s no way we’re calling it the night-night gun.” Jemma scoffed.

“The bullets work. Nonlethal, heavy stopping power, break up under the subcutaneous tissue-”

Jemma cut him off with some other scientific argument as I heard footsteps coming up the cargo ramp.

“Violet?”

I bolted upright and struggled to get to my feet, frantic.

“Hey Grant.” I looked up at him.

I hadn’t seen my brother since I was fourteen, which was about eleven years ago. Things had happened and we had been told he was dead, but it never felt real.

He looked at me and froze, as if he were a buffering computer. I started to think that maybe being on a mission with him would be an awful idea. He must’ve noticed my change in posture, because he carefully put his bag on the floor and came practically running to lift me off my feet in a bone crushing hug.

“Hi. I’ve missed you.”

“I’m so sorry, Vi.” He whispered.

“Wasn’t your fault. Never was.” I fixed my arms around his middle as he put me back on the ground, still hugging me.

“I’m sorry.” His heart thundered under my ear and I took a deep breath.

“It’s okay.” I took a step back and looked up at him.

He had changed a lot since I had last seen him, but that was when he was nineteen. He should be thirty now, if my math was right. I couldn’t help but stare, eyes flickering over every detail of his face. His jaw seemed to be more square, his nose flatter. His eyes looked the same. He pulled me in for another hug before sighing.

“Gotta go get set up.” He squeezed my arm.

I nodded and stepped out of his way. Fitz-Simmons were still arguing about the bullets from the night-night gun, and Grant dropped his bag roughly, getting their attention. I stayed off to the side, observing. I was a field agent, but I was also a psych agent, and I couldn’t help but wonder what else had changed about Grant. Was he still short-tempered? Did he still close himself off from other people? Were his mannerisms any different? Would I still be able to read him like a book?

“Fitz-Simmons?” He asked.

“Fitz.”

“Simmons. I’m engineering, she’s biochem.” They pointed at each other.

Jemma sent me a wink and a small smile. Fitz caught my eye with a disgruntled look. They obviously had different thoughts about my older brother.

“So you’re Violet’s brother?” Jemma smiled at him.

“Yeah, Grant Ward. Coulson said I’d need my comm receiver encoded.” Grant eyed them wearily. “I don’t know if you’ve worked with that model before.” He said as Fitz took it.

He only sighed as Fitz broke it to pull out IDIS chip, saying that it was brand-new. I avoided his glance. It would be better if he figured out Fitz and I were a thing at another time.

“He’ll repurpose the IDIS chip.” Jemma said.

“Don’t need the external receiver for the inner-ear comms anymore.” Fitz explained, pulling the chip out.

Grant looked at me and I only shrugged. I wasn’t a tech person.

“So uh, how does it-” He was cut off by Jemma taking a swab of his cheek, holding him in place by the chin.

“Embedded sensorineural silicone matched to your DNA. It’s very posh.” She rubbed the cotton swab around before finally stepping back.

I watched Grant move his cheeks, obviously uncomfortable with being poked and prodded at.

“So, are you excited to be coming on our journey into mystery?” Jemma kept smiling.

“It’s like Christmas.” I watched his nostrils flare.

He was uneasy. He didn’t like the dynamic presented in the room, he didn’t like being touched, he didn’t like the attention. Luckily, Coulson came up, the old red car’s tires screeching.

“One of Coulson’s old S.H.I.E.L.D. collectibles. Flamethrowers, world’s first GPS. He’s mad for this crap.” Fitz explained to Grant.

“Don’t touch Lola.” Coulson ordered a worker helping us load things.

“And he calls it a girl’s name.” Fitz’s nose crinkled up in amusement.

Grant only raised an eyebrow. He was unimpressed and probably a tad stressed. He caught me watching and squinted his eyes before letting a small smile slip, his nose twitching. I grinned and patted his arm as I passed by him, following Coulson up the steps. Grant picked his bag back up and followed suit.

“Lola’s not just a collectible, you know. People tend to confuse the words ‘new’ and ‘improved’. This mobile command, they were in heavy rotation back in the nineties, but then we got a helicarrier. Hey Ward, did you hear the one about the guy who’s afraid of flying?” Coulson tried to joke with my brother.

“I’ve done a night jump into a drop zone under heavy fire, sir. I can handle it.” Grant was oblivious.

“That was … a joke. The first part of a … I’m not gonna tell it now.” Coulson sighed.

“If you plan to unpack, make it quick. Wheels are up in five.” May rounded the corner, eyeing Grant with an expression I couldn’t read. She quickly turned to Coulson. “We may have a hit on one of the Rising Tide’s routing points.”

“Good. We need to do some catching up.” Coulson leafed through the packet she handed him.

May walked away without a second glance. Grant was wide-eyed, looking at where she had walked off and then turning to me.

“Is that … who I think it is?”

“She’s just the pilot.” Coulson shrugged it off.

“Melinda May is just the pilot. Come on, sir. What game are you really playing?” Grant eyed Coulson.

“Better stow your gear.” Coulson ignored his question and went into the small conference room in the middle.

“I’ve gotta go talk to Fitz. I’ll catch you later?” I inched away.

I was noticing small things. Tics, movements, glances, mannerisms, postures. All things that made me uneasy. Something was off about him, but he had been gone so long that I didn’t know what it was.

“You and Fitz are a thing? You could do better.” He apparently could still read me like a book.

I let out a sigh. “I don’t wanna do better. I like him.”

***

I stayed in the lab helping Fitz unpack as we flew to California. There was a lead on a member of the Rising Tide. They were an organization that worked day and night against S.H.I.E.L.D. to expose the things we tried so hard to hide. They believed the world would be better off with the knowledge of aliens and other-worldly life forms out there. We did everything we could to stop them, but they only grew in size and were nearly impossible to track down. Coulson wanted to catch this particular member, and it would help him test Grant in the field.

“You are not convinced.” Fitz stood in front of me.

I shrugged from my perch on the table. He grabbed my hands and tilted his head until his eyes were level with mine. I smiled and looked up so he wouldn’t have to twist his neck to talk to me. He cupped my jaw and pulled me closer for a kiss.

“Talk to me.”

I sighed and pulled him closer, so his hands were on either side of me on the table and I could fiddle with the end of his tie. I sprung up and pecked his lips. His presence was beyond reassuring as bad thoughts about Grant filled my mind.

“They’re small things. Really little things. Mannerisms, tics, wording… Something’s off. But at the same time, I barely know him anymore. I know that something is wrong, but I don’t know him well enough to know what it is.” I licked my lips before looking up at Fitz, met by concerned blue eyes.

He nodded. “I’m sorry, darling.” He opened his arms and I leaned forward, pulling him to stand between my legs so I could slouch against his chest without falling off the table. My forehead found its place against his warm neck as he swept my hair out of my face and then ran his hand up and down my back. I heard footsteps and pulled back, grabbing at Fitz’s hands to hold them in my lap.

“Hey. Oh, sorry…” Grant trailed off as he slinked back behind the door frame. “Coulson needs you guys upstairs is all.” He flashed Fitz a look before heading down the hallway.

Fitz stared, his head tilted to the side. “Now, correct me if I’m wrong, darling, but… he seems almost,” he eyed me and let out a sigh. “Predatory.”

I bit my lip. “You know, angel face, I really wish you were wrong sometimes.”

***

May parked in the middle of the street, her body tense. Jemma was eager as she stepped out of the car, a wide smile on her face and her eyes wide. Fitz met me on my side of the car as he looked up at the building in question. The Rising Tide member had filmed a man jumping from a few stories high after it blew up. He had rescued a woman before running off. Coulson suspected the person who filmed the video must’ve caused the explosion. May looked over the breaks in the asphalt left from the man’s fall. She remained stone-faced and wordless.

Jemma talked the entire way up to the floor that had been the source of explosion. Fitz answered her a few times, but she soon didn’t require any interaction. He noticed my continual unease and stopped me, offering a hand. I sighed and took it gratefully. We weren’t publically touchy feely, we didn’t like PDA, but his presence helped, and so did his thumb running across my knuckles.

“This was a lab.” Jemma noted as we walked into the room. “Was this leased as a lab?”

“Mnh-mnh. Self empowerment center.” May shone her flashlight around with a chuckle. “With a top of the line motion-sensor security system.”

“Ah. So a secret lab.” Jemma seemed excited.

I tried to ignore the smells in the burned out room as I took my hand back from Fitz.

“And a superhero. Not a coincidence.”

I knelt next to the body burned on the ground. Their hands were up defensively. They couldn’t run in time to evade the blast. Jemma picked samples off with tweezers and packed them into test tubes. I turned on my heels and walked toward Fitz, who was shining his flashlight around with a grimace on his face.

“So was this explosion sabotage? Was it meant for him? Or were they just in over their heads?” May asked.

“Yeah, working the problem.” He saw the body and tensed further. “Ladies, if you’ll just…” He tried to dodge May and ended up hitting her shoe. He muttered an apology and scampered by.

I ignored May’s raised eyebrow and followed him, placing a hand on his back as he knelt to set up the drones. I could feel May still staring.

“If you’re gonna be in the field, Agent Fitz, you have to get your hands dirty.”

“No, I don’t.” He smiled, clicking things on the tablet in his hands as the drones rose off the floor with a faint whirring. “Heigh-ho, off to work you go.” He sang under his breath.

I bit back a smile as he straightened, sending each drone to do their thing as he stood in the center of the room. He paused and caught me staring. He smiled before going back to his tablet.

“See, we designed each with their own capabilities, so um, some recording the dimensions and textures of the room, and then some testing the matter density, radiation. I mean, one is basically just smelling.” Jemma explained this all to May, who didn’t seem interested.

I watched as Fitz perked up, spinning around. “Whoa whoa, I’ve got something.”

“Who’s got it?” Jemma asked.

“Uh, Bashful.” He pointed.

The drone in the corner of the room was still, persistently scanning a piece of what seemed to be scraps. May eyed me before crossing over and picking things off.

“Surveillance camera. Deep-fried.” May sighed.

“Yes, but that model has flash memory in case of brownouts.” Fitz moved, returning my smile before tripping. He caught himself with a cough. “Now, I could that with data from the motion detectors, and, with a little luck, get some images from before the blast.” He was smiling widely now, plucking the camera from May’s hand. “And by luck, I mean unappreciated genius.” He sighed.

“Yeah, and by the looks of it, we’ll need it. Snow’s reading some compounds that are- whoa, my god.” Jemma scurried to pick something up.

“Explosive?” May incurred.

“Not of this earth.” Jemma was in awe of the alien technology in her hand.

***

“Heads up. Your brother is up in the interrogation room sleeping. We needed the asset to think she had the upper hand. Gave him a fake truth serum. He’ll be fine.” Coulson whispered to me as soon as we walked into the bus.

“Oh..kay.” I nodded as May followed him up the stairs.

Jemma began to unpack their samples, filing them neatly.

“You alright?” Fitz’s hand came to my side, pointer finger nudging my pinky.

I nodded with a sigh. “Just tired.” I eyed Jemma through the lab door.

It’s not that I didn’t trust her. Of course I trusted her. She was amazing, and I loved her. But there were things about the topic of Grant and my family that I didn’t share with anybody but Fitz. And even then, there were some things Fitz didn’t know either. I would tell him about my new concerns later.

Fitz caught on, pulling me into his side. I leaned my head against his shoulder and looked up, sighing sadly. He gave me his puppy eyes and I couldn’t help but feel my heart flutter. I tugged at his tie gently, bringing him down to meet me on my toes. He realized and grabbed me by the waist, throwing my balance off so I would fall into his grip as he leaned over me and pressed a kiss to my lips. I hooked one arm around his shoulders and tangled my other hand in his blond curls. He smiled before pulling me back onto my feet, pecking my cheek before taking my hand and leading us to the lab.

***

After Fitz-Simmons had finished with their data analysis and whatever else, we trudged up the stairs in silence. Coulson pulled out an ID card and slammed it onto the holotable. It instantly began to scan it. I sighed and leaned over the table, chin in my hand. Fitz came beside me, his hand on my back. I nudged him off and moved over so he would have space to get comfortable. He shot me a smile and settled himself, arms crossed on the edge of the table. I hooked an arm around his shoulders with a sigh.

“Michael Peterson. Factory worker. Married, one kid. Gets injured, gets laid off. Wife jumps ship. Good guy, bad breaks.”

I watched as the girl from Rising Tide—Skye— paced around Coulson, her nails between her teeth. She pulled her finger out and started to flick it past her lips. She was obviously antsy. I wasn’t sure why Coulson would let her out like this, but he always had his reasons.

“Best guess? Somebody comes to him, tells him they can fix him. They can make him strong again, make him super.”

“Who has the tech to do that?” I asked.

“And why would anyone want to?” May followed up.

“Fitz, what do we have from the security footage before the blast?” Coulson asked.

I took my arm away and watched as Fitz wordlessly swiped away, pulling up the footage he had managed to recover up.

“What are we seeing?” May asked.

“Well, the man is angry, at the other man.” Fitz described the very obvious scene.

I stifled a snort as May glared and Coulson sighed, looking defeated. Skye seemed entertained.

“The data is very corrupt.” Jemma jumped in.

Fitz turned back to the screen, gesturing as he spoke. “Yeah, like Cold War Russia corrupt. I can’t sync the timecode without-”

“What if you had the audio?” Skye cut him off.

Fitz and Jemma glanced at each other, each making a face.

“I was … running surveillance on the lab. I had my shotgun mic pointed at the window before the blast. The digital file’s in my van. There’s too much background noise for me, but you could probably-”

“You could clean that up, right?” I looked up at Fitz.

He nodded. “I would have to find a sync-point and use cross-field validation- no. I can’t scrub for expression patterns…”

“Well, is there a chrominance subcarrier?” Jemma jumped in.

“Yeah, attached to the back porch. Brilliant. Uh, that audio would be great. Thank you very, very much.” Fitz straightened himself out with a smile.

“Your van’s here. But you were right. We couldn’t decrypt the files.” Coulson spoke up.

“The encryption’s coupled to the GPS. Get my van back to that alley and then I’m in business.”

“Agent May will escort you. And on your way out, wake up Ward.” Coulson muttered.

***

“Uhh, yep!” I watched Fitz jump from one place to the next after having consistently refused help.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m getting it.” He ran to type something in, sliding the pen between his teeth.

“So, when you get back, I’ll show you my thing. A thing. It’s not-i-it’s my hardware. My equipment!” He turned pink. “Let’s hang up.” He ripped the comm out of his ear in embarrassment.

I caught him by the wrist and yanked him back, grabbing him by the neck and pulling him in for a quick kiss. He returned it happily before switching back to work mode, again jumping around like a monkey.

“So the alien metal wasn’t the explosive?” Coulson asked Jemma.

“Well I assumed from the break pattern and dispersion that it was but, it’s just dripping with gamma radiation and-oh! Now it’s actually dripping!” Jemma exclaimed.

I looked over to see her pull the drill away, a dark yellow substance falling out. She rushed to pull a container under it. “Fun!”

“So what did that get us?” Grant’s footsteps thundered across the floor of the lab as he appeared, freshly showered.

He was angry.

“Morning, sleeping beauty.” I grinned at him.

He rolled his eyes.

“Skye’s sending us the rest of her decrypted files on Centipede, but we have her audio. I’ve loaded it up.” Fitz scrambled around my brother before coming back to the computer by my side, typing excitedly.

“Nice work.” I heard Coulson speak to Grant, who only rolled his neck before going stiff, staring straight at Coulson.

“Now, using motion estimation, bayesian inference, a beam splitter, and a little diffraction theory, our mystery man-” Fitz hit a few buttons, “Appears.” He grinned as the hologram displayed in the middle of the garage. He was happily perched on the stairs. I slid past Grant’s angry figure and to Fitz, curling my arm around his and leaning against him.

“It’s like magic.” I whispered.

“It is! But it-it’s science.” He grinned.

“Explosives in the case?” Grant asked as the hologram came to life.

“...to please calm down. Just let me check your vitals.” The man in the lab coat was nervous.

“I feel fine. I want to feel more. Where’s the doctor? Where is she!” The other man was antsy, angry, riled up like he was a crackhead.

“If you don’t settle down, I’ll have you sedated.” Lab coat stuttered.

“Where is she?” Crackhead lifted a stool, and something orange glinted on his arm as he swung it down.

“Fitz, stop it. Go back. There was something on his arm.” I patted his arm.

Grant walked up closer as Fitz rewound it. He was eye level with the thing on the man’s arm.

“What does that look like to you?” Coulson asked him.

Grant crossed his arms and sighed. “A centipede.”

“It’s an intravenous filter for his blood.” Jemma popped out of her chair and came to have a closer look. “This goo, sir-very similar to the serum Dr. Erskine developed in the early ‘40s for the-”

“Super soldiers.” I cut her off. “Someone’s out here trying to make the next generation of super soldiers?

“I’m reading alien metal, gamma radiation, the serum. Every known source of superpower thrown in a blender.” Jemma sighed.

“We need to see the origin of the blast. Run it back to from the last point recorded.” Coulson ordered Fitz, who fumbled with the controller.

We all watched as a ball of flames slowly turned back in on itself, getting smaller and smaller until Fitz pulled it even further back. Coulson walked closer as the flames came back to form the man who had the filter.

“Extremis.” Coulson stated.

I looked at Grant, who was already looking at me with the same face of confusion.

The fuck’s that?

What the shit?

I shrugged at him and looked up to Fitz, who had his eyebrows scrunched and his nose crinkled.

“It’s new. Completely unstable.” Coulson went on.

“Poor guy didn’t bring an explosive. He was one.” I sighed, looking back at Fitz, who wrapped an arm around my shoulders with a sad expression.

“And Mike has the same stuff in his system.” Jemma added.

“And judging by his strength level, a lot more.” Grant arched an eyebrow, arms still crossed.

“So any minute now, Mike is gonna..” Fitz gestured with his free hand.

“He’ll take out anyone within a two-block radius.” Jemma exclaimed.

“Well.” Coulson walked to the lab, stopping in front of Grant, whose face was solemn. “You wanted a bomb.”

***

We scrambled to get ready, pulling out equipment and guns and then more guns. Grant set up a rifle and began to check it as Coulson looked over papers. Fitz-Simmons were downstairs trying to link the explosion to behavior. I stayed with Grant, cleaning off my knife before tucking it into the holster at my waist.

“Sir?” Jemma led the way up the stairs. “He didn’t explode because he was angry. The two are connected. It’s kind of a chemical surge, but calming him down will buy him a minute at most. He will detonate within the next few hours.” She frowned.

“Solution?” Coulson trained his hands on his hips.

“Isolate him? Get him away from people?” Jemma offered.

“Or?”

I caught Fitz’s somber glance.

“Or put a bullet through his brain.” I sighed from my spot on the table.

“If he’s dead, the irradiated metabolic process will stop.” Jemma explained.

We all turned to Grant, who was happily wiping away at his deadly machine. I looked at Coulson and shook my head.

“We need to come up with a third option. One that doesn’t involve Mike’s son losing a father.” Coulson was firm.

“We have a couple of hours at most, there’s no way we could possibly-”

I watched as Coulson whipped around and cut Jemma off with a growl. “Don’t ever tell me there’s no way! It’s on you. Get it done.” He yelled, looking Fitz-Simmons in the eyes before walking away.

“Fitz! What about the night-night gun? You can make it work, right? You’re close enough to figuring it out as it is.” I called.

He turned and looked at me, nodding with a growing grin on his face. He walked over and pressed a kiss to my lips with a smile. He mumbled a thank you before bolting back downstairs. Grant sent me a glance as he picked up his weapon, positioning it in the crook of his arm.

That’s gross.

I checked my handgun before sliding it into the holster at my hip and shot him a similar look.

Like you and your high-school girlfriends were any different.

Coulson stormed back in, picking up his phone the second it started to ring.

“May.” He paused. “You alright?” He put her on speaker.

“We’ll deal with that later. At length. Right now we need to figure out where they went.” She growled.

Grant picked the tablet off the table and started to swipe. I sighed and hopped off the table, making my way to the lab.

***

“Come on, gimme more paralysis. Less rigor mortis!” Fitz shouted, frustrated. “Oh, come on! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!”

“Just pretend it’s a test.” I gingerly rubbed one of his shoulders as his hands twitched above the keyboard.

“She’s right! You’re just taking an exam. That’s all.” Jemma said cheerily.

“I don’t want an F. F equals a massacre.” He began to breathe heavily, panicked.

“Hey. It’s okay, angel face.” I rubbed his back and he pressed his head into my chest, groaning with more frustration.

Beeping from his computer brought Jemma out of her seat. “Oh no.” I muttered as Grant coming down the stairs with an angry look on his face.

This isn’t what I signed up for.

I ignored him.

“What is this nonsense? Why are you making nonsense?” Jemma panicked.

“This isn’t me! This is noise! Somebody’s hacking our secure channel!” Fitz yelped.

“It’s longitude and latitude!” I perked up.

“Mike took Skye. She’s telling us where.” Coulson explained, clicking the remote in his hand.

Grant took the keys and got in the car, slamming the door. Fitz pulled up a satellite and matched the coordinates. I popped in my earpiece and tapped it.

“Grant. She’s outside Union Station.” I spoke.

“Got it.” I heard in my ear. “Violet, your friends better pull through before this guy explodes.”

I sighed and watched as Coulson got in the car and Grant stopped talking.

“I know, bud. I know.”

***

“Grant!” I caught his attention, bounding up the stairs.

“Did he get it?” My brother took the new rifle from my arms, checking it over before setting it up the way the old one was.

“It’s as good as it’s gonna get.” I whispered, watching as Coulson tried to talk Peterson down.

Coulson took a step closer, and Mike twitched.

“Grant. He’s almost there.”

“Coulson’s in the way.” He grunted.

Mike’s face relaxed and he slouched off to the side. I looked at Grant with wide eyes, and he took the shot. I watched as Fitz-Simmons ran to Mike, making sure he was still breathing after he had collapsed onto the floor. Jemma let out a smile and Fitz caught me eye, a happy glow on his face. I tilted my head, to which he gave me a thumbs up and winked. Coulson and Grant exchanged a look. Grant smiled.

He caught me looking at him and I felt my eyes begin to water.

It’s okay, Vi. I’m here now.

I had missed him more than I had realized. He put the gun down to his side and wrapped an arm around me, sighing sadly. I buried my head into his shoulder and held back a sob. Maybe now we could put our small family back together.

***

I felt Fitz’s chest hit my back as he leaned over me to steal my food. I rolled my eyes with a smile and handed him my chopsticks. He pressed his lips to the side of my head. Grant had the computer open in front of him, rubbing his eyes as he ran through the latest S.H.I.E.L.D. notifications. Jemma handed me a beer as Fitz settled behind me and I leaned against him.

“Shit.” Grant swore.

“What is it?” Jemma asked.

Grant only pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

“Sir? We’ve got an 0-8-4.”

We looked at each other and I moved up to read over Grant’s shoulder.

“They want us to go in and confirm it.”

I patted Grant’s back. This mission really was going to be a mystery. He sighed and mumbled a reply to Coulson before hanging up the phone, shoving the laptop away and digging into his food. Fitz had repositioned himself behind me, now on the edge of his chair, leaning against the wall of the bus. He reached a hand out lazily, fingers barely brushing my waist. I gave him a small smile over my shoulder before scooting closer, letting him pull me to sit between his legs. I put my weight against him, taking up the front edge of his seat as I looked up at him, head against his shoulder.

“Did they say what it was? The 0-8-4?” Fitz asked Grant as I grabbed his hand, tracing my fingers over his.

“Nope.” He spoke through his last mouthful, choking it down. “I’m gonna go take a shower. I’ll catch you guys later.” He became evasive as he excused himself, tossing his carton before rushing out with his laptop.

I sighed, looking back up at Fitz.

“I’m sorry, Vi.” He kissed my forehead.

I sighed, pulling my legs up to my chest as he curled his arm around my shoulders. I placed my hand on his thigh, palm-up. He linked his fingers between mine.

“Maybe I’m just reading him wrong.” I shrugged.

“I don’t think so.” Jemma spoke up. “Not to interject, a-and I don’t know Grant all that well, but your worry seems reasonable. Something about his behavior is sort of strange.”

I nodded against Fitz’s shoulder. “Something’s off. He’s angry about having been supposedly pawned off to Skye, but there’s more. He didn’t hesitate before shooting Mike. I get he’s a field agent, but he should have hesitated. He didn’t know if the night-night gun worked. A-and the way he’s been acting about Leo? Totally off. He’s been out of my life for eleven years. The first thing he should do after realizing you’re my boyfriend is try to intimidate you. He’s just been a douchebag. He should be asking me about you, not skipping straight to being pissed off.”

Fitz-Simmons nodded, somber looks on both their faces. I only shook my head.

“He’s different. I just don’t know how.” I sighed again.

“I’m sorry, love.” Jemma gave me her most sympathetic gaze.

I returned a half smile and she excused herself to work on something in the lab. I stayed against Fitz, comfortable even though we were both balancing on the same seat.

“Come on, darlin’. I know what’ll make you feel better.” He gave my hand a squeeze, leading me through the hall once I slid off the seat.

“Leo, honey. Please tell me you’re not trying to get in my pants while I’m worried my brother’s had a psychotic break.” I whined as he pulled me into our bedroom, which was barely unpacked.

“God, no. I wouldn’t stoop that low. I thought taking a nap might help.” He moved our bags onto the floor.

I broke into a smile as he came back to me, hands pulling at my waist as we moved toward the bed. He stumbled as he kicked his shoes off before falling onto his back, yanking me to lay next to him. I pushed my shoes off and curled up to him, giggling. His legs were hanging half off the bed and the pillows were nowhere near our heads, but he seemed content with laying there.

I stayed for a minute before sitting up and pulling myself to stand, tugging my jeans off and tossing them into a corner. I pulled an old flannel out of his closet and changed my top. I caught him staring with a soft smile, arms crossed under his head. I knelt by him on the bed, grabbing his cheek and kissing him.

“Get changed, I wanna nap.” I whispered before pressing my lips against his again.

I pulled back when I had to breathe, laughing at his flushed cheeks. I crawled into the bed, tugging the covers up to my chin as I watched him change into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and neatly fold his clothes before piling them into a corner. He wormed his way into the bed with me, immediately pulling me into his chest.

“I’ll wake you up in an hour, darlin’. Yeah?” He whispered as I made myself comfortable against him, legs tangled and my arm thrown over his side.

“Okay. Goodnight.” I mumbled sleepily.

I felt him pull my face up and smiled, keeping my eyes closed for the kiss. He rubbed my cheek before letting me resettle into his grip, falling asleep.

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