#LUCKILY it was a very informal meeting between me and my new coworker

[bigassbowlingballhead]

flinging myself into the abyss. I was sharing my screen on a work call and opened the side bar for the calendar and the last screen shot i took was staring both of us in the face:

[alltooreid]

Dancing With Our Hands Tied

In order to keep Y/N safe from danger, Spencer vows to keep their relationship a complete secret from everyone they know. However, as their romance gets more serious, Y/N and Reid begin to realize that no matter how in love they are, they may have been doomed from the start.

A/N: Back at it with a hopefully very angsty fic! This is of course inspired by the Taylor Swift song, but you don’t need to be familiar with the song to read and enjoy! Also I made a playlist for this one shot, which you can find here (its best if you listen to it in order and of course you don’t have to listen as you read, but if you enjoy that kind of thing, I thought it would be fun). Additionally, in order for the timeline of this fic to make the most sense, I’m choosing to ignore the Lauren Reynolds subplot, because trying to incorporate it and explain it would be distracting and unnecessary in my opinion. Thanks for reading!

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem! Reader

Type: Angst

Word Count: 3.9K

Content Warnings: Some cursing, general fighting angst, discussion of pregnancy, brief mention of abortion (follow up is left intentionally ambiguous, based on your own desires and beliefs you are allowed to decide where that aspect goes (pro choice tings))

“I, I loved you in spite of Deep fears that the world would divide us So, baby, can we dance Oh, through an avalanche?”

Spencer Reid hated funerals. 

Somehow he felt he was always invited to one, and no matter how hard it was for him to be there, he always made every effort to go. So when Hotch had to plan Haley’s funeral, Spencer knew he had to go, no matter how much he would hate it.

He looked down to the grass as his supervisor cried over his now dead wife, the most emotion he had seen from him ever. He refused to look up and watch, although there were at least a hundred people there to mourn Haley, this moment felt innately private to Hotch. Spencer didn’t think it was his place for his eyes to intrude. 

So he stared at the lawn and got lost in his own mind.

Right then and there he realized he never wanted to go through what Hotch had to go through. No matter how many philosophers described love in the most beautiful, enchanting way, Spencer didn’t want it anymore. 

He didn’t want to go through a heartbreak, because how worth it could it be?

Of course, all information he had in his repertoire pointed to the claim that it was worth it. Yet he couldn’t pay attention to Oscar Wilde, trying to tell him that “hearts are made to be broken,” or E. A. Bucchianeri screaming that “grief is the price we pay for love.”

All he could see at that moment was the most stone-faced man he had ever known, breaking down in front of everyone he knew over the woman he loved. 

At that moment Spencer Reid vowed to completely give up on love. He would become the best profiler to ever live. People would compare him to Jason Gideon, but Spencer Reid would win every time. Spencer wouldn’t let himself be like Gideon and get so hung up over a person that he couldn’t ever work anymore.

So when Spencer left the funeral and went to bed that night, he was confident that he would sleep alone like that forever. It was comfortable like that and he was happy. Who needs to be in love?

Not Spencer Reid that’s for sure.

Well, until three months later, when Spencer Reid met Y/N Y/L/N. 

She was beautiful, and Spencer knew he wanted to get to know her the first time he laid eyes on her. 

But he was doing such a good job recently…. Even Hotch was impressed with his work ethic. The only one who had talked to him about his lack of emotion was Penelope, she seemed concerned when Spencer told her he didn’t want to meet let alone go on a date with the cute nerdy barista from her go to coffee shop. Spencer refused to reason with her, he was too focused on proving himself to Hotch and the rest of the team. 

Even though in the back of his mind, Spencer knew he had already proven himself to the rest of the team, now he just needed to be good enough for himself.

A truly impossible task.

But he was still trying to do it, so he didn’t talk to the barista at the new coffee shop he was trying.  

He wasn’t expecting her to try and talk to him. Maybe that’s why he was so willing to give up his own reasoning.  

“That’s a lot of sugar, sugar. Are you as sweet as your coffee?” she said, giggling as she did it. She knew the line was cheesy and stupid but she had been eyeing Spencer Reid since he came in and knew she needed to get his attention. Luckily, he couldn’t help but laugh.

Their first date was right then and there. They got distracted and talked till closing, Y/N’s coworkers noticing she was actually putting herself out there and deciding to pick up her slack so she could continue. 

“So are you going to call me Dr. Reid or were you just leading me on for 3 hours?”

“Of course I’ll call you, how else am I going to get you to watch Doctor Who?”

Y/N smiled, “Well I know this is kind of forward, but I have this art exhibit tomorrow, I would love to see you there. But don’t over think that! I’ve invited pretty much everyone I know. I have a bet to win amongst the other art students, whoever has the most people come to see them wins one of those giant Costco sheet cakes. I need that sheet cake Spencer.”

Spencer smiled, “Well, I am from Vegas . . . Maybe I could help push the odds in your favor.”

“Well I can’t wait to see you there. Tomorrow, 6 pm, I’ll text you the details.”

It was only when he laid down to sleep that Spencer remembered his philosophy on love, but strangely, he did not care. 

He may have been trying to freeze his heart, but Y/N was coming in with a blowtorch.

And he didn’t mind. In fact he unlocked the door to let her in.

So when he arrived at work the next morning, he fully intended on going to her art show. He thought about what flowers to bring her. . . was this a date? Was last night a date? Were roses too strong a message? He couldn’t do anything red, it was too forward. Pink? What if she saw it as stereotypical because she’s a woman, maybe she hates pink?! Yellow Tulips were safe, but if he got her yellow tulips then she would think they were just friends and Spencer didn’t want to be just friends.

His internal debate was interrupted by none other than Penelope Garcia, but not to interrupt their paperwork day with a case, but to make an announcement to the bullpen.

“Hello my loves! I have an interesting idea for some team bonding tonight, my favorite barista and dear friend has invited me to her school art show. Of course she needs the most support humanly possible, so you all need to come with me and look at cool art!”

“Who’s this friend of yours Penelope?” JJ asked.

“Oh Jayge you’ve met Y/N! She’s lovely and I’m sure an incredible artist. You guys will all love her!”

Suddenly Spencer remembered Hotch and his broken down faces at Haley’s funeral. He remembered his philosophy on love and his fear of heartbreak.

But he also remembered how alive he felt with Y/N. How the way she laughed like a little kid and how that made him feel giddy. He remembered how she was always so interested in what he had to say. He remembered that he really liked her.

And at that moment, Spencer realized that he did not have to choose between being in love and keeping his heart safe from the devastating heartbreak of seeing his true love die. He realized that the reaper could only find Haley because Hotch let people know they were together Because everyone knew of Hotch’s wife, she was in constant danger.

Maybe if he kept Y/N secret he could still be with her.

“Spencer! Did you hear me?”

“No, um sorry Garcia what did you say?”

“I asked if you were going to come to Y/N’s art show, you know you too would make such a cute couple! You should totally come.”

“I actually can’t, I’m not feeling well.”

She sighed, “That’s what you said last time I tried to get you two together 187 . . . Do you want to talk about anything Spencer? You haven’t been yourself lately.”

“I’m fine, I just have a headache. I don’t want to go out tonight.”

She rested her hand on his shoulder for a second, before following Morgan to the kitchen. Spencer knew she was going to say something to him, but he didn’t care. He had found the perfect solution to his conundrum.

And he knew exactly what flowers to send to Y/N.

Y/N texted him thirteen times, and waited an extra hour after the open house closed in case he showed. So although she went home empty handed, one person away from enough cake to feed fifty, she received a call from Spencer Reid.

“Hey, where were you tonight? I was looking forward to seeing you.”

“I’m sorry Y/N, something came up, but I have something for you! Are you still there?”

“Oh no, I just got to my apartment. I can send you the address.”

“I’ll be over as soon as I can.”

And five minutes later Spencer was at Y/N’s door, with Chinese take out and white peonies, a flower known for its apologetic symbolism.

Y/N blushed, “You didn’t have to bring me flowers Spencer . . .”

“Well I wanted to bring some to your show, but I figured this could be the next best thing . . . And maybe we could eat some of your Costco sheet cake afterwards. Sounds like a balanced meal to me.”

“Although I love that idea, I unfortunately came home tonight sheet cake-less.”

Reid frowned, “How close were you? Would I have made any difference?”

“Oh no!” Y/N lied, “I was way off, don’t even worry about it.” She smiled, “I’m just excited that you're here right now.”

Spencer blushed and looked down at his feet, “Well I’m excited to be here.”

Four months after that night, Y/N asked Spencer a seemingly stupid question while they were eating take out at her apartment. “Spencer, I love takeout and all but we haven’t gone out in public together since the first time we met. . . Call me stupid but I’m starting to wonder if you don’t want to be seen with me.”

Spencer sighed, “Y/N, it’s not that it’s just . . . complicated.”

“I just don’t get it. Am I the second woman or something?”

“No! Absolutely not! You are my one and only flower,” he said, smiling and then leaning in to kiss her nose. She giggled in response, but quickly remembered the serious nature of their conversation. “Y/N, you know what I do for a living.”

“I don’t understand what that has to do with anything.”

“Not too long ago, my boss was targeted by a serial killer who made it his mission to make his life miserable. In doing so he killed his wife. I just . . .  I don’t want that to happen to you Y/N. I think I’m falling in love with you, and I can’t put you through that.”

“Spencer . . . I love you too.”

So no matter how badly Y/N wanted to tell her family, or update her Facebook status, she respected Spencer, and although she didn’t completely understand his concerns, she wanted him to be happy.

So she spent ten more months like that, catering to Spencer Reid’s peace of mind. Pretending to smile as he told her stories of all the funny things his team members did, all about their partners, and their love lives.

A couple times now, Y/N asked Spencer if she could meet them, but Spencer always shot it down. When he first mentioned the idea of keeping their relationship a secret, Y/N had secretly hoped it would be one of those things that was forgotten about within a week or two. But no. It had been many, many weeks, and Spencer still didn’t want to be seen in public with her.

And by now that was all she wanted. To go on a real date, to introduce him to her friends, to actually be able to tell her coworkers that something did come from that guy she hit it off with.

Everyday, Y/N felt she did the same exact thing, she went to work, would come home and if Spencer was still in Quantico, she would convince him to come over. (They had been dating for over a year now, and Y/N had never been to his apartment. She didn’t even know where it was). If Spencer did come over, he would usually bring some kind of dessert with him, and they would talk and be merry in their own little secret oasis. A couple weeks ago, Y/N started to get this uncomfortable, uneasy feeling that encompassed her whole body, her whole being. Every part of her was trying to tell her that Spencer Reid was not the man for her. And even though she was still very much in love with him, she agreed.

Although she loved Spencer for the person he was, the man who brought her every different flavor of cheesecake from the bakery across town (one a day for fifty nine days straight), the man who begged her to make him a painting for valentines day instead of buying him a present, the man who cried when she did and laughed when she did and-

There were a lot of things to love about Spencer Reid, but there were a lot of things to hate about their relationship.

She hated the time she bought a gold locket in the shape of a heart, and put a picture of them in it so she could keep him with her all day long, and he made her return it because it could fly open and someone could recognize him. She hated the day she came home with a little beige kitten named Betsy and Spencer made her give Betsy to her sister so that he wouldn’t get cat hair on his clothes and have to answer a million questions. She hated the time Spencer missed her birthday weekend because he had a case and couldn’t give an excuse to why he couldn’t go. She hated that Spencer was her entire life, while she seemed like just an inconvenience to his.

And most of all, she hated that she loved him so much. Because deep down she knew that she could never leave Spencer Reid, but she also knew that there was no way they could last if nothing changed.

Just then Spencer knocked on her door, she had offered him his own key many times, but he declined because he didn’t want anyone to see it on his key ring and ask what it was for. She let him in, and right away his fun perky smile dropped. “You’ve been crying. I can tell.”

“Is that the kind of thing they teach you in FBI school?”

“Yes actually, but that’s not the point,” he said, dropping his bouquet of red chrysanthemums on Y/N’s coffee table and grabbing one of her hands with both of his. “Talk to me Y/N.”

She sighed, “I love you Spencer, but I just don’t know if we can do this anymore.”

“What do you mean flower?”

“Spencer we’ve been together for over a year-”

“One year, two months and five days,” he corrected.

“Yes, yes that. We’ve been together for one year, two months and five days but no one except us knows that.”

“Y/N I thought you were okay with that, I just want you to be safe.”

“I thought I was okay with it but,” she paused, afraid of what she wanted to say, “I’m not Spencer, I don’t want to live like this anymore. I love you, and I want to be with you. To really be with you. What happens if we ever get married, do we have to get eloped, would you even let us get married because you need someone else to watch? When do I get to tell my mom I’m in a relationship? What if you get hurt out in the field, and no one has heard of me, let alone knows to call me, and we never get to say goodbye? How far do you plan on taking this?”

Spencer grew flustered, “Um, I- I don’t know? I didn’t know you were even thinking about those things.”

“Do you think about those things? Things like getting married?”

“You’re the love of my life Y/N, of course I do.”

“Well then something needs to change. We can’t live like this anymore.”

“Things will get better Y/N, I promise you, we’ll start small but I’m going to make this better for you. Actually, um we can start right now,” he started digging through his messenger bag. After a minute, he pulled out a smaller gold heart locket than the one you had originally purchased for yourself. “I, um I was going to give it to you for your birthday, but I feel like now is the best time. I couldn’t find the same one, but it’s the same picture inside.”

She teared up, “I love it. It’s perfect. Here, put it on me.” She turned around and pushed her hair to one side so that Spencer could clasp the delicate chain around her neck.

They kissed, and afterward Spencer spoke, “I hate to ruin this moment, but I’ve had to use the bathroom ever since I got here.”

Y/N laughed, “Ok go, I’ll be waiting.”

While waiting for her love to come back, Y/N admired her flowers. Ever since Spencer began to get her different flowers to symbolize different things she had developed an abnormal botany fascination. She would always beat Spencer to explaining the symbolism of her latest bouquet, so she already knew the red chrysanthemum was a symbol of prosperous, passionate love in most countries. However she also knew that in Italy, chrysanthemums were a death flower, given only at funerals.

Part of her couldn’t help but wonder if some unconscious part of Spencer’s genius brain was beginning to feel the same way she did. Three weeks later nothing much had changed in the state of Y/N and Spencer’s romance. She was still unheard of in the eyes of the BAU and two nights prior Spencer had stopped her from calling her mother to tell her about him.

And then Y/N discovered her sick, uneasy, all over body feeling was not just her incredible intuition.

She was pregnant.

She had taken a couple of tests a while prior and could just now get into the doctor to get it confirmed. But it was official. She was pregnant.

As soon as the nurse confirmed it she broke down crying. And when she asked her a couple more questions, she broke down even further. “Are you currently in a relationship?”

“No,” she sniffed.

“Do you know who the father is?”

“I don’t know,” she sobbed.

“Sweetheart, I don’t know where you want to go from here, but there’s a lot more options that you may think. Everything will be okay.”

Y/N still cried the whole way home.

She spent the rest of the day thinking about how to tell Spencer, and then overthinking what he would say.

She knew Spencer loved children, but he couldn’t even manage to tell people she existed, how was he going to explain a long term relationship and a baby?

It would have taken decades for Y/N to prepare to deliver this news, but Spencer showed up at 8:19 pm.

“Hi flower! How are you today?”

“I’m pregnant.” She blurted out, she was not planning to do it exactly like that, but she panicked.

“What?”

“I’m pregnant Spencer.”

He sighed and ran one of his hands through his hair, “You could get an abortion?”

Y/N lost it. “Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me Spencer?”

“I don’t think a baby is going to be very easy to keep a secret Y/N.”

“Is this how far you’re willing to go Spencer? You want to keep me hidden so bad that you want me to get an abortion? Are you insane?”

“You’re right, Y/N, I’m sorry, we’ll figure something out.”

“No, you’re wrong there Spencer. I’ll figure something out.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I can’t do this anymore. I’m done. I love you but, please just get out of my apartment.”

“Y/N please don’t do this, I love you, we can make this work. I know I haven’t been doing the best job for these three weeks, but just give me a little time and I promise we can do this.”

Y/N wiped tears from her eyes, then reached her thumb up to Spencer’s face, wiping his cheek. “Spencer, it’s not a matter of how much I love you or you love me. Sometimes, things just aren’t made to work out. We gave it a good run, but no matter how hard we love each other, I don’t think either of us is happy.”

“But I don’t know how to live in a world without you in it, flower.”

“I’ve never been in your world Spencer, after tonight, nothing in your life will drastically change. You don’t have to worry about living in a universe without me because you’ve already been doing that for 15 months.”

“Please don’t do this, can we just give it another try?”

Y/N wrapped her arms around him, “That’s all we’ve been doing.”

The couple stayed in silence like that for a couple of minutes before Spencer spoke. “Can we just stay here for one night. I can’t believe I never got to do it.” Spencer had never spent the full night at Y/N’s place because he always worried that he would forget to answer his phone and the team would try to come to his apartment to tell him they had a case.

“You know we can’t do that Spencer,” she sighed, knowing she had to stay strong and act on her own best interest, but she also loved Spencer. “But you can stay here, if you want.”

He thought for a moment. “Okay, um do I need that key you always offered me? To lock up when I leave?”

“No, the front door locks automatically when you close it, you just have to make sure you have everything before you go.”

And so Spencer slept in Y/N’s bed, for the first time, without her in it.

And Y/N called the one person she knew Spencer would never try to track her down to to avoid exposing himself.

Penelope Garcia.

She of course let Y/N stay with her for the night, and although she would eventually, Garcia did not pry when Y/N said she didn’t want to talk about what was going on. So Y/N walked to her apartment with peace of mind, she knew that although she had a lot to think about, for the time being everything was going to be just fine.

On the way to Penelope’s apartment, Y/N saw a flower vendor. She couldn’t help but stop by and pick up a bouquet for Penelope, but more so for the symbolic meaning.

Daffodils and daisies.

The flowers of new beginnings.

“I'd kiss you as the lights went out Swaying as the room burned down I'd hold you as the water rushes in If I could dance with you again”

- Thank you for reading! Please reblog and let me know what you think :))

holly’s tiny taglist: @reidingmelodies​ @hercleverboy​

[mrsdeanwinchester19]

The Dinner-Sequel to The Interview

Pairing: Steve x reader

Word Count: 3k

Summary: Sequel to The Interview.  Steve takes his wife to meet his team after her interview

Warnings: None

“Steve, do you think this dress is ok?” I ask, coming out of our walk-in closet wearing my lace, off the shoulder red dress.  Steve is taking me to dinner with the team tonight, so I want to make a good first impression.  Most people would think I’ve met the team before, but Steve kept our relationship a secret in the beginning and then the team broke up because of the Accords and we got married when we were on the run, so we really couldn’t invite any of the team members.

We had our wedding in Norway, one of the few countries that hadn’t signed the Accords.  They claimed they didn’t sign because if a non-government owned unit made from people from different countries called the Alsos Unit hadn’t helped them in World War II, the Germans would have succeeded in creating an Atomic bomb in their country.  In Norway, there was one team member, Thor, who was visiting Earth; he vouched for us.

After our wedding, we went to Wakanda on our honeymoon and visited Bucky. We had been having dinner with Bucky, T’Challa, and Shuri when we told him we got married.  He was upset that he couldn’t be there, but he understood when he found out the wedding happened when he was asleep.  When he said Steve could make it up to him by naming his first son James; Steve started choking on his Umqombothi drink.  I know Steve wants kids, but he wasn’t willing to have them while being on the run. Now that we’re not hiding, we’re actively trying for a baby.  I wonder if tonight he’ll break the news that he has a wife AND is trying to get said wife pregnant.

As I walk out of the closet, I bend down to adjust the ankle strap on my right heel.  I stand back up, smooth my dress, and look up at Steve.  He’s staring at me with a dopey smile on his face, love evident in his eyes.  “The dress itself is fine, you make it look perfect.”

“Ugh, Steve, quit it with the cheesy lines,” I protest while blushing.  Men used to say these things to their wives and girlfriends back in their time, it’s why Steve and Bucky can be prince charming when they want to be. Bucky more often than Steve now that he’s more like his old self, or so Steve says.

“I’m just being honest,” he defends, shrugging his shoulders.  He comes over to me and wraps his arms around my waist.  “You nervous?”

“What do you think?” I ask rhetorically.   I haven’t been this nervous since I first met Steve. In 2014, during a career conference once for journalists, the resort we were at was seized by terrorists.  One of my coworkers and I were the only ones from The New York Sun attending, despite the fact that it was in New York. I suppose they only wanted to go if the convention was out of town so they could get out of work and go on vacation. We were held in the resort’s Grand Hall for hours until the Avengers were able to save us.  There was a pretty big fight between Steve, Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and the terrorists but luckily no one died.  I had been hurt in the kerfuffle, a broken finger, but after Steve wrapped my finger in a brace, he allowed me to interview him.  During the on-camera interview with him, Thor was teasing him in the background, doing silly faces and the “blah blah blah” hand motion.

Steve had asked for my name and number to “keep in touch and see if my finger heals correctly”.  When I gave it to him, he wrote it down in an old-fashioned address book. I hadn’t expected him to call me ever, but he did, asking for a date.  At first, he was weary of me being a journalist, in case things ended badly and I wrote a bad article about him.  However, a year later, he was thankful I was a journalist because I had access to all archived articles about the Winter Soldier.  After that happened, I knew he trusted me wholeheartedly and I felt the same. When the Accords started happening, I had access to the signing, to interview government people about it, and relayed that information to Steve about who he could trust.  That was how I found out about Norway not signing.

“They’ll love you,” he says.  “Bucky loves you, Tony will probably love you because he’ll think the interview prank you pulled on me was hilarious.  Nat and Wanda will be happy another girl is around.  Thor likes you, even Loki took a liking to you; he would love the interview prank. Clint will like you, Bruce will like you; no one has a reason to dislike you.

I turn around and take a good look at him. Royal blue dress shirt and black pants. His hair is up and I want nothing more than to run my fingers through it. He keeps me pressed to his body closely and I rub my hands along his chest. “If we didn’t have to go to dinner with your friends, I would be all over you right now.”

“Sorry, last night’s sex is just gonna have to hold you.” I give a little laugh.  “I’m just messing with you, I’ll be all over you tonight,” he growls, pulling my face up to his and kissing me deeply.  His kisses always leave me breathless, whether they’re passionate like this or small, chaste kisses when he’s leaving for work in the morning.  This however, is a whole new level and it’s making my heart go crazy.

Steve picks up the basket on the kitchen counter and we walk out the door. When we get to the car, he opens the door for me, ever the gentleman, before climbing in himself.  As he drives there, I fiddle with the hem of my dress.  I’m so worried I’ll talk too much or too little, or I’ll offend someone or embarrass Steve. What if I mention something about him that they don’t know?  Like that he bawled like a baby at Where the Red Fern Grows and Homeward Bound. Tony would probably love that but I don’t want to make Steve feel bad, I was crying too.

My biggest worry is what they’ll think of me after the interview.  Will they think it was funny or will they look at me as unprofessional for not telling them I had a conflict of interest with the Avengers?  I think Tony will like me, and maybe Nat, but I have no idea about the others.   I don’t think Bucky would come around as much as he does if he really didn’t like spending time with both Steve and me. Besides, sometimes when Steve is on a mission and he isn’t, he comes and keeps me company with old movies and our little two person book club we started.  His first choice of book was The Hobbit, which he told me he had read it when it first came out in 1937.  He was happy but not surprised to find out there were movies based on them.

When we drive up to the compound, Steve has a difficult time getting me through security.  They recognized my face and apparently Tony told them not to let me back. “Don’t alert Tony about her,” Steve said as he explained the situation to the guard.  He looked skeptical but agreed.

Steve led me upstairs, but not to the dining room where the team was waiting. He led me to his room.  “Well, well, well, Mr. Rogers, I thought we had to meet your friends in a little bit. Though I know you could probably get it done in ten minutes.”

“Ha ha ha, very funny,” he sarcastically replies.  “I just needed to grab…this,” he says, pulling his wallet out of his nightstand.  “Forgot it here yesterday.”

I simply hum in response to his explanation because I’m too busy looking around his room.  I’ve only seen it over FaceTime and in pictures.  It’s very different from our room at home. Our house, which we had just moved to from our apartment in preparation for a family, has a farmhouse theme.  Our master bedroom has a cream colored walls and one shiplap wall which our bed’s decorative headboard sits against, while our king sized bed is covered in a thick white comforter.  There’s a gray bench at the end of our bed and a blue and white rug.  There are nightstands on each side of the bed where we keep our small before bed items and our white, shared dresser is on the other side of the room, next to the door for our walk-in closet.  We have an attached bath with a clawfoot tub and a shower stall.  Our room lets in lots of natural light, which Steve loves because he likes to let the morning sun warm his back on his days off.

This room has a completely different feel to it. It’s much darker than our room at home. The walls are gray and his comforter is dark blue.  He has a black dresser across from his bed with a TV mounted to the wall above it. A plain bathroom with just a few essentials like shaving cream, a toothbrush, toothpaste, etc sit on the counter.  While our walls at home aren’t covered in pictures, we have more than the two he has here.  One is a picture of him and Bucky laughing and the other is of his parents before his father went to war; the war he never came back from.  Both pictures he has copies of hanging up at home. There’s a somewhat large window on the wall, but it’s covered with a blackout curtain.

I did most of the decorating at home, while this decorating was all him.   “Steve?” He looks at me.  “Do you not like our room at home?”

He furrows his eyebrows.  “No.  I love our place.  Why would you think that? Also, that’s very random to be bringing up now.”

“Well it’s just…this room is so different from ours at home.  I just didn’t know if you liked the darker colors better.  I want you to be comfortable in our room at home.  We can change it if you want it to look more like this one.”

He gives a little laugh and turns to face me.  “I didn’t decorate this room, Tony’s person did and he gave me this room because it’s the “most masculine”.  I prefer our room because it’s bright and spacious.  The fact that you decorated it is special to me because it’s like a present you gave to me.  Plus, I don’t have the best eye for interior design since everything I grew up with was either floral or had doilies.  But to be honest, this one feels a bit like a dungeon.  I just don’t bother to change it because I just sleep at home.  And I didn’t change it before I met you because even then I just used it to sleep, if I slept at all,” he looks into the distance, remembering all the nights he spent up in the gym, trying to beat the memories out of his mind.  He changes the subject, “Ok, so when we go down there I’m gonna have you wait around the corner and then you can come out when I tell you.”

He leads me downstairs and has me wait in a hallway. He walks around the corner and I hear Tony say, “Alright Capsicle, what’s the surprise you have for us?”

“Everybody just sit down and I’ll get to it in a minute,” he replies.  The sound of chairs scraping the floor is heard and Tony grumbles something about how he had been planning to have lasagna with Pepper tonight.  After a few seconds of silence, Steve comes back around the corner, grabs my hand, and leads me out. I nearly trip over my heels when we start moving and the pit in my stomach only grows.

At the sight of me, Tony and Natasha stand up startled. “What is she doing here?” Tony angrily asks.

“I thought you banned her,” Natasha adds on.

They all begin chattering, asking Steve why I’m here until Bucky calmly says, “Hey Y/N.”

Sam looks at Bucky confused, “You know her?”  Bucky nods his head and Sam looks at Steve, confused and a little hurt.  “Steve?”

“Everybody,” Steve starts, setting his hand on my lower back.  “This is Y/N, my wife.”

“WIFE?!” they all shout at different times.  Steve and I get bombarded with about a million questions at once.  When did we meet, why weren’t they invited to the wedding, when the wedding was, why I interviewed Steve the way I did, etc.

A loud thud on the balcony draws everyone’s attention. Thor is standing there in his armor and cape, holding his hammer.  “Sorry I’m late for team dinner,” he begins but stops when he sees me.  “Lady Y/N, I haven’t seen you since the wedding.  How has being married to the Captain been?”

“Oh you know, being married to a man-child is a struggle, but he’s hot enough for me to keep him around,” I joke.

“Thor, you know her too?” Tony asks.

“Yes I do.  Loki does too but I decided not to bring him tonight.  I think it would have been a bad idea.”

“Alright, Tony, sit down and I’ll explain everything,” Steve says.  Tony hesitantly sits down and everyone else follows.  Steve explained everything from why we met to why we couldn’t invite them to the wedding.

As he’s finishing telling the story and answering questions from the team, Tony’s bots bring in the pasta and Steve gets up and grabs something from the basket we brought.  He opens a bottle of wine and begins filling glasses.  When he gets to mine, I put my hand over my cup.  “Not tonight,” I say.

“But it’s your favorite,” he says.

“I can’t,” I say, not wanting to get in to it.

“C’mon, I won’t let you drink too much,” he says jovially.

“No, Steve…I can’t,” I say forcefully, looking up to make eye contact, hoping he understands without giving anything away.

He understands, but unfortunately his mouth works faster than his brain.  He looks down at my stomach and an excited smile spreads on his face.  “Are you…?”

I look around the table, seeing the Avengers all looking at us expectedly.  I look back at Steve and sheepishly nod.  He gasps and nearly drops the bottle, but luckily he realizes that when I reach out to catch it.

“A babe,” Thor says happily.  “Mazel tov.”

“They’re not Jewish,” Bucky says to Thor.  “Can’t wait to meet little James or Jamie.”  I give Bucky a look to let him know it’s not happening.  “Ok, Bucky works too.”

Tony puts his head in his hands looking like he’s about to pass out.  “Oh my god, we find out Steve is married to a woman I banned from the compound, and now that he’s going to be a father.”

I look at Steve to see him with tears in his eyes. Thankfully, Natasha saves us. “I’d like to propose a toast,” she says, standing up and holding her glass out.  “To Steve and Y/N, I hope you have a long, happy marriage and a healthy baby girl that you name Natasha.”

“That was the other thing we had planned to tell you tonight.  We’ve been trying for a baby.  I guess we were successful.”  Steve finishes pouring the drinks while everybody suggests baby names.  After a while, the conversation drifts to other things.  I enjoy listening to them, though they’re constantly quipping (mostly Tony).

Bucky, who’s sitting next to me, whispers to Steve, who’s on my other side, “Are we going to church this Sunday?”  The three of us go to church most Sundays. Steve and Bucky both grew up going to church, and it gives them some hope in a dark world.

Tony, who wasn’t involved in the conversation, cuts in. “Barnes, you could live at church and you still won’t go upstairs when you die.”

Bucky’s metal hand clenches so hard around his fork I’d be surprised if it isn’t bent.  He looks at Tony and gives him a very fake, overly sweet smile.  “Tony, I love how mean you are to me because it makes me feel less guilty about what I did to your parents.”

Tony stands up, slamming his hands on the table and Bucky mirrors him.  It looks like they’re about to attack but Steve intervenes.  “Tony, Bucky!  Tony, that was uncalled for and Bucky, that was unnecessary.  We know how you actually feel about your past and we’ve watched you try to change.”  Both men slowly sit back down.  “We have a guest.”  Bucky relaxes first, then Tony does.

“Y/N,” Tony addresses me.  “I need to apologize for my rudeness towards Bucky on my first night officially meeting you.  I was hoping not to fight with him tonight.”

“You call that a fight?  You should hear these two,” I say, gesturing to Steve and Bucky on either side of me.  “These guys can bicker with each other like an old married couple for hours about the smallest things.  Last week they had a 45 minute argument on how many times you can reuse a towel before it needs to be washed.”

“Wash it right away,” Steve mutters.

“Steve, we used to use towels so many times before we washed them in the 40s,” Bucky argues.

“Yeah but that was because if we needed to wash things, Mom had to heat up water and then hang-dry it on the balcony.  It’s easy to wash things now days.”

“Anyways,” Tony says, stopping their argument.  “I guess the interview you gave Cap makes sense now…somewhat.”

“Well I was pissed at him that day, so I think he deserved it.”

Tony smiles at Steve.  “You need to bring her around more often.”

Taglist: @imanuglywombat @infernal-fire @dottirose @carpediemm-18​

[elizabeth-mitchells]

Journeys end in lovers meeting - Sam/Deena - Fear Street x Bly Manor AU - Chapter 2

Chapters: 2/10 Fandom: Fear Street Trilogy (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Samantha "Sam" Fraser/Deena Johnson, Sarah Fier/Hannah Miller (Fear Street), Christine "Ziggy" Berman/Nick Goode, Samantha "Sam" Fraser & Deena Johnson Characters: Samantha "Sam" Fraser (Fear Street), Deena Johnson, Kate Schmidt (Fear Street), Simon Kalivoda, Josh Johnson (Fear Street), Constance (Fear Street Part 3: 1666), Christine "Ziggy" Berman, Nick Goode (Fear Street), Alice (Fear Street Part 2: 1978), Sarah Fier (Fear Street), Hannah Miller (Fear Street), Solomon Goode (Fear Street) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, The Haunting of Bly Manor AU, Not Canon Compliant, Haunted Houses, Ghosts, Character Death, Minor Character Death, Canon Lesbian Relationship, First Meetings, Fluff and Angst, Eventual Smut, Happy Ending, Au Pair Sam, Gardener Deena, Housekeeper Kate, Cook Simon, Josh and Constance as troubled kids, Ziggy and Nick in an unhealthy relationship, minor Cindy/Alice, Martin cameos, special appearances of all the Shadyside killers as ghosts, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, The Rest Is Confetti Summary:

The year is 1994. Samantha Fraser recently moved to Shadyside, and she desperately needs a job that will help her leave her troubled past behind. She starts working as au pair at Shadyside Manor, where she is not the only one tortured by ghosts. Grief, regrets, guilt, innocent victims, and an ancient curse. At the center of all of it... love.

Chapter 2:

Sam hadn’t been kidding when she said she would deal with the kids by herself. About nine years as a teacher were worth it. She knew exactly how to balance patience and authority, and exactly when to crack a smile. It wasn’t time for smiles though. It was time to let the kids of Shadyside manor know that their days of self-government were over. Sam was brought there to bring them an education, and that included rules, discipline, and consequences to their actions.

So, if they locked her in a closet, there would have to be a sort of punishment. If they were responsible for the muddy footprints that appeared on the staircase of the house, there would also be a punishment. Nothing too severe, of course. Sam knew even the word punishment seemed too hard for kids. But she knew this would be her only chance at asserting her position in that place.

That was how, after breakfast, Sam found herself with nothing to do while Josh and Constance worked on cleaning up the stairs. Luckily, she was quickly approached by two of her coworkers.

“So, since you have put the kids to do my work,” Kate said. “Why don’t you come hang us for a bit?”

Simon pulled out one of the chairs from the table and with a flourish offered it to Sam, “Miss Fraser, would you care to join us for a mid-morning shit-talking session?”

“Oh, sure,” Sam chuckled nervously and accepted the seat. “And you can just call me Sam.” She couldn’t help repeating herself. She didn’t exactly have good memories attached to her name. She only ever wished to be just Sam.

“Don’t creep her out, please,” Kate told her friend and two of them took a seat as well. “So, Sam, what do you think of the house so far? And the kids?”

The new au pair took her time to answer. “The house is… big. It’s uh, I mean, sure, it looks scary. But once inside, it doesn’t feel as bad as the rumors make it out to be, you know?”

Kate nodded firmly, seemingly satisfied with that answer. Simon grinned playfully and leaned forward on the table as if about to discuss a secret, “You don’t have haunted houses in Sunnyvale?”

Sam chuckled bitterly at that. Apparently, it wasn’t a secret for anyone the place she came from. If only they knew the full story. “No we don’t,” she looked down and shook her head. “Sunnyvale has its different types of hauntings though.”

“What about the kids?” Kate blurted out.

“The Sunnyvale kids?”

“What? No! Constance and Josh,” Kate scoffed, and sent an unimpressed look in Sam's way. 

“Oh, right,” Sam laughed nervously. She desperately hoped she wasn’t blushing in embarrassment. Kate was staring at her very intently, studying her. But it was, somehow, not getting exactly the effect she was hoping for in Sam. Because yes, maybe Sam was deeply intimidated. But she could also tell that Kate’s harshness came from a place of being protective of the kids and caring about them. “They seem great, really,” Sam eventually replied. “Constance is bold and Josh is an introvert, but I’ve dealt with kids like that my entire life. I’m going to try my best with them though, that’s for sure. I just… have to get to know them.”

At that moment, Kate and Simon exchanged a look. Sam had no doubt it was true that those two had been best friends for a long time. It seemed like a really important conversation was silently happening between them. Finally, Simon spoke up.

“No, you haven’t worked with kids like them,” he replied, suddenly very careful with his words. “No offense, you know? But, bold and introverted mean different things in Sunnyvale and Shadyside. Here they mean something more along the lines of survivor and traumatized.”

A not completely discreet cough from Kate got him to stop talking. “No, I know, I’m sorry,” Sam was quick to apologize. They weren’t completely wrong. “I know, it’s just, well… I don’t know anything… I mean, what, uh, why…” She ended with a sigh and slumping in her chair, knowing there was no right way to ask the questions she had in mind.

“Constance’s parents died two years ago,” Kate said. She was speaking almost in whispers, but it nearly startled Sam, who didn’t think she’d get any sort of explanation. Afterward, she would hope she hadn’t. “Cindy Berman and husband. Plane crashed. Then, last year… her aunt. Christine killed herself here on the property. Really gives you some perspective into all the fucking rumors, doesn’t it?”

Afterward, Sam was beyond speechless. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t find a thing to say. That’s when Simon joined in.

“And Josh, he… uh, well, he is not one of the Bermans,” Simon was struggling to explain. “Look, he has his own fucked up past, okay? But I can’t tell you more because Deena would totally kick my ass. It’s their story to tell, you know? The past is the past anyway.”

Sam nodded thoughtfully. At least, she hoped she appeared thoughtful. Not too thoughtful though. Just thoughtful enough for someone that has perfectly normal reactions to hearing the name of a very particular co-worker. That momentary panic at least gave her an idea of how to reply to the tough conversation. A change of subject.

“What about you guys?” Sam asked. “How did you end up working at the manor?”

Instantly, Kate seemed to relax. “I just like bossing people around,” she grinned, earning laughter from the other two. “My aunt used to work here. Alice pays well enough. And if you don’t get scared easily, it’s not a bad place to live in.”

Sam smiled at her and then looked at Simon, noticing how he didn’t look half as relaxed as Kate this time. “What can I say?” he smiled in a way that kept a lot hidden. “It pays the bills. It’s close to home. And I fucking love food.”

The au pair decided it wasn’t time to push for more information. Instead, in that brief moment of silence, she turned her head to look through the door at Josh and Constance working on the stairs. They were doing well, but their day was far from over. From her point of view, she had no way of seeing the man standing on the other side of the stairs. Tommy Slater had been standing there for longer than he could remember. He was still wearing his red flannel shirt, still holding on to his axe, still looking impossibly sad, cold, and lonely.

--

As she made her way to the greenhouse, Sam tried to convince herself she wasn’t nervous at all. She had no reason to be anxious at all. Deena Johnson was another one of her coworkers. Sure, maybe she pulled Sam out of a pretty embarrassing breakdown the previous night. Yes, maybe she had an incredible smile that almost painfully reminded Sam of feelings she had spent a lifetime running from. But… she reached the greenhouse before coming up with a reason not to be on edge.

“Hi?” she called out, tentatively stepping inside the place.

“Over here,” a voice replied from the back of the greenhouse. A voice that was like no other Sam had ever heard.

“Um, hi, Deena,” Sam approached her slowly. “It’s me, uh, Sam.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Deena replied, a small smile on her lips. She stood up from the ground, where she had been kneeling down to work on one of the multiple plants that filled this space. “What do you have there?” Deena asked, nodding toward the plate Sam was holding in her hand.

Sam looked down, as if she had forgotten what it was she was carrying. “Simon,” she blurted out.

“Oh. He looks a little bit different than I remember.”

That made Sam laugh nervously. “I mean, it’s your breakfast,” Sam said. “You didn’t come down for breakfast and Simon asked me to bring it to you.”

Deena nodded slowly, and accepted the plate from Sam’s hands. Then she moved to one of the two chairs at the back of the greenhouse and sat down, inspecting her breakfast.

Afterward, Sam might chastise herself for it, but at the moment she couldn’t help but blurt out, “You’re welcome.”

That earned her an annoyed sigh from the gardener. “Listen, you don’t have to do this,” Deena said.

“Do what?” Sam wondered, taking a seat on the spare chair.

“Play nice with us, with me,” Deena explained, nearly whispering the last part.

“I…” Sam stuttered, she was definitely taken off guard. “Well, we are coworkers now, we live under the same roof, I think-”

“I think you have no idea what you got yourself into. This place, and everyone here, is doomed,” Deena interrupted her. “You’re Sunnyvale, we are Shadyside trash. I know your type. I only hope you’ll run away before the kids get attached to you.”

For a moment, all Sam could do was stare, frown silently at Deena, as the other woman nonchalantly got started on her breakfast, as if she hadn’t just put Sam’s entire mood upside down. It was interesting though, the way Deena chose not to mention the fact that she skipped breakfast just to avoid a set of blue eyes that were too dangerously pretty to wander into Shadyside.

Sam jumped out of her seat, and took a deep breath to reign in her feelings. “You don’t know me at all,” was all she said before walking out of the greenhouse.

--

The rest of the morning passed by in a blur of hard work, mostly for the kids. Surprisingly though, at one point they stopped looking so bothered about it. Josh wasn’t the kind to complain out loud, but Sam noticed from the way his shoulders relaxed and his lips almost started to smile. Constance, on the other hand, was pretty content complaining as much as possible, but she seemed happier doing something new, entertaining, and different from studying. They especially seemed to enjoy working outside.

Sam had wanted to avoid the unkind gardener as much as possible, but she had already planned this, so there was no turning back. This was part of the kids’ education, hard work, and Sam was proud of her methods. The one thing she wasn’t proud of was the way the gardener was making her feel. Her plan to avoid Deena had backfired. Deena, Kate, and Simon were lounging in the garden, while Sam guided Josh and Constance on their work.

As hard as she tried, Sam couldn’t stop herself from second-guessing what her new coworkers were talking about. Were they talking about her? Good things? Did Kate and Simon feel the same way as Deena? Were they criticizing her? Those smiles on their faces, was that a good or bad sign? Deena’s posture on that chair, the way she held a cigarette, played with the delicate chain hanging from her neck, teased her young brother, locked eyes with Sam precisely once… did it mean anything at all?

--

The rest of the morning went by easily. Sam dragged Josh and Constance back to the house to continue cleaning, and they had to comply. Tragic as it seemed, they couldn’t complain to anybody. Kate, Simon, Deena, even Alice in the safety of her own home, they all would have supported Sam’s teaching methods at best, would’ve laughed in their faces at worst. 

Things couldn’t be perfect though. Sam would scold herself for letting her guard down at all. She had been in one of the bedrooms, assisting Constance with cleaning the windows, when it happened. One second it was just a window, showing the green grounds around the property, nothing more. Then the next second, all Sam could see was his face. Dark. Just a shadow. Furious. Disgusted. Head tilted. Observing her. Unforgiving. Horribly familiar.

Sam let out a yelp of surprise and stumbled backward. She caught herself before falling down to the floor, but not before Constance saw her. At first, the girl chuckled, but she sounded somewhat genuine when she asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I��m- uh, I’m okay,” Sam replied, voice trembling. “Give me a minute.”

She was out of that room before hearing the girl’s reply. She couldn’t move fast enough, but her legs were trembling. She couldn’t shake that image of her mind. Her own particular ghost. The monster that she hadn’t been able to leave in Sunnyvale. Following her reflection everywhere she went.

Sam stumbled down the stairs and out of the house. She finally found refuge behind one of the big bushes on the sides of the entrance. A place where she could break down in peace. She couldn’t stop the tears, and she could hardly breathe, and she was so scared.

“Are you okay?”

The question makes Sam choke one of her sobs. Of all people that could have caught her at this moment…

“I get it,” Deena cautiously added, from a safe distance away. “I swear I had the same reaction after I met Constance.” She could barely see Sam, hiding behind the bush, but she guessed that privacy was exactly what the blonde wanted. “If Josh’s the problem though, just let me know. You aren’t allowed to, but I can totally kick his ass.” That earned her a tearful chuckle from Sam, which was a very good sign. “Just so you know though,” Deena added, “That’s usually my spot for having an emotional breakdown. Now I have to go to this other corner and there are spiders and shit in there, no privacy at all.”

This time, there was a genuine laugh coming from Sam. The tears had stopped, and she managed to find the strength to look over her shoulder, show her face to Deena and say, “Thank you.”

Deena softly shook her head, dismissing Sam’s need to thank her. “You’re doing better than most people could,” she said. Seeing Sam smile sadly, acknowledging her tear-streaked face, Deena insisted, “I mean it.”

There was a pause then. Sam opened her mouth, desperately wishing she could say something else. All she wanted was to ask Deena how she could be so kind and so cruel as if a switch was flipped inside her. But Sam feared that saying more than two words would make her cry again. Deena took that as her cue to go on with her day.

“Back to work then,” Deena said, starting to march back into the house. “Stay strong, Sunnyvale.”

Definitely done with her tears, Sam was having trouble holding back her smile. She tried to sneak another glance at the gardener, but Deena was gone, leaving behind only a pleasant warmth in Sam’s heart and a firm smile on her face.

--

Nine years of teaching had taught Sam a lot. She knew how to handle kids, that was for sure. The unruly ones, the proud ones, the ones that struggled, and the ones that shined brightly. Simon had been right when he said she had never worked with kids like Josh and Constance. Still, she was prepared to deal with Josh picking up spiders from the garden, and trying to scare her. She didn’t lose her ground even when Constance’s attitude sometimes made Sam feel like she was the teenager out of the two of them.

What she did that day wasn’t the worst Sam had to do for one of her students. Still, it was pretty awkward explaining to Deena how her younger brother had massacred the rose bushes to give the flowers to Sam.

When the two women arrived at the scene of the crime, it was a huge mess. Josh had picked a few roses for Sam and destroyed the rest. He must have been pretty aggressive to earn that small limp he had when he walked toward Sam a few minutes earlier.

The teenager fell to second place in the forefront of Sam’s mind though. She was slightly more preoccupied about the furious gardener gripping the broken stem of a rose as if it were a knife.

“I’m going to fucking kill him,” Deena yelled, not for the first time in the past minute, and tried to walk away.

“Hey,” Sam stopped her with a firm tone and a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll deal with him, it’s my job.”

Deena took a deep breath. She was pretty much shaking with anger still. She pursed her lips, suddenly aware of the way she had been yelling at the innocent au pair for god knows how long now. She wasn’t good at apologizing though. She slumped her shoulders and exhaled.

“It’s just… he should know better than this,” Deena said bitterly. “We are lucky to be living here. He knows he has to stay out of trouble.” She looked up into Sam’s blue eyes and the careful attention she found there nearly turned her breathless. “That was the deal,” Deena added softly, taking a moment to gulp nervously. “I made a deal with Cindy Berman years ago, when we had nothing. Josh and I could live here, and I’d pay her by working on the grounds of the manor.”

Sam nodded slowly, with a barely-there smile that let Deena know she had listened, and understood. “It’s okay,” Sam said. “I don’t think it’ll be a big deal. I won’t say anything if you don’t.” The two women exchanged a smile. “It’s just a few flowers-”

“It’s not just a few flowers,” Deena protested immediately.

“I know, I know,” Sam quickly said. She was tiptoeing the line between fearing Deena’s temper and being endeared by how protective she was of her plants. “They’re also a weapon, apparently.”

Deena tilted her head in confusion. “Ah,” she said when she looked down at the rose’s stem she was still holding in her hand. She couldn’t say anything else though. Sam had taken the initiative to reach out and gently pry open Deena’s fist to take the stem away. That’s when they both noticed there had been thorns involved. “Shit,” Deena cursed.

“Um,” Sam mumbled pensively as she stared at the couple of red spots on Deena’s hand. “You know, to be a teacher, you have to learn a thing or two about first aid. Do you want help?”

Deena was already shaking her head. Her wild curls shook with her movement. “No, it’s okay- fuck!” She exclaimed in pain the moment she tried to close her hand again. Now there were a few drops of blood on her palm. “Fine,” she grumbled. 

--

Deena was so upset about having someone bandaging her hand, that Sam found the whole process much easier than she had expected. It was a little bit like dealing with a kid, not that she would ever admit such a thing to the gardener. 

“So, you really like those roses, huh?” Sam asked while cleaning up the little wounds in Deena’s palm.

“They’re some of my favorites from the entire property,” Deena shrugged. “I like all these plants more than most people, that’s for sure.”

Sam nodded, picking up the bandages. “Why would he do this?” she asked. “Josh, I mean. He doesn’t seem to be the type to vandalize the gardens.”

“He isn’t. There was one bad fucking influence and…” Deena replied. Her words were hiding a lot, but her resentful tone warned the au pair against making any further questions. Instead, Deena looked up and added, “or maybe… he just really likes you, Sunnyvale.”

Sam laughed at that, and ducked her head to avoid those gorgeous brown eyes. Surprisingly, she decided to admit something right then and there in the otherwise empty kitchen of the manor while holding on to Deena’s hand. “You do know I’m not even from Sunnyvale, right?” 

“What?” Deena asked. She looked caught off guard for the first time since Sam met her.

“You guys don’t fact-check your gossip, huh?” Sam chuckled. “I was born here, in Shadyside. I moved away when I was little, after my father died, but… I guess, now I’m trying to find my home, you know?”

“Right,” Deena replied.

She blinked slowly, and her eyebrows furrowed into a small frown as she took in the information, the significance of Sam sharing it with her, and the unknown reason why the word home sounded so perfect coming from Sam’s smiling lips.

After a brief silence that felt like it stretched for hours, Deena cleared her throat. “Well, uh, thank you, for giving me a hand,” she said. The mention of her hand made both women realize that this entire time they hadn’t let go of each other’s hands. They pulled away from each other quickly, but nothing could have wiped the smiles off their faces. “It’s not the worst I’ve dealt with so I better get back to work. I guess I’ll see you around… Sunnyvale.”

Sam didn’t even attempt to hold back her grin. Distantly, she wished she wasn’t blushing too much, but that was it. She turned around to watch Deena walk away from the kitchen. Then she was rewarded with the sight of Deena looking back at her once before crossing the doorway.

When she was alone again, Sam leaned her back against the counter and sighed. It was a mixture of contentment and exhaustion. She had tried her best to maintain a good impression in front of Deena, and now she could finally relax. She was starting to understand her better too, how Deena’s boldness came from a good place of being protective over her brother, and maybe even over the whole property. Sam’s exhaustion though, didn’t come from anywhere near Deena, the teens, or the house. She was only realizing how absurdly debilitating it had been to keep up a false version of herself at all times during those years in Sunnyvale. Slowly but surely, she was leaving all that behind.

Sam took a deep breath and straightened up. Then she started to walk out of the kitchen following the path Deena had walked a minute ago. She didn’t have to look back before crossing the doorway, she just kept walking. This way, she missed Ryan Torres’s presence in one corner of the kitchen. Lonesome, unknown, fumbling with the knife he still carried at all times.

--

“Josh! Constance! You guys are way too old for this kind of game!” Sam was yelling as she walked around the house. She didn’t understand how Kate hadn’t heard her yet.

She wasn’t scared. Just because they had turned off all the lights and she was only barely familiar with the house didn’t mean she should be scared. The kids wanted to improvise a game of hide and seek to avoid going to bed? Fine. Sam wasn’t scared of the dark. In the darkness she couldn’t see her reflection and whatever cursed company she would find there. If she had to drag a couple of teenagers to their beds from their ears then so be it. 

When Sam caught sight of the curtains of one room moving strangely, she hurried towards it and pulled at it, but there was nobody there. She sighed, disappointed, stressed, but not scared, not yet. She heard footsteps behind her, and when she turned around, she distinctly heard the front door of the house open. Chills ran through Sam’s spine. It was unsettling, but not too bad, right? She would be deeply upset if she had to chase a pair of teenagers out in the middle of a storm, but it could be worse.

It could be worse… Maybe it was much worse than she imagined. That was the thought going through Sam’s mind when, very slowly, she turned back around to face the window again. At first, it looked like a blur. Then, she feared it was that same ghostly silhouette that followed her everywhere. Somehow, it was worse. Somehow, the figure moved closer and it became clear. There was a man standing on the other side of the window. Tall. Dark hair. Hazel eyes. Smile that never, under any circumstances, would have been mistaken for friendly.

Sam took a step backward, so did he. Then she took off running. Not in the direction some might have expected. She wasn’t running away to hide. She ran out of that room, taking the fireplace poker from its stand and gripping it with force as she rushed out of the house.

“I’m going to call the police!” Sam yelled while the rain poured down on her. “I’m going to call the fucking police!”

She ran toward the window where she’d seen that man. He was nowhere to be seen but, as if it was all part of a pattern, she stumbled across the worst possible scenario.

“Sam?” Josh mumbled. He was just standing there, shaking with cold, drenched from the rain… then he just crumbled down, falling to the ground, unconscious.

[pandajaye]

Todoroki Family Ties (Part 7)

Characters: Enji Todoroki, Stepmom!OC!Ivy (Ivy is black btw), Child!Shoto Todoroki, Teen!Touya Todoroki

Warnings: child missing, dangerous criminals, mention of child murder, family abandonment

Enji and Ivy searched the entire property but Shoto was no where to be found. They called the police, Officer Tsukauchi alerted AllMight and Eraserhead and they were helping find him too. Even with them here, they were careful to keep quiet about the missing child of a Pro Hero. You never know what Villains could be looking for him too. The worst part of it was, the reason they needed pro hero help was because Shoto was the least dangerous person they were searching for today. The news reported that someone dangerous was out on the run and that only made Ivy’s heart sink lower. They figured they were fine since it was a private residence and Shoto was with a nanny, but she was gone too.

“We’re working hard to find him and the missing nanny, ma’am. I hate that this happened on the same day that a criminal broke out of jail. Is there any more information that you can give us about the boy or the woman?”

Tsukauchi must have been in a lot of situations where he had to show calmness towards civilians. His soft voice gave her a sense of peace, it was small but any was good.

“I-I.... I don’t know too much about her. She seems good with the kids. We just recently hired her last week and she’s been an angel. She has a very kind attitude for an older woman with a tattoo.”

“A tattoo? What did it look like? Can you describe it for me?”

Ivy thought hard about the image that was located on the woman’s hand. Enji didn’t agree with it but Ivy convinced him that since she wa so child friendly, the tattoo shouldn’t matter.

“It was a thin black circle with a cherry blossom inside. There was an ‘X’ on the right side of the circle. It was kind of wrinkled a long with her hand but I still thought it looked pretty cool.”

One of the officers that was standing in front of her drawing the description of the tattoo nodded to Tsukauchi. When he looked back at her, she could tell there was more of a hardness to his face. He turned to Enji and Allmight who had been standing next to them to observe.

“If it’s alright, I’d like to just speak to you two alone for a minute.”

They looked at each other before taking a step into the kitchen, away from where Ivy could hear.

“I’m afraid that the nanny may be involved in the disappearance of the boy. The tattoo that Mrs. Todoroki had described matched the same image of another womanms tattoo. They’re believe to be apart of a gang of Villains called the Withered Blossoms. Any crime scene these women have been apart of usually have young men unconscious or dead but with the appearance of someone who is old. Their victims also are left with no money. Apparently they use the youth from their victims to stay alive. There’s no telling how long they’ve been on this earth but we’ve managed to mostly keep them in jail. I’m not sure what they would want Shoto for. Either his youth, or ransom, but I know that we’ll do whatever it takes get him back and those women in maximum security prison.”

Toshinori thanked Mr. Tsukauchi before turning to look at Enji. His gaze was stuck on the ground, thinking about everything that was just explained. He was never one to really show emotion when anyone other than his family was around. Though he wasn’t sure if he’d even get a response, Toshi tried his best to communicate with Enji.

“Don’t worry. We’ll find your son. Everything will be fine.”

Enji scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“Who said I was worried? I know he’ll be okay. He’s a damn Todoroki, of course he’ll be okay.”

Toshi shook his head. He could see the worry on his face. It was written in his furrowed brows. The angry wrinkles on his face. No matter how he tried to hide it, this bothered him deeply.

“It’s not bad to have feelings. Your child is out in the big world and could be in danger. It looks more suspicious not showing worry.”

Enji sighed angrily and looked at Toshi. Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he was speaking some sense. He didn’t know why he was such a hard ass all the time. There was just a lot of frustration and rage inside of him. The expression on his face softened but he looked away from Toshi.

“You’re right. I’m very upset. That’s.... my youngest out there. He could be scared. He could be hurt. Or.... o-or....”

“Hey. We’re not going to think like that, alright? They’re doing everything they can, looking under every rock for these villains and your son. I have no doubt that we’ll get some good news soon.”

Toshi gave him a nod of reassurance and Enji returned it. They may not get along always but he was glad to have Toshi here to comfort him and Ivy.

Especially Ivy....

This family.... Enji.... the kids.... they meant a lot to her. She was the first person in her family to be born quirkless. They hoped she would grow up and eventually gain one, but, unfortunately, it never happened. When she was in high school, she came home that day to her bags packed and thrown out of the door. They constantly hounded her for not being able to become a pro hero so that she could make them rich. Since she seemed to give no value in their eyes, she was kicked out and forced to live on her own.

After years of hard work, she graduated high school, college, got a job, and did pretty good. All on her own. She met Enji when she was fired and found a job at his agency. Apparently his assistant before her couldn’t handle his explosive temper. The difference between her and Ivy was that she could afford to quit, but Ivy was barely making it and this paycheck could change everything for her.

It was hard. There was almost constant intimidation. The atmosphere of every meeting had tension and no one was brave enough to disturb it. And it only got worse after the incident with Rei Todoroki pouring hot water over her son’s face. There were many rumors that floated around. Even when the truth about Enji putting her in a mental hospital came out, everyone said it was a cover up and that he actually murdered her. Luckily, the world continued to go around.

The agency was fine but it was obvious that Enji wasn’t. There was an aggressiveness and darkness to him that no one had ever seen before. Everyone was afraid to speak to him outside of business but Ivy figured that maybe that’s what he was missing. Someone needed to check on him and something inside of her said that it should be her. It was her character flaw. Even though she’d been through so much, she always felt as if it was her job to take care of the beasts of the world. In her mind, all they needed was love and kindness.

One day, she gathered the courage to talk to him and see how he was doing. When she opened the door to his office, the lights were off. He was just sitting in his chair but facing towards the window. That morning he walked in a nice suit but not the jacket was on the back of his chair and his tie was loosened. He was just sitting there, his head leaning against his hand like he was just done with everything.

“Hello? Mr. Endeavor?”

“What is it?

“I-I wanted to talk about something. Are you busy?”

He sighed and dropped his hand, turning to look at her and permit her to enter before turning back to the outside world.

“Come in.”

She hurried in and closed the door behind her, quietly making her way over to the front of his desk.

“I wanted to check on you.... see how you were doing lately. I’m really worried about you, sir. You haven’t burned as brightly as you used to, so I’m here if you want to talk about anything. I’m sorry if I’m bothering you in anyway, sir.”

When he didn’t respond, she walked to be in his line of sight. He looked so tired. There were bags under his eyes and a sad frown that looked as if it’s been there forever and would never leave. It broke her heart to see him so depressed. She decided to leave. He probably was being nice by not telling her to get out immediately.

“I hope your day gets better, sir...”

Ivy only took a single step before she was stopped, her small wrist in his large hand. When she looked at him, there were streaks of tears on his cheeks.

Suddenly, he pulled her to him and hugged her waist. She could feel him trembling.

“S-She’s gone.... she’s gone.... a-and it’s m-my fault-t.”

Enji’s grip on her tightened and she started to relax. He needed her in that moment and it was necessary that she was there for him.

“It’s going to be okay, sir. It’s going to be alright.”

They talked for a long time. He avoided questions about Rei but she didn’t mind. There were lots of emotions in the room. Maybe it was the sudden opportunity to be vulnerable or how she comes off as a trustworthy person, but he was quick to let her in. He admitted that this was one of the very few times that he made a connection with someone at work. He really appreciated her bravery and that she wanted to actually talk to him.

This was the beginning of their relationship. From coworkers to friends to friends to lovers. Oh how sweet it sounds. Even if it wasn’t always sweet, especially after they were married. So quickly at that. However, it was obvious that they were soulmates. The conflicts weren’t because of her, it was his toxicity. A toxicity that healed when they were together, it heals slowly, but progress is progress.

Now here they were. Enji holding Ivy as her emotions were trying to control themselves. That’s when they got the call from Toshinori. Ivy put her phone on speaker so Enji could hear too.

“We’ve found Shoto and the criminal. We’re bringing your boy home.”

A huge weight felt lifted off of the couple’s shoulders. Enji held onto Ivy as she cried into his chest. Since his hands were preoccupied with holding her, he couldn’t quickly wipe the tears out of his eyes and instead just lowered his face to kiss the top of Ivy’s head.

Shoto was back home within a few hours after an interrogation with the police. The woman had never mentioned anything about what he would be used for, she lured him with the lie that she would take him to see Rei. It made Enji and Ivy furious to find out that someone would make up such a terrible lie to kidnap a child and he vowed to find the rest of the group so they couldn’t hurt anyone else.

After dinner, and putting the kids to bed, Enji received a phone call from a number he didn’t immediately recognize and excused himself to go outside to answer it.

“We need to talk about Natsuo and Fuyumi soon. I believe it’s time that they come home.”

He recognized the voice immediately. Rei’s mother. The current guardian of his other two children.

[angelbaugh-writes]

There’s Something You Should Know (1/2) {Aaron Hotchner x Fem! Reader}

Summary: After a one-night stand with the BAU’s unit chief, Y/N believe that she will never have to see him again. Her plan to avoid even more heart break crumbles when they cross paths once more and Hotch sees her with a kid.

Warnings: some cursing, I think?

Author’s Note: This is going to be a two-parter! I hope you guys enjoy this. I’ve worked pretty hard the past couple days. The second part should be out later this week. Thank you so so much for reading! Xox Angel Baugh

    The first time you met Aaron Hotchner was on a case a little over four years ago. Having the BAU come to your precinct to assist with a series of murders was not something you expected to ever experience. It came as a shock when you had three killings in a month. The most you'd had to deal with was a calm robbery or domestic abuse situation. Luckily for your coworkers and you, the group of FBI agents was quick to catch the man terrorizing your city. The most memorable part of the case was not the bloody crime scenes you weren't yet accustomed to, but the attractive unit chief you worked alongside for six days.     Fresh out of a divorce, Aaron was eager to get to know you during the week he spent next to you. Lingering glances and subtle grazes caused rising tension to grow between the two of you. It became a waiting game. What happened in the hotel room once the unsub was arrested almost seemed inevitable. Shared kisses and his heavenly, but oh so sinful, touch left you dazed. The dream ended abruptly when you woke up to an empty room. No sign of him. No note. Naked and alone, you felt humiliated. The man didn't have the decency to say good-bye. He used you for a quick fuck, and that was the end of it. ***     The last thing you wanted to do was call in help from the bureau. A copycat had started killings similar to the ones nearly half a decade ago. Your team tried to find the person responsible for the deaths using the same strategies as before. Nothing you did got you any closer to catching them. With a heavy heart, you send an email with the attached files to the last person you ever wanted to see again. Nausea filled you when you got a response back saying the group will be arriving in a few hours to assist.     A phone call from the babysitter was the last thing you needed to receive. She had a family emergency and was on her way to drop off your daughter. Panic was all you felt. God was playing you. You were sure of it. There was no time to find a new sitter so late. Aria had come to work with you before, but that was when you weren't trying to catch a murderer. The secretary, Julie, would always help out on those days by spending time with the spritely four-year-old while you finished up pertinent paperwork. But she had been out with the flu for the past couple of days. You quickly cleared your office of anything grisly or sharp. After child-proofing to the best of your ability, you walked to the front of the building to meet your daughter.     "Hey, baby! Mommy has a really busy day today, and Miss Julie isn't here today. Would you be okay sitting in my office?" you spoke softly as you led her to the room.     "Okay!"     "Thank you, Aria. Maybe for my lunch break, we can go to the park down the road."     The toddler's face lit up, "Oh! Yes yes yes!"     You sat with her in the office, watching her color a picture of a unicorn carelessly. A small smile rested on your face. An hour had already passed when one of your officers showed up at your door.     "They're here, Y/N." You nodded, giving Aria a kiss on the head before exiting. Three nicely dressed agents stood just a few feet away. Straightening your outfit, you made your way towards them.     JJ was the first to greet you, giving a tight hug. Rossi kissed your cheek. Aaron gave you a curt nod. He hadn't changed much since you saw him last. The bags under his eyes gave away how tired he was. You'd heard about the death of his ex-wife. You wanted to send your condolences but felt that it was inappropriate to do so. His gaze shifted to your office, spotting the little girl perched in your big chair.     "We have the big meeting room set up for you guys. Feel free to ask for more supplies or help. My team is more than willing to help with anything you need," you spoke steadily. "I'll be all over the place today because something has come up last minute, but I'll be able to give you guys my all tomorrow." Rossi thanked you before pushing Aaron down the hall.     "She looks just like him," JJ said quietly. You choked on air at the statement. She was right. Aria had long, black hair and warm, brown eyes. She had your nose and cheeks, but her smile was a carbon copy of his. There was no denying that he was the father. Anybody would be able to see through the lie.     You turned to the blonde next to you, "Do you want to meet her?" An enthusiastic nod was what you got in response. Grinning, you strolled into your office. "Aria?" The little girl's head raised at her name being called. "This is JJ. We worked together just before you were born."     "Hi!" she greeted excitedly, going back to her new coloring page quickly. Cinderella was concealed underneath a mess of pinks and yellows.     "Hey," JJ spoke kindly, "You like princesses, too? I have a little boy that likes superheroes."     "Superheroes are cool, but princesses wear pretty dresses and shiny," your daughter said matter-of-factly.     "Baby? Mommy has to go work for a little bit. Will you be okay in here?" you asked nervously. Leaving her alone made you feel uneasy.     "I could watch her why you talk with Hotch," JJ offered.     You sighed, "Really? Thank you so much."     The walk to where the two agents would be was nerve-wracking. You didn't want to see Aaron. Knowing him, he'd already profiled you and your kid. There was no way he hadn't put two and two together. The talk that you would have to have with him was the last thing you wanted to do. Maybe you should just quit and move out of state. Knocking softly, you opened the door     "I brought some of the files from the case four years ago." The two men turned to you.     "Perfect! Is the coffee still down the hall to the left? I need some caffeine," Rossi continued to speak as he left. You mumbled a quiet 'bastard' under your breath. You turned to the tall man, unable to form any words,     He took a deep breath, "Y/N, you should know that I'm sorry about leaving that morning. I was scared and ran away instead of accepting my feelings. I want to make it up to you while I'm in town." You were thrown back by his bluntness. Sure, he was always very forward with his feelings, but you expected a simple hello first.     "Aaron," you sighed, "I'd love to talk about it. My hands are full, though."     "Oh, right. How old is she?" he asked even though he knew the answer.     "She's uh...just about to turn four in- in a couple of months," you stumbled over your words a bit as you answered. There was no use in hiding the information from an intelligent profiler.     He let out a shaky breath as your words settled in. You watched his expression change from confusion to shock.    "Is she-"     You cut him off, "Yes. I understand if you don't want to be a part of this. It's an unorthodox arrangement, I know. We've been able to get this far."     His heart broke at your words. If he'd known, he would have... Well, he didn't know what he would have done if he found out. He would have been mourning the death of his ex-wife around the time you'd given birth. There was no way he would have been in a healthy enough mental state to help you and your daughter- and his daughter. Aaron Hotchner was the father of two kids.     "Why didn't you tell me?"     "After days spent together, you left as soon as you made a move. Was I supposed to think that you would be willing to help raise a kid when we don't even live in the same state? You never messaged me, Aaron. I thought it was some fling," you mumbled as you wiped away a few fallen tears.     He stepped forward, eager to comfort you, "Y/N, I haven't stopped thinking about you since that night. I wanted to call you, but I had to put my son first. You know what that feels like. Jack and I both lost someone and I couldn't move on like that. He wouldn't have understood. How I treated you was awful, and I wish I could go back and change it."     "We should talk more about this outside of work, okay? I know you like to go over the case after hours, but Aria and I would love to have some company at our place."     "You want me to meet her?"     "I want her to be able to know her father, yes. I think we should take it slow, though."     "I'm okay with that."

[volexis]

presenting... elle's mini advent calendar!

it’s december! the holidays are now upon us! in honor of one of my favorite seasons, i present your winter wonderland, a holiday event of 14 days of pure, lighthearted fluff leading up to Christmas! this is inspired by @amoroushero! lynn’s event motivated me to try and do my own so check out her wonderful work here! since it is inspired by her event, there might be some similarities but i do not intend to copy her writing or claim it as my own, i just found inspiration in her event and its organization.

i’ll reveal the characters for each day as we go along, below you’ll find a small masterlist with details for each day. enjoy!

taglist: open, send an ask to be added <3

› dec. 12 ▸ i have fillings for you

in hindsight, staying up till 2 am might’ve not been one of your best ideas. that is, until you get a call from your very frantic boyfriend asking for your help in baking cookies. what could go wrong?

› dec. 13 ▸ cold hands, warm heart

getting snowed in was not something you foresaw in your winter plans, more so when the power goes out. however, even the worst mishaps have their upsides. after all, you could’ve spent the evening without a wonderful boyfriend to warm you up.

› dec. 14 ▸ don’t leaf me hanging

holiday parties aren’t the best way to spend a pleasant, snowy evening, especially when you bump into your frenemy practically everywhere you go. your evening takes a turn for the worse when you’re stuck together beneath the most odious sprig of the season: mistletoe. how will you get out of this one?

› dec. 15 ▸ snow place like home

winter mornings are especially rough. luckily, you get to spend them in bed with your fantastic boyfriend.

› dec. 16 ▸ on thin ice

working at your parent’s ice skating rink was the least exciting thing you’d done all winter. things start to look up after your parents hire a very handsome stranger to teach ice skating lessons.

› dec. 17 ▸ s’more than a feeling

selling hot chocolate at the local ice rink had its perks: central heating, access to all the chocolate you could want, and a visit from a cute skater that drifts by every day without a fault.

› dec. 18 ▸ ice to meet you

running late to one of the most important meetings of your career is the least of your problems after a very handsome stranger accidentally spills his hot coffee on you. 

› dec. 19 ▸ say “freeze”!

you loved going to the beach. you enjoyed watching the rolling waves, feeling the hot sun on your skin and the sand between your toes. going to the beach in the middle of winter, however, was another story, but you could never say no to his beautiful smile.

› dec. 20 ▸ home alone

spending the holiday season on your own for the first time doesn’t sound so daunting until december rolls around, shrouding you in a fine, powdery coat of loneliness. luckily, your next-door neighbor is in a similar predicament. 

› dec. 21 ▸ champagne blush

forgetting to inform your parents after your most recent break-up, you scramble to find a date to the annual New Year’s party. fortunately, a solution  materializes from the most unexpected places. will an evening with a reluctant ‘boyfriend’ lead to disaster or something more?   

› dec. 22 ▸ we’ve got chemis-tree

spending most of your break pouring over a group project wasn’t the worst thing you could be doing, especially when you’ve been partnered with the boy you just so happen to be crushing on.    

› dec. 23 ▸ up to snow good

[to all the boys i’ve loved before au] after years of pining over your neighbor, writing your feelings down in a letter had never felt more cathartic. that is until you discover it got accidentally mixed in with the other presents sent next door.

› dec. 24 ▸ love at frost sight

buying Christmas gifts is always a hassle, more so when it starts snowing heavily. luckily, a small shop owner offers you refuge and a winning smile.

› dec. 25 ▸ all wrapped up

office parties haven’t always been your favorite part of the job, you all but dreaded the dreary and awkward conversations that were bound to happen. that all changes once you’re dragged into the annual gift exchange and draw the name of a coworker who’s caught your eye for quite some time.

[tamakeey]

there are children present (pt. 1)

doctor! ushijima wakatoshi x doctor! reader

ushijima is was your typical pediatrician at the miyagi health clinic

the only difference is he’s 6′2 and very beefy which is pretty funny when he’s surrounded by kid-size furniture everyday

his rough exterior scares his patients at times but everyone in the pediatrics department knows he’s a real softie on the inside

everyone until y/n joins the pediatrics team at the miyagi health clinic

on her first day of work, y/n lost her way around the big building 

she looked in all directions hoping someone would see her confused stares and help a poor girl out

luckily ushijima spotted the girl while she was looking down at her phone, seeing the message her supervisor had sent her yesterday about the wing she would be working in

however, in y/n’s eyes, seeing a giant walking towards her with an intimidating aura made the girl shiver in her hospital clogs

as ushijima grew closer to her, she flinched in fear, and began chanting words along the lines of “pls spare me”

when ushijima saw her visibly shaking in his presence, his face morphed into one of confusion

in his mind he was questioning do I really scare people that much

 he took a deep breath and mustered up the most gentle, nurturing voice he could to speak to the woman

“I apologize if I startled you, it was never my intention. you just looked lost and I thought you would need some of my assistance” ushijima said shyly

y/n feels terrible having misjudged his intentions and forms a look of guilt on her face after hearing him speak to her, having a minor yachi panicking moment

“I’m so sorry, I’m just nervous around new people. I would greatly appreciate some help finding my way to the pediatrics department please. I would hate to be late on my first day” y/n responds while craning her neck upwards to look at the tower man

ushijima nods, letting out a quiet “follow me” as he led her to the department he works in everyday

as they arrive to the pediatrics department, y/n is in awe at the miniature chairs and table fit for toddlers, chalkboard cluttered with doodles, and small toys in the waiting area

suddenly she hears the receptionist greet ushijima from the counter 

“ahh hello yamagata, I see you came into the office earlier than usual today” ushijima replies stoically, proceeding to scan his card into the door, allowing him access to the department

y/n begins to question how he has access to the pediatrics department, believing he worked in a different department and only helped to guide her to where she needed to go

as she goes in, she is greeted by her supervisor

however, she did not expect for her supervisor to be a grumpy old man with the bushiest eyebrows she has ever seen

“hello, you must be y/n. I am your supervisor tanji washijou. I see you have met our top pediatrician, Dr. Ushijima Wakatoshi” the elder greeted the poor girl whose soul has suddenly left her body

not only did she misjudge ushijima when he was trying to help her, he’s also her coworker

“you will be assigned a nurse who will be your partner working here. your patients are now their patients, so it’s best to get to know your nurse as you will have to work together to help the patients that come in” washijou continues

the girl nods as she follows washijou down a long hall to an office area where she sees the room section off into cubicles that are labeled with a name plate for each pediatrician

y/n spots the cubicle that has her name plastered on one of its walls and walks towards it

“I see you have found your cubicle, this is where you will work when you have no appointments, whether it’s looking at documents and analyzing test results, all that will happen in here” washijou explains

y/n nods signifying that she understood the elder’s words and began looking around her cubicle, imagining the personal items she may store here to make it feel cozier

washijou brings her out of her thoughts as he walks out the door, informing the young woman that he will be bringing her assigned nurse to her cubicle so they could get to know one another. 

as y/n is unpacking her work bag, she hears the door open which causes her to see who is entering office area

she sees two men walking towards her, one immensely tall and the other shorter in comparison to the giant he stands next to

the shorter male has noticeable ash blonde hair with darker tips, although he looks tough, she notices a comforting aura surrounding him which makes her less frightened than her previous encounters

the taller male, for sure intimidated the poor new girl he’s 6′2 with dark ginger hair and although he is on the lankier side, his resting face is what causes the girl to avoid his piercing stare

as they stop in front of the girl, she realizes these are the nurses that have been assigned to her 

“hello, my name is semi eita. I am a registered nurse who has been here for a few years. I look forward to getting to know you and working along side you” the shorter male introduces himself

y/n notices his gentle, deep voice that has put her in a calmer state as she replies “good morning, I am y/n y/l/n, I am excited to work with you as well and hope we can build a closer bond as we work alongside one another” 

noticing the poor girl fiddling with her fingers as she glances at his taller counterpart, semi begins once again, “this is kawanishi taichi, he is currently fulfilling his residency requirements under my supervision, so he will also be working fairly close beside you” 

“I look forward to working with you” kawanishi speaks for the first time in his lazy tone while bowing to the girl

“thank you, I hope to provide a good learning experience for you” y/n responds, bowing back to the tall boy

soon, the door is being opened again, and y/n sees ushijima walking in with a tall red head wearing blue scrubs

“I’m just saying wakatoshi-kun, the content within the jump magazines are more amusing than the ads” the tall red head asserts

ushijima nods and then approaches the trio standing at y/n’s cubicle

“hello Dr. y/l/n, this is my nurse tendou satori. I apologize, he’s a little bit on the loud side” ushijima says quite bluntly

“wakatoshi-kun, that’s very harsh to say. I’m hurt” tendou replies

y/n giggles before responding back, “pleasure to meet you tendou, I hope to be able to get to know you better while working in the same department with you” 

the rest of the day was spent with the five getting to know each other due to the slow day in the office and none of them having any appointments for the day

during the next few months, y/n is forming close bonds with those she met on her first day (minus washijou) and adjusting to her job phenomenally 

getting to know her patients, noting all their symptoms, and diagnosing them in a fairly quick manner 

leading her to be fairly popular in the office as many parents are bringing their children to her office

ushijima, although very efficient in analyzing his patients’ records and diagnosing his patients very quickly, struggles with communicating to them in a manner that would not scare them off

especially today, when one toddler in particular was not fond of his scary appearance

the little boy had walked into the checkup room, holding his mother’s hand

his bangs cut in a slant direction (they’re basically uneven and looks like the hypotenuse of a triangle, I suck with descriptions so I’m hoping you all know I'm talking about shirabu LOL)

when tendou walked in to take the child’s temperature and blood pressure, the child was struggling to remain calm as a towering red headed male with crazy eyes kept looking at him dead on

after taking the necessary data on the child, tendou says quite animatedly “alright shirabu, Dr. Ushijima will be with you shortly, make yourself comfortable and help yourself to some books in the bucket”

shirabu’s mother hands him a little book which leads him to flipping through the pages and pointing at the cute animals within it

once an a while having to blow his uneven bangs out his eyes

all of a sudden the door opens and when shirabu looks up, his whole face pales and tears begin gathering in his eyes

 to shirabu, a giant, mean looking man stands in front of him, ready to yell at him, kill him, or anything horrible in-between

before ushijima could let a word out, shirabu begins to sob loudly on the examination table

ushijima stops walking towards shirabu, as his mom reaches out to console him

as shirabu’s mother is trying to comfort him and tell him how ushijima is here to make sure he's healthy, shirabu continues to sob louder and repeatedly scream “but he’s so scary”

ushijima freezes on the spot 

usually when children are frightened of him their parents are able to calm them down 

but shirabu is relentless and stubbornly continues to cry to his little toddler bum’s desire

ushijima excuses himself from the room, stating that he will be back shortly, shutting the door behind him

outside the examination room, ushijima was silently panicking

why was I cursed with such a big body

why do people always think my facial expression is scary, it’s just my resting face

I’m not mad at least 98% of the time

I just want the kids to feel safe and comfortable to tell me their problems so I can fix them as fast as possible :(

as he was having an internal conversation with himself, y/n walks by and notices the distress on his face

she begins to grow concern for the man, she’s grown to know as a giant teddy bear

yes she caught feels for him within the past few months

semi and kawanishi never let her live it down, making it their mission to fluster her on the subject at least once a day

she walks over to the conflicted giant, but not before noticing the three nurses around the corner staring at her with a smirk on each of their faces

ofc tendou is in that upside down position (y'all know which one I’m talking about)

rolling her eyes at her three spectators, she turned back to ushijima to deal with his internal crisis

“Ushijima, did you need help with something?” y/n asked as she approached him

“no, I do not understand why my latest patient is so afraid of me. I did not even get to speak a word before he started screaming. usually I at least get one word in” ushijima replies as the cries of shirabu could still be heard through the door

y/n winces at the boy’s shrill cries but is also impressed that it is able to resonate past the wooden door

“did you want me to try to talk to the patient first? hopefully, get him to ease into you” y/n offered

ushijima nodded curtly, handing y/n the patient’s information which she glances over fairly quick

y/n takes a deep breath and opens the door, which causes the cries to come at a higher volume

shirabu opens his eyes after hearing the door open, thinking the scary tall man came back to kill him only to be greeted by a smaller woman with gentle eyes

the child halts his cries, but the tears keep falling silently

y/n grabs some tissues from the counter and wipes the poor boy’s face which is red from all his sobs

she crouches down to the boy’s height and smiles gently at him

“hey little guy, I’m Dr. y/l/n. I heard you’re being a brave little boy visiting the doctor today” y/n speaks in a nurturing voice

shirabu nods shyly, still tucked away in his mother’s arms

“I promise you Dr. Ushijima is nothing you should be scared of, he’s the best doctor in the building who will help you feel better” y/n explains gently to the boy who shakes his head in his mother’s shoulder

“he’s giant and scary” shirabu speaks for the first time while fiddling with his smol bby fingers

“I'll let you in on a secret little guy” y/n whispers towards shirabu

being the curious child he is, shirabu lets go of his mother and scoots his little bum towards the edge of the examination table to listen in on the secret 

“Dr. Ushijima looks scary, but he’s really gentle and soft. just think of him as a soft teddy bear because really that's all he is” y/n whispers making the little boy giggle thinking of the tall mean doctor dressed as a soft bear

“with that said, will you be okay to see Dr. Ushijima now?” y/n asks

shirabu nods with the picture of his doctor dressed as a bear freshly engraved into his mind

y/n nods and bows to shirabu’s mother before stepping out of the examination room to fetch the giant pediatrician

“he’s ready to see you now, he might actually be very excited” y/n informs ushijima

ushijima nods, takes a deep breath, and walks into the room shirabu is in

shirabu look up to the tall doctor, eyes still slightly glassy from his previous crying session

although he is still shaking in his child boots (shoes? sneakers? whatever shoes your heart desires) 

he refrains from screaming out, imagining the big man as a teddy bear like he has been for the past couple minutes

“hello, I am Dr. Ushijima and I am here to help you fix your problems” the giant doctor voices out, still nervous on the inside

after half and hour of speaking to shirabu, ushijima concludes that the poor boy just jammed his fingers and just needs to tape them

“may I ask what you were doing that caused you to jam your fingers?” ushijima asks gently

the boy shakily replies “I was setting the volleyball to my friend but my timing was off” 

ushijima eyes light up at the mention of volleyball as he ask incredulously, “you play volleyball?” 

the child nods timidly as ushijima gets a glint in his eyes that is unfamiliar to the poor boy

“I played in high school, I was a wing spiker” ushijima replies causing the child’s eyes to also light up 

“really, that’s so cool. I’ve been watching old clips from high school nationals and the wing spiker on shiratorizawa is amazing. he has so much power, I wish to set for him someday” shirabu rambles before he looks at ushijima and recognizes him from the videos he’s been watching

“WOAH YOU WERE THE ACE OF SHIRATORIZAWA FROM THE VIDEOS I WATCHED?!?” shirabu exclaims with stars shining in his eyes

ushijima chuckles and hums a positive answer causing the little boy to spitfire questions to the man such as:

how many points did you score each game?

did you ever break the floor with your serve?

has anyone ever broken a bone from your deadly spike?

shirabu’s mom began to scold shirabu for bombarding ushijima with too many questions making the poor toddler bow his head in shame and slap his chubby cheeks with his own hands as a self-punishment

ushijima seeing the poor inflict pain on himself began to panic and continuously ask the boy to stop hurting himself

“I would love to answer your questions sometime but I have a patient coming in 20 minutes but feel free to contact me through my email or phone number on the clinic website if you want to continue talking about volleyball. I see you have a great interest for it” ushijima says making shirabu look up adorned with red cheeks and starry eyes

shirabu nods eagerly asking his mom to help him use the computer when he gets home so he can talk to ushijima

“I also wouldn't mind coaching you on my off days.  I haven’t played volleyball in a long time so please toss for me sometime” ushijima says crouching down to the shirabu’s height and giving him a small smile

said boy squeals in excitement and claps his little hands together

“THANK YOU SO MUCH DR. USHIJIMA” shirabu exclaims, going in and giving ushijima a hug

shirabu’s mom could definitely be heard in the background lecturing shirabu on his manners and personal space

but ushijima doesn’t mind

in fact, he is touched that a patient feels so comfortable with him and enjoys his presence

releasing himself from shirabu’s hug he then speaks, “well then I’ll be off, I hope to hear from you soon” 

shirabu hops off the examination table and bows to the tall man and exclaims, “yes, thank you for everything, doctor”

shirabu grabs his mother’s hand and leaves the room as ushijima holds the door open for them

as ushijima walks into the office room, he sees y/n typing reports on the computer

he approaches her and taps her shoulder causing the poor girl to jump in her seat

“I apologize for startling you, I just wanted to thank you for helping me calm down shirabu earlier” ushijima shows his gratitude 

“it’s no big deal, I'm glad to be of use to the best pediatrician in the whole unit” y/n replies with a smile on her face

ushijima then notices his heart beat quickening and thumping louder than normal

he believes that anyone could hear its rapid beat without requiring a stethoscope 

[what-is-love-babey-dont-hurt-me]

The Best Laid Plans

> Chapter 1: The Sighting< Chapter 2

Summary:

Five of the finest minds that Planet Earth has to offer are brought together by a mission that will forever live in history. They are the crew of Humanity's paragon starship and they pave the way for future explorers.

The mission goes wrong when the existence of sentient aliens is confirmed. 

AO3

Notes: this fic is inspired by the concept of Among Us, but you don’t need to know the game to enjoy this story. CW: anxiety attack

.

The announcement that Humanity was done being alone was met with skepticism. Such an ambitious but vague mission statement made by the government seemed like an empty promise. 

Thomas remembered where he was when he saw it. It was a fall afternoon, during the slow lull between lunch and dinner, the TV in the corner was on the news channel. Thomas ended up joking with his coworkers about shaking hands with aliens while working at a coffee shop to pay off college debt. They all laughed and forgot about it because preparing for the next influx of customers was more important. 

The promise of The Day Dream did not seem like much until the ship began to be built. Then there were whispers of scouts visiting every small town and city, looking for any suitable candidates to join the crew. That was when he - and all of humanity - got swept up into the high. 

Everybody on Earth began paying attention to the exploration program, excitement for the future in those times was so common you could smell it in the air. By the time The Day Dream launched, everybody could tell you that they remembered where they were. There was more news coverage of their starship leaving the snaring grip of the atmosphere than the first moon landing. 

If Thomas ever got the opportunity, he would joke that he remembered the launch as if he were a pilot on the starship. 

Thomas, in his humble opinion, believed it took a different kind of person to drive a spaceship than it took to build one. Just getting something off of Earth was a feat that took hundreds of years. What got them this far was perfecting and going beyond the work of other humans long dead. Amassing a hoard of refined science until they made a tower of knowledge that could reach the stars. 

And Humanity did reach the stars. He was their cherry-picked ambassador. It was his job to lead the mission to create a stable bridge for future space farers. Both in the literal and diplomatic sense. Thomas still could not believe the honor was his.

But the Captain's disbelief is besides the point. The engineers and scientists who made The Day Dream were a brilliant crew who did not get enough recognition. The marvel of it all lie in how alive the ship felt. It felt so human. The engineers and the scientists outdid themselves.

The question the build team had to tackle was how to make long term space travel enjoyable. Was it possible to make a hollow metal vessel feel more like home than their planet ever was? All Thomas knows is during the short time he has been the pilot, he had concluded the answer must be yes. That is where the recognition fell short, Thomas thinks. Despite being hailed as a genius by Earth's media, his mind could not even begin to figure out how they did it.

Too bad the media was strictly forbidden from even looking at the ship. If they could not experience the wonder for themselves, there was no reason to write about it. To them it was just a glorified vessel, not unlike any other means of transport. Snooping into the lives of its personnel was more tangible for the press. Usually more rewarding too. 

The press had been suffocating. Thomas was relieved to be off that planet. 

There was nothing remarkable about him. Or anybody else here, he likes to think to himself. They are all wonderful people to be traveling with, brilliant minds, but not remarkable. Because he is as Human as the rest of them, and the pedestal they perched him on was one of sand. Just the lightest breeze and he will be lost to time. 

Now that he is living out every child's wildest dream, he knows. The Day Dream 's crew and their prestigious schooling meant nothing to the universe. But it was an honor to get to know the universe a bit better nonetheless. 

The ship woke it's Captain up with a gentle chime. 

And when Thomas did not get up the first time, the ship brightened the lights in his room. Very suddenly. 

That got Thomas' attention. The Day Dream could not do more than follow the alarms already set, unless something major triggered the override system. There were no klaxon alarms or notifications marked as urgent, so Permission from another administrator was needed for the lights to turn on. That meant the ship snitched on him to somebody already awake. Dream is getting smarter, Thomas laughed to himself. And this ship is full of traitors who think eight in the morning is an acceptable time to be awake. 

Jokes about betrayal aside, he knew there would at least be fresh caffeine waiting in the cafeteria. 

Thomas got out of the warm sleeping pod with a stretch that popped his back. The metal floors in his quarters were heated, but only enough to starve off frostbite. The cold making his toes curl woke up Thomas better than the lights. A chime from his com ringed across the room, listing duties for the day. He assured the ship that he would be present for the breakfast meeting requested by Roman in a timely manner. 

His loose definition of "timely manner" was to allow an optimal window to collect thoughts and set his 187th day in space up for success. The captain played music from home as he got ready. The bathroom was like every other room; spacious, clean, and bursting with plant life. The air never felt stuffy and the crew suspects (Patton, who was on the ship's build team, confirmed) it was designed that way. To help with homesickness.

The Day Dream was huge. Excessively so. The ship was only meant to only house five humans long term - and maybe, just maybe, any extraterrestrial life they will come across. For now, the rooms set aside for any new life would be empty. That meant some days, when everyone was too busy to spend time with anybody else, it felt like the plants growing in every nook and cranny of the rooms and hallways were his only companions. But business was business. And at the end of the day, nobody held it against each other. Today thankfully would not be like that.

Thomas pulled on the boots of his pristine white jumpsuit before he left his quarters. The doors locked behind him with a pneumatic hiss and the hall lights flicked on, illuminating his path one by one. There was a spring in his step as he made way through the maze of tall hallways. He barely acknowledged the sound of running water and smell of earth on either side of the metal path. The self sustained irrigation system was always at work, and with the wildflowers that started to bloom recently as a result in this part of the ship, any irritation was rendered null.

He arrived at the cafeteria where it was quiet, besides the ever present humming and the drip drip drip of the ship running itself. The caffeine dispenser had been preheated. Logan and Roman seemed to have already got to it. Virgil could do with the energizing benefit of caffeine if it was not for his anxiety disorder. Both crewmates were lounging in padded seats, a steaming cup in one hand and green flashing screens taking the rest of their attention. Thomas guessed they were reviewing the information about the meeting he was called for. Virgil, who seemed not to be fully awake yet, was slowly picking off the contents of his ration packet. 

"Where is Patton?" He flushed slightly at the outburst. Asking that before anything else was not his intention. 

Luckily nobody seemed to mind. Logan and Virgil turned their heads to him and acknowledged the captain with a good morning. Closing out of the menu, Logan answered, "I believe he was sanctioned an extra sleep cycle after the extended work he did last night. The ship refuses to go through the wake up procedures."

He lifted an eyebrow. "I don't think I ever gave the order for that. But The Day Dream can override an order if it seems necessary. What the hell was Patton doing last night?"

"He was helping me in the final stages of building the gate."

Thomas turned to look at Roman. "He-," that was not supposed to be possible. "The gate is supposed to be done next month, our fabricator can't work that fast."

"That's what I thought at first! But two weeks ago while helping me troubleshoot a problem, he found our combined efforts cleaved the build time in half!" 

Virgil chimed in, like it was news to him, "That's great, Princey. But how are we sure the quality was not compromised?"

"I'm so glad you asked bec-"

Logan cut Roman off. "We are sure because I have been keeping a close eye on the progress and have taken sporadic samples of the material. I also use the ship to ensure my analysis has no human errors."

"You'll have to send those numbers to me for final approval before we tell Mission Control. But this is amazing news! Why is this the first time i have heard about this?"

Suddenly Logan lost any confidence he had, and needed to pull up a screen again. Virgil deadpan looked at him and shrugged, going back to picking at his rations. Thomas managed to catch Roman's eyes and he cringed slightly, picking at his nails. "Well… we thought you would be angry that we didn't follow orders."

Thomas lifted a hand to his heart without registering that it happened. They thought that he would be angry? He never has shown that emotion to them then why? Was there a power imbalance here? Were they afraid of him or just the consequences of "disobedience". Of course, he always encouraged his crew to pursue and perfect science, just like the builders of the ship did. As long as nobody got hurt-

-and then he remembered about Patton. Why would the ship override a wake up protocol, especially if ordered by anybody, if there was not a reason? But he could not… Jumping to conclusions would not help. 

He sighed, Roman tensed but Thomas did not acknowledge it. "I'm not angry, Ro. You did a fantastic job."

"So we won't get punished?" It was small, hopeful.

"At most, you will be reprimanded with a tighter schedule, but that will be determined after investigation."

An investigation was not something he needed on his plate but apparently was now mandatory. Thomas did not want to say it out loud, but based on what he can tell, if the crew let Patton overwork himself, the strict schedule might go through. Like it or not, the existing schedule was in place for a reason and having his copilot out of commission could spell disaster for the mission and it's crew. The ship felt so safe, so much like home, but they were at the mercy of a cruel universe, anything can go wrong. 

Yet the small smile that broke out on Roman's face after getting his praise was too good to ruin. 

Thomas would indulge in a moment of weakness and lie. 

He only realised there was tension in the room when the air slowly became more breathable. He let himself enjoy a warm drink from the dispenser and his own share of rations before getting to work. He had the mind to have one of the ship's drones deliver food and drink to Patton's room to have when he woke up. Then Thomas glanced at the data himself. All the numbers and samples that Logan had run seemed to be perfect. He ran through the calculations manually himself to be sure. Still perfect.

So it was off to Mission Control. The message explained that his crew found a way to make the Star Gate mission more efficient. Surely, this was another thing they would be praised about. All of it was almost done.

"Roman, Mission Control has the data tables now. All we need to do is the final inspection before we can set course to Moon Titan." Thomas broke the news in a sing-song voice. Everybody in the room grew visibly excited. Thomas was almost sad that Patton was not here to complete their little crew. 

"That is fantastic!"

Logan hesitated before asking, "Was my work adequate to your standards?" 

Thomas nodded enthusiastically, "It had no errors I could catch, so you did great, Teach." The captain could have left it there, but he was feeling as exuberant as the rest of them. "In matter of fact, do you want to begin the system checks so we can be ahead of schedule for the journey to Moon Titan?" The gleam in Logan's eyes spoke volumes more than the affirmative confirmation he gave. Virgil had jumped at the opportunity to join and the two ventured off into the expansive halls of the ship. 

Roman was already at Thomas's heels when the two men left the room. "Do you want me to escort you to the hull of the ship? I believe you have a date with my wonderful creation." 

Thomas could not hide his admittedly dopey smile if he wanted to. This man and his dramatics did a lot to keep the ship lively. He accepted the offer, and let Roman do most of the talking while they descended through the guts of the ship. Plant life slowly became less abundant and the mechanical whirls and pulses became louder. When they stopped at the door of a decontamination chamber, Roman gestured to a wall of headsets.

"Personal protective equipment is mandatory past this point," Roman said, an apologetic smile on his face. 

Thomas did not comment on the fact that Roman added a personal touch to his headset. The paint was a vibrant red and the acrylic of the earmuffs seemed to glow. His own pair was only cold and metallic, and Thomas briefly noted he had no idea how long ago Roman added those changes. He could see in the cabinet that Patton had a similar headset, but in the teal color he loved so much. He would have to have The Day Dream permit more time in this part of the ship. 

Today was a successful day but something unsavory was settling into his core. Thomas was a bit out of the loop with his crew, he was starting to realize.

He swallowed down the inklings of a bitter taste and turned to the cabinet containing more mandatory protective wear. He would not take it personally. He slipped a hazmat suit over the jumpsuit. Thomas and the rest of the crew were just coworkers. Black gloves slipped over his sleeves and closed with a snap! They were all friendly, sure, but this was a science expedition, not a family road trip. The spotless boots he normally wore were left in one of the lockers, swapped out for steel toe boots. If his happy-go-lucky mood had suddenly dropped he did nothing to fix it.

Thomas followed Roman into the decontamination lock without a word.

As they exited, Roman clapped his hands and he saw the walls come alive around him. This area was lined with pods containing work assistant androids lit up and awaiting commands. His crewmate fiddled with a personal command key secured on his wrist, the assistants moved in synch around their feet, opening the doors to the hull. It was a massive room, bigger than most warehouses on Earth. It was perfectly suited for projects this size and storing the raw materials needed to make the Star Gates.

Hung on the ceiling of the room was the largest fabricator on the ship. Other smaller ones were littered about in rooms like that cafeteria and navigation, but were only capable of producing small objects. The machine, though modeled after a vintage 21st century machine called a 3D printer, was cutting edge. All it needed was raw material and a recipe to follow. On a raised platform below it lay the gate.

"I always forget how massive these are in person," Thomas breathed reverently. The smallest section was the length of a school bus, and sprawled much further than that.

"We put a Star Gate up on the Moon not even three months ago, Sir," Roman laughed. Thomas crossed his arms in mock anger, making Roman laugh more.

He had a point, though. Before The Day Dream is permitted to leave the solar system, it is their job to leave gates. Not every spaceship is created equal, only government sanctioned ships are allowed to have a warp core. Warp cores allow for a ship to change the very fabric of space around a ship, changing the location instantaneously. Teleportation is the unofficial name for it. But space travel would be too slow even if they had learned how to go beyond the speed of light.

The solution had been Star Gates. These opened up worm holes for ships that did not have access to warping. The gates were to be left at popular destinations. A trip to the moon that might have taken six months only took an hour. Soon a trip to Moon Titan, which revolved around Saturn, was in order. The possibility that it might contain life made it a hotspot for researchers. Their final goal was to leave a gate at Pluto, then the true expedition could begin. Once the path for other explorers is paved, The Day Dream will be allowed to search for sentient life. For now they were to travel with solar sails while waiting for each gate to be built.

Roman pointed Thomas to a messy desk, "Your checklist should be on there." Thomas, however, was lost. He opted to watch as Roman walked up to a group of assistants drones and dismissed them. The new ones that followed Roman and Thomas in picked up on the work as the old ones backed into charging ports. As they met eyes, he shook his head in a gesture he hoped communicated his confusion.

Roman got the memo, because he jogged to where Thomas stood, looking over his shoulder. He leaned into Thomas' shoulder to pick up the empty report and handed Thomas the tablet with a flourish. The almost-contact felt nice. Thomas made a mental note to ask Mission Control about the correlation between space travel and being touch starved.

There was not time to linger on that though, because Roman was too ecstatic to wait. He personally showed Thomas the work that he and Patton had done. Every individual thing he crossed out on the list pointed to a success. Two hours spent inspecting seams, double checking wiring, and doing strength tests went by without notice and soon Thomas forgot about any bad mood he was in because it was done!

"I can't wait to deliver this to Mission Control!"

Roman was not quite used to seeing the captain as anything other than a collected leader, but this change was good. "So we passed the final inspection?"

"With flying colors."

His smile brightened. "I bet we should start preparing for our warp to Moon Titan."

Thomas gave his approval, and Roman started to conduct the service drones around him like a symphony. Mission Control replied minutes later and Thomas knew everybody who was not occupied saw that the clearance to warp had been granted. As the complete Star Gate was being pushed to the path that lead to the bay, he waved Roman goodbye.

He walked back through the decontamination chamber and set the protective gear he had been wearing into a bin for specific cleaning. Setting his appearance back into place did not take long, and soon he was led away from the smell of grease and metal to the more comforting crisp air of the upper levels.

Logan appeared by his side just a moment later. "I have the results of the diagnostics scan ready for you, Sir."

"Are we all clear?"

"Sadly not." Logan shook his head and turned a tablet for him to look at. "The lower right corner of the starboard solar sail has significant damage."

"I bet it was stray debris," Thomas shifted on his feet before asking, "Can we go without it?"

Logan hated to be the bearer of bad news, "We can, but our navigation route will need to be recalculated completely."

It made sense, Thomas thought. Even subtle shifts in angle can land them in a completely different location then intended. He thought about it a little longer. "I think we should fix the problem now, the Moon Titan base won't miss an extra day without us."

"Yes sir. I'll send Roman a request to prepare the right materials for the patch. Do you know who is to accompany you on the space walk?"

Thomas shook his head. Logan took the screen back from Thomas to open up the schedule log. "Patton would have been ideal, but he is still out of commission. I recommend Virgil."

.

.

In half of a day, they were ready. It was easy for Thomas to report the damage reports to Mission Control, to state they wish to run repairs before anything else, and for the approval for the small mission to be granted.

For the second time that day, Thomas went through the task of putting on personal protective wear, but joined by Virgil and a lifeless service drone. The solar sail patch and other needed tools were handled by the drone. Thomas knew the ship better than the medic did, so he and the drone would be the one doing most of the work. Virgil was to be the one communicating with Mission Control so Thomas could focus and he was a second pair of eyes to ensure nothing went wrong.

Virgil probably was the one who took this task the most serious, only bested by Logan. Soon enough, the small group was seen out of the airlock by Logan and Roman, and the repairs were under way.

Virgil knew space walks were consequential. If he lost focus at the wrong moment there was every possibility he could end up drifting in space. If Thomas noticed in time, he could have Logan or Roman retrieve him by using one of the smaller ships in the bay. But that possibility weighed heavily on a " if".

Every space walk before this one went off without a hitch. But Virgil's stomach was turning uncomfortably and his ears were straining to pick up anything.

He knew sound can not travel in space.

Pesky instincts were screaming that something was wrong. He needed to pay attention, be alert and ready to fight. Protect himself, The Day Dream , and all the lives within it. Something bigger, smarter than him was lurking in the unforgiving void behind him. A predator, surely, with steps quiet as a leopard midhunt, and a maw stronger than any alligator. That means twice as painful. Three times as ruthless. The crowning crux of slaughter machines, delivered to the doorstep of the spaceship by Mother Nature herself and her sick sense of humor.

But when he turned around, the only thing he was was Thomas crouched over the massive solar sail, the ship under his feet, and the stars.

It might be just anxiety. Might. No, is. It has to be just anxiety. He should trust his eyes. Because he knows his mind is not rational when he gets like this. He will not think normal until it passes. He will not because it is impossible. Something is wrong. What is making him like this? This morning Virgil did not intake any caffeine, and his nutrition logs of the rest of the day indicate no other food-born anxiety stimulates. He even took the anxiety suppressant prescribed by his therapist on Earth this morning, like every morning before.

Nothing is wrong. Why does he feel so unsafe? He does not like it, he does not like the fear for his life-

He was spiraling. His vision blanked and he did not register Thomas' questioning voice over the com. Virgil's senses did not register in the moment, except for smell. Because this smell was out of place. The instinct was right, right, rIgHt . Somet h in g waS wRoNG. Was his suit breached? Oh stars have mercy he was going to die right here, wasn't he? The foreign scent of ozone filled his suit a split second before he felt it.

ZAP!

Then… nothing.

Well nothing was not the right word for it, because there was his beating heart and the sound of blood rushing through his own body. It was the shock of everything feeling regular again. Like a reset button was pressed. The universe must have felt merciful today for that alien feeling did not hurt. It felt wrong, invasive. Very much like burning and bright electricity had just reached into every crevice of his body. The feeling was uninvited and deeply intrusive. But it did not hurt.

He was so shocked in that moment he forgot about that spiral before it came back. He could feel Thomas by his side, a hand on his shoulder. Despite the fog of an anxiety creeping into his system, it was strangely grounding.

"-gil, this is my final time requesting this. If you do not answer me now then we have to null this mission."

That was Thomas. Not invasive ozone-electricity from the stars, his mocking self doubt, or a intrusive thought deadset on letting him break. It was his captain, a man he trusted. His authoritative voice rang through a speaker in his helmet, not even a hint of static. And he wanted an answer, right. "I'm present, sir. Sorry."

The relief in Thomas' heart was tangible. Though he knew Virgil could not see through the glare of the visor, he smiled for him anyways. He had been worried! The captain moved closer and held his hand over the vitals monitor on Virgil's suit. Virgil did not push him away so he started the mandatory scan. "I'm glad to have you back. We need to check your vitals and suit systems before proceeding with anything."

"Sorry, sir. I believe I had an anxiety attack," he explained with an unsteady voice. "My senses didn't register except for a weird smell. Ozone, I think? And I felt a weird zap before I got over it."

Thomas encouraged the explanation. They would go over the audio logs later and archive this incident. Any possible suit malfunctions needed to be reported to Mission Control. Then they would report it to Roman, who will use the fabricator to replace the faulty one. These reports are endless, Thomas thought, tired. It did not end there. If they expended those resources, they would need to get more raw materials. That was all in a day's work, though. Maybe he could get Virgil off of the space walk roster if being out of the ship was a trigger. While a pleasure to work with, his mental health came first to convenience.

He was reading off the screen now. "Your adrenaline levels are spiked, but that is expected. Your hormones outside of stress response are normal. The O2 levels in your blood are normal. You have six hours of oxygen left in your tank. All the circuits are operational-"

"Thomas!" Virgil's voice ran in through the coms, an uncharacteristically urgent tone ringing in his ears. It threw him for a loop and he did not answer fast enough. The results of Virgil's vital scans were all positive, did he say something to make it worse? And then again, louder, "Thomas, please!"

"Is... everything alright?"

"No! Yes? I- um, Maybe?"

A trickle of unease settled deep in the Captain's core. "What is going on?"

"I think I saw something flying, and I don't- We need to go back inside, Thomas please. I can't do this right now."

He listened.

The mission was called null right then and there and he picked up a few pieces of the repair kit with a haste to satisfy his crewmate. The repair drone was following behind them, unaffected by the events.

But the strangest feeling ran through his body when he reached his hand out to Virgil.

He let out a gasp in surprise, and Virgil heard it over the still connected com link. It was the gentle tickle of electric curiously dancing in and out of every nook and cranny of his body. It was quizzical, and embodied a researcher like him.

As it left, he swore the smell of ozone lingered in his suit and that he too saw something move in the corner of his eye. The shape of a black triangle. Massive and looming and definitely not natural and definitely something he was scared of. He could only tell it was there because the stars disappeared behind it. A row of lights flickered on, and Thomas was paralyzed. Virgil had seen it too, but responded by dragging his stupefied captain to the airlock with unprecedented urgency.

It was gone suddenly as it came.

[lilibetts]

Sometimes A Girl Just Wants Some...

Falling in love with Riverdale, Theme 2: Spicy

Part 1/3

The 14th of February. A fraught time for the serially single in New Haven, to hear Veronica describe it.

“The end of Cuffing Season is nigh!” she proclaimed, holding an enormous dildo aloft.

(“That’s Colt,” their boss, Zelda Spellman, had explained when she hired Betty, upon seeing the younger woman’s wide-eyed fascination. “He’s a replica of a porn star’s penis. A very popular order, but also a very popular return.”)

In true Veronica Lodge fashion, she didn’t seem the least bit put out by this development. Next to her, Kevin Keller seemed markedly somber, but that was because his own casual boyfriend had ditched him on the very last day of January.

Betty, however, was indifferent in opinion to it all.

From her seat next to their workstation, she held up her pink mug with the penis-shaped handle in a toast. “Cheers, I deleted Findr from my phone,” she announced before taking a gulp of lukewarm coffee.

“Betty!” 

“Betty!” 

Both Veronica and Kevin were aghast.

“It’s barely February. What happened to TwentyTwenty being ‘The Year of Horny Betty’?” asked Kevin.

In her defense, she’d made that New Year’s Resolution last December, after one of those ‘look at your life, look at your choices’ epiphanies that left her life seeming very lacking. The reality of putting herself out there on a matchmaking app and meeting with the rare specimen who didn’t seem completely terrible and who seemed to have an actual body that was not 100% an ugly penis, however, had been nowhere near as exciting as she’d expected.

She was saved by Kevin’s computer chiming. “Sorry, satisfaction waits for no gossip.” He tapped a few keys and answered the incoming call. “Good afternoon and welcome to the Toyz R Us Customer Support Helpline. My name is Kevin. How may I help you today?”

Veronica’s computer chimed too and she pointed an expensively manicured, accusative finger in Betty’s direction. “Don’t think you’re getting away with this!” She hissed before taking the call.

Toyz R Us only had two brick-and-mortar stores, but it did fairly well with online sales in New England. Betty had only taken the job because she needed some extra spending money around the holidays, and she’d stuck with it into the following semester because she liked the new friends she’d made and found the atmosphere surprisingly enjoyable. At least she got to put her writing skills to good use, even if it was for composing informative, yet enticing descriptions of sex toys.

Of course, her parents had no idea she worked here, and if she was careful enough, they never would.

Veronica’s call ended much more quickly once the man on the other end realized she wasn’t Cheryl. Unfortunately, Cheryl Blossom’s brusque and insulting phoneside manner was such a turn-on to a specific subset of men that she really could’ve started her own side hustle and made bank. Ridiculous bank.

“No sir, I can’t tell you how much thicker it will make your penis. We do recommend that if you use a penis pump, you do so regularly and continually,” Kevin advised before tapping a few keys and removing his headset. To Veronica and Betty, he exclaimed. “That idiot just asked me how much bigger the penis pump would make his dick...my god, how would he think we’d know?”

Betty snorted as she stood, penis-mug in hand. 

“Hey!” Kevin called after her. “We weren’t finished!”

“My break time’s over!”

There actually were a few minutes left of her break, but she had a good reason for being sneaky. You see, it might be Valentine’s Day, but it was also a Friday, and Fridays at Toyz R Us meant freebies in the Friday Reject Box. Due to the sheer volume of products that got moved between Christmas and Valentine’s Day, management had provided them with *two* Friday Reject Boxes.

Betty was a college student at heart—if she was going to support her newfound lingerie and sex toy habit, she had to avail herself of cheap and free products whenever possible. 

Carefully sticking her head out around hallway corners, Betty tiptoed around the building like Nancy Drew herself, on the lookout for her coworkers. 

It had taken her about a month of working here before she stopped feeling embarrassed by the products, although she tried to always approach it as any other job...with professionalism.  Still, there was something illicitly thrilling about being twenty years-old and working at Toyz R Us that made Betty feel like a truly independent woman, more so than moving 350 miles away from her hometown.

Betty wasn’t inexperienced, exactly, but she’d been raised a very straitlaced 'good-girl-next-door' and while college had done wonders for her independence and self-affirmation, she still struggled with the idea of discussing sex with her friends/coworkers.

Luckily, she made it to the table holding the Friday Reject Boxes without running into anyone, and Betty wasted no time starting to rifle through them. Hurry, hurry, before anybody else comes and sees you.

In the first one, there was a Fingo Nubby finger vibrator, a very intimidating looking Booty Camp Training Kit that featured three sizes of anal plugs. She didn’t care for the pink crotchless tights but she grabbed the package with the lavender babydoll that had small slits for the nipples and a matching set of panties with an open crotch. That went on the table, and, after assessing the toys in the first box, the Sweetheart Choker and finger vibrator was added to the small but growing pile of goodies. Just the thought of playing with those was already turning her on. With hot cheeks, she turned to the second box.

Since she started working at Toyz R Us, Betty had been exploring her own sexuality, giving more consideration to what actually turned her on and put aside the time to make herself feel good.

She was distracted from the quick nature of her mission when she noticed a stack of dvd cases towards the bottom. “Ooh,” she cooed, intrigued. “The Seduction of Heidi.” That was added to her pile. She skipped The Best of Ron Jeremy and picked up 49 Positions for Lovers, whose cover promised better sex for couples. Well, the way her sex life had been going lately, Betty needed all the help she could get. 

Deciding she had enough, and that she really should be nice enough to leave some things for her coworkers, Betty gathered up her loot and spun around, only to collide with the hard body of the man who had been standing behind her. She yelped and felt a few of her selections spill out of her arms as she nearly stumbled backwards into the table.

Strong arms grabbed ahold of her, righting her, and Betty’s eyes widened when she realized who it was.

“Jughead,” she croaked. “Have you come to look through the Reject Boxes?” 

Jughead Jones was more or less her mentor on the Content team, in some ways her boss. It was him to whom she showed her first product descriptions for approval, him who she worked hard to please. Over the months, they’d gotten to chatting from time to time, and that had been how she found out he was working on writing his first novel.  

Over the weeks, they had shared their personal work—chapters and articles—for the other to comment on. Jughead encouraged her, Betty cheerleaded him. She came to admire him...his intelligence, soul, personality...and she liked to believe he did so for her, as well. He was thoughtful, too, in a way that threw her because none of her boyfriends had been this attentive...it had always been her that listened and took care of people. Jughead turned the temperature up in their office and kept it relatively higher than he was comfortable with because Betty had kept shivering and working with thick cardigans and hoodies on. He remembered how she liked her coffee and made sure their room had a steady supply of scrap paper and colored pens so she could work out word choice and technical phrasing before typing anything up.

One thing was for certain: she was ponytail over heels in lust with him.

She wanted him to do things to her. Things.

Jughead stood there and adjusted his crown beanie ever so slightly. “Uh, yeah, I’ll just…” he trailed off and, to her horror, he bent down to pick up the things she’d just dropped. All she could do was watch as he straightened up and glanced at the educational dvd and the choker before handing them back to her. “Here, Betty.” 

She couldn’t even look him in the eye, so she stood there, intensely aware of the flush climbing up her chest and into her cheeks.

Betty wanted to die.

“Thanks. Uh...I better go get back to work. I’ll see you when your break’s over. Bye!” She couldn’t get away fast enough.

Once she turned the corner, however, Betty did not head back to the Content room. Instead, she slowly craned her head around the corner, just enough to see Jughead as he bent over one of the Friday Reject Boxes. Scarcely daring to breathe, she watched as he quickly grabbed two dvds. Squinting, she recognized them. Scooby-Doo: A XXX Parody, and The Twenty: Self Pleasuring, which featured a bunch of solo female masturbation scenes.

Well.

She knew what tonight’s masturbatory fantasy was going to be about.

[un-piorthos-et-tous-pour-un]

The thrilling adventures of a PA - Chapter Two : The wardrobe malfunction (Adam Sackler x Reader)

After a couple of days on the job, you’re already getting your bearings around the sets and locations where you’re the most likely to go during the day. Shirley & Stew gave you tips on how to be a good PA and some gossips too. You like them, they’re friendly (even thought Shirley’s a little too girly for your taste) and mainly, they don’t make you feel ouf of place because you’re new, both on the team and on the job. The first night, you fell asleep straight away in your bed, something that didn’t happen to you since forever and luckily, before you drifted off, you made sure to set up two alarms. But you’re already feeling better, your internal clock starting to adjust and well, not gonna lie about it, coffee helps (like a lot). As for your job per se, you’re getting more comfortable with Adam. You talked together the previous evening after he was done filming, at his request (which surprised you in a good way), learning more about each other over a little cuppa and you must admit, Delilah was right. He’s not so weird once you understand where he’s coming from, in his private life. He wasn’t too sharing of course, just giving some info here and there about himself, his family & what led him to acting. What was needed for you two to work well together you’d say. Afterall, you’d be seeing each other every day for the next six or eight months so there’ll be plenty of time to chat some more during that period.

Today there is some costume fitting on the schedule and you can’t wait to see that part as you’ve always loved costumes. Nerdy as you are, cosplay is nothing unheard of for you & you dabbled more than once in the craft yourself, the couples of costumes hidden in your cupboard proving it. Fascinated by period costumes, you always thought the people making those elaborate dresses were magicians. Laced bits that looked so fragile, pearls & jewels woven on precious fabrics, cleavages that contained so many details to make the person wearing it even more convincing in their role. And that was only the women’s part. In your humble opinion, men dressed in period clothes had something almost superenatural. A good suit could make a real gentlemen out of anybody (as the movie Kingsman proved it -yeah you really loved that movie-)  If lingerie was the secret weapon of women, suits were men’s equivalent. There was something about a well-tailored suit that just made you feel weak in the knees. Suddenly you find yourself picturing Adam in one. He’d look quite dashing you gather, his tall figure would be even more obvious, his frame underlined in the right places... And that’s where you stop yourself daydreaming. You’ve got chores to do before going to the studio so you better start moving if you want to do everything & be on time for work. Last thing you need right now is fantasizing about a man that one, you hardly know, & two, you have no fucking chance to ever be with. Leaving your bike at the entrance, greeting Al the studio’s security guard agent as he puts down the barrier after you, you rush to the catering area to get what you need for Adam & indulge yourself with a little bit of that delicious brownie that stood there, begging to be eaten. And since you only had a toast before you took off, well it counts as breakfast in your eyes. The two cups ready, you thank the barista and walk to Adam’s trailer. No sign of any of your coworkers yet, which makes you wonder if you’re late or something but not much time to second guess, you’ve got a schedule to follow. Knocking on the door quickly, you step back a little since the door opens to the outside and a few seconds later, it reveals the actor, dressed in a grey t-shirt paired with a matching sweat pants and the morning face that goes with it. You chuckle slightly at that vision & automatically offer him his cup of coffee, which he reaches for without thinking, greeting your gesture with a grunt. - “Not a morning person ?”, you ask still a bit amused by the litte scene you just witnessed. - “Usually I am but I didn’t get a proper night of sleep so... Thanks for the coffee,” he motions the cup towards you before gulping some long sips down. - “Sorry to hear about that”, you say with a compationate pout. He shrugs to say it doesn’t matter and you don’t dare ask what kept him awake. It’s not your place and certainly not your right. You’re here to make sure he gets where he needs to be on time, not to befriend him. But still, it hurts to see him like this and you have to block out that urge to hug him that’s creeeping in your mind. “Today’s pretty light regarding your schedule. You’ll have time to rest this afternoon,” you announce, breaking the silence that fell between you two since. - “I doubt I’ll be able to take a nap but nice of you to think about my weel-being”, he replies with a faint smile a he puts the cup on the table near him. - “That’s part of my job afterall”, you retort playfully enven though it trully is. “You’re expected in the wardrobe department in 45 minutes, do you need me to do anything in the mean time ?” - “Hmm... Nothing that I can think of right now, no. How long will the fitting be again ?”, he asks as he reaches for the fridge to get himself something to eat. “Do you want some ?”, he adds as he retrieves some eggs & bacon, turning to the tittle kitchen corner behind him. - “No thanks. I’m all set, thank you”, you decline the offer with a polite smile and add “about 2 hours according to the sheet, could be less, could be more depending on how many they want you to try out and additional fittings.” - “I thought this was your first time as a PA, how do you know all that ?”, he’s breaking an egg in the pan as he asks you that, making you blush instantly. - “It is yeah but... I’m, uh... I watch a lot of documentaries of my favorite movies behind the scenes, precisely because it lets you see that side of the process while making a movie so...”, you answer, feeling silly to tell him the truth and such a glimpse in your little unadventurous life. - “Oh god no, there’ll be one for this movie too. I hate those, I can’t see myself on any screen, I’ll look like a dick again”, he grunts as he’s scrambling the eggs now. You chuckle a little, releasing the breath you didn’t realize you were holding until then and he looks at you hearing it. “What’s so funny ?” - “I just find it odd that you can’t stand seeing yourself like that since well, no offense but...it’s kind of part of the job ? I mean it’s not like you weren’t aware it would be something you’ll have to do, it has to be included in your contract or something, right ?” - “Maybe, yeah, I guess so”, he says hastily and you can’t help but smile guessing he didn’t pay attention to this fine print when he signed it. He puts his breakfast in a plate and starts eating. “I’ll meet you outside in 25 minutes, I have to take a quick shower first.” You nod simply as he’s biting in his strip of bacon and without further a due, you take your leave. On the clock, 25 minutes later, the actor’s exiting his trailer, hair still wet which gives him some sort of a charm but you start walking in front of him, preventing yourself from making any misplaced look. The walk is silent ‘til you reach the building housing the wardrobe department, where you immediately feel at home, weirdly enough. There is some sort of background buzzing, you can hear & imagine the people working here, like little busy bees, making sure the costumes were perfect in order to sell the character to the audience. If you were a bit more crafty, you’d like to work in that kind of environment, very creative and never dull. - “Adam hi, Y/N welcome ! I’m Dylan, head of the department”, an older man introduces himself to you, very cheerful & full of energy. He’s not standing still and already next to the clothes racks, scanning them to find the ones Adam’s supposed to try out. “We’ve got a treat for you Mr. Sackler, I’m sure you’ll love it,’ he says, completely ignoring you as you return his greetings, Adam smiling uncomfortably at you. You let them proceed to the fitting, sitting in the corner and scrolling through your phone in order to catch up with the latest news & the messages you’ve received from Stew & Shirley. When you look up, you see Adam’s frame, shielded by Dylan but since he’s taller, you still catch a good glimpse and feel your cheek blush. Luckily the doesn’t notice so you check the time and let your gaze wander the room. The amount of pieces is impressive and you’d like to try many of them on. The fabric seems so soft on one dress that’s laying on the rack in the back of the room. Dylan’s talking non-stop & it’s starting to get on your nerves and you notice Adam is feeling the same way as you see his fists clenched at his sides. As your eyes meet, you can’t help but smile to let him know you share his pain. And it seems to help him a little since he smiles back and runs his hand in his hair, unwinding. You take that as your cue to get up and indulge your curiosity, taking a closer look to some of the costumes. Youd hand grazes over the soft velvet from a cape and your mind sets off in another time & place. It’s Adam’s voice that resonates behind you which brings you back, startling you a little. - “Try one on”, he says smiling like an idiot, clearly amused to caught you off guard. - “What ? No, I can’t, I won’t fit in any of them anyway”, you reply, taking a step back as if the rack was going to attack in defense, making Adam chuckle from the motion. - “Nonsense, here, try that one”, he takes one off the rack and hands it to you. “I won’t look, I swear”, he adds and raises his eyebrows, clearly instructing you to change. He stares at you & you know you’re not getting out of this one so you go in the corner and start undressing behind a screen. Surprisingly, you fit in that dress, making you wonder how he knew it’d fit without any doubt. - “I’m done”, you inform the tall man who turns around and smiles as he takes in the sight of you. “Don’t you dare laugh at me, this was your idea”, you add, pointing a finger at him. - “I wasn’t going to”, he says, raising his hands in the air to show his good faith, “but you look good. Purple suits you”; he replies as he steps closer to take a better look. “Turn around”, he asks and you comply. Once again, you sense your cheeks blushing but you take a deep breath as your back is facing him & manage to regain composure before you finish your turn. “My lady”, he teases you, faking a bow and you slap his hand in response. - “You’re mean, as no one ever told you that ?” - “I’ve lost count to be honest”, he quips back, grinning like an idiot. - “Why am I not surprised”, you retort as you walk back to the screen in order to change back in you clothes. But as you try to unzip the dress, you realize something’s off. The zipper is stuck. You curse under your breath and try it a couple more time but it doesn’t move. Just what you needed to ridicule yourself in front of him. - “It’s stuck !”, you yelp quickly, hoping he’ll come to your rescue. And luckily, he does. - “What did you do ?”, he asks, trying to move the zipper further down. - “Nothing ! It’s just stuck ! Get me out !”, you cry out, a slight panic attack coming up for you right now. What if Dylan or someone else catch you in that dress ? You could lose your job and you can’t afford that right now. Adam feels the build up and rests one of his hand on your shoulder. - “Relax. Breathe. It won’t move if you’re about to hulk out of this dress.” You’re close to snap back at him but you know he’s only trying to help you so you do as told and take a deep breath, closing your eyes to focus on anything else in order to calm down. Within a few seconds, your breathing’s even and you feel a sudden relief in your back. The zipper budgeg, you can finally get out of that dress. You let out a sigh of content, not even realizing that it meant Adam could now see your bra. From the back only, but still. - “I’ll... I’ll leave you to it then”, the actor says as he steps back and leave you behind the screen to take off the dress on your own. You felt some hesitation in his voice, was he flustered ? No, of course he wasn’t silly, you think to yourself, shaking your head as you put on your clothes. Why would he be flustered from that ? Stepping out of your hiding spot, you cough to let him know you’re done & you both stay silent for a few seconds. That’s precisely the moment Dylan comes back (you didn’t even noticed he was gone in the first place) and he’s still talking without any signs of stopping, offering you two a good excuse to act like nothing happened. When you both leave after Adam is done, none of you talk about the dress incident and you’re relieved because you’re still wondering if what you saw earlier on was real or just what you wanted to see. The day goes on smoothingly after that, having lunch with the other PAs helps you set your mind on something else and you decide to act as if it never happened is the best way to avoid creating any trouble with the tall man you’re working for.

[tera-91]

The Mind Palace

Summary: Roman gets a new job at a small café and meets people he didn't know he needed.

Paring: Maybe

Warnings eventually: Food, diabetes, knives 

Word count: 789

Part 1

             Roman was a recent hire of the Mind Palace. At first, he was a little insecure. He essentially only found the cute café thanks to his cousin Remy, who thankfully was willing to help him find a job, but as he stepped in on his first day those jitters completely melted away. Don’t get him wrong the owner, Thomas, was really nice when he went in for the interview and he was looking forward to working here, but it was still his first day.

             The atmosphere was somehow warmer, and more chaotic, than when he was there last. Then again, the café was actually in full swing this time instead of right as it was opening. “Hi! my name is Patton! Are you by yourself today?” A welcomingly chipper voice pulled Roman’s focus away from the various knick-knacks the place held. Wow the place sure lived up to its name, it had so many small details that Roman could get swept away in. He looked down at the cinnamon haired co-worker, he had a coworker wow that was a weird concept, and bowed at the waist.

             “Ah, I apologize my dear Patton as I am not a patron, but I am here for my first day. My name is Roman Royal perhaps Thomas might have mentioned my arrival?” Roman asked in his theater voice which luckily hid his still present, but dwindling, nervousness.

             Patton’s face scrunched in cute confusion until Roman could practically see the lightbulb manifest itself about the shorter one’s head. “Oh yes I remember it now, Thomas said something about a new person briefly before Joan barged in. I’m sorry about that lets go get you your shirt it’s back in the office.”

             Roman followed Patton down a short hallway towards a different office than Roman had been in previously. Patton opened the door to reveal a man that could have been Patton’s brother they looked very much alike. They both wore the same glasses frame and had similar facial features. However, they were distinctly different, while Patton was very bubbly and open he was a rather strict looking man. He sat behind the desk wearing a mostly solid button-up shirt with a tie that had subtle embroidery. “Patton, I do believe we have patrons in the café right now shouldn’t you be attending to their needs? Or is there a problem that needs a swift solution?” The man asked without looking up from the computer monitor. Roman was slightly amused and intimidated by his matter-of-fact demeanor.  

             “Yes and yes.” Patton said very upbeat and was practically bouncing on his toes. The man finally looked up from the screen at Patton agreeing that there was a problem. Roman practically wilted in his gaze, enough so that he took a very minor step to the right to be slightly behind Patton. Patton gently put a hand on the small of Roman’s back and pushed him towards Logan. “This kiddo needs a shirt so he can help me with the guests!”

             “Ah” Logan said as he pushed his glasses up before he stood up. Roman was slightly surprised at the height of the man, he must have been close to six and a half feet tall. “Very well, I will take care of it Patton. Please go back to our guests and he will rejoin you shortly.” He said as he turned his back.

             Patton seemed satisfied with the answer and bounded off with a quick reassuring smile to Roman. “Thomas told me of your impending arrival, however he failed to inform me of what size shirt you would require. I made a calculated guess from how Thomas described you. It was mostly accurate.” He said as he reached into a filing cabinet drawer and pulled out red shirt that had the Café’s logo on the back between the shoulders and his name embroidered across the left side of the chest. It was identical to Patton’s except the color. “Most establishments would wait for a predetermined amount of time to ensure the individual is worth the expense of personalization.” Logan said in a deadpan voice as he sat back down behind the desk with his elbows propped on it and chin resting on folded hands. Roman visibly shrunk as Logan looked him over but kept a firm grip on the shirt. “From what I have gathered from Thomas he believes there is no such concern. Please change and rejoin Patton with the guests.” Logan said as he returned his full attention to his computer. Roman made his way out the door of the office with a slight fault in his step. He went to turn around when he heard Logan’s voice once again “Second door on your left.” 

@tinkslittlebelle  @teacupfulofstarshine @random-name-here @kindly-falling @xx-fandom-potato-xx @sylveon-lover-crazyfangirl1415 @sandersfander1820 @downrightdanny @i-do-not-dislike-fudge @not-so-innocent-bi-sander @princeanxious @teacupfulofstarshine

[thelittleredheadedmusician]

Holiday Cheer?

For @newsies-secret-santa I got @radioactivepigeons which is kinda funny and I thought was totally rad so please enjoy this silly fic! Words: 4,637 Rating: PG Summary: Blink got a job at Target and has to work Black Friday in the electronics department. Really things can only go up from here. AO3

Blink wanted to die. Well not literally. But if the choices were death and this? At least he wouldn’t have been miserable with the former.

He’d needed the extra cash, even though he despised the holiday season and the capitalist hellscape that it created with a deep burning passion, Blink’s laptop was about to die and there was just no way he could buy a new one and pay rent for the month. Thus, the seasonal hours he was picking up at a Target out on Long Island. Which meant working Black Friday. Joy to the ducking world. 

It was now almost three hours into his shift and he was being screamed at by his fourth Suburban Mom With Bad Highlights. Honestly? Blink was kinda numb to it at this point. In some not so distant aisle a baby wailed. Soccer Mom took a breath and Blink seized his opportunity before she could continue yelling at him.

“I’m sorry ma’am but we are sold out. Our system says that there’s three left at our West Orange location though.” 

She huffed but grabbed her cart and shoved her way out of the electronics department. 

In the aftermath, Blink allowed his faux charming smile to falter for just a second. He hadn’t been able to let it drop so far since his manager had informed him that the costumers might find his eye patch “off putting” which he would normally reply a “fuck you” to but he really needed this job.

If Blink’s ancient laptop finally bit the dust, then he wouldn’t be able to use the text to speech program that he needed to complete his readings. Because after a day full of classes, meetings, essays, research, and TA-ing he was tired. Reading was just. Not an option. He was lucky his vision held out until he got home. If his laptop died, he could kiss his long dreamt of PhD in English Lit goodbye. And Blink was one stubborn son of a bitch so that was not happening. He’d gotten this far; he could get through December.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

He had to get through today first though. And damn these people were sure making that hard. 

The baby stopped crying abruptly and a John Mulaney quote sprung to Blink’s mind. He didn’t mean to, but he mumbled it anyway, “You hope it was a miracle… but probably not.” 

A muffled snort sounded from in front of Blink and he felt himself flush with embarrassment when he looked up to see a guy standing there on the other side of the counter. A very good-looking guy. A downright hot guy with a mess of curls and what appeared to be dimples as he laughed at Blink. And oh duck. He was laughing at Blink. 

“Please tell me you were consciously aware of the fact that you were quoting John Mulaney about a baby,” Hot Guy was saying now. And god it was shitty of Blink to just completely objectify him like that but damn it was internal, barely six a.m., and what else was he supposed to call him? 

Blink smiled, for real this time, and gave a shrug. Which actually felt kinda good after having not moved from this spot since the store opened. “Can you blame me? It’s true.” 

Hot Guy laughed again, louder and longer this time and throwing his head back as he did so. It gave Blink a perfect view of his smooth, dark throat, his skin just a few shades lighter than his curls. He’d started to nod as he chuckled. “It’s true,” he was saying between laughs. And Blink couldn’t tell if he was agreeing with Blink or repeating what he’d said. 

Blink knew he was just grinning dopily him, but he really couldn’t help himself. He was practically dead on his feet and he hadn’t even had “lunch” yet here stood Blink’s dream partner. Cute, laughed at his stupid comments, knew John Mulaney quotes. Look, Blink knew it was a low bar, but you’d be surprised how few people managed to cross it. Normally it was the second point that tripped them up. 

Finally, Blink managed to come back to where and more importantly when he was. “Sorry, uh, is there anything I can help you with?” 

Th guy shook his head, his hands were shoved deep in his coat pockets and when he made a sweeping motion it pulled his unzipped coat into a sail. “Honestly? I’m just biding my time while my mom guilts my aunt into giving her the last of whatever toy my cousin desperately wants so that she can be the hero come Christmas morning.” 

“Wow,” Blink said with a low whistle. “That is some next level family drama.”

Hot Guy rolled his eyes but that smile never slipped. And thank god, Blink was pretty sure that looking at that smile for the rest of the holiday shopping season would keep him from wanting to commit a felony.

“They’re so competitive,” he was saying, “that now they have to come up with new ways to be competitive. It’s a mess. But can’t say that it makes for a dull holiday.”

He was buffeted by an overlarge man, pushing him closer to Blink’s counter and causing him to stumble. Instinctively, Blink reached out to steady him and managed to grab his upper arm. What felt like his very toned upper arm. Oh duck. Blink was so dead. He didn’t even know this guy’s name and he was already gone on him.

“Thanks,” Hot Guy said once he was steadied. He glanced to Blink’s nametag before looking back up at him with that brilliant smile. “Louis. Thanks Louis.”

“No problem,” Blink heard himself saying because that was it. Wherever Blink was now it wasn’t this plane of existence. He had no clue what he was doing or saying because internally he was just a mess of giddy screams. Pretty people just should not exist because this is what happened to Blink when they talked to him. “It’s insane in here, not your fault.” Oh duck. Had he been rambling? Man, he hoped he hadn’t been rambling.

The smile never slipped though so whatever nonsense was coming out of Blink’s mouth Hot Guy didn’t seem to mind.

Suddenly a voice cut through the chaos. “MIKEY! WE’RE LEAVING!”

His smile twisted into an apologetic wince. “That’s my mom,” Hot Guy told him and Blink was pulled none too gently back to reality. “I’ve gotta go or I will be left here. You always on electronics?” he asked quickly as he started backing away.

“Um, no just today.”

Hot Guy had reached the main aisle and was nodding. “Ok. Um, I’ll find you then?”

Blink nodded and raised his hand in a wave. Hot Guy, well apparently his name was Mikey, flashed him one last smile before sprinting towards the front of the store.

Blink meant to watch him as he walked away but a little old lady’s perm had filled his vision and when he looked down she was rather urgently holding out a stack of coupons and a flyer opened to the new iPhone. He had a few thoughts – who thought it was a good idea to let an octogenarian out Black Friday shopping at the peak of the crazy, there was no way those coupons were actually going to be accepted today, he was not authorized to sell iPhones, he did not have the patience to explain that he was not authorized to sell iPhones to her – but they all were shoved down as she started talking at him.

~

Two p.m. and the end of Blink’s shift did not come soon enough. He was due back bright and early tomorrow at seven, but luckily he was just stocking shelves the first few hours and wouldn’t have to properly think again until he had to work a register after lunch.

It was odd walking out into the bright afternoon sun after having gone into the liminal space that he now called his place of employment in total darkness. The parking lot was still full, and he squinted against the light as he searched for Sarah’s silver Toyota in a sea of silver sedans.

He finally found her at the back of the lot, seemingly talking to herself and waving her hands around as she did so. He knocked on the passenger window and she turned to beam at him before unlocking the car and continuing her conversation.

“I mean, I stand by what I said.”

“Oh, I know you do,” Katherine’s voice came out of the speakers, obviously on the other end of the call. “But that doesn’t mean it’s a viable option.”

“What are we talking about?” Blink asked. He rubbed his hands and held them up to the vent where Sarah was blasting warm air. The walk wasn’t that far but the wind had been killer.

“Murder,” Sarah said cheerily at the same time that Katherine said, “My family.”

“Ah, holidays,” Blink said with sarcasm laced cheer. The girls laughed and Blink sank further back into the seat, exhaustion finally hitting him full force.

“Ok, well I’ll let you two go. See you soon!” There was the sound of raised voices somewhere in the background and Blink guessed that Kath wasn’t just hanging up to let Blink and Sarah talk.

“Bye Kath’rine,” he mumbled.

“Bye Kath!” Sarah said brightly and then there was the weird boop of the call disconnecting. She turned to Blink – or at least he assumed she turned to him but Blink had enough seeing for one day thank you very much and so had pushed his eye patch up onto his forehead and had his eyes closed with his hands pressed over them – and started talking to him with the same enthusiasm. Which was refreshing from the faux happy of his coworkers and the misery of the shoppers but like Blink was not on that level. “So how was work?”

“I hate capitalism. And middle-aged white women. And Christmas.”

Sarah hummed as she put the car in drive and began to back out of the spot. “Yeah, best part of being Jewish? Not doing all that.”

Blink laughed. He hadn’t really done Christmas growing up, after his dad died it’d just been his mom and his brothers and him and his mom really tried but money was tight. Normally they each got a new book and just watched A Christmas Story. Which Blink really didn’t mind and he loved reading and well, he still uses the whole “You’ll shoot your eye out!” thing as his excuse when people ask him about the patch. Just says, “Ralphie was lucky, he was wearing glasses. Me… well I used to have 20/20 vision.” It made people laugh and he didn’t actually have to answer the question.

But all this Black Friday nonsense? All this “buying the perfect gift” and making it the “best Christmas ever” and trying to be a picture-perfect Norman Rockwell family just for the one day a year even though everyone knew it was a sham? Yeah, that was bullshit and a load of bullshit Blink really didn’t need in his life. But damn he needed that new laptop.

“Well thanks,” Blink said after a short silence.

“For what?” Sarah asked. They were good friends, thanks to Jack being one of Blink’s buddies from high school and Jack and Davey meeting in college and being, well, Jack and Davey and then Sarah being Dave’s sister it only made sense that they’d crossed paths freshman year and hit it off. Though they were probably the most surprised of anybody when they’d gotten so close over the next couple of years. Even then, Sarah wasn’t a mind reader and Blink had a habit of non sequiturs.

“Driving me to and from work. Especially today what with the hours. And then being willing to bring me out here every weekend for the next month,” Blink explained.

Sarah scoffed but Blink kept talking before she could start telling him how little she minded. He needed to get it off his chest.

“And for inviting me to Thanksgiving and letting me stay with you and your folks. I already thanked ‘em yesterday for it and for letting me stay the weekends but you’re driving and I’ll pay you for some of the gas once I get my first paycheck and-”

“Louis!” She cut him off and Sarah only ever called him Louis if she really needed his attention. “It’s fine! You don’t have to thank me or pay for gas! Jeez. I’m helping Les prep for his SATs and coming out every weekend anyway, it’s literally not a problem. Besides, my parents love you and since they moved out here they have the spare room. On top of all that, you’re one of my best friends, you’re always welcome at the Jacobs Family Thanksgiving, with all its insanity, and I’m more than happy to help you out in any way I can. We all are.”

Blink sighed and sat up to look at her. Sarah was glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, trying to gauge his reaction. “You’re too good.”

She just smirked and shrugged. “I mean, I’m going to make you help me help Les so really you might want to rethink that.”

Blink laughed and he could tell that Sarah was pleased with herself. She let him sit in silence for a little while longer as she turned into the development that her parents had moved to when the twins were in high school. Mr. Jacobs had gotten injured at work due to the company cutting corners and not following the proper safety protocols. They’d sued and managed to win enough that they covered the medical bills and moved to the family out of their cramped apartment in Lower Manhattan to the nice house in suburban Long Island. Now, Mr. Jacobs served on the town council and worked as a safety inspector and the house had become a weekend refuge for their children’s ragtag group of friends.

“So,” Sarah said as they neared her parents’ house, “anything that you need to curse about from today before we get home?”

Groaning and throwing his hands up in the air made her laugh but the look Sarah gave him said she wasn’t going to accept that as an answer. Blink sighed. “If I never hear a thick Long Island accent again it’ll be too soon.”

That got him a snort. “You’re friends with Spot Conlon-”

“Who has a Brooklyn accent and yes there is a difference!”

Sarah scoffed, obviously not buying it but Blink was willing to die on this hill.

“I really don’t understand what everyone needs a seventy-five-inch tv for. Honestly. And now I officially cringe anytime I see a woman with a ‘Can I Speak to Your Manager’ haircut.”

Sarah turned into her driveway and parked but didn’t turn off the car yet. “That it?”

Blink shrugged and began to nod before freezing. “Oh my god. I can’t believe I nearly forgot.”

Sarah looked concerned and he knew he must have a horrified expression.

He turned to her and looked at her seriously. “Sarah.”

“Blink?”

“I met the love of my life this morning.”

“Really.” She sounded incredulous.

“I swear to you. I am in ducking love.”

“Uh huh. You get their number?”

Blink winced, remembering his mistake from being dead on his feet when he met the guy. “No…”

“Blink!”

“Look! It was early! Like before sunrise! And I was on the electronics counter! I’m lucky I was able to speak coherent English!”

Sarah snorted but remained silent, giving him the opportunity to redeem himself.

“I got his name,” Blink told her and was rewarded with an impressed raise of the brows. “And he said he’s gonna come back another day when it’s not crazy to see me so…”

With a sigh and a shake of the head Sarah showed that he’d lost any points he got by getting the guy’s name. “So? Who is he?”

“Uh, Mikey.”

“Mikey…? What. What’s his last name.”

Blink winced. “I just know his name’s Mikey.”

Sarah gave him a blank look and turned to shut off the car and get out. Blink resettled his eye patch and hurried to follow her. “You’re hopeless,” Sarah called over her shoulder as she walked to the door.

Blink sighed and followed. “I know.”

~

Saturday passed in a blur. Thankfully it was significantly less busy and Blink actually knew the answers to all the questions he was asked but it still drained him. He practically collapsed when he got in Sarah’s car.

“Mystery Mikey show up?” she teased but Blink knew there was genuine interest in there too.

Blink sighed. “No.”

“Well you’ve got time.”

Blink just shrugged and allowed himself to doze off as they drove.

~

Sunday afternoon saw Blink climbing out of Sarah’s car so he could get his bag and climb back into Sarah’s car so she, Blink, and Davey could all get back to the city. He felt absolutely wiped from his first weekend working at Target but knew it was all because of the sales. Some not so distant part of him said that he should just get used to this though because he was working weekends all holiday season and this was just going to be his life now.

He thanked Mr. Jacobs again and gave Mrs. Jacobs one last hug and Les’s hair one last ruffle before following Davey out the door. They both threw their bags in the trunk and Dave shot him a quizzical look.

“You even pack anything? You only needed red shirts and khakis,” he deadpanned.

Blink stared at him for a few seconds. “Wow. That joke? It was so funny I forgot to laugh.”

Davey snorted and Blink responded with an eyeroll. Normally he’d have smiled but he was too tired to do much else than turn to get back in the car.

He stopped as he caught sight of the next-door neighbors’ driveway. Next to a blue Honda was a mother hugging her adult son tightly. The guy had his eyes turned skyward and seemed to be enduring her public display of affection. It looked like he was gearing up to say something to her when he saw Blink though.

That was when Blink knew. He’d thought it was Mikey, his mystery crush from Friday, but when he froze Blink knew it was him.

Mikey’s mother could be heard asking him what was wrong as he stiffly released her and then she was turning to watch him cross over the grass dividing the two driveways and walk up to Blink.

They stood there staring at each other in shock. Sarah had come out and distantly Blink heard her ask Davey what was going on and Davey mumbling something back. But Blink didn’t care because what’re the odds that he’d actually meet the guy he’d decided he’d fallen in love with again?

“What’re you doing at the Jacobs?” Mikey finally asked in awe.

“Uh, spending the holiday? They’re letting me stay here while I work too cause I live in the city. And Sarah likes me for some reason so she’s driving me around.” Blink didn’t know where the blatant honesty word vomit had come from, but he blamed the shock.

Mikey laughed. Blink could do little else but stare.

“Blink!” Sarah finally called from where she stood at the driver’s door. “What is going on?”

“This is him!” Blink gestured towards the man in front of him, hoping desperately that Sarah would understand.

“Mush? Mush is who?” Sarah obviously did not understand.

“Him! Him,” Blink implored. “The guy from Black Friday!”

“What’re you talking about?” Davey sounded tired. But Davey always sounded tired. Blink elected to ignore him and go back to grinning dumbly at Mikey.

“Hold up,” Sarah said, drawing everyone’s attention. “Your Mystery Mikey is Mush from Next Door?”

“Apparently!” Mikey, or was it Mush? Did he have a preference? Or did Blink have to earn that? Was it an inside joke?

“I’m so lost,” Davey informed them and went to sit in the car.

“Why didn’t you just say that it was Mush?” Sarah sighed. “It could’ve saved so many melodramatic sighs.”

Blink felt his cheeks heat and glanced to see that Mush had bit his lip to try and keep from laughing. Duck that was adorable.

“Um, in Louis’s defense I never actually said my name,” Mikey/Mush finally spoke up. “If I’d have thought to properly introduce myself it would’ve been as Mush Meyers but I’m guessing you and the entire store heard my mom call me Mikey so…” He trailed off with a shrug.

Sarah snorted before Blink could reply. “You actually said your name was Louis?”

“It’s what’s on my nametag! No way I’m gonna run around telling random costumers to call me Blink. And it was busy and I was distracted,” here he gestured vaguely at Mush, “so I didn’t get the chance to say that I go by Kid Blink but most of my friends just call me Blink. Only people who don’t are my mom, my professors – with the exception of Jackson but he’s my advisor – and now my coworkers.”

“And me when I’m annoyed with you or want your attention,” Sarah added.

“And Sarah when she’s annoyed with me or wants my attention,” Blink corrected.

Mush nodded, that easy smile Blink had called to mind so many times in the past couple days was back. “Ok, let’s try this again.” He held out his hand, “Hi, name’s Mush.”

Blink beamed at him and shook his hand. “Kid Blink, but you can just call me Blink.”

“I think you’re really cute and funny and I’d love to get to know you better, want to get coffee some time?”

He didn’t think he could smile any wider after a six-hour shift as a cashier but somehow Blink managed it. “I would love that.”

“Awww, cute,” Sarah interrupted.

Blink turned to glare at her, but he caught Mush biting his lip again out of the corner of his eye. He was going to make sure that Mush always stood on his good side because Blink wasn’t ever going to miss a glimpse of that face if he could help it.

“Can you exchange numbers and plan this date that way?” She continued. “Not to be pushy but I really don’t want to get stuck in traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge.”

“Brooklyn,” Blink muttered in annoyance and was surprised to hear Mush do so too.

At Blink’s raised brows Mush shrugged. “It’s this guy I know, Spot Conlon, it’s his turf.”

“You know Spot?” Blink had to pause a second. How was it this guy lived next door to the Jacobs, or his mom obviously did, and he knew Spot Conlon and Blink had met him on the worst day of the year in a ducking Target electronics department.

“Yes, yes, and I’m sure it’s a thrilling story and I’m sure you’ll discover a million more little connections because Long Island and New York City are the biggest small town in the world and everybody knows somebody who knows somebody who knows you but traffic is not going to get any better the longer we stand here in the cold,” Sarah huffed.

Dave rolled down his window. “She’s right and will only get meaner.”

“Thank you,” Sarah said primly. Davey just nodded and the window went back up.

Blink turned back to Mush to see he already had his phone out and a new contact page pulled up. He took it and put in “Kid Blink” and in the company line “Alex from Target 2.0” before typing his number and sending himself a text.

Mush laughed when he took it back and Blink smiled in triumph. “I’ll text you,” Mush said firmly and he slid it back in his coat pocket.

“Uh, actually can I call you when I get home? It’s uh, it’s um-”

“Absolutely,” Mush cut him off and kept smiling. “Whatever you prefer.”

Blink smiled back and nodded. “Ok. Cool. Thanks.”

They both stood there grinning stupidly at each other until Sarah honked the horn, obviously having gotten cold and impatient. Blink waved as he got in and Sarah backed out of the driveway, watching Mush wave back until he disappeared.

~

The next Friday when Blink slid into Sarah’s car where she pulled up outside of his apartment building, he was met with a “Hello” and a surprise hug from the backseat. Blink turned to see Mush sitting back there and grinning wildly. They’d talked nearly every day this week and had gone on their first official date on Wednesday.

“What’re you doing here?” Blink asked in awe.

“My mom wants me to help put up the Christmas lights and I remembered you saying Sarah was taking you out with her on the weekends, so I texted her and asked if she’d mind if I tagged along.”

“Obviously I said no he couldn’t,” Sarah said dryly. “He’s also been recruited into the ‘Les Jacobs SAT Prep Squad.’” She looked at him seriously in the rearview mirror and Blink knew she wasn’t joking about that. Mush just laughed and shrugged.

“If I were a better friend and a worse sister, I’d have left him drive you,” she told Blink softly.

He looked back over the seat to Mush before turning back to Sarah. “Nah, this is perfect.”

They all chatted as they neared the Brooklyn Bridge before Sarah started grumbling about rush hour traffic.

“You know,” Blink said suddenly. “You never did say how you know Spot.”

Mush started laughing and launched into the story. Blink was so swept up in it, and most importantly Mush animatedly telling it, that he hardly even noticed as Sarah cursed up a storm.

Blink might still hate the holiday season. And really hate working retail. And especially hate working retail during the holiday season. And need a new laptop. But, with meeting Mush he thought that it was all more than worth it.

[halcyonrogers]

hii! can a request a bucky x reader with the prompt, “I can't believe this. Out of everyone in the entire world, I get paired with you.” “believe me, I’m not to pleased with this situation either.”

warnings: mention of gun assembly, hate to like scenario

Send me a dialogue prompt (can be anything from a couple of words to a conversation) and a character of your choice, and I’ll write a one shot for you!

“Hey Y/N, you coming?”

You looked up from your book of manipulation tactics (courtesy of Natasha) and sighed in realisation, Steve stood in the doorway of your room with an apologetic smile.

“Is it completely necessary?”

He laughed and crossed his arms over his chest, a sight you could never get used to. It was true, you had a small crush on your Captain, but you knew nothing would ever come of it. You value your job too much to get involved personally with any of your coworkers.

Steve pursed his lips and watched the way you sat up in bed, stretching your limbs out before standing, a light sway taking hold of your body that you quickly corrected by grabbing your leather jacket. 

You ran a hand through your hair and looked up at Steve who was smirking, then you grabbed your mission file and walked past him, saying over your shoulder, “Cmon then, Rogers, we haven’t got all day.”

By the time you reached the meeting room on the ninth floor, everyone was looking between you and Steve with a grimace, probably frustrated with your lateness. Steve plonked himself down next to Bruce, so you had to take the plush armchair which Bucky was sat on the arm of. You sat and swung your legs over the other side.

“This is a formal meeting, miss lounge-a-bout, not a get-together,” Tony chided, regarding you with a smirk.

You gasped and put a hand on your chest, feigning innocence, doing your best southern accent. “Oh dear, my sincerest apologies sir, I thought this was my regular dinner date with my honeys from the country club!”

Bucky scoffed from beside you. “Take things seriously for once, why don’t ya? This is serious shit, you can’t just regard everything with some kinda childish view.”

“I’m probably the only sunshine and daisies bitch in this room, apart from Bruce! Love you, big guy.”

Bruce put a hand up in acknowledgement and muttered those ‘Love you too’, to which Bucky rolled his eyes. You had never known anyone to be so stubborn, pretentious and dismal as Bucky Barnes, but you guessed he had his reasons. Sure, he goes to a therapist about his past and takes work easy so he doesn’t feel strained, but he’s so nice and cheerful around everyone else except you. You supposed that maybe it was something you had said a while ago to put him off you, but you know you’ve always been nothing but wonderful to him. So what, in the world, is his issue with you?

Fortunately, you’ve never had to work with him 1:1 during a mission, so you guessed that maybe if you had worked with him before, things would be different. Unfortunately, you and him have very different skill sets and ways of working, so it’d be illogical to partner you two up. You worked more with the mind, using manipulation tactics to recover secretive information and your appearance to seduce the baddies into a false sense of security, whereas Bucky worked directly to either lightly hurt, maim or kill the rivals. He only did the latter if any of the team or innocent bystanders were in threat of being killed themselves, so Bucky’s skills were only really used in the most dire of circumstances. 

Today was that illogical exception.

“- No I don’t think she’s listening, hey, Y/N?”

“Huh?”

Your eyes scanned the room, and was met with some very thunderous gazes. “Oh, what did you say Tony?”

“I said,” He groaned, pinching the skin on the bridge of his nose, “Today is different, and that I need you and mister frosty fighter to partner up for this mission. Do we get that? Are you listening?”

“Frosty fighter? That’s a new one,” You laughed, lifting your legs off the arm of the chair so you could stand. “But no thanks, I work very differently to him and quite simply, I don’t like him or his attitude. I don’t get on with people who insult me.”

From behind you, Bucky spoke, “Frosty fighter is right here, feeling rather insulted himself, you know.”

You scoffed and adjusted your jacket, suddenly frustrated with everyone staring you down. Bruce whispered something to Steve, and the pair chuckled before your eagle eyes observed them shaking hands under the table.

“Whatever bet you two just made, I raise you $20, no more no less because I’m broke.”

The next morning, you were stood in the midst of some winter storm on the outskirts of Russia, wrapped tightly in warm clothes that made you itch everywhere. The first part of your assigned mission was to stake out in a tent approximately two hours away from the ‘checkpoint’, as you liked to call it. Bucky just liked to call it the target. 

Snowflakes dropped onto your eyelashes, the cold turned your cheeks a brazen red and made your torso shiver almost dramatically with the fierce winds constantly attacking you. You had your arms crossed just below your chest, your mitten-covered fingers shoved in your armpits to miserably keep the heat within your body. 

You entered the tent you and Bucky had slaved over for the past half hour and sat in the corner with a blanket. Out of the corner of your eye, you watched Bucky assemble and disassemble his favourite assault rifle. You assumed it was ‘first mission with a stranger’ nerves, but both of you had lived in the Avengers compound for the same amount of time. Or, you thought cynically, he was trying to scare you into letting him do it alone.That would never happen, luckily enough, as you’re just not that kinda person to give up easily.

All was silent before Bucky swivelled on his knees and opened his mouth to say, “I can't believe this. Out of everyone in the entire world, I get paired with you.” 

You scoffed and pulled your knees up to your chest, avoiding his intense glare. “Believe me, I’m not too pleased with this situation either.” 

Bucky rolled his eyes and sat down in front of you, wanting you to look him in the eye and say something so insulting, so rude and harsh that he’d be able to retaliate 20x better. But you didn’t. You just sat, silent, observing the way the small fibres on your clothes swayed with the breeze that managed to enter the tent. You weren’t about to entertain him and his sarcasm, instead you’re much too occupied with planning the best moves for when you reach the checkpoint. 

“Is there any particular reason you’re staring at me?”

“You’re not full of your usual venom towards me today, it’s weird,” Bucky paused, noting the way you were shivering. “Cold out here, I suppose you’ve retracted your fangs for once.”

You closed your eyes, willing yourself to stay calm. “You know me, I can’t survive in the winter winds with the frosty fighter lurking in the shadows, waiting for my fall from grace.”

“Ya gotta good way with words, I’ll give you that,” He chuckled, suddenly occupied with rummaging through his bags. “Can I ask you something?”

You gave him a small nod. “Nothing too revealing, I like to give my enemies a sense of security before I strike, you know, I don’t wanna lure you into falling in love with me.”

“Do you like hot chocolate?”

You looked up, and gaped at the sight of Bucky Barnes offering you a metal flask with a somewhat rugged looking blanket. Your hands itched to reach out and grab the items from him, but you were apprehensive of his intentions. “How do I know you ain’t gonna poison or smother me?”

He shrugged, and for once, suddenly looked rather vulnerable and timid. “I know you didn’t exactly have a good sleep last night what with being on the quinjet, so I dunno, I normally bring this sorta stuff when I feel run-down and frustrated and thought maybe you’d need them more than I do.”

“Well I feel like you’ve just opened up your heart and soul to me-”

Bucky laughed, taking it upon himself to tuck the blanket around your sides. “It’s just fucking hot chocolate and a really old blanket, not a kiss and a cuddle. I still don’t like you.”

You smiled up at him and pulled your hands out to pour the hot chocolate into the cup that screwed onto the flask. He pretended not to notice your genuine smile and shaking hands that brought the steaming cup to your lips, but inside, he felt like he’d melted into one big Bucky Barnes pile of goo. 

You held half a cup of hot chocolate out to him, and he grabbed it eagerly, sipping it as you spoke. “Would I be pushing my luck if I asked for a little nap whilst you prepare?”

“You have exactly an hour and forty four minutes rest time, use it wisely,” Bucky reprimanded with a smirk, using his other hand to pat the top of your head affectionately.

Whatever happened in those mere minutes of you and Bucky talking, you were certainly intrigued to see where the spare hour and fourty four minutes would go.

Send me a dialogue prompt (can be anything from a couple of words to a conversation) and a character of your choice, and I’ll write a one shot for you! 

[lovingdelusions]

Two Oblivious Nerds (Barry Allen x Male! Reader)

Author’s Note: Okay, hey! This is my first piece of writing that I’ve actually finished. If you think anything should be fixed, please let me know :)

Word Count: 2,437

Iris was a beautiful nuisance. She was kind and caring, but she could be nosy and let her emotions defy her logic. Yet, you two became very close friends and worked together at Central City Picture News. You admittedly had a crush on her best friend Barry Allen who was blatantly in love with her, but she never noticed.

You hung out with Barry a lot as well, and he vented about how in love he was and how she would never love him back. The more Barry seemed to fall in love with Iris, the more you two seemed to hang out. You guys went to see every new Star Wars movie (even though you thought it was boring and overly complicated), went to his favorite restaurant every week (you got food poisoning there twice), and even went to dinner at Joe’s house every Sunday. But no matter how close you guys seemed, he was hiding something and wouldn’t tell you what.

It wasn’t like you didn’t have secrets either. You were a metahuman and could move almost anything with your mind. It took a lot of practice, but you were powerful enough to lift a building. You didn’t fight crime with your powers unless you stumbled upon someone who needed help, but you didn’t use it for your benefit either.

Slowly, but surely, you fell for this hopeless romantic, and others began to notice. A few of your coworkers saw how you looked at him. It was like a blind man seeing the beauty of the world for the first time. Heck, Joe knew and told you to go for it.

You finally had the courage one day to ask him out. You even had a bouquet of roses with a Star Wars pickup line in hand. But there he was, kissing Iris West. Admittedly, it stung, but you should’ve expected it. The guy always gets the girl, right? Your chest ached.

“Oh, uh, hey dude. What’s up?” Barry asked, pulling away from Iris. You just smiled and shook your head, putting the roses on your desk. “Are those roses for me?”

“Of course they are, Bar,” You said, handing him the flowers while bowing. You winked at him as a “joke,” and Iris laughed at your antics. “I’m so sorry, my prince. I must get backeth to worketh on this piece of trasheth.”

You turned to your desk and pulled up the piece you were working on, trying not to let the tears in your eyes fall whilst tapping away on your keyboard. The sound of your heart breaking was louder than the joyful sounds of Barry and Iris, but they never noticed.

A few months after the kiss, Iris resigned to “be the journalist she thought she could always be” taking Barry along with her. But something was missing from the puzzle. It wasn’t just that fact alone that made Iris quit.

You hung out less and less. Your daily coffee runs to Jitters became weekly, then monthly, then nothing. You didn’t see the latest Star Wars movies together. You were nothing but a memory in Barry’s eyes.

It didn’t really click until your first encounter with the Flash two years later. While you were biking home from work, you heard a loud crash and yelling from the history museum. You threw on a mask that covered half of your face and rushed in. What you didn’t expect to see was Elongated Man being chased by a fossilized T-Rex, but that’s what happened. You were about to intervene when the T-Rex froze and the hero in distress fell.

“Iris, we’ve got Black Bison, and we’re on our way back to S.T.A.R. Labs.” You’ve never been close enough to hear the Flash’s voice, but it sounded familiar. Barry Allen, you sly bitch. It all made sense now. The sudden emergencies Barry got when they hung out, how Iris always had information on the Flash before anybody else did.

You didn’t have time to think about all of the connections at this point because footsteps were rapidly heading towards you. Before you could bolt, a hand clamped down on your arm.

“Who are you?” Barry asked. You swallowed thickly before turning to face him. You couldn’t see his stupid, beautiful face, but you could see his eyes. It had been so long since you were this close to him. You leaned closer until you were only a breath apart. Then you slammed your fist into his face and ran away, forgetting your bike.

It was weeks until you saw Barry Allen again, and it was at his court ruling. You slipped in the back row and watched as he was accused of murder of Clifford Devoe. That name was familiar, and you thought back to your college days. As an elective, you had taken a history class with the snarky and cunning professor who was always concerned about how technology ruined humanity.

There was more to this case than what was revealed. It must’ve had something to do with the Flash. Whenever Barry had a bad feeling about something, it was always right.

The court hearing went on for hours until it the jury reached a decision: Barry Allen was a murderer. As he walked out, followed by Iris and Cecile, he caught your eye and froze. “Y/N,” he breathed.

“Barry-” You tried, but he was pushed forward by the bailiff, and Barry Allen disappeared once more.

A few weeks later, you were assigned a big case on Killer Frost and Ammunet, so after threatening a few people and exchanging some favors, you got the location of where they were going to meet up that night.

You rode your bike, that was conveniently in the same place you left it the other night, towards the passage under the bridge. “Nobody runs away from me, Frost,” Ammunet said. Luckily for Killer Frost, you stepped out in time and intercepted the shards that were being pitched towards her.

“I don’t think so,” you said and flung the pieces of metal back to Ammunet and turned to check Killer Frost which was your first mistake. You didn’t hear a clink sound like there should have been when the shards should’ve returned back to Ammunet but paid no mind to it. It was because the shards never made it back to their owner but were flung at your chest. The shards had almost impaled your heart. What if I never see Barry again?

When you woke up, your hands were bound by a pair of electronic handcuffs and your legs attached to each side of the hospital bed. However, you weren’t in a hospital.

“Hello?” you called out, voice hoarse. You could hear whispers near the room you were in. All of the lights in the room were blinding and gave you a headache, but you tried to open your eyes enough to see who had entered the room. You wished you hadn’t.

“Y/N?” Iris spoke. You couldn’t look at her because, as much as you wanted to despise her for taking away the light of your life, you couldn’t. The two of you were just too close, and it wasn’t fair to be angry at Iris, or at anyone, for you not being good enough.

“Could I have some water?”

Iris didn’t move and stood there analyzing you before walking away to hopefully get you something to drink. As quickly as humanly possible, you took the bobby pin that you’d been eyeing and starting to free your legs from the bed. You had almost gotten your left leg free when someone who looked distinctly like Killer Frost entered your room with Barry Allen.

“Killer Frost?” you croaked out.

“No.” The Killer Frost doppelgänger looked like she wanted to say more but didn’t and instead looked back and forth between you and Barry. The silence was broken once Iris came back with water. She led the straw to your mouth and you took grateful gulps until the cup was empty while you began to free your hands.

“You know, it’s not nice to punch your best friend in the face and run away,” Barry said.

“Barry, we haven’t been friends for two years.” Barry was one to have his heart on his sleeve, and it was easy to tell what made him upset. However, you couldn’t figure out why he looked so damn confused. “We haven’t been best friends since you and Iris started dating.”

“Is this what it’s really been about? Why you punched me in the face, why you looked so disappointed every time you saw Iris and me do anything remotely romantic, why we stopped being best friends?” Barry said a little angry and hurt that you would throw away your friendship for something like that. “We could’ve talked through it, Y/N.”

You loved how your name sounded coming from him even at a time like this.

“I just- I don’t understand. Why didn’t you tell me you liked Iris?” Jesus Christ, this child is going to be the death of me.

You looked at him in disbelief. “Barry, you ignorant, thick-skulled, dumbass. I’m not in love with Iris. I’m in love with you. I wasn’t the one who ended this friendship or whatever we had. You did,” you spat at him. “I’ve been there for you when Iris wasn’t. I supported you on every, last one of your decisions because I believed in you, Barry Allen. You were the only thing that made sense to me, and now, without you, I have nothing.”

“Me?” Barry said, dumbfounded. You groaned, slapping your palm to your forehead. Is that all he got from your speech? He was always the oblivious one, but it didn’t matter anymore. As soon as you escaped, you would never cross paths with Barry Allen again.

You freed your hands and sent sharp, dangerous-looking, medical tools at every person in the room. The tools stopped a centimeter away from their bodies. You took one more look at Barry’s face, relishing in it’s beauty one last time, before running away. Running away was what you did best.

“Cisco, Harry, Ralph! Stop Y/N from getting away!” Barry yelled. Shit shit shit. Suddenly, there was a breech in front of you and you ran into the person that stepped out of it. You tried to get back up, but this man had a powerful grip on you. You couldn’t risk hurting yourself with your own powers, so you gave up and laid there.

Soon Barry, Iris, and the others arrived in the room. Iris was standing close to the Killer Frost look alike, and their hands almost brushed each others.

You sighed as they placed the power-restrictive handcuffs on you again. “You know, I’d like to talk without having my hands tied.”

The only one that found your joke slightly amusing was the breech-maker who cracked a fraction of a smile.

“Why can’t you just let me go, Bar?” You said. Barry walked closer to you, seemingly affected by the nickname which you once called him every day.

“Because I can’t stand to see you leave again,” he whispered. What?

As quick as a flash of lightning, your hands were released, and both of you were in a completely different location. It was a beautiful garden filled with colorful flowers and a grove of trees that casted a nice shade over the two of you. Neither of you spoke, taking in the beauty of it all.

“Every time I thought of you, I planted a flower.”

“You weren’t interested in any of the Star Wars movies we saw, but every time I looked your way, you pretended to be fascinated. You were sick after eating at my favorite restaurant. Twice. Whenever I spoke, you looked at me like I was the most important thing in the world, and I took it all for granted,” he said, sitting on a bench a few feet away from you.

“It’s fine, really. I’ll move o-”

“Those bouquets of red and white carnations that were anonymously delivered to you on your birthday every year. They were from me. Those cheesy, comedy movies you liked to watch were annoying to me, but I laughed along with you. I knew you would have stopped asking me to watch them if I said something. I looked at you too, you know. You were my Northern Star.”

“Then why’d you pick Iris?” you asked.

“You’re probably going to kill me when you hear this excuse, but I was extremely scared to be with a guy. You know? Joe had already done so much for me, and I didn’t want to put the burden of me being gay along with it,” Barry said, looking down at his shoes. “Iris was the safest bet, but I can see that she doesn’t feel anything for me anymore. She’s had eyes for Caitlin Snow for a couple months now.”

You slowly moved closer until you kneeled in front of him. You lifted his chin and leaned in. When your noses were brushed against each other, you asked, “Is this okay for you now, Barry?”

Silence was your answer, and just as you were pulling away, he grabbed your face in his hands and kissed you. It was awkward and your teeth clashed together a few times, but it felt right. With your lips still connected to his soft ones, you pulled him down expecting to land smoothly. However, gravity had other plans.

You hit your head on the ground hard, and Barry bit your lip in shock and drew blood.

He pulled away instantly and started to spew apologies while fishing a napkin out of his pocket and dabbing at the blood. You couldn’t help but admire him as he did so and started to laugh.

“What are you laughing at? Your lip is bleeding, and the back of your head is covered in dirt,” Barry said.

You took his face in your hands and kissed him again while ignoring the pain of your busted lip. He couldn’t help but laugh with you.

You didn���t know what would happen after you guys left, but you pushed any negative thoughts you had to the back of your mind. For the rest of the day, you and Barry held each other close, exchanging soft and sweet kisses every so often while watching the clouds in the sky.

[mayquita]

Maybe I Don’t Hate You

This story is @onceuponaprincessworld  ‘s fault. She said on Tumblr a while ago that she loved the "enemies to secret dating to lovers" trope and since then I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, so this is my little contribution. I don't even know if it makes any sense, because I wrote it in just a moment, but somehow I had to get it out of my head.

Summary: Emma Swan hates Killian Jones even before she meets him. But when he starts working with her, maybe her feelings change a bit. Or maybe not. At least not in front of their friends.

Also Ao3 Ffnet

@saraswans thanks for everything. This is unbeta’d so apologies for all the mistakes.

Emma Swan hates Killian Jones. She hates him even before she met him, when David, her friend and boss, informed her that his best friend from college — His I'm Mr perfect Killian Jones friend — was going to join the business as a new employee. Okay, maybe hate is a too strong word, but she can't stand him. Urg, why did David have to hire him and make her life miserable?

The reason is not that her demons in the form of insecurities begin to haunt her, screaming that he is a threat to her position — He got the record in capturing bail jumpers last year in London — No, she can’t stand his perfect face, his very blue eyes, his swaying, his continuous flirting and his accent. That's the worst of all. She can not control the reactions of her body when he is around. And she hates not being in control.

Killian Jones thinks that Emma Swan is insufferable. She hasn’t stopped pushing and teasing him since he arrived at the company, tightening the thread between them until it almost reaches its limit. He is sure that he had never had to bite his tongue so much before, roll his eyes or count to ten as with this woman. But Killian likes a challenge — and maybe the fire that emanates from her gaze and the passion she puts, even in hating him have something to do with it — that's why he not only holds up her pushes but also generates them.

Maybe Emma does not hate Killian anymore. Not when she finds every morning on her desk her favorite bear claw and a hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon. Not when he proves that he is really good at his work and not in the competitive sense but in the collaborative one. But that doesn't mean that she likes him. Nope. His intense gaze, his scruff, his expressive eyebrows and his perfect body are not enough either. Absolutely not.

After a few weeks, Killian no longer thinks that Emma is insufferable, quite the contrary. There is something about her that makes him feel attracted to her like a magnet, although he is still not sure what it is. Maybe her tenacity, her courage or her constant dedication to her job. Or maybe it's that lost look he sometimes catches when she's distracted, or the way her face lights up each morning when her eyes drift to her desk in search of her favorite breakfast. But she keeps pushing and he keeps challenging her, while Robin, their other coworker, rolls his eyes and David looks at the ceiling while both huff in exasperation.

They continue fighting.

"Swan! Tell me you haven't used my tickets for the football game as a notebook." "I was in an emergency and I had nothing else at hand." "The tickets were on my desk. In a drawer. Locked with a key."

She simply shrugs and rushes out mumbling an excuse, pressing her lips together in an almost unsuccessful attempt to prevent a wide smirk from appearing.

"How did you let that skip escape, Jones? It was an easy prey." "Maybe I was distracted thinking of you, love."

She shakes her head and rolls her eyes, hoping for Killian not to notice the blush that has begun to creep from her neck to her cheeks.

 Killian has already been working with them for a couple of months when Emma can no longer deny the evidence. Although she will never admit it out loud, she may like Killian. A tiny bit.

Killian likes Emma. A lot. He actually feels quite fascinated by that creature full of contradictions. She may be the most badass person in the world when she tries to catch one of the criminals and the next minute she is able to transform herself, offering infinite tenderness and patience to Roland, the little son of Robin.

Thanks to David, he's got some small hints into her past, which, far from pushing him away, makes him feel more and more attracted to her.

"I know Emma can be a pain in the ass sometimes, Killian, but she has had a tough past, don't go so hard with her."

Mary Margaret, David’s girlfriend, also defends her best friend. "She has her reasons for behaving that way, and you better than anyone should understand her."

He does, of course he does. He also had a hard past, full of suffering and loss, but, following the motto of his passed brother, a man unwilling to fight for what he wants deserves what he gets. There is nothing he wants more than to know Emma better, to know those little —or big— secrets from her past that make her the person she is now, to discover what makes her laugh, what makes her cheeks to flush and how could he get to her heart.

The moment Emma realizes that she likes Killian maybe too much comes unexpectedly on a day when they team up in a stakeout session. Killian is teasing her, as always. — " I'm just trying to distract you, love. " — He smirks at her after one of his usual banter when something seizes her, causing an uncontrollable desire to erase that smile with her own lips.

And she does. She pulls him and captures his lips with hers in a demanding kiss, to which, luckily, he responds with the same enthusiasm. And just like that, they start making out in his car, their lips and hands anywhere, their surveillance completely forgotten. At least on her part.

Killian, the bastard, turns out to have the ability to make her blood run hot and, at the same time, keep an eye on their target. Just as she is about to straddle his lap, he breaks the kiss and points towards the street. "What do you say, darling? Are you up for a little ride?" He suggests, his voice still heavy after their previous activities, his cheeks flushed and his eyes even more blue, watching her with intensity while his lips, those that just a few seconds ago were on hers, draw a smile that does not exactly invite to run after a guy.

But she is a professional, so after a sigh of resignation, they prepare to catch their prey. They do it in record time. Maybe the adrenaline that still runs through their veins acts as an ally to make them achieve their goal. For that reason, when they make the corresponding arrangements and deliver the guy to the police, they celebrate it with another session of making out, right in front of their office.

By the time they arrive at the office a little later, David gives them a mixed look of reproach and resignation, while addressing them in his best bossy tone. "Guys, at some point you're going to have to stop fighting."

"That's not..." Her voice trails off when her gaze drifts towards Killian. He looks wrecked and a little agitated, just as he would look after one of their fights. Emma wonders if she has the same look as she presses her lips together to avoid the laughter bubbling in her chest. An idea crosses her mind at that moment, she has no intention of stopping fighting with him at any time soon.

Luckily for him, that first kiss  —several searing kisses, actually — is not a one-time thing, but a promising start. It's as if something had taken hold of them, as if the attraction between them had multiplied and once their lips came into contact they are unable to keep them apart. At least in privacy. That intimacy also allows Killian to discover that Emma's innate fire and passion while fighting intensifies when they carry out much more pleasurable activities.

The problem? That blooming relationship between them only exists when they are in private.

"It's better that we keep it a secret." Emma assures him, although he is not entirely convinced. "You already know that David doesn't approve relationships between coworkers." She insists in that stubborn way of hers. To prove her point, she reminds him of the Graham incident . He was a former co-worker who fell hard for her and went from being a competent person to a complete mess after her rejection. "Besides, it's not that we're together, or anything like that, it's just... you know what I mean."

He does. It's sex. But it is also much more than that. It's spending lazy afternoons cuddled on the couch, it's sharing their past stories under the shelter of his apartment or hers, it's sharing furtive looks and stolen kisses in the office when nobody notices. It's to continue fighting in front of everyone while he imagines the feeling of her body under his between the sheets. But he is a patient man, and he knows that Emma will realize that too sooner or later.

"I'd like to ask you a huge favor, Emma." Mary Margaret says one day while they are having lunch together. There is an apologetic expression on her face that triggers her alarms. Emma looks at her through her narrow eyes and tilts her head, waiting for her to continue. "Right now David is asking Killian to be his best man at our wedding."

"Uh huh," Emma replies, not surprised by what she has just heard. But there is something else, she can tell because Mary Margaret fidgets in her seat.

"Since you will be my maid of honor, it would be too much to ask that you bury the hatchet at least for a while, pretty please?" The voice of her friend comes almost like a plea, causing in Emma a desire to break into laughter. She quickly schools her features, though. She is not yet ready to give explanations to her friends.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yeah." She lets out a long sigh. "We may not get along quite well, but we'll make an effort, for you guys."

"That's wonderful, thank you, Emma." The smile that Mary Margaret gives her has the ability to warm her heart. If she only knew...

Later that day, as she lies in her bed cuddled in Killian's arms, she thinks about the wedding and in the torture that will mean having Killian so close during the whole event and not being able to interact with him the way she would like. No kisses, no hugs, no dancing. Shit ! Suddenly it no longer seems so good idea to keep the secret. "We could simply confess." He mumbles, hot puffs of air caressing her skin. Damn him and his ability to read her mind.

She doesn't feel ready yet, though. Or maybe it's the fear that everything they share now may disappear, as if being protected in their own bubble isolates them from the world. But sooner or later they have to get out of the bubble and better do it of their own free will than to wait for the bubble to explode for other circumstances. After the wedding , she promises herself in silence.

This wedding is being a bloody torture, Killian thinks as he silently watches all of Emma's movements. She is ravishing tonight, which makes it impossible for him to look away from her. Frustration creeps over him, though, since as the hours pass his need for her increases. At least he will have his reward when everything is over and he can sneak up to her hotel room and make that bloody dress disappear from his sight.

Just at that moment something catches his attention, Mary Margaret is about to throw her bridal bouquet and there is already a group of lasses gathered around her, eagerly waiting to catch the bouquet. Emma is distracted, however, chatting animatedly with Robin and Roland, without paying attention to what happens a few steps away from her.

Suddenly, it's as if he saw the scene in slow motion. Mary Margaret looks around until her gaze locates Emma. Her lips draw a wide smile then and, without even bothering to turn around, she throws the bouquet in a specific direction. The flowers reach their goal, to Mary Margaret's delight, who squeal excited, and to Emma's surprise, who looks at the bouquet as if it had appeared out of nowhere.

After her initial shock, Emma seems to react, grabbing the bouquet tightly while her gaze travels across the room to meet his. Only then does she smile, with that special smile dedicated only to him. Killian cannot resist it anymore. In only two strides he appears in front of her, and without thinking twice, he captures her lips with his in a searing kiss. Emma reacts with the same fervor while the two get lost in the feeling of being in each other's arms as if nothing else existed around them.

It's Killian who breaks the kiss to catch his breath. To his relief, Emma doesn't seem worried about having revealed the secret in this way, by sharing the kiss in front of all their friends.

"Maybe I don't hate you after all." She simply says as she arches one of her perfect eyebrows.

"And maybe I love you."

"Just maybe?"

For all answer, he kisses her again, hoping that the kiss will be promising enough of what is to come when they are in the shelter of their room and he finds infinite ways of saying I love you , both with his voice and with his actions.

A year later they keep fighting and teasing each other.

"You look horrible today, Jones. Do you think you're ready to catch the bad guy?"

"Someone kept me very busy last night, Jones." He makes an exaggerated emphasis on the name while waving his eyebrows. "And I'm always ready." He winks at her earning a roll of eyes on her part.

David huffs at his side as he throws his arms in the air in exasperation. "I don’t know if I prefer when you two fight or when you behave... that way."

Emma and Killian look at each other and, as if they read their minds, they both respond in unison. "Both."

Thanks for reading :)