#ME you did an amazing job.. and i will admit as soon as she left i did like start crying. idk whats up with me today

[nomaishuttle]

ughhhh

[happiest-hotch]

Mother's Day

Summary: Jack has a very important, surprise gift to give you on a special holiday for your inaugural celebrations together

Paring: Aaron Hotchner x Fem!Reader (Fluff)

WC: 1.4k

Whenever he can, Aaron leaves work early to get Jack. Thankfully, with Strauss's return, he's not still stuck doing two jobs, so he finishes his work in time to get Jack from school. You also love when he has days like that because it means he'll cook something delicious and homemade, maybe even dessert if Jack has anything to say about it.

Jack gets into the car like any other day, but what he says isn't the typical comment about his day or request for an afternoon activity. "Did you know it's Mother's Day this weekend?" Jack asks.

Aaron's heart clenches in his chest. Mother's Days, birthdays, Christmases, and the anniversary of Haley's death are all especially hard days for Jack, and Aaron tries his best to support his son. "Do you want to talk about mom?" He asks softly as he drives. Since Jack doesn't remember a lot of it, Aaron fills in the blanks and answers the questions.

"No, I might want to talk to her tonight, but I want to get a present," Jack explains.

Aaron frowns a little but accepts it. "We can do that. What do you want to get her?"

Jack's thinking face looks like his dad's, something you were the first to point out to Aaron. "I don't know." He admits. "You always get roses for Y/n so maybe I can get her flowers?"

That really throws Aaron, and it rapidly occurs to him that he and Jack aren't talking about the same person. "You want to get a present for Y/n?" He clarifies.

Jack shifts uncomfortably in his car seat, clearly nervous at his father's reaction. "I'm sorry. Is that wrong?"

Aaron can't shake his head fast enough. "No. No, of course not, buddy." He assures his son, reaching back with one hand to touch the boy's foot for extra reassurance. "I think she'd really like that. What made you think you want to get something for her?" He tries to ask it in a non-judgemental, casual tone.

"Well, in class, we were all talking about what we love about our moms, and a lot of the things that my friends were talking about are things that Y/n does for me." He explains, and Aaron feels his heart clench in the best way that time while he bites down a wide smile. "Mom is still my mom, and I'm not forgetting how she used to do those things for me, but Y/n is there for me too."

Aaron notices what he's emphasizing, and he's immensely proud of Jack for being able to express those feelings, understanding that appreciating his mom and recognizing your role in his life aren't mutually exclusive.

Then he's thinking about you as he absorbs the confession. And how lucky he is to have you. You have been a constant source of support and love, a beacon of hope and stability in the wake of their family tragedy, never anything but good to them. He feels so much joy and a tiny bit of sadness. He knows Haley would have loved you and appreciated how much you care for Jack, but he wishes she was there to see it.

He's choked up as he goes to speak. "Jack, that's very sweet of you, and I think, no, I know, Y/n feels the same way about you. She thinks you're the most amazing kid ever."

Jack smiles softly. "She does? Really?"

Aaron can't nod fast enough. "Yes, she always tells me how great she thinks you are."

"So we can get her a gift for her?" Jack confirms, looking hopeful.

"Absolutely." Aaron agrees, taking a right turn to the mall rather than a left to their home. "Whatever you want."

~

It's been such a long week of work and Saturday mornings are Jack's soccer games, so as soon as your Saturday movie night is over, you're fast asleep next to Aaron.

Like usual, he stirs beside you first on Sunday morning, but when you go to get up with him, he softly whispers for you to go back to sleep and that's very easy to do.

When you next wake up, the sun is creeping through the blinds at a different angle, signaling that you slept in for longer than you usually would.

There's a soft knock at the bedroom door before you can properly wake up and get out of bed, and you softly call out for who you expect to be Jack to come in.

You're right in your guess that it's Jack, who quickly jumps up onto the bed with you, followed by his father who has a breakfast tray with a big vase of flowers on it accompanying a delicious-looking plate of French toast.

"Wow, you've both been busy this morning." You mumble sleepily as you sit up to hug Jack who's jumping into your arms.

"Happy Mother's Day!" He cheers joyfully, and you're taken off guard by the greeting, completely shocked.

Your eyes dart to Aaron's to make sure you heard Jack correctly, and his wide smile confirms you have. He's looking between you both with so much love and tenderness, his heart so full it feels like it's bursting.

Your eyes fill with tears as you realize the enormity of what he's just said. "Thank you, Jack." You squeeze him even tighter in a hug, not wanting him to slip away from this perfect moment.

He pulls back and smiles at you before turning back to his dad. "Can we give it to her?" He asks.

"Sure, bud." Aaron agrees, setting the tray down over the top of your legs. He sits near the foot of the bed while Jack snuggles into your side.

Jack reaches forward to pick up the little box next to the breakfast. "Here." He hands it to you. "Happy Mother's Day. Thank you for caring so much about me."

You kiss his forehead, holding him tighter to his side as you gladly accept his thoughtful and unexpected gift. "You're very welcome. I love you, Jackers."

Whatever he has for you has to be jewelry from the small, flat shape of the box and the designer jewelry stamp. You open it up, and your heart melts more, if it were possible. What's inside is a gorgeous gold bracelet with a flat, circular charm, engraved with the letter J.

Jack touches it as your finger does. "It's a J for Jack."

You nod so you don't start crying too much. You're so overwhelmed by gratitude and happiness that you can't help but let one tear slip out.

"Thank you." You finally get the words out. "It's perfect and I love it so much. I'm going to wear it every day, so you're always with me."

Jack's grinning a proud grin, clearly proud of himself for picking it out. Aaron had told him how much you would love it, but seeing it confirms it for him. "I think it'll look beautiful on you." He tells you adorably.

You chuckle a little. "You're a sweet talker just like your dad, you know?"

Aaron laughs next to you, but Jack's confused at what your compliment means, and his attention is drawn elsewhere. "Daddy and I made French toast for me as well. Oh, and I got you flowers."

It's a gorgeous bunch of flowers, beautiful colors, and lovely smells. "Thank you so much. Both of you." You repeat to them, making sure they're feeling the reciprocated love you're feeling.

"You're welcome," Jack says politely.

Aaron leans over to kiss your forehead. "I love you." He whispers.

You whisper it back before looking back at your breakfast plate. "There's a lot of French toast here, so I might need some help eating it." You say suspiciously, looking between Jack and Aaron.

Jack's eyes light up like he's been waiting for you to offer him some of it, and you can't blame him, it looks and smells like restaurant quality and you know breakfast foods are Aaron's strong suit cooking-wise.

"I am kind of hungry." Jack agrees, smirking at you softly.

"Eat up then, bud." You say, offering him the first spoonful. "We've got lots of fun stuff to do today."

[qiutls]

TNGDH 012

After the two fought, the miracle value rose to 8%, perhaps because I changed the course of the original plot.

This is quite expensive for just one performance of painting. Although, because of this act Kyle called for a veterinarian the day after.

'Your magical beast is quite cute, Your Highness....'

There was one problem, the doctor that came seemed to know nothing about magical beasts and could only say the sentence above.

But it was to be expected, how could a doctor who only examines rodents have any idea on what's wrong with a magical beast. I think it's even more amazing that there are veterinarians in this world.

'Was my acting too real...'

At this rate, if I really sneeze, the whole castle of Blake might be sent into a frenzy. The future of the North is bleak...

Kyle seemed to not want to leave my side, yet he didn't have a choice since it was a busy time and he needed to look over the preparations. It's not easy to be in charge of a territory. Still, seeing that the affairs are being finalized, he seems to be pretty good at his job as a lord.

Eventually he left the study to check the dinner preparation during the afternoon. He looked quite commendable today, so I'll let him kiss up to 5 times.

Thanks to him being busy, I also have some free time. As soon as I confirmed that he has moved far away from the study, I quickly used the skill and became human.

[ Good luck! (ෆ`꒳´ෆ) ]

*

"So you're saying your name is... Shu?"

I'm doomed.

I'm tired of saying 'I'm doomed', but I have no other words for this situation.

Right now, I'm roughly dressed in different pieces of clothing which I found in other laundry rooms along the path from the maid's laundry. I managed to find an attendant's uniform.

And although it didn't fit, I was lucky to find leather boots clean shirts and pants.

​Thanks to the nice situation, I felt a little elated thinking my luck has finally turned around, that is until I ran into Sen at the hallway.

"Well, yes, I guess-"

Sen frowned as I spoke indifferently.

"Where in the world would you find someone who says, 'I guess' when asked about their name."

Where you ask? It's here in this world. Since you wouldn't believe that my name is 'Cashew Nut,' I could only say 'Shu.'

I don't have any other name prepared, if I said my real name which probably doesn't exist in this world, you would think I'm strange.

So, I could only say that my name is 'Shu'. It's taken from Cashew Nut, although it's not a good name, I took it from the name the Grand Duke sincerely bestowed upon me.

The quick-witted Sen immediately recognized that I was wearing someone else's clothes. It's because of this shirt that's suspiciously large on my frame.

"Did you steal these clothes? Are you perhaps the infamous, companionship pervert-"

"I'm not!"

Of course, it's me, but I can't admit it!

What do you mean companionship pervert, I'm just a companion okay? When I shouted in reply, Sen grumbled and said,

"If it's not you, then why are you yelling?"

Luckily, she was as kind as she was clever. Instead of accusing me, she decided to listen to my explanation.

Thanks to this, I was forced to come up with a sob story of my past on the spot. I stammered and told her how my family was killed by demonic beasts when I was young and how I had nothing to wear now since I outgrew my old clothes. I also told her I couldn't remember the name my family gave me, so I gave a name to myself, thinking it was an appropriate name for me.

..... Come to think of it. It was not far from the truth, when I was young, my parents did indeed die, due to a car accident. And I was poor and unable to buy clothes.

"I see. It is indeed common for refugees to enter the estate or the castle during the festival. That's why His Highness prepares a lot of food during this period. A lot of orphans like you stumble around here."

Sen looked at me with a complex expression and said,

"I also lost my family, so I came here all the way to the North, just like you, I don't have anyone left."

She seemed to have felt sorry for me.

After our conversation, Sen disappeared for a while then brought back a few clothes. She said it was clothes usually worn by servants. It was simple and clean, and it was easy to move my body wearing it.

Thanks to Sen, my situation actually became better, so I gave the stolen clothes back to her.

"Shu, it seems that we are hiring more servants because there's not enough workers in the castle these days. Why don't you apply? You can stay at the castle, and you won't have to steal clothes like this anymore."

"I won't steal. Really, please believe me. I'm also embarrassed by my actions."

I can't believe I have to look for a job here as well. It's really hard to make ends meet. Everything was free when I was just a hamster. Ah, maybe because I paid it with my human rights.

I asked in a faint voice.

​"But there's going to be an interview, right?"

"Of course, they don't just blindly pick. And working here in the castle is much more sought out than you think!"

"Is that so? How many rounds will the application process have?"

Sen looked at me blankly as if I asked a weird question.

"Hmm? How many what?"

​"It's nothing..."

That's right, this isn't even a company. There might not be enough spots as well, so I need to do my best to get picked.

After that, I stuck with Sen as she gave me a tour of the castle. I earnestly memorized the layout of the Blake Castle and at the same time, eavesdropped on servants passing by in case I hear any rumors, I learned the way to the study, I found out about a passageway used by servants only, and discovered rooms that were not being used.

Thanks to this, I also found a good place to hide my clothes. It was the most fulfilling 30 minutes I've spent since I've transmigrated.

"Can I leave you for a bit? I need to give these documents to His Highness, he asked to strengthen the security, so I made a new timetable for the soldiers patrolling."

"Oh that, His Highness said he was going to return to the study, he must almost be there by now, it's fine we can take our time."

W-what? His Highness is returning to the study? Already?!

I stood stiffly on the spot.

It hasn't even been long after 30 minutes as a human, this plan is ruined again. If this continues, it's easier to count the moments in life that's not ruined.

"So that's everything about the East Tower, now let's look at the Central Area where the banquet hall is found... Huh? Shu! Where are you going?!"

"Sorry, I forgot about something I needed to do! I'll look around the banquet hall next time!"

Right now, the problem isn't that I can't look around the banquet hall. If I'm not back in the hamster house in 3 seconds I'm afraid the Blake castle will be turned inside out again.

I quickly stuffed my clothes in the unused storage room and closed it from the inside. I need to hurry and go back and pretend like nothings amiss...

As soon as the white light wrapped around my body, I suddenly felt uneasy. I had an instinctive intuition that I shouldn't release the skill without thinking.

'Hey system, can I specify a location inside the hamster house?'

[ Of course!  ]

'Then... please put me in the most out of sight. Where was it again? The place where I piled up the sawdust to make the ground soft? It's around the corner of the first floor.'

The white light slowly wrapped around my body again and as it flashed the surroundings turned brown. It seems I arrived safely as expected...

Then someone suddenly grabbed my body.

― Squeak! [ What the?! ]

"Cashew Nut."

His voice was several times lower than usual. Even when Belial was here, I don't think his voice sounded this gloomy.

Kyle's eyes fell on me, and my body trembled reflexively. H-hey! Wait a minute, what's wrong with you? Let's talk, just t-talk it out. Of course, you don't understand what I'm saying but-

'.... Why does it feel like your eyes are a bit off.'

No, not just a bit, I meant a lot.

"I thought you disappeared."

​I did disappear, but I was going to come back, it's just you came back before me!

I rolled my eyes and glanced at his hands, the tendons on his wrists, turned black and blue, as if he was preventing himself from exerting too much force on his hands.

Seeing the sawdust stuck between his fingers, he must've been searching the floor of the house when he saw I wasn't at the usual spot with the feeding bowl and toys.

Thump. Thump. 

A heartbeat that seemed quite fast could be felt from the palm of his hand.

Why are you so nervous. I'm just a magical beast found in the wild. If you act like this, people will think you love me more than you love your own life.

"Cashew Nut, please don't scare me like that again."

I heard him sigh.

Kyle looked at me with complicated eyes and gently stroked my head. His hand that was holding me was shaking, yet the hand that swept through my fur was so gentle and stable.

"Am I ridiculous for liking you this much? I don't know if the rest of the world thinks like Belial. But from the first moment I held you in my hands, I was determined to give you all the love I have. Isn't it natural to cherish you with all my might since I decided that you'll be my companion."

Why are you speaking such touching words.

I stopped twisting in his grasp and stretched out my paw to touch his palm.

​'You really must've been worried.'

That's right, I suddenly disappeared just a few days ago while you were washing up. For me, I was just turning into human to look around the castle, but for you it must have been shocking to find that I've gone.

I felt sorry towards Kyle. But I can't help it, I need to go out... Okay then, I'll adjust my schedule, how about going out when you're sleeping? Alright, let's do it like that.

Kyle put his lips briefly on my forehead and said affectionately.

"I want to make you the happiest magical beast in the whole world."

What a commendable remark. It's this hamster's luck to be picked by you. It's indeed convenient to live when your owner is a kind human.

"And if ever someone kidnaps you, he will not have the luxury of being buried in one place."

I take back what I said about you being kind. This owner is a bit strange. Please, don't be to obsessed with hamsters!

"Tomorrow afternoon, the vet will come again to examine you, Cashew Nut. It still bothers me that you fainted out of nowhere. Maybe you're too skinny.... I'll bring you a lot of special snacks tomorrow morning. For now, here, Sen brought you a beef snack."

Wow! Beef... Alright I'll let you slide even if you're too overbearing. Korean beef.... Ah, there's no Korean beef here. Northern beef, come to me~

By the way, you make me eat until I'm full every breakfast, lunch and dinner, but you think I'm skinny? Just because you can hold me with one hand doesn't mean I'm skinny!

​Back in my old world, I was originally a glutton. I ate a lot and ate more freely once I got here. I guess I brought that habit with me here.

'Is the hamster constitution, the same as human constitution?'

​Of course I don't know, I've never lived as a hamster before. Excuse me, does anyone know what's the average weight for a hamster?

"But it's alright, since you're still cute."

To Kyle, I seemed to be the definition of the most perfect specimen in this whole universe.

'This hamster otaku.....'

Hmph, still I felt a bit happy today, so I'll let it slide and call you a kind owner.

T/N:

everyone tysm for the notes and follow! it's really nice to see the number of readers grow! also please don't forget to support the author by buying the raws! it's linked at the novel masterpage :)

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[ucetheones]

Worked Up | Jey Uso x Single Mother!Reader

tw: mentions of an abusive ex, not detailed. My other fics are still in the works, I just can't let go of an idea once I get it. It's a curse.

(Also writing in second person is weird and I feel like I suck at it!! But whatever, enjoy!! <3)

When you and Jey first started talking, you were hesitant to tell him about your son, your pride and joy.

Your son, Joshia, was the driving force in you finally leaving your abusive ex, Tyler. 

Finding out you were pregnant was one of the scariest days of your life, you no longer had just yourself to worry about. Now there was a life growing inside of you, meaning you couldn't afford to risk your body dealing with Tyler. 

He was too dangerous to outright confront, so you did what you thought was best, and left him a few days after finding out.

That was over three years ago. Thanks to your estranged sister, Samantha, you found a steady job, and a place to stay.

Working with your older sister was strange at first, but you two easily fell into a rhythm like no other. It helped that you were doing your dream job. It might not seem like a huge deal to anyone else, but doing the hair, makeup and wardrobe for WWE Superstars was truly an amazing job. It required skill that most did not have, it made you valuable. Needed.

It was at work where you met Jey. You two hit it off almost instantly, and soon found yourselves flirting. That flirting evolved into talking pretty quickly.

It was Sam that brought up introducing Jey to Joshia, though not without commenting on how similar Jey's real name was to his.

With a roll of your eyes, you sipped your coffee and sighed.

"What if he freaks on me and bails? Work would be so awkward."

Sam squinted at you, lightly scoffing. "You know Jey loves kids, right? I think he'd like Joshia. You're thinkin' way too hard, Jey isn't that deep.

Plus, I love my nephew, but girl…if I have to watch another season of Miraculous Ladybug, I may die!"

You couldn't think of any rebuttal, so you just flicked a piece of your pastry at her. "Shut up, I ain't even ask for your opinion. And that show is good, admit it."

"You did, but whatever!" You can tell she agrees about the show being interesting, but won't give you the satisfaction. 

That conversation was almost a month ago, and the entire time you were going back and forth with yourself on how to bring it up to him.

Sam wouldn't be willing to babysit while you went on dates with Jey forever, and hiring a nanny to work longer hours than you currently do felt like a terrible move; so you knew you'd have to tell him sooner or later.

You just didn't anticipate sooner being so soon. 

You had a week off from work, as you weren't needed for hair and makeup or costume design, you decided to use some of your remaining vacation days.

Your original plan was to tell Jey about Joshia and hope that the week away from one another would be enough time for him to decide whether things were worth continuing. 

You hadn't counted on Joshia getting sick, or Jey showing up at your door on the first day of your vacation. 

Your hair was all over the place, your clothes were a mess, and Joshia was perched on your hip, wailing loudly into your ear, despite all attempts at soothing him.

When you answered the door, Jey's expression was visibly confused. You wanted to slam the door. 

You wanted to pretend you still had a say in whether you told him about your son, but instead remained frozen in place.

"You babysitting or something?"

Before you could answer, your son was whining. "Mama, hurts…" 

The very evident discomfort in his voice had you turning away from the man in your doorway, your hand rubbing up and down Joshia's back in an effort to calm him.

"I know, baby, I know. The medicine will help, we just have to give it time." 

His crying dies down considerably at your words, but you can tell he doesn't feel any better and for a moment you consider taking him to the hospital. If for no other reason than to have an excuse to get Jey out if things turned south. Not that you thought they would, but you could never be too safe.

Jey clears his throat softly, and your head whips back to look at him.

"He's cute, Uce. What's his name?"

His tone is softer than it was previously, there's a warm smile on his lips. You can tell he has other questions, but is saving them for the moment.

"His name is Joshia."

At your response, Jey raises a brow. 

"Yeah, yeah, I know; your names are similar. Sam won't let me hear the end of it."

It's when Jey laughs that you realize he's still outside, so you step aside and watch as he slips into the house. 

It's the first time he's ever gotten to come inside, you usually meet him at the front steps or at whatever hotel you were staying at for work, whilst Joshia was usually with the hired nanny. The nanny, Riah, spent most of the week with him, before dropping Joshia off to your father until you were done for the week.

From there, Sam helped you.

It was never easy, and sometimes you considered quitting, if only to spend more time with your son; but when those doubts came up, Sam would quickly shut them down. The first few times she thought it was financially challenging to pay an overnight babysitter, and had offered repeatedly to help you pay, but you reassured her that wasn't the case. It was just difficult doing this without a partner. You never wanted Sam to think you were ungrateful for her sacrifices, because you were anything but, so it wasn't often you brought up your worries.

Maybe if Tyler was a better man, you could've trusted him to know you were pregnant, and ultimately know his son, but you'd given up on that pipe dream shortly after Joshia was born. He would never be allowed to see him, if you had any say, but you knew one day he'd start asking about his father, and you weren't sure if you could lie to him when the time came.

Right now though, none of that mattered. Because the man you were slowly falling for, was in your home. He was seeing your son for the first time, without any clue he existed to begin with.

Toys littered the floor in some places, there were blankets all over the couch and your coffee table was covered in various sippy cups, from throughout the day.

It should've embarrassed you, but Jey seemed completely unfazed by it all.

He seemed to almost welcome it.

From then on, the bulk of your vacation was spent with Jey, the two of you taking care of Joshia together. It was weird at first, Jey hadn't really interacted with Joshia at all, instead opting to do things like preparing meals, bottles and whatever else needed to be done so that you could focus on Joshia.

On Wednesday, you'd fallen asleep on the couch after putting Joshia to bed, Jey was in the kitchen cleaning up. 

At least he had been. But when you woke up from your impromptu nap, he was nowhere to be seen.

You were afraid he left at first, but instead of worrying about it, you went to check on Joshia. He was your number one priority, even when he was starting to feel better.

When you entered your son's room, you quickly stopped in your tracks.

Jey was sitting in the rocking chair in the corner of Joshia's room, cradling the small boy in his arms as the chair swayed softly. When you stepped closer, you saw that they were both asleep, so you grabbed a blanket and draped it over them; deciding you'd wake them up to transition to beds after a quick shower. 

Leaning down, you press a kiss to Joshia's head and then Jey's before turning to step out the room. Jey's sleepy rumble pausing your movements.

"You ain't gettin' rid of me now, Y/N. You know that law, he fell asleep on my chest, I'm stuck here forever." When you look over at him, he's smiling at you. You smile back, shaking your head.

"I'm pretty sure that 'law' is about cats, Josh."

Jey playfully glares at you, "nah, it's about cute two year olds that drool on your shirt, too Mamas. It's what life is all about."

 You raise your eyebrow, humming. "I'll take your word for it then. And a shower, I'm gonna go take a shower."

You watch as he shifts in the chair, readjusting himself and Joshia so they're more comfortable, before nodding. "I ain't tryna' rush you, but…hurry up. I wanna cuddle, and my back starting to hurt."

You detect the slight whine in his voice, a small chuckle leaving you. "You got it, Chief." 

He sucks his teeth, "man, go wash ya' ass." Just to annoy him a little, you stand there unmoving. 

He waits a beat before huffing. "Babyyyy, my ass is gonna go numb."

"I'll massage it, don't worry."

He laughs a bit too loud at that, if the way Joshia wiggles in his sleep and huffs is anything to go by. His tiny cheeks filled with air before he settled down again.

"See, even little man is on my side."

You decide not to mention that he'd almost woken Joshia up, instead you raise your hand defensively. 

"I'm goin', I'm goin' no need for you two to get all worked up, jeez!"

You playfully flip your hair before scurrying out the room, laughing to yourself at the sound of Jey's distant chuckle of disbelief. 

You were worried to tell Jey about Joshia for nothing it seems. They would get along just fine, Jey hadn't run for the hills and had actually stuck around to help you take care of your unwell son. He had no obligation to you, yet he chose to put himself in this position. 

He wanted this, he wanted you. 

[oneshotnewbie]

I know you usually don't write smut buuuuuuut... can you do a oneshot with Marina where the reader is an elite dancer in a dance company (not like ballet but more like Jojo Gomez) and they come to pick her up together but she isn't quite ready yet and they see her dance really spicy and at home it gets really spicy too because they're turned on?

Author's note:

I used my favorite choreography by Jojo Gomez as an example for this request. If you would like to get more deeply involved in the subject matter of this short story, you can watch her choreography for Rude Boy on YouTube. Please only readers and viewers aged 16+!!

ᕚ---ᕘ

Exhausted but with smiles on their faces, Maya and Carina left the fire station. Although the two of them were ready for a relaxing evening on the couch after a strenuous shift, the two of them had a common goal that evening: They wanted to surprise you and pick you up from the dance studio where you had been pursuing your hobby for years. It was the place where you loved to spend your evenings to unwind from your equally hard job and they had never visited it before while you danced there, their work usually got in the way.

As the women sat in the car, the streets gradually transitioned from day to night. There was a comfortable silence that testified to the intimacy of their marriage. Maya looked out the window and let her thoughts wander into the distance, while Carina concentrated on the path and traffic in front of her with a tired smile on her lips.

As they sat there in silence, the streetlights began to illuminate the streets as they got closer to the studio, stopping in a crowded parking lot and almost nervously making their way inside. As soon as they opened the door they were surprised by a warm atmosphere, the dance studio alive with children, teenagers and adults drawn to the music and laughter.

The two women stepped deeper into the crowd and walked up to reception to inquire about your stay in the three-story studio. "Excuse me, could you perhaps tell me where the elite group is currently having their lessons?" the blonde shouted across the counter, the music making it difficult to understand anything. The young woman nodded calmly, but did not hesitate to answer her with words. Instead, she held up three fingers, then pointed to the stairs that led up directly behind her.

Carina thanked her and pushed Maya forward by her shoulder blades. They walked up the stairs and entered the darkened floor. They stopped abruptly in front of a huge glass window and saw you in your fullest element. You danced with grace and abandon, as if you were one with the music, not missing a beat. Your facial expressions matched the song and your face radiated pure joy.

Maya's jaw dropped to the floor as she watched you sprawl on the floor and do all the movements she normally only knew from the bedroom. "Bambina, stop drooling," the brunette laughed out loud and sat down on one of the benches, pulling the blonde down next to her by her arm. But she was not listening anymore, her gaze falling over every curve on your body, observing how elegantly and at the same time sexy you moved.

It was not long enough for Maya when the music ended and your trainer proudly hugged you. Beaming with happiness and beads of sweat on your forehead, you slung your bag over your shoulder and walked out the door. You were immediately surprised by two grinning faces that hugged you warmly, as if they were celebrating your deep connection with this gesture. "That was amazing and really hot!" Carina admitted, pressing a passionate kiss to your lips, grinning as she examined the expression on her others wife's face. „What do you think, Maya?“  

You looked down at the smaller woman, her light blue eyes suddenly seeming so dark. Her pupils were dilated and burning with unbridled desire. There was a greedy lust in her eyes that seemed to permeate every fiber of her body. While scanning your entire body and licking her lips with pleasure. "I think someone gets nailed to the wall as soon as they walk through the front door.“

You could not help but notice the way your breath caught in your throat and your heart had sped up ist beat significantly again. A smirk tugged at the corner of her lips, and you felt so incredibly turned on by the constant eye contact with her. She stepped forward, confusing you until you feel her warm breath against your ear. "Did you enjoy yourself?" mutters the blonde in a deep undertone, sending tingles down your spine while goosebumps spread all over your skin. You nodded modestly, your body exploding with heat. "Yes, I did."

A dark chuckle erupted from her throat and she pulled you into a deep and intimate kiss, her hand tightly wrapped around your neck to feel the pounding of your heart between her fingers. Her thumb remained under your chin as she pulled away from you. "Good. You will enjoy yourself even more when you take what I am willing to give you, sweetheart.“

ᕚ---ᕘ

You did not have time to realize what was happening to you as you stepped foot over the threshold of your apartment. In seconds, your hips were grabbed, you were spun around and pushed roughly against the door. You gasped as Maya pushed herself on you, eliminating the space between you. You were immobile to do anything.

Her lips slightly brushed against your jaw as she slowly moved down, leaving rough kisses behind. „Fuck, you should come watch more often," you breathed out, your voice coming out husky. You felt Maya smirk on your skin as she continued spreading kisses down your throat and on your collarbone. She kissed it softly, before starting to suck on it harshly, leaving a hickey behind. “Did that turn you on so much?”

"Not just her,“ your eyes opened reluctantly, now looking into the greedy and hungry eyes of Carina. She stepped closer to you, grabbing your wrists and pinned them above your head. She leaned down to you, her lips just inches away from yours. She was slowly lowering them down on yours, wrapping one hand around your neck to give her permission to access. You moaned and she plunged her tongue into your mouth, kissing you passionately. The brunette was slowly moving away to your earlobe, nibbling on it lightly. "I think we should move this to the bedroom. Maybe you can show us your moves in a private session."

[idanceuntilidie]

Baked with love

Yan gingerbread man x gn reader

I drew Flynn it will be at the end of the post <3

There are no warnings this time :3

Requests are open :D or you can just ask about the oc I don’t mind.

Once upon a time there was a very old bakery, it was ran by a witch. It was very famous for its amazing sweets that were just too good to be true.  

The kind words and compliments weren't enough for the witch, she had feared her bakery will be overshadowed. To make sure that wouldn't happen she decided to create living pastries and cookies. 

It took her weeks, to perfect the recipe and design, it was finally time for the first ever living cookie. 

So, she created the gingerbread man, and that was the last time anyone had ever seen her. 

There was an old bakery around the corner, quite popular if you have to admit. For a good reason, the lady that worked there did absolute wonders. 

She had a talent for baking. Today you decided to visit her and maybe buy few things. When you walked to the bakery instead of an old lady you met a stylish young man. When you went inside the bakery you could almost feel the magic that was probably present there. The smell was so welcoming and sweet, for some it felt like home, and it was hard to not agree. Though the interior of the place reminded you a little bit of your grandma's house. Small but cozy. Your eyes scanned briefly the delicious baked goods that laid out in the display, freshly baked blueberry and chocolate muffins caught your eye first. Then there was the best-looking apple pie you had ever seen, next to it were colorful macaroons, and so much more. 

It made your mouth water. 

There were new things also, you never knew Miss Sugar knew how to make candy. 

 When you were done eyeing up the treats that laid in front of you, you looked up, and instead of meeting the famous old lady you met a young man. His eyes widened, face getting slightly red. 

 "S-Sorry I did not mean to disturb you" 

he bashfully looked away. You chuckled at that, reassuring him that it was okay. 

 You took a closer look at the young man in front of you. He was dressed in such a fancy manner, wasn't he scared his clothes would get dirty? 

He wore frilly creamy blouse with fur? it was a very special look, but it looked well with the red bow and deep brown dress pants. Are those candies in his hair? Maybe they are charms, but boy do they look so real. You saw that he was looking at you again, but this time he tried to avoid eye contact. 

"Sorry for staring-" - you started rubbing your neck. 

"Nono it's okay really, you aren't really the first to do so..." 

"That doesn't make it okay, where is Miss Sugar? I thought she was the only oe working here?" 

He straightened his posture, for a second, he looked unsure what emotion should he show. He looked away; his hands rubbed his face. It took him a bit to face you again, his face filled with sorrow.   "Oh, dear you don't know? My aunt left us few days ago"   That sentence left you speechless. You didn't know Miss Sugar for that long, but she was such a nice lady and you felt really bad. Some part of you wished you visited the lady more. 

"I am so sorry for your loss..." 

He placed his hands on his chest, closing his eyes he said it was okay, when he opened them again, he smiled sweetly. 

 "Well now I am the owner and baker now, what can I help you with today?" 

 "I was wondering if you had f/p?" 

 "We sure do hang on" - he chirped and smoothly went to the room in the back. 

You smiled; glad he is dealing so well with the loss of his aunt. It looks like he enjoys the job too. You look around again, he didn't change the decorations maybe he had a sentiment for it? 

 "Here you go!"  

His cheery voice broke you out of your thoughts. 

 "Thank you uhhh?" 

 "Flynn"  

 "Thank you, Flynn, just a warning you will be seeing me around very often" 

 Flynn placed his hand on his forehead and dramatically sighed "Oh poor me" before laughing, you joined him soon enough. 

You paid for your treats and said your goodbyes with Flynn. 

 You were true to your word; you visited the boy almost every day. You two bonded quite fast. Flynn was very sweet, and when you were hanging around with him you felt so safe.  

Though the only weird thing you noticed was that every single time you asked him for something, he always went to the backroom to bring your goods. Flynn always knew what to bring you, sometimes it felt he knew you better than you yourself. 

 You sometimes wonder why the baked good he brings you have such weird ginger after taste. 

But it's okay it's probably nothing right? 

[therentyoupay]

OH MY GOD are you cool with sharing how your husband proposed to you at Neuschwanstein Castle?!!!!!!!!

sure!!! he did such a good job, i love this story. 😂💕

i presented at a conference in 2022 in europe and dragged my then-boyfriend along lol. he'd never been to europe before! we paid for a one-day private tour around bavaria and neuschwanstein for the last day of our trip.

after going inside the castle (amazing), our tour guides (a duo!) took us to the scary bridge (maria bridge) to get a different view:

please know that my husband is terrified of heights lmao.

while we were on the bridge he was clearly nervous and i—i, who went skydiving two days after i turned eighteen, who loves rollercoasters, who likes adrenaline, generally—was likewise not fully able to take in all the splendor of the fairytale on such a rickety-feeling bridge with so many damn people (and with so many gaps below for phones to potentially slip through!!), so i turned to him and was like, "let's go back."

the man took one look at me, told me, "No," and then fled to the other side of the bridge.

your girl was wearing comfortable footwear, but she had not been planning to chase down her man on a low-key terrifying and crowded bridge over a yawning chasm to a mysterious mountain on the other side, so by the time i got to land, he was already 10 paces ahead. (in retrospect, this should have tipped me off immediately; he would never leave me behind!!! in the moment, i chalked it up to his overwhelming fear of heights and a random burst of self-preservation instincts, but i should have known better, because he would not have left me to die for something as measly as a fear of heights lmao... just proposing 😂)

he would wait for me to catch up on this mysteriously winding dirt (read: MUD) path we'd ended up on after the bridge, but then, as soon as i caught up, he took off up the mountain again. :P

"let's just go back! we don't know what's even over here!"

mind you, at this point, i am now walking this dirt path uphill, and there are like, four people over here, and he's not even holding my hand and watching over me as i make my way up the mountain (like he always does!!!), so now i'm doubly annoyed and wondering why he's desperate to get to the top of this mountain—especially since our tour guides are still waiting for us on the other side of the bridge and are probably wondering where the hell we are.

"not yet!"

by the time we reach the end of the dirt/mud path, i am (a) annoyed, (b) huffing and puffing from the mild sprint we just did up this muddy mountain, (c) pleasantly surprised to find a small, relatively private lookout point with a BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL view of the castle.

there is someone there with a canvas, painting in watercolors. a photographer is taking tons of gorgeous photos. there's like seven people in this little muddy clearing and lookout point, total. it's ridiculously beautiful, and all of my Disney childhood and fairytale dreams are totally satisfied lmao. this is the first place near the castle that has been calm.

we're there for a while, completely enjoying the lack of crowds and this totally majestic view.

at last, i am forced to reluctantly admit, "okay, you were right, this fiasco was definitely worth the random mountain hike." i am still a little annoyed, of course, but it's not so bad now. 😂 it's abating.

until he snarks, "this probably would have been a pretty good place to propose, no?"

still annoyed, and now more so, especially since i've been genuinely waiting for him to propose for like six months, i snark back, "well, then maybe next time bring a ring why don't you?"

he dropped to one knee. 😂

the photographer—who was, in fact, just a random passerby taking his own pictures of the majestic castle—sees my then-boyfriend pull a ring out of his pocket and starts ignoring the castle to take 100000 photos of us random strangers in front of the castle instead, as my then-boyfriend-turned-fiancé-now-husband asked me, "will you marry me?"

spoiler alert: i said yes 😂 the photographer later shared all of the photos with us via email and we sent him a nice big coffee shop digital gift card despite his protests. i was desperately clutching my left hand into a crazy-tight fist (with a new big fat diamond on it!!!!!!) as i went back over the too-scary bridge, while my husband held my right hand (finally 😂).

my favorite favorite photo is the close-up of my husband's knee, in which his jeans are completely and utterly covered in mud. 😂😂😂😂😂💕💕

[lastweeksshirttonight]

Did you want my notes on Strike Force Five episode one? No? TOO BAD! YOU'RE GETTING THEM!

(Heavy spoilers for episode 1 if you plan on listening soon!)

- I love the show's overall vibe and the "roles" that all of the guys play. It's definitely a free-wheeling, off the rails kind of show, where everyone is rambling over each other; the personalities involved can make or break this kind of podcast, and everyone thankfully is playing to their strengths.

Kimmel serves as the overall show runner and is seemingly the only one endeavoring to keep anything on track, which is a slightly thankless job with this group, but he's got a soundboard and all his radio experience guiding him. Colbert also leans into being the other "elder statesman", as it were, but is much easier to derail (and provides his own episode eclipsing derail I'll talk about later). Fallon is surprisingly reserved and a bit awkward - I'm not the hugest fan of Fallon, but in this podcast, that energy serves him pretty well. Kimmel introduces Seth as "the cute one" and he seems the most neutral so far, just there to ask questions and crack jokes. And John is their super sarcastic "evil teammate" who occasionally interjects to just destroy everyone. Perfect dynamics, 10/10, no notes.

- Seth qualifies his eyes as ocean blue. John says they're Gatorade blue. I don't think I've ever laughed harder at a description of someone's eyes.

- There's a point where I assume there must have been a really blunt edit, because Fallon changes the topic abruptly to having a doctorate. Otherwise, I love the image of Fallon just sitting on that revelation and WAITING, BURSTING to talk about how he has a doctorate, while everyone else talks about Kimmel getting paid summers off.

- Everyone mention multiple times that they have sponsors and are doing this show to help pay their staff during the strikes, which is lovely. This does not mean they aren't taking the piss out of their sponsors. I never thought I'd hear worse ad copy reading than I do on The Jeff Gerstmann Show (I love Jeff, don't get me wrong, but his ad copy screaming is hilariously bad), but the Casamigos ad in this is something else. John spends most of his reading time shitting on a bleeped-out competitor that he calls "not fit for human consumption", Stephen says "you're gonna wanna wipe your ass with it" and likens it to the smoothness of sheets you make love on, there's a disembodied "woo" at some point, Seth stumbles all over a few Spanish words, and Fallon delivers his lines in his awful fake French Timothee Chalamet puppet voice. It's pure chaos and I love it so much.

- Kimmel referring to "the despicable Matt Damon" made me so happy.

- John has never done a deposition. Kimmel saying "I'm surprised you're not in prison" gets lost which is sad, that's a fucking hilarious joke.

- Fallon tells an amazing story about his mom being a nun for a week. She left after being reprimanded for taking Lifesavers into the nunnery and then left. My late aunt and best friend, who was also a nun, probably would have loved Jimmy's mom, as she was always going on wine tastings and picked the order she joined entirely based on who would let her continue to drink after taking her vows. Jimmy also has a picture of his mom dressed as a nun holding a doll dressed as a nun, which is absurd and adorable.

- This leads to everyone but Seth confessing that they'd all thought about becoming priests at some point. That doesn't shock me about Stephen at all, tbf, knowing how religious he is.

- I have to shamefully admit that when John mentioned that he told his father he wanted to be a vicar, my brain went to an extremely Fleabag place and I had to rewind the podcast once I snapped out of it and realized I'd missed like 3 minutes of jokes (including a fantastic one from Seth about John having a doll of himself as a child, like Fallon's mom's nun doll).

- "Don't you want a whole new crop of relatives to visit and entertain?" "Do you wanna get cancelled?! :D" The two Jimmys everyone.

- Stephen reveals who he has everyone saved as in his phone, to prevent people from figuring out who his contacts are if his phone gets stolen. John's is Joliver, which 1) was his name as written on TDS scripts to differentiate him from Jon Stewart, and 2) as everyone points out, is a VERY easy code to crack. Don't really need Sherlock for that one.

- ONE OF US ALERT: Stephen collects weird late night shit, like a hat from The Chevy Chase Show (John literally goes "WOW") and a silk jacket from The Pat Sajak Show. I am very jealous of this collection.

- Next episode everyone will talk about first episodes. I cannot wait to hear John talk about how all over the place his first episode is.

- The big story, running joke, and completely wild admission from this episode - Stephen Colbert has a pair of Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza's pants. Fallon asks how no one outbid him, and it turns out his MOTHER had them BECAUSE SHE DATED HIM. His uncle went to LaSalle Military Academy with Somoza, and Somoza stayed with them during holiday breaks. Everyone else in the room picks up on the idea that Stephen's mom probably slept with a dictator (or as Kimmel says, "made love to a murderer"), Seth claims his mom drinks coffee out of Ferdinand Marcos' skull, and every other male figure Stephen brings up for the rest of the episode is assumed to be someone his mom slept with.

If you asked me before listening to this podcast if I thought there were going to be a pile of elevated "your mom" jokes holding it together, I would have pretty strongly said "no". Surprises at every turn in this pod.

The beginning of this story also captures John SO STRONGLY, and he wants to hear everything about it. Definite Bugle vibes there, this man will never not want to hear about weird dictator facts. He also manages to completely kill Seth by saying "Anastasio Somoza's pants, brought to you by Casamigos".

- Finally, I have already sent an email to the show asking about Planet of the Bass, to make up for my complete failure to ask at the Q&A. I got y'all, we'll get this answer some day.

[storiesbyjes2g]

3.44 Get your girl

I pissed off rude girl, and that was fun. I saw an old man do a headstand, and that was amazing. To top off an already awesome day, not only did the old man join me for guided meditation but also so many sims wanted to join the class, I had to turn some away! I hated doing that, but it was such a good problem to have. Sims were finally recognizing the benefit of quieting their thoughts and practicing mindfulness, and I loved to see it. But as fate always had it, my good fortune ended. I had a room full of sims who paid me to teach them how to focus and quiet their minds, yet I could not focus. I tried everything, but I just could not get there. Something in my life must not have been in order. Meditation would have been the perfect time to figure it out, but I had a room full of sims waiting for my prompts to guide them. I never liked to half ass things, but I was unable to do my job so I reused the clouds prompt again to get me through class. When it was over, I went to the sauna to relax and figure out why I couldn't focus. At first, I thought maybe it was this business with Yasmine coming back to haunt me, but I had already squashed that. I combed over everything and still could not figure it out, so I stopped trying. Sometimes I stressed myself out trying to solve things when what I really needed to do was relax, so that was exactly what I did. I closed my eyes, leaned back, and emptied my mind. A while later, someone joined me in the sauna and then another, so I figured it was time to leave. As soon as I stood up, it hit me. I had unfinished business and left the spa immediately to make things right with Maira.

She answered the door with the blankest of expressions.

"Hey..." I said uncomfortably.

"What do you want, Luca?"

Ouch.

"Look...I'm sorry for popping up like this. I know it's late, but can we talk?"

She nodded, let me in, but stood at the door as if she were prepared to throw me out if I said the wrong thing.

"I feel like I upset you, and that was not my intention."

She gestured toward the couch, finally, and we sat. I was going to continue with my apology, but she interrupted me.

"When you said I was your friend... That night...the fire...I know you felt something. How could you not?"

So we were going there, huh? I tried to bury those feelings, but maybe I was ready to talk about it with her. I'd been confessing a lot of that deep, hidden stuff to myself lately. Maybe this won't be too hard.

"I did," I said. "But... Things have been really complicated for me...in that way."

"Complicated how?"

I took a deep breath.

"I like you, Maira. I do. But I..."

I felt things slowly going off the rails, and I hadn't even said anything yet, so I took a different approach, hoping things would flow better.

"You're beautiful..."

Her eyes opened wide in surprise.

"Me?"

It was my turn to be surprised.

"You're kidding, right?"

"What? I don't get too many compliments like that. Most guys I dealt with were fans of my ass."

I couldn't help it, but I let out a tiny chuckle. Maybe it was the way she said it.

"I, uhhh...I will admit to also being a fan, heh. But I'm not just talking about your face. You're beautiful inside, too. If someone were to hold a SimRay to my head and say I had to get married right away or I'd die, you would be one of the women at the top of my list."

"Aww! Really?"

"Yeah... I said it was complicated because I feel that way about you...and someone else, to be honest. But I'm still afraid to make a move. My parents have been divorced my whole life, basically. I didn't have many examples of healthy, thriving relationships growing up. I still don't. And even now, as an adult, I keep learning things about my parents that make me even less sure about if I'm cut out for this. I don't want to end up like them, so it's easier to keep everyone at a distance until I figure myself out. But that's gotten harder and harder to do the more I get to know you all. I don't want to mess up."

She sat there, still listening, so I went on.

"When I said you were my friend, I wasn't trying to say that's how I saw you and we had zero chance of anything else. I was simply stating you are my friend, and I would always be here for you."

She nodded slowly.

"I knew your parents were divorced, but I didn't know you were still being affected by it. I guess it all makes sense now."

"I'm sorry if it felt like I was leading you on, or whatever. That wasn't my intention. I've been thinking about things a lot lately and trying to remember my parents' problems had nothing to do with me and I don't have to do what they did. So I've decided to give dating a try. Heh, according to my Dad, you and I may have been doing that this whole time. I don't want to be scared anymore. But I also don't want anything serious right now. I do want to find someone I'd be willing to get serious with, so...yeah. I'm dating."

"That's very good to know," she said. "I kinda feel the same way. I wasn't upset because I thought we were going somewhere because I'm not looking for anything too serious right now, either. I was upset because I thought you friend zoned me, and it just made me think about all the other guys I'd dealt with. I thought you were different...someone I'd like to be with when I am ready. But in that moment, I thought you were just like everyone else, taking what they want and throwing me away when it was convenient for them. That upset me because I just want to meet a good guy for once. So...yeah...I'm sorry I thought you were a llama snot."

I hadn't heard llama snot since we were kids. It made me smile.

"I'm sorry you've met so many douche bags."

She shrugged.

"You win some, you lose some. Speaking of losing... If you like this other girl, I think you should go for it and forget about me."

My stomach rolled.

"What? No. I could never forget about you. You're one of my best friends!"

"I don't mean cut me out of your life. I just mean, if you're waffling between her and me, choose her."

A tiny part of me was relieved she had taken herself out of the proverbial race because, if it came down to Maira and Sophia, I honestly didn't know how I'd choose. But I still didn't want to lose her. True, we were just friends and could remain friends. But the part of me that wanted more than that was sad.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because, Luca! I know you say you're scared, and you think you're not ready, but you are! And you want it! I can see it in your eyes and in the way you behave. Just be with her. You'll be fine. I'm nowhere near ready for what you want, and I'm sorry if I lead you to believe I am. My family... I love them, but they are driving me nuts right now. My parents just had another baby, and my sister is pregnant again. And top it all off, my brother just got married."

"Who married him?" I asked in disgust.

She laughed because she knew I couldn't stand that guy.

"Malia."

My eyes widened that time.

"Malia Gallardo?"

The girl I used to like who liked my sister instead of me?

"Yep! They're ummm...they're interesting together... But anyway, with all these babies and marriages going on, everyone's looking at me like 'well???' and tapping on their fictitious watches. I just don't want any of that. At least not now. Maybe never! I don't know right now. But what I do know is I'm going at this much slower than you are, and I don't want to hold you back. So...go get your girl. And before you ask, yes we're still friends, yes, I want to see you from time to time, and yes, when you're ready, I'd like to meet her."

I didn't know what to say or even what to feel. What did she see in me that told her I was ready for a serious relationship? I wanted to see it too. I should have felt liberated, but I was still a little scared. Of what? I didn't know. Fear of the unknown, probably. I suppose that was healthy. Still, I wasn't prompted to go home and call Sophia.

[frozen-snowflakesandsunflowers]

Episode 2: Games and Questions 💬

Cover edited by me

This episode is where the drama begins! It picks up on Elsa's decisions made at the end of Frozen 2 and also on Anna's willingness to befriend anyone without knowing who they really are.

The episode picks up where the previous one left off, when Elsa arrives and extinguishes the fire. Disa is amazed upon seeing Elsa's powers in action for the first time. When Disa came to visit first, when they were little, Anna told her about Elsa's powers, making her the first to know about Elsa's powers. They thankfully see some of the artifacts and books are still fine despite the fire.

After setting off the fire Elsa takes Anna out of the room to talk about what just happened. Elsa tells Anna off gently for allowing anyone to the archive. Then suddenly a Sankerhus fellow pops in to ask something from Anna and Anna acts as if she knows who he is. After the stranger leaves Elsa is quick to point out that Anna doesn't know who he is. To prove her point she asks about his last name. Anna makes up a name hesitantly but Elsa again notices she's lying. Familiar? That's because it's a reference to Kristoff asking about Hans' last name to which Anna replied “Of the Southern Isles ”. Anna gives in and says she's just doing what Elsa told her to do and to let Elsa trust her as she knows what she's doing. Elsa does make a point that the castle feels like a never ending banquet given a while other kingdom is mixed in with Arendelle. But then my favourite part of the episode, Anna can see Elsa misses being Queen! Anna tells Elsa, “Come on Elsa, admit you miss this”, and Elsa replies “You know I actually do”. For a fan who was a little down when Elsa stepped down as Queen (but isn't much anymore - a coming post explains why) and who hates seeing people say Elsa hated being Queen etc, I am really happy they showed this side of Elsa. It's not that Elsa didn't want it to be Queen but rather she didn't expect to be Queen so soon. Not only because of her parents deaths but mostly because she had to focus on controlling her powers and most of all her fear. Her part in "For the first time in forever" says it all. She always feared hurting innocent people with these dangerous powers and to rule hiding them would be hard given you meet and greet a lot of people. Elsa stepped down because she couldn't rule and look after the forest at the same time and she knew Anna would do great as Queen and it would reward her for having saved Elsa, Northuldra and Arendelle. So you ask why does Northuldra need protecting now? Well it's been trapped years under mist so it needs support in regaining its strength and now that more magic is revealed to the world, she knows it can attract people who want to study it, use it, control it, kill it, etc, as she suspects Disa doing here. I didn't for a minute expect Elsa to ever recall her days as Queen, but deep down inside I did want it to happen. It puts a close to those who think she didn't like being Queen or didn't love Arendelle. Elsa continues to say she's just so used to doing this alone. By that she means she knew what decisions were to be made and how to do them. She never needs help with Queenly pressures. She's not saying Anna isn't a good ruler or she isn't capable of making good decisions but rather saying that she misses it, but despite that she gave Anna the crown for a reason and trusts her to do what's best for Arendelle. So if you can't tell already I really loved this conversation between them.

I don't know how this story will turn out but I don't expect Anna stepping down or anything as big or important as that anyway because those things wouldn't be in the podcast I don't think.

Moving on, Disa barges in and then Olaf takes her to dinner. Olaf is so Olaf here. I love it. At the dinner table Anna suggests playing a game where you ask Questions related to your partner's Question. Kristoff and Sven go first, again voice actors are doing a great job at capturing the characters and original voice actors essence. Elsa and Disa are up next and this is when the tables turn and my second favourite moment on the episode begins! Disa asks Elsa why she wanted to see Arendelle's material and Disa asks why she left Arendelle. Elsa asks back why she's so interested in Arendelle to which Disa replies, why aren't you Queen of Arendelle. Elsa asks what she's getting at. As tensions rise, thunders rage and rain pours. Kristoff asks if Elsa's been in touch with Gale today, to which she replies not lately. The episode ends there with tensions rising between a former and current Queen suspecting each other.

So what we can make out here is Elsa suspects Disa of stealing Arendelle's knowledge of magic and using it for her own good. Disa however seems to be accusing Elsa of treason or betraying her own kingdom.. I'm not too sure but I think she's trying to show Elsa's disloyalty to her kingdom. Disa is intrigued by Elsa's magic and the forest's too.. I have a feeling Disa will take some of what is saved from the fire and use it to experiment with her science skills which will cause some kind of chaos but that's just a guess. I could be completely wrong about Disa going full villain.

I predict that Disa is the one causing chaos in the enchanted forest with the machines. The machines are all scientific but they're built with copper which Wolfgang is obsessed with. It could be that Weselton's copper is advanced. She doesn't like magic, she fears it, finds it strange and hence studies it to see if this is a threat or a gift to society. So perhaps she's experimenting in the forest. But I could be totally wrong. But Wolfagang seems like a weird yet innocent man who is genuinely trying to rectify his uncle's actions.

On another note as much as I wanted and some have theorized I don't think Hans is Wolfgang. His voice is different, and he's so crazy about copper and has two pet magpies that apparently can talk plus he knits. He definitely sounds like the nephew of the Duke. I mean would Hans go all out with the magpies and obsession with copper? But I do hope he appears at some point. If not in this season, then the next otherwise than save it for the movie as I do have a bit of hope for his appearance in Frozen 3, but that's for another post.

These episodes have actually been more fun than I imagined. It's interesting, it's fun, it references the two movies, the voice actors nail the original voice actors*. If the story goes down well in the other episodes, then Disney is pulling it off with the podcasts, if not then Disney should reconsider what part of the story they tell through podcasts. I'm excited to see how these will lead up to Frozen 3. I'm not too focused on the supposed theme of Science Vs Nature because story wise it's going great so far. I like a bit of drama because out of that you get reveals which play a part in the story.

But here are the downers to it so far. It seems like it's focused on Disa and Wolfagang while the main characters just play other supporting roles in their journey. When it was being promoted, it was about Elsa, Anna and the lot so it was kinda misleading.

But then again, I think perhaps this event might change Elsa and Anna's perspective on strangers, royal or not. I think they are showing Elsa and Anna learning to trust the right way. And maybe this might help with Hans' redemption if he reappears in Frozen 3. Because if Wolfagang is a genuinely nice man, it may make Elsa and Anna slightly open to forgiving past enemies. I think that's why the Duke's nephew was introduced here and why they could be saving Hans for the movie.

* If you didn't know already, the original cast aren't voicing this I'm assuming because of prep for Frozen 3 or perhaps to give a different feel to the podcasts then the movies. So a new cast is voicing them.

When the other episodes release we'll get further information on what Frozen 3 could be about and where the story is heading.

[fookinavocadosman]

episode 9: till forever falls apart {HS}

it’s been a year since the retreat and a reunion is what is needed to see how everyone’s been doing since leaving.

warnings: none :)

word count: 1.4k

“Are you ready?” Harry walks up behind me kissing my forehead before sitting down in the chair next to me. 

“As I’ll ever be.” I smile at him while I click the zoom link joining the call. Our faces pop up and I see almost everyone is on the zoom call. 

“Hey, guys!” Desiree says to us and I unmute the mic as Harry and I both say hi. When everyone is on the call Desiree gives us a countdown before starting 

“Welcome to the show that does for Too Hot To Handle what Harry and Y/N do to a prize fund. Shamelessly suck it dry!” Desiree starts and I blush, leaning into Harry at the call out. 

“Anyway without further ado, it's time to meet the show's effortlessly gorgeous stars. Give us a wave.” We all wave saying hi and soon another box pops up showing Lana. 

“Lovely to see you all. I hope you are all continuing to be making deeper and more meaningful connections.” Lana says and then her screen is gone. Soon the group is split up and Harry and I are put in a separate room with just Desiree. 

“Oh my god hey guys!” Desiree says excitedly and we respond with the same excitement. 

“God you both look gorgeous even on a phone.” Desiree compliments us. 

“You’re gorgeous as well.” He smiles at her and she waves air onto her face pretending to cool down. 

“So Harry and Y/N, how has everything been since you left the retreat?” She asks and I look at Harry to see if he wants to answer first. 

“Ladies first.” He mumbles and I let out a soft laugh. 

“Honestly, everything has been amazing. I finished my last year of college and the long distance was a bit of a struggle but everything has been worth it.” I tell her and Harry nods agreeing with me. 

“So what did you guys do after leaving the retreat?” 

“Well Y/N still had a couple of weeks before her classes started so I went back with her to her hometown. I met her family, and saw the area she grew up in, her family is amazing, they welcomed me with open arms. And once her classes started up again I went back to LA and worked and then during her winter break she came to LA. So we were jumping back and forth for a while but recently we just got an apartment in LA and moved in together.” Harry tells Desiree wrapping his arm around my shoulder and her jaw drops before she smiles. 

“Wow, that's truly amazing! How have you been liking LA Y/N?” 

“It’s very different from my hometown. I was a little bit homesick when I moved all the way across the country but I couldn’t be happier. I have an amazing job, amazing friends, and an amazing boyfriend.” I smile at her and she nods. 

“Have there been any struggles that you’re willing to share?” I look down nervously and Harry lets out a sigh before speaking. 

“Yeah, there was a point where the long-distance became a little bit too much for both of us. It was when COVID first hit and I was stuck in England and I couldn’t fly back to the states, it was really difficult, especially with the time difference we just kept missing each other but as soon as I was able to fly back I was with Y/N.” He speaks and I just observe him as he speaks. 

“I’m literally falling in love with your love story. Unfortunately, I do have to bring up some sticky things. So first Zayn. Y/N, do you have any regrets with Zayn?” Desiree asks and Harry tenses up slightly as I shake my head. 

“Funny thing is that Zayn and us are really good friends. Most of the group we  see or talk to from time to time but other than that the only thing I regret was using him to get back at Harry.” I explain to her and she nods asking Harry about Brooke. 

“Yeah, my biggest regret was using Brooke to piss off Y/N, I really thought I had lost her.” Harry admits to Desiree and I squeeze his hand under the table reassuring him. 

“Alright. so last question for you guys, what does your future look like? Do you guys have anything special planned?” Desiree asks and I look at Harry smiling. 

“Uh well, there’s been a lot of serious conversations about marriage and kids, I don’t think that either are going to happen for another couple of years, but if it does I’m glad that it’s with Y/N.” Harry tells her and she freaks out. 

“You guys are seriously considering getting married and having kids?” She gasps and I nod my head. 

“Yeah. He’s it for me, I love him so much and I’ve never felt so alive and free with someone and I know that we were made for each other.” I smile as I look at Harry and he’s already been looking at me leaning down to kiss me softly on the lips. He pulls away and Desiree awws at us. 

“I’m so glad you guys are happy and taking these steps in your relationship. I hope everything continues to blossom between you guys.” Desiree tells us and we thank her before we get sent back to the main meeting room. 

We wait with everyone else while Desiree does her individual interviews with everyone and soon she comes back asking us questions for who's most likely to game. 

For become president the consensus was Kate, become a police officer no one could agree on it, walk around the house naked, almost everyone voted for themselves except I voted for Harry because he does it all the time. Streak at the superbowl we all voted for Louis who was not happy about that, complete tinder we voted for Liam. 

We are then brought into another room where all the boys are together and unfortunately I can’t participate. Desiree explains that she's doing a homage to the yoni puja workshop and having the boys paint their own bits. Harry grabs a piece of paper and starts drawing while I sit back watching the other guys draw. 

Riley is looking over Niall’s shoulder and Ava is not paying attention to Zayn’s drawing. Liam seems to be hyper-focused on his while Louis keeps cracking jokes about his. As the boys all go through showing theirs we all laugh at the depictions of their bits. 

When it’s Harry’s turn he shows his and I angle my body to see his. I smack his shoulder as he explains that it’s to scale and the reason it has hearts around it is because everyone falls in love with it. I roll my eyes at him as Desiree makes a face. 

“You are so crude.” I mumble under my breath, making him laugh. 

“Sorry, my love.” He mumbles back kissing my forehead and I roll my eyes at his fake apology. The meeting ends soon after the last task and when the call ends I look at Harry smiling. 

“Well I wish we could’ve seen them in person but that was honestly so fun.” I tell him and he nods. 

“Yeah, we can try to plan something with everyone as soon as it’s safe to do so.” He smiles and I nod. 

When we were on the call we found out that Brooke is now dating a guy that she met at a party, Luke is still doing what he used to do before the show, Kate is still single but is actively looking to date someone, Louis and Sage broke up a couple of months after the show but are still good friends, Ava and Zayn are still going strong, Zayn moved to Ireland to be with Ava. 

Michael is dating a girl from his hometown, Kenzie is still single and hasn’t been looking for anyone, and Liam is single as well but has been trying to find a significant other. We are still good friends with Niall and Riley and they live in LA about 20 minutes from us and they’re engaged. 

“You know it’s crazy that we met on this show.” I say to Harry and he hums. 

“I can never thank my friend enough for telling me to sign up for it.” I smile at him and he smiles back. 

“Same here. You’re the love of my life. I couldn’t imagine doing any of this without you.” He smiles at me leaning in to kiss me and when our lips touch I feel the comfort that I had been searching for in all the nameless people. 

I finally feel at home.

Well thats the last episode of the THTH series. Thank you to everyone for reading this series, I truly appreciate all the support and love I got on it. I will eventually post a blurb on their first time after the retreat and may post other blurbs for it every now and then, but please bear with me i am a full time college student and this semester i have a packed schedule so posting will be very slow, but other than that this is the end. I love you all. Thank you. <3

tag list: @golden-hoax @nikkisimps @matildasatellite @tiaamberxx @behindmygreyeyes @panicattheuc @jessitpwk @my-munson-styles @hislcstyles @that-one-little-soybean @harringt8ns @rafaaoli @tenaciousperfectionunknown @v1rg1nvodkasprite @gem1712

[kayhi808]

Billy Mine - Act 2.6

Arthur killed almost everything inside me…and that 3 year old healed me. She loved me unconditionally. She'd wrap her little arms around me in a hug or a sticky kiss to my cheek. She'd bring her books to me so I could read her stories and then soon she was reading me stories. She could read my moods, doing crazy things to make me laugh. She made me feel important. No one caters to you in a group home, but she did to me.

"I don't want to be alone."

It was just a little girl crush that she had on me. Or that's what I told myself. Looking back, it was more. It was different. Unlike anything I've expericenced since. She lost her mother & had no one when she came to Ray of Hope. I became her family. She was so little. She was all emotions & fucking stubborn as hell. Again, that made me feel important because she wouldn't talk to or listen to anyone but me.

She called me Billy Mine. I was hers. Until I hurt her & then she left me and left a hole in my world. I can admit it now, my heart. She left a hole in my heart. She avoided me. Wouldn't talk to me. She'd look right through me like I didn't even exist. I didn't even know she was leaving Ray of Hope. I came home early and saw her being packed up into a car & she never returned. Families would try to foster her before & she'd be back in a day or two because she'd act up. Not this time. I told myself it was for the best, she found a family. I never got a chance to discuss it with her. If she liked the family. How did they treat her? It ate at me that I never told her good-bye.

"I don't want to be alone."

My Bunny is back in my life. She grew up to be an amazing woman. Sentaor Ellis' daughter, proper & refined. She's smart & beautiful. I thought she was nothing like the wild child I once knew, but there's a spark that she keeps hidden. Her sass and defiance breaks through when she's with me. When she leaned in and told me that she easily could have killed her attackers, I wanted to bend her over my desk. Jesus Christ, that turned me on. Which is disturbing and I'm trying to wrap my brain around that. Juliet needs my help. She's asleep in her bed now. I told her I'd stay. For all the bravado she had about killing her attackers, the news didn't leave her unaffected. I've taken many lives & its not an easy thing to do.

A whimper comes from the bedroom. I find Juliet tangled up in her sheets caught up in a nightmare.

*****

I dream of the abduction again, but this time I don't fight back. I'm scared. I killed him. I really killed him, and I can't do that again. So, they'll take me. My heart is racing and I can't breathe. But if they take me, I'll never see Billy and I begin to panic.

"Juliet, wake up. Baby, can you hear me? You're safe." I strike out, but it's Billy & he catches my hands. "It's ok. It was just a bad dream."

I sit up and throw my arms around his neck, "They came for me, and I couldn't fight them. I didn't want to fight. I didn't want to kill anyone & they were going to take me & there was nothing I could do." One hand is on the back of my head, holding me to his shoulder and the other is rubbing up & down my spine.

"It was only a nightmare, Bun. You're safe." He pulls back & brushes the hair out of my face. "I'm very good at my job. You think I'd let anything happen to you?"

"I'm nothing but a job??" I release him from my hug getting angrier by the second. "My father would only hire the very best so I'm sure you're excellent at your job," shoving away from him.

"That's not what I meant." Bill grabs for me but I quickly move out of his reach. "Juliet."

"I'll make sure you get a bonus for staying overtime. Such diligence and dedication can't go unrewarded," I sneer. What was I thinking asking him to stay with me?! I leave my room.

"Juliet! Come back here!"

In the brightness of my living room I don't feel as vulnerable to him as I did in the darkness of my bedroom. He reaches for me and I knock his hands aside. "I've changed my mind. I think you should leave. I'm fine by myself."

"You know that's not what I meant! I protect people. It's what I do. And I'm the best. I'd never let anything bad happen to you. Ever. Not because you're my job. Your father can keep his fucking money. But because...you're...mine." Billy drops his head back looking at the ceiling. "You've always been mine."

@idaofinfinity @imagine-a-fictional-boyfriend @snowkestrel @bustlingcrowdsxorxsilentsleepers @terry2227 @russosafehaven @celestialams @jvanilly @e-dubbc11

[ask-healthy-light]

As soon as Starswirl laid down in his bed again, the Sisters took a moment to soften his pillow and carefully cover him with his blanket, just as he made it clear to the others that he felt too tired to continue, and he preferred to rest for the remainder of the day; and as Celestia and Luna warmly smiled, and softly told him that he did an amazing job, the Doctor nodded, and wrote into his file.

In return, the Bearded sweetly chuckled, and thanked his Pupils for their kind words, and for being there by his side, before he let out a deep sigh, and closed his eyes, and fell asleep with a smile on his face a mere moment thereafter; and the two Princesses gently kissed him on his forehead, and quietly told him to rest, and that they would be back before the end of the day to check up on him.

When the Doctor finished writing, she whispered to the others that it was time to head outside, and led them out of his room into the hallway, where, after she closed the door, she promised the group that they would look after him; but their presence had been a great motivation for him, despite how exhausted he had become, but there was little more they could do for him, save for giving him time.

To her surprise, Celestia and Luna interrupted the Doctor when they pulled her into their wings all of a sudden, and solemnly thanked her for all of her help in taking care of their friend of Old, to which the Doctor quietly replied that she need not be thanked; but as their eyes started to well up with tears, the Sisters did not utter another word as they hugged her even more deeply in response.

Only after the Doctor said in a lighthearted tone that she had many other patients she still needed to take care of, did the Sisters let go of her, whereafter they wiped away their tears, and cleared their throats; but before the two could apologise to the Doctor, she quickly waved her hoof around, and promised they did not have apologise, either, since she understood just how grateful they were.

Before they could leave the Centre, though, the Doctor politely asked Eclipse to wait for a moment, for when she left the room to talk with Mage Meadowbrook, whom she figured was at Ponyville Palace, she promised to send her the documents she needed to access her patients' files; but since they had recently overhauled the entirety of their archive, she asked if they could give her a helping hoof.

For a split second, the Doctor thought she saw a spark in both Solar and Twilight's eyes, until she rubbed her own eyes, and found that they merely nodded to one another, then to her, and to the rest of the group, telling them to return to the Palace without them; and after the others waved to them and the Doctor, they left the Centre, while Eclipse asked the Doctor whither they would have to go.

After she let out a sigh of relief, the Doctor thanked the Two-Headed Alicorn, and trotted ahead of them to show them where the archives of the hospital were, apologising profusely in advance for the terrible state that it was in; for while every Doctor in the Centre had planned to start organising all the papers, books, and folders, somehow, something else with priority always seemed to come up.

Although Twilight was secretly overjoyed to hear that she could spend a long time sorting countless documents, she made sure to take a deep breath to stay calm, and let Solar take the lead in talking with the Doctor; and to her relief, Solar asked whether there was anything not meant for their eyes stored inside the archives, to which the Doctor shook her head, after a noticeable moment of doubt.

But both Solar and Twilight noticed her hesitation, and insisted that the Doctor tell them if there were any documents that had to be kept secret, to which she admitted with a quiet sigh that she did not know; for while they collected all their patients' files before the overhaul, and sent these to a greater archive for storage and safekeeping, it could be that a couple of these folders remained.

At that moment, as the Doctor pointed at a door, a buzzer rang in her pocket, and she told Eclipse:

"Not again… I have to go, but if you do find anything, please, let me know as soon as you can."

(Thanks for reading! And if you enjoyed, please reblog! Thanks in advance!)

Send an ask or request! | Start at the beginning! | Next part!

Featuring: Solar Eclipse and Twilight Sparkle as Twilight Eclipse from @asktwilighteclipse

[ssa-sapphic]

Pairing: Emily Prentiss × (POC)fem!oc

Previous Chapter: part one

Summary: When the bodies of several women show up all around LA, it's Garcia who aids the team in making the shocking connection that all of the victims look exactly like one of her favorite actresses, Sloan Hudson. Upon making this discovery, the team soon realizes that this famous celebrity might just be the unsub's final target, meaning that she is now in grave danger and needs to be protected. Unfortunately for Emily, her days of being a profiler are soon put on hold when Hotch assigns her to be Sloan's personal bodyguard.

Warnings: Basically all that an episode of Criminal Minds consists of. I don't really know what to specifically list, but if you have any additions or specific triggers, please let me know

Word Count: 4.6k

“Hollywood is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.” - Marilyn Monroe

“Good morning, everyone!" The talk show host introduced, directing his words to the huge camera lens a few feet away and the small audience sitting behind it. "We’re here with America’s Sweetheart, Sloan Hudson, daughter of the late world-renowned director and Academy Award-winning actor Omar Hudson, and she’s here to catch us up on how life has been treating her over the past year since her father’s passing.”

On the sofa next to him, Sloan sat with her legs crossed and a dazzling smile plastered on her face as she looked out into the crowd filled with many of her adoring fans and supporters.

“So, Ms. Hudson, first and foremost how are you doing?” He asked, politely.

With a glance at her manager, who stood backstage with a pointed look, Sloan swallowed the lump in her throat and addressed the man next to her.

“Well, Jimmy, I’ll admit things were rough the last several months after my father’s accident. Loss isn’t ever an easy thing to experience, and it was difficult picking myself up from such a dark place in my life. However, I knew the impact he left on this world would never be forgotten and in a way, it’s like he’s still a part of me. Of course, I know firsthand that life and the industry itself won’t ever be the same without him, but it’s that idea alone that has motivated me to continue in his footsteps and keep his legacy alive. He helped shape me into the woman and actress I am today and I will always be grateful and honored to share the same passion he had for acting.”

Once again, she looked over to her manager behind the scenes, who was now sending her a nod of approval, almost as if she had doubted Sloan’s capability to remember the simple words written for her on yellow note cards that morning. Did she honestly forget that reading pages and pages of scripts was part of her job?

“Yes, his death certainly shocked all of us who watched his career develop over the years but we’re glad to hear that the Hudson talent won’t be ending so soon,” Jimmy noted solemnly, allowing the audience to clap in encouragement before he moved on to his next question. “I think we’re all looking forward to seeing your career flourish just as much. Speaking of which, I hear you’ve already begun a new project that’s set to hit theaters as early as next summer. Can you tell us a bit about the film and what we can expect to see from you this time around?”

"Unfortunately, I can’t say much,” Sloan smiled apologetically, knowing she’d get in heaps of trouble for disclosing any details while production was still underway. “But I’m excited to introduce my fans to this new character I’m portraying. She’s nothing like the roles I’ve had in the past and I hope she touches their hearts just as much as she has mine. I know you’re all used to seeing me in romantic indie films and the like, but this one is going to be a real emotional and dramatic performance for me and I’m honored to be part of such a brilliant storyline. I can’t wait to see it come to life.”

“That’s amazing!" He exclaimed. "It sounds like maybe this could be your year to take home an award, what do you think?”

With a small chuckle, Sloan suddenly grew bashful as she hid her face behind her hands, while the crowd cooed and awaited her answer. Truth be told, her anxiety crept up on her like a shadow in the night from his question, but within a second, she managed to ground herself and slip her mask back on before addressing his words.

“Well, it’s like the famous painter Van Gogh once stated: I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream. In that same aspect, I don’t know what the future holds for me or if I’ll ever take home an Oscar. All I can say is that I’ve been dreaming of it ever since I was a little girl sitting in my father's director chair, and that drives me to be the best that I can be. We’ll see if that’s good enough.”

“Ah, Miss Hudson, just as humble as ever, huh?” Jimmy smiled at her. He then turned to face the camera. “When we come back we’ll talk more with Sloan and even play a few games with her that are favorites on the show! I’m sure all of you watching at home don’t want to miss it. So, stay tuned and we’ll be back after a quick commercial break.”

On the way out of the studio, lights flashed and shouts erupted as Sloan and her security team rushed through the crowd of paparazzi, journalists, and fans. Quickly they made their way over to the limousine waiting for her in front of the building, but not before being stopped by a woman with a microphone blocking their path.

“Sloan! Is it true you’re dating your costar, Colton Davis!? Are you engaged to him?? Where is he, and why isn’t he here with you!?”

“Who said he’s not here?” A male’s voice cut in, as the dirty-blond himself emerged from the limo and threw an arm around Sloan’s waist. She had to force herself not to cringe away from his touch as his hand lingered far more downward than she’d liked. “I’m always supporting my girl from the sidelines. Isn’t that right, babe?” He turned to her, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips knowing the press would have a field day with it.

But just as his chapped lips neared her freshly glossed ones, she moved her head so that they met her cheek instead. It was an act of nonchalance executed so perfectly and ritualistically, that no one seemed to notice. They never did, and it was one of the few reasons that made having a PR boyfriend manageable. As long as they were seen out and about together, that was all that mattered. The nonexistent kisses and intimacy could happen behind closed doors and away from the public’s knowledge.

Sloan ignored the rest of the questions thrown at her and blew a kiss to her fans before entering the vehicle, where she finally let out the breath she had been holding in since pulling up to the studio just hours ago. Moments like these were when she was thankful for whoever invented tinted windows, or in her case, the acting shields that allowed her to remove her mask completely without the worry of being seen. It was there that she could let her guard down and wipe away the thick layers of makeup caked on her face consisting of nothing but fake smiles and faux happiness.

She looked over to her manager, Vera, who was currently having what looked to be a serious conversation on the phone. The older woman spared a couple of glances her way, a mixture of worry and skepticism clouding her features, but Sloan couldn’t seem to find enough energy in herself to care. It was probably a modeling gig or another interview that fell through.

Cancellations and rain checks were like the end of the world to Vera, but to her, they were the calm between each passing storm. Moments where she could finally rest and step away from the limelight to have a day or week to herself.

Outside the car, she watched Colton wrap up his goodbyes. His proud demeanor and love for himself amused her to the point where she let out a dry laugh. The people out there didn’t care about him at all, and she knew that. They were all there for her and the only reason they gave him the time of day was so they could find out more information about her life. However, he was too blinded by his new rise in fame to see that.

Deep down, she couldn’t blame him though. When her career first set off, she too enjoyed the love and attention, but over the years she soon recognized it all for what it truly was:

Misconception.

With a roll of her eyes, she sat back in the leather seat and pulled her iPod out of her bag. Within seconds, “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” by The Smiths flowed through the earbuds she had placed in her ears. Listening to music was her usual way of grounding herself before getting into character, and knowing she was due on set within the hour, she figured the car ride there would be her only time to do so.

The song choice was deliberate, not only because The Smiths were one of her favorite bands, but also because the lyrics resonated with her in more ways than she knew how to explain. As a celebrity, you’d think she had access to everything she ever wanted. Truthfully, however, that was far from the case. There were many things she wasn’t allowed to have, and those specific things just happened to be what her heart desired most in the world.

“Sloan,” Vera called for her attention, having hung up the phone. “Don’t think I didn’t see that kiss with Cole. If you could even call it that.” She muttered the last part. “Remember what we talked about? You need to sell this relationship to get more publicity, and that won’t happen when you’re giving him the cold shoulder right in front of the cameras.”

“I still don’t see why I need a fake relationship.” She muttered. “I mean, I’m literally in the middle of filming a new movie. Isn’t that enough to warrant publicity?”

“That’s what showbiz is all about, you can’t rely on one single project to keep you trending, you know that. Besides, your fans don’t know anything about this movie aside from the cast. There’s not much keeping their attention. This relationship, however, is the key.” Vera exclaimed. “Haven’t you checked your socials? You and Colton are the hottest new couple, everyone and their mom is shipping you two.”

“I just don’t understand why it had to be him.” She mumbled in reply, looking out the window and watching him take a few photos with fans.

“Look,” Her manager sighed. “I know you’re still upset about our talk last week, but this is for the best. What you were asking me could’ve put you at risk for so much backlash and negativity. You’d lose hundreds if not thousands of supporters and that’s not what’s going to skyrocket your career, Sloan. What the people want from you is to see your face plastered on skincare ads telling them the secret to beauty, or on movie posters for upcoming blockbuster hits. I mean, you’re America’s Sweetheart for a reason. The public loves you, just as you are now. Why change that?”

“Seriously?” Sloan asked in disbelief. “Vera, this is just the kind of thing that could tell me who my true supporters are! I don’t care about the fake fans or what people think of me. People constantly come into my life just to end up taking advantage of me or using me for their own gain anyway and I’m so tired of it. For once, I just want someone to love me for who I am, not some false image that you or anybody else is forcing me to be. Why don’t you get that?”

“Because it’s ridiculous,” Vera answered simply. “We’ve worked too hard to get you where you are in this industry, and I won’t have you throwing it all to waste over some happily ever after fantasy that isn’t necessary when people literally throw themselves at you every day.”

With a scoff, Sloan put her earbuds back in. “You know, contrary to what you may believe, having people constantly throw themselves at you or want something from you doesn’t feel as good as you think it does. It makes trusting people impossible.”

“Sloan, come on–”

“No, Vera.” She cut her off. “I’m done with this conversation. If you want me to keep acting like someone I’m not then I’ll do just that. Luckily, for you, I know how to put on a good show.”

With that, she turned the volume on her iPod up to drown out any other remarks Vera threw at her. That, and also to distract herself from the overwhelming thoughts constantly plaguing her about life and adulation. It was all becoming too much, and Sloan just wanted to remember the passion she once felt for acting again. Lately, it felt like she was putting on this never-ending show for the world and she hated it. She felt used, empty, and hopeless. If she knew pursuing her dreams would end up making her sign her life away, she would have chosen a different route. At least then she would know who she was, because nowadays she felt her true self slipping away from her with each passing day, and it was starting to take its toll.

“Agent Hotchner,” The lead detective, Owen Kim, shook his hand. “I can’t thank you and your team enough for coming all this way to help us out.”

“Of course,” Hotch replied, before turning and introducing his team. “These are Agents Rossi, Morgan, Prentiss, Jareau, and Dr. Reid. Our technical analyst Penelope Garica will also be here this evening to help assist. Where are we so far in finding Kayla Shafer?”

“Well she’s now classified as a missing person, so we have her face plastered on the news and her family has orchestrated a search party of their own.” He answered, solemnly. “We’re doing everything we can but I’m afraid we don’t have much to work on. My officers are heading down to the bus stop area in a few minutes though to see if we can find any working surveillance cameras along the route we think she would normally walk.”

“Great. I’ll have my team set up in the conference room and we’ll go from there.” Hotch spoke formally, watching Detective Kim nod and walk off before JJ slipped into his sight next.

“So, how are we going to approach this?” She asked, quietly, knowing they had to be careful with letting more details about the case reach the media with a celebrity possibly being involved.

Hotch sighed as he looked around the precinct, discreetly. “If Garcia was able to connect the pieces from being a fan of Miss Hudson, sooner or later other fans will too. Our priority right now is to work the case like normal until we hear back from her management team. Until then, I want you to call Garcia and work on putting together a list of all of Sloan’s past roles in chronological order so we have a map to base off of. Hopefully, we’ll learn who the unsub’s next targets might be.”

“Got it.” She gave him a quick nod, before stepping aside to make the call.

Once the rest of the team finished setting up, they equally dispersed in pairs to take care of the respective tasks given to them on the jet. Rossi and Reid headed over to the morgue to examine the other bodies while Prentiss and Morgan followed the LAPD officers to the diner where Kayla worked.

Immediately after walking in, they were hit with the fresh smell of burgers and fries wafting through the air as the bustling breakfast hours quickly turned into lunchtime for many customers. Waiters and waitresses scurried about, taking orders and wiping down counters left and right. Derek just managed to move away from a serving tray filled with plates of food coming his way as the family in the booth next to them got served their meals.

“Looks like we came at the worst possible time’,” He commented, removing his sunglasses and trying to look for someone in charge. Or at least, someone who wasn’t too busy enough to talk with them.

“There’s something so nostalgic about vintage diners.” Emily looked around in awe. “During my college years, I worked at one just like this so I could pay for my apartment. There was a jukebox and everything.”

Derek smirked, “And how’d that work out for you?”

“It sucked.” She dry-panned. “But it did give me a whole new level of respect for waitresses.” She added, just as a woman with ginger hair walked up to them.

“Table for two?” She asked, already picking up menus.

“Oh, no ma'am.” Emily politely declined, as she and Derek held up their badges. “We’re actually with the FBI, here to talk about Kayla Schafer. Did you happen to be working with her the night she went missing?”

“Yeah, we were on the same shift.” The girl answered, whose name tag was revealed to be Julie. “But it's like I told those other cops when they came asking this morning, I clocked out early for my hair appointment so I wasn’t here during closing hours. I don’t know if she left with anyone or not.”

“That’s okay,” Emily assured her. “We’re more interested in the hours you two worked together. Do you remember if there was anyone suspicious hanging around either without ordering anything or maybe even after paying?”

“Perhaps all they ordered was coffee, but they still stuck around for hours anyhow,” Derek added.

“I’m sorry, I don’t.” She shook her head. “As you can see, it gets pretty busy in here. Most days I’m so occupied with running back and forth between tables and the kitchen that my mind is elsewhere. I don’t focus too much on who’s ordering what, you know?”

“I understand.” Emily nodded.

“I really wish I could help, but I have to get back to work,” Julie explained, before reaching into the pocket of her apron. “Here, this was Kayla’s notepad she used to take orders. It might not be much help either but if you’re looking for odd customers maybe there’s something in it you can find. Kayla hasn’t been working here for too long and after an incident that occurred her first day, she’d often make notes about customer appearances to help her remember who ordered what.”

“Thank you.” Derek accepted the small notebook. “Can you tell us more about this incident?”

“Oh, it wasn’t anything major.” She dismissed it with a wave of her hand. “Some woman complained that her food wasn’t right and made a big fuss. Just the normal slip-up with orders. Even the most seasoned of us workers still have those days. I don’t remember it much but if she came back after that day, Kayla’s got it jotted down somewhere in that book.”

“Alright, thank you. We’ll let you get back to work.” Emily replied, nodding before she and Derek walked out into the parking lot.

“You think this has something in it?” Derek asked, flipping quickly through the pages to see quick scribbles of dates, food orders, and vague customer descriptions.

“I’m not sure,” Emily answered honestly. “We’ll let Reid take a look at it though. He’ll be able to read it faster than any of us and point out specific characteristics in the handwriting.”

After Derek agreed, the two of them entered the SUV and drove back to the precinct. Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Rossi and Reid were in the middle of examining the bodies of Jessica Dunnings, Rina Mendes, and Sofia Lombardi.

“The toxicology reports indicated that various traces of poison were found in each of the victims,” Spencer recalled, his hands gloved up as he leaned closer to Rina’s body. “Have you found out what they are yet?”

The M.E. in charge nodded, picking up his clipboard and reading the report. “We found white powdery residue in each of their nasal passageways which the lab identified as cyanide salt, so we believe they inhaled some sort of potassium cyanide prior to their deaths.”

“Most likely how our unsub abducts them,” Rossi noted, standing over the body as well. “They become dizzy, confused, and end up unconscious right there at the scene. Blitz attack.”

“Initially that was all we had discovered,” The examiner continued. “But after closer inspection, we found neurotoxins in the flesh of their hands consistent with aconite and mesaconitine as well.”

“Aconite and mesaconitine,” Spencer repeated, deep in thought as he lifted Rina’s lifeless hands to observe her palms. “The flowers each victim was holding when they were found were purple. I couldn’t get a decent look at the shape of the petals in the files but now after learning that I’m almost certain that it was Aconitum. Also known as wolfsbane.”

“You’d be correct.” He replied, handing Rossi the full report. “Each of them had signs of respiratory distress, which can happen when the neurotoxins of the plant absorb through the skin. It’s why in the crime scene photos there was no blood around the stab wounds. Cardiac arrest is what caused their deaths, the stabbing was inflicted post-mortem.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Rossi frowned. “How did the unsub have time to do all this at the disposal site? And what reason did they keep each girl for when there are no signs of torture or assault?”

“That’s another thing,” He went on. “When I checked for defensive wounds, I noticed that all three bodies had their nails neatly trimmed, and their hair was freshly washed. Not only that but their torsos had markings embedded in the skin from around their waist and up towards the chest region. Most likely from a corset or restraint of some sort.”

That piece of news instantly made the two agents look at each other knowingly. Perhaps their original theory of the case relating to Snow White might not be as far off as they thought.

Once the team regrouped at the station and exchanged all of the new information they discovered, by that time Garcia was able to get in contact with Sloan’s management team. Unfortunately, they only had a small window to meet with Vera, but hopefully, it would give them enough time to convince her that Sloan needed to up her security and answer some questions that they had.

To keep things hush, only Hotch, Prentiss, and Morgan went to meet with her, while JJ drove to LAX to pick up Garcia (who was bummed out she wouldn’t be meeting Sloan herself). Spencer, on the other hand, stayed back to look through Kayla’s notebook with Rossi assisting him.

“Always a first for everything,” Emily spoke up, as the three of them pulled into the Hollywood lot location where filming was currently underway. Trailers were set up in rows all around, and crew members roamed about with several large pieces of equipment and props, making it hard for them to find a parking space.

Hotch furrowed his eyebrows as he scanned the lot, “Vera said to meet her in trailer seven, does anyone see it?”

“Over there,” Derek pointed out, motioning to the right.

Hotch nodded and maneuvered the car over in that direction. Finally, after finding an open spot, the three agents stepped out into the blazing heat of Los Angeles and walked over to the trailer.

“I want you two to scope out the trailer as I talk to Vera.” Hotch directed them as they neared the entryway. “Look for any signs of fanmail lying about or over-the-top gifts. If our unsub truly is obsessed with Ms. Hudson they no doubt attempted to contact her more than once.”

“How do we know for sure it isn’t Sloan herself committing these murders?” Derek wondered aloud. “I mean, we agreed that the crime scene photos depicted to be the clean work of a female. It wouldn’t be our first celebrity unsub case like that either. Remember Jonny McHale, the comic-book artist?”

“Let me stop you right there.” A new voice cut into their conversation, making each of them turn their heads.

An older blonde woman stood behind them with her arms crossed, looking at them with a mixture of impatience and skepticism laced in her features.

“Sloan has been working endlessly on this new movie, and in between set hours and resting she has had other bookings to attend to where she’s constantly followed by fans and paparazzi. That girl wouldn’t have time to kill anybody even if she wanted to.” Vera argued, defensively. “Now, I took the time out of my busy day to talk with you agents but I will not stand here and allow you to accuse her of murder. I’m sure you’d run right to the press with it and have it be the headliner for tomorrow’s paper.”

“My apologies, Ma’am,” Derek replied. “I’m just trying to make sure all possibilities are covered.”

The woman scoffed but said nothing as she quickly opened the trailer door and ushered them in before they were seen. After closing the door, she led them to the small living space at the end of the trailer and sat down on one of the cushioned chairs motioning for Hotch to sit on the adjacent one.

“You guys have 20 minutes before the cast is dismissed for the day,” Vera sighed, as she texted away on her cell phone. “What’s this about a bunch of killings related to Sloan?”

Emily fought the urge to roll her eyes at her blatant nonchalance, as Hotch introduced everyone and started diving into the case findings with her. She and Derek, however, took that as their cue to wander around the place looking for clues.

There wasn’t much to the eye besides the luxurious furniture and interior design elements. Still, Emily’s eyes landed on what looked to be a black notebook or journal sitting on the small table in the dinette. It was bound in leather and had gold letters imprinted on the cover that spelled out “HUDSON” in cursive. Inside the journal, she saw a white envelope poking out and wondered if it was fanmail or something more personal.

Though curiosity tempted her to read it, she ultimately decided to leave it be and ask questions later, not wanting to leave a bad impression if Vera had caught her snooping. However, when she averted her gaze over to the counter across the way, what she saw next certainly piqued her interest even more. A fresh bouquet of purple flowers rested in a vase by the sink, with the gifting tag still attached to it.

At the sight, Emily walked over and picked up the tag with her glove, but unfortunately, no name was listed. It was completely blank. She was about to call out to Vera and ask if she knew who delivered them but before she could, the trailer door creaked open, and Sloan herself emerged from outside with a look of surprise.

Emily’s breath nearly caught in her throat when she locked eyes with the young actress standing just a few feet away. Instantly, she was hit with flashbacks from the night before when she was watching one of Sloan’s movies with JJ and Garcia. Yet, Emily couldn’t remember a single scene that did the girl justice in terms of her beauty and physical essence. For one thing, her eyes seemed much more warm and vibrant in person. Whatever filters and color editing were added in the film completely dimmed the natural glow radiating behind her false lashes. She could only describe them as golden pools of honey hypnotizing her in the very spot she stood. Unable to look away, all she could do was stare in a trance as Sloan studied her back with furrowed eyebrows.

Though her presence was quite alluring, Emily was soon brought back to reality by the repellent attitude in Sloan’s voice as she slammed the trailer door closed behind her.

“Who the hell are you?”

A/N: hope you liked this chapter! drop a comment and let me know your thoughts if you enjoyed :) also let me know if you want to be tagged whenever a new chapter is posted! thanks for reading <3

[oldbutnotyetwise]

The Dumbest Criminal I Ever Arrested

     When you spend thirty one years arresting people you are bound to meet some brilliant criminals.  The story that follows is definitely not about one of them.

     I had only been on the job for a year or two so I would frequently be sent to calls that were different than any I had ever been to before.  It was the late 80’s and a few days before Christmas when I was dispatched for a Theft Report at an apartment in the east end of the city.  I arrived at the four storey brick building and proceeded to the basement apartment I had been sent to.  

     After knocking on the door it was quickly answered by young man around 24 years old who was in obvious distress.  I hadn’t even made it all the way into the apartment when he told me, “I can prove it, I have evidence.  I saved the condom, it’s in the toilet”.  Let’s call him Joe.  Even as a young officer I was having trouble connecting the dots in my head.  There has been a theft, there is a used condom in his toilet, what has been stolen? I must admit that Joe seemed a little disappointed in me when I declined to seize the used condom as evidence.

     I managed to get Joe calmed down and seated on his couch beside his Christmas Tree which was fully decorated with sparkling lights and tinsel.  He then proceeded to tell me the story of this theft which had him so upset.

     Earlier in the evening Joe had found himself feeling a little lonely so he decided to call Teddy Bear Escort Service and order himself a little company.  A while after he made the call there was a knock on the door, he payed the driver $160 the driver then left, while the female came in for a one hour visit.  Let’s call her Destiny.

     Now Joe decided he wanted to impress his new friend and showed her his fancy watch that was on the night table beside the bed.  He told her about how expensive it was and that he had just gotten it.  Joe felt it was important to make a good impression on Destiny.

     In Joe’s mind I’m sure he felt Destiny was impressed, Joe and Destiny then did what escorts and their clients normally do.  I’m sure in Joe’s mind it was amazing, in Destiny’s mind maybe a little less so.

     After the business transaction was complete Destiny got up from the bed and went into the bathroom to freshen up.  When she came out Joe went into the bathroom where he disposed of his vital piece of evidence, the condom in the toilet.  

     Joe strutted out of the bathroom to find his new friend Destiny was fully dressed and just going out his front door.  Joe was disappointed to see his new friend leave so soon.  

     Joe wandered over and sat down on his bed, savouring in the afterglow, and that’s when it happened.  Joe looked over and saw the empty spot on his night table where his watch had been.  Panic set in, how could this happen to him?  Joe being the deep thinker that he was did the only thing he could think of doing.  He called the Police  and reported the theft of his watch.

     I sat there thinking about the bizarreness of this call, definitely not something we had covered at Police College.  So I called up  Teddy Bear Escorts and told them who I was and that I wanted to speak to the woman they had just sent to the address.  The woman on the phone told me that they had most certainly not sent anyone there.  I then explained that I didn’t care why the woman had been sent there, that I was investigating a theft and that was where my interest ended.  There was a pause and then she said she would have her phone me.

     I had some time on my hands waiting for Destiny to call me back,  so I checked Joe through the Police Computer system and found that he had an Outstanding Warrant for Failing to Appear in Court.  Being the conscientious officer that I was I arrested Joe on the Outstanding Warrant and transported him to the Police Holding Cells.

     At the station Destiny called me back and I could sense how annoyed she was.  She explained that she attends far nicer homes than Joe’s, and that she certainly didn’t steal his stupid watch. 

     I had lodged Joe in the cells and was getting ready to leave when the Custody Officer told me I had another phone call.  I took the phone and spoke with Joe’s brother who asked that I tell Joe that he had found the watch, it had fallen off the night table and was on the floor beside the bed.  I went down to Joe’s Cell to give him the happy news, but it seemed that this update just depressed him more.

     Now I would like to fast forward about twenty years, I am now working as a Detective at the downtown station.  I was called to the front desk for an Extortion, a wife stood there and as soon as my partner and I introduced ourselves the wife who was quite clearly furious turned and stormed out.  The husband who looked like a beaten puppy remained there with us.  Let’s call him Fred.

     Fred then told us about his morning.  After working night shift at a local factory he was driving home when he saw a woman standing on a street corner who caught his eye.  Circling the block he stopped to chat with this lady and they came to a, let’s say an agreement.  This lady got into Fred’s car and they went and parked somewhere for a while.  After spending time together Fred dropped his lady friend off and continued on home to his wife.  Unbeknownst to Fred, when his pants had been around his ankles his new friend was, among other things, stealing his wallet from his pants.

     Upon arriving home Fred was met by his very angry wife, apparently after dropping his new friend off his friend had called the number in the wallet and left the message with his wife that if he wanted his wallet back he had to bring $500. to a downtown street corner at a prearranged time.  

     We sent a Police Officer to the meet pretending to be Fred, a guy showed up with the wallet looking to collect the $500 and was arrested for Extortion.  We took him down to Custody where I explained that the minimum penalty for extortion was 5 years in jail, the maximum was life in prison.  I suggested to him that this was pretty stupid and that maybe he should reconsider his life of crime.  He then told me, “You think this is stupid, let me tell you about this other time I was arrested”.  He then told me that so familiar story that I shared with you above, yes Joe and I met once again.  I shared with Joe that I was the officer that had arrested him all those years ago in his apartment.  We both chuckled over that.  Some criminals do learn and get better at their criminal pursuits, Joe apparently did not.  Joe was the dumbest criminal I ever arrested…..Twice.

[womanofwords]

The Poisoned Prodigy (Chapter 10)

I woke up alone in a hospital bed with a blinding light in my face. "Where am I?" I asked the bleached white walls. A nurse bustled into the room with a tray of food.

"How are you feeling?" he asked me.

"Pretty good, but my head hurts," I told him. "What happened, exactly?"

"You were brought in here unconscious after a man hit you," he said, putting the food down on a table next to me. "You are now in Olympus Medical Centre."

Olympus Medical Centre. The same hospital Patton was admitted to. "Where's Patton? He's a patient here. I need to see him."

"Oh, no you don't," he told me sharply. "You're not going anywhere. You need to rest, Vincent. People will be visiting you soon."

So my parents were coming. Made sense. I settled back into my new bed and waited. I closed my eyes to prepare for sleep.

"Hi, Vince," Patton said. But it couldn't be Patton. Patton was still in a coma.

It was Patton.

I scrambled into a sitting position. "How are you awake? You're in a coma."

"I came out of it," he giggled, hopping over and sitting on my bed. They'd taken his prosthetic leg off and left him crutches to use. "So, since you've been awake for the past few days and I haven't, how's Ernest doing in prison?"

I explained everything that had happened, the bribery, the blackmail, the frame job. Patton's eyes watered. "Dr Jacobs was my favourite teacher," he said. "He inspired me to create the prosthetic leg with the flexible foot to better mimic the movements of an actual foot. I won with the invention he inspired me to make."

"I'm so sorry to tell you." I pulled him towards me and hugged him. "You'll be OK, eventually. Your school had a shrine to you. And the skate park. You are loved and missed, something Ernest and his family will not know anything about."

"I've been told as much. I was surrounded with so many flowers I thought I woke up in a florist."

"I met your friend, Sally, too. Apparently, all the people who like Ernest could have been written on a sticky note that was ripped in half."

Patton burst out laughing. "She said that? That is cold. Accurate, but cold."

"Once you get onto the internet, you'll be able to follow the whole story online," I said.

"Cool." We lapsed into a comfortable silence, until Patton decided to speak again. "What's going to happen to Ernest? He's been proven innocent, but the stuff his parents did for him doesn't look good."

"He'll probably leave the school. Having your parents blackmail a teacher into making other students do work for you and poison a student isn't a good look."

"Oh. You are the coolest best friend ever," Patton said.

"I'm really not."

"You solved my poisoning, saved Ernest from going to prison even though everyone thought he did it, and went head to head against an evil teacher that had everyone fooled. Admit it; you're amazing."

"I'm still not."

"Well, that's it. I'm going to make you admit it. Admit that you're amazing." He poked me in the ribs experimentally.

"I'm not ticklish, Patton."

"Right. I keep forgetting that." His shoulders slumped. "What do I do now? Something has to convince you that you're awesome."

Umma rushed in, Appa and James close behind her. "Vincent!" She hugged me tight. "What were you doing? Who did it?" She did a double-take when she saw Patton. "Patton!"

"Hi, Mrs Song," Patton said.

"Patton, he found your murderer!" James yelled. "My dork brother Vincent found the guy who murdered you!"

"He's not my murderer; I'm not dead," Patton explained. "And I already know that it's him. He told me."

"Oh," James said, looking deflated.

"Also, you're a prick," Patton said.

Umma gasped. Appa's jaw dropped. James glared at Patton. "What was that?" James asked, fist clenched. It was a rhetorical question.

"You are one, though," Patton said. "You always make fun of Vincent, even while he's in hospital for exposing an attempted murderer and corruption scandal and getting hurt while doing it. He's an actual hero and he still can't catch a break from you."

Appa, Umma, and James looked at Patton like he'd grown a second head in front of them. "James, be nicer to your brother," Umma said. She looked embarrassed that Patton pointed out what a jerk James was. She never listened to me when I was telling her the exact same stuff.

"Fine," James said. He looked embarrassed, too.

Good.

"Vincent!" Sally rushed into my room, stopping when she saw everyone staring at her. "Am I interrupting something?"

"Vincent, this is your . . . friend?" Umma asked.

I took a deep breath. "Mom, Dad, this is Sally. She's been helping me with this stuff. She goes to Patton's school."

"Hi, Sally!" Patton said, waving. She froze.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked.

"Since yesterday," Patton said. "And then I went back to sleep because I was still tired."

"You were just out of a coma!" Sally laughed.

"Patton's kind of like a cat. He's supposed to sleep for eighteen hours a day," I said.

Patton clutched an imaginary pearl necklace. "Hey!"

"You have to admit that it fits, though," Sally laughed.

"I have two friends, and they're both mean," Patton groaned. "Why are you both mean to me?"

"Hey, we went out of our way to find your real poisoner, have some respect," Sally said.

"You are still awful," Patton said. Aunt Indigo and Uncle Malcolm rushed in and carried Patton out.

"How did you get here?" Aunt Indigo said, handing him over to his uncle like a package or something.

"I was looking for Vincent. He found the real poisoner, Auntie."

"What?" She paused. "What?"

"Yes. It was mostly him. I helped a bit," Sally said.

Malcolm sniffled. "Thank you. Thank you so much for finding my boy's attempted killer." He approached the bed and lifted me up out of it. I always thought that him lifting Patton around just meant that Patton didn't weigh very much. He actually was pretty strong. Half of me was lifted out of the bed as he hugged me.

"My son should rest," Umma said, suddenly shooing everyone out of my room. She had been watching all of this from a corner of the room with a smile on her face.

Pride.

She was proud of me.

:-)

The hospital allowed my family to take me home after a day of observation. "Rest, Vincent," Umma told me. "Enjoy your gifts. People have been very worried about you."

I stopped focusing on the raindrops racing each other down the window and looked forward. "Worried?"

"Yes, everyone's been very scared. This is big," Appa said. "Media asking questions. Very invasive."

"It blew up and people found out where we lived. You're a hero, man," James said.

We arrived at our home and found flowers. Bundles of them waiting outside our home, with cards and letters. "This is a lot," I said. "People actually know about me?"

"People love you! You're a badass!" James said. "My little brother's a badass! My little brother's a badass! My little brother-"

"JAMES!" Appa and Umma yelled.

Appa took me home and walked me into the house. "My good boy," he said, over and over. I laid on my bed and stared at the ceiling. Same bland, boring ceiling. I hated that ceiling. I stared at my skating helmet. Green and reflecting light from the light streaming through my window. It didn't feel as foreboding as it used to.

I'll be able to skate with Patton soon.

If you want to read the other chapters, see Masterlist.