#Okay but i need to say it: the bosses are obviously the 5 stages of grief.

[rxj-the-punk]

I bought a new game. Meet my son:

I sure hope nothing bad happens to him!

[reidology]

Dying in a bathtub - Hotchreid

Summary: Hotch gets nightmares and hides in the tub, so Spencer makes it comfy for him <3

Word count: 4.4k

Content warning: discussion and description of nightmares, smut, brief description of physical abuse, light angst, quite fluffy, happy ending <3

AO3

__________________________________________

The first time it happened Spencer woke up shivering, the cold of a missing body beside him seeped through the sheets chilled his bones. He braved a lazy glance to his bedside, squinting to see the alarm clock blinking big and aggressive red numbers. 05:25. Aaron must have gone out for a morning run, something Spencer never understood. In fact, his reasoning of ‘why run, when sleep?’ whenever Aaron attempted to get him to join always earned him an affectionate eye roll and kiss on the cheek, so why would he ever give that up? No promise of endless coffee can get Spencer Reid to wake up before 7am, much less for exercise.

Reluctantly the sleepy man made his way to the bathroom, knowing he might as well shower and get ready for work now, there’s no way he could get back to sleep without his human furnace of a boyfriend covering him completely. Only, through his grogginess he failed to notice the boyfriend-shaped body softly snoring in the tub.

So he padded over to the semi-closed shower curtain and blearily reached in to turn the water on for it to heat up while he got ready.

Almost as soon as the water turned on, a high-pitched shriek assaulted the young agent’s eardrums. Spencer did what, in his opinion, any caught-off-guard fully trained FBI agent would do— he squealed in shock and fell back on his ass. A moment later the shower curtain pulled back, revealing a very irritated -and very wet- Aaron Hotchner.

“Babe what the fuck,” the older man whined, wringing out his shirt and turning the freezing water off, “I was sleeping!”

“Oh this is my fault?!”

“Yes! Couldn’t you see me?!”

“I just woke up!”

“Me too!” Aaron pointed to his wet shirt as if to say you have no excuse for this.

Spencer let out a frustrated sigh and pushed himself up from the floor. Somehow he upset his boyfriend, he guesses apologies are on the table. He carefully stepped into the bathtub to face his dripping boyfriend and wrapped his arms around the soaking man’s neck, “I’m sorry,” he pouted quite prettily, “But honey, why were you sleeping in the tub?”

“I didn’t sleep in the tub. I went to sleep in our bed, then you woke me up in the tub.” Aaron grumbled.

Spencer thought Aaron looked positively insane. His eyes focused on the older man’s pupils as his hands checked for a fever.

“Do you have a concussion?” He couldn’t help but fret about the man who is usually so well put together. He was obviously in distress though what kind of distress completely eluded the dry man. Aaron waved Spencer’s worried hands away from his face, “No. Spence, I’m telling you, I didn’t sleep in the bathtub.”

“Then how did you get here?”

Aaron shrugged and swatted Spencer’s nosy hands away that were trying to inspect the grumpy man for any injuries, “Who knows? Let’s get some breakfast.” He calmly stepped out of the tub and headed out, leaving Spencer confused (for once).

“... But it’s 5 am.”

_____

Two nights later, it happened again. But this time Spencer awoke to the sound of sobbing. His heart just about broke in two at the sight of Aaron curled in on himself in the porcelain tub, shaking and covered in sweat.

The Unit Chief used to have terrors most nights. After Foyet, all of life’s problems seemed to unravel in his dreams. The sounds and images were so vivid that upon waking up he believed he had done what he’d dreamed. That he’d hurt his family or that Foyet had come back to finish the job.

During hard cases, Aaron would forgo sleep completely, knowing his mind would only haunt him with terror beyond his conscious capabilities. It left him exhausted and agitated for the rest of the investigation. The team and LEOs got frustrated but none had the guts to confront him, except for one young agent who took special notice of his boss.

So Spencer stepped in, and after weeks of getting closer and learning more about each other than they had in the past five years of working together, Aaron digressed and accepted the help that was offered. The following three months ensued so smoothly, the therapy was helping and Aaron couldn’t believe he was sleeping full nights again. He knew it was all thanks to Spencer, who had taken up a very special place in his heart. Aaron knew that Spencer would always be there when he woke up, like an anchor. Something real to hold on to and keep him in place.

It had been a while since Aaron had such a bad episode, luckily Spencer knew just what to do and jumped right into action. Without missing a beat, the younger man climbed into the tub and sat by Aaron’s head, taking hold of one of his white-knuckled fists and gently coaxing it open by rubbing his thumbs from the palm to the back of the hand. Constant pressure, soothing, real. With one hand he threaded his fingers through the brunette’s damp hair, stroking softly at his scalp, willing his nightmare mind to latch onto the familiar touch.

“It’s okay, you’re safe.” He murmured sweetly like a mantra.

Eventually Aaron’s panicked sobs dissolved into pained whimpers, his body lost some of its tension, allowing for Spencer to gently lift his boyfriend’s head into his lap and off the hard floor of the tub. The whimpers died down to light trembles and Spencer shushed him comfortingly, continuing to sooth him with gentle strokes to his head. Slowly Aaron’s eyes opened and Spencer felt the moment panic set in. The taller man’s breathing quickened and tension returned to his body, frozen in fear. God, Spencer should have turned the lights on.

“It’s just me, darling. You’re home, Aaron. This is home. You’re safe.”

Aaron trembled more, his eyes glazed over as if reliving the nightmare, “Shhh you’re safe.”

Spencer placed a feathery kiss on his boyfriend’s forehead that seemed to anchor him immediately. Tentatively, Aaron looked up at his rescuer, relieved to be in his lover's arms and away from the nightmare universe that had felt so real. He burrowed further into Spencer’s lap, wrapped his shaking arms around his boyfriend’s steady hips. He tried to focus on Spencer’s heartbeat in an attempt to regulate his own. Spencer was warm, Spencer was safe. Always safe.

“Foyet?” Spencer asked cautiously, breath fanning over the older’s forehead. Aaron stilled at the name then nodded. The younger man knows that Aaron needs to talk about it immediately, even if it’s terrifying. It allows him to discern dreams from reality, so that the events and sensations of the night terror don’t ingrain themselves into the man’s memories of reality .

“... and Scratch,” Aaron gulped, “They had Jack. I couldn’t... I didn’t know what was real. Couldn’t tell if it was really Jack. He made me hurt him. Oh god, Spence… I hurt him.” Sobs wracked the pained man’s body once again, unable to forget the horror of the dream. Spencer rocked them back and forth.

“Shh… Jack is fine, he’s at Jess’s. You would never hurt him, Aaron.”

Aaron was spent, he couldn’t muster up the energy to talk. He fell asleep once more in his partner’s comforting hold.

_____

The next morning they woke up with aching muscles from being in the bathtub for so long. Spencer couldn’t help but be worried about his boyfriend. There was definitely something going on, and though he respected Aaron’s privacy immensely, he was afraid of the older man getting into a dangerous situation. Was he sleepwalking to the bathroom? What if he tripped and hit his head on the edge of the tub? But most importantly, why were Aaron’s nightmares leading him to the bathtub?

Spencer nuzzled Aaron’s neck in an effort to wake him up a bit more. “Darling, we need to talk about this.” The worry in Spencer’s voice was audible and prompted Aaron to sit up and sigh deeply. He didn’t think this part of his life would ever come back up to the surface, he’d avoided thinking about it for decades and he didn’t know what triggered the habit to resurface. But now it’s affected Spencer, and he knew he couldn’t keep the love of his life in the dark, but some things were so hard to talk about.

Aaron found himself panicking again, flashes of Foyet and his father clouding his mind once more. Images of Sean taking cover in Aaron’s arms while their father pounds on the bathroom door-

“I know. I-” He was cut off with the sweetest kiss.

“You can take your time sweetheart. No rush.”

Even at this stage in their relationship, Aaron wasn’t used to being treated so well. The kindness that naturally radiated off his boyfriend was enough to make his insides melt, the understanding words never ceased to choke him up. But he knew Spencer would be there to put him back together once he gave him all his pieces. He buried his face in the younger’s neck, breathing in the scent of his shampoo, relaxing into his hold. Spencer wrapped his arms around Aaron’s lean form, offering a safe space. Aaron had never been this vulnerable with anyone before his relationship with Spencer.

After a moment of just holding each other, Aaron’s breathing mellowed out and his voice cracked as he explained everything.

“After Sean was born, my dad started drinking. He’d always been somewhat aggressive, scary even. He- he’d get angry and take it out on my mom… and if she wasn’t there... But when he started drinking it got a thousand times worse. I vowed to myself to protect Sean at all costs, I promised him I would never let our dad get to him. So I took the brunt of it when he was sober. But when he was drunk… he would chase us, try to get to Sean specifically. He was just a little kid 5 or 6, I was 15. He would scour the house to find Sean so I took him and locked us in the only room in the house with a lock… the bathroom. I’d carry Sean in my arms and make a run for it. I blocked off the door with a cabinet and we sat in the tub until he passed out.. My dad couldn’t get in but he would pound on the door so loudly, his voice was so angry-”

Aaron inhaled hard, the grip on the back of Spencer’s shirt tightened and his breathing shallowed. Spencer continued rubbing soothing circles on his back, allowing Aaron to take his time.

“The bathtub was the only safe space for Sean and I. We spent whole nights in there, waiting for my dad to pass out. Sometimes we’d tell stories, play games, but other times we cried and I covered his ears with my hands, not wanting him to hear the horrible things our dad was saying. This went on until I went to college, I tried to take Sean with me but my mother wouldn’t allow it. My dad died a year later, when Sean was 9.

“I- because of that, if any of us had nightmares we’d go into the bathroom and sleep in the tub, because no one could get to us in there.”

Aaron swallowed thickly and timidly looked up to the honey-haired man. Had he sounded pathetic?

But Spencer cupped his cheek once again and kissed him lovingly.

“Thank you for telling me. You’re the strongest person I know, Aaron. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that.”

Aaron’s heart skipped a beat, warmth spreading through his chest. He swallowed down all his uncertainties and let Spencer in, he was proud of himself. Both of them yawned in succession, still exhausted from last night and uncomfortable from sleeping in the bathtub.

With a cheeky grin the younger man announced, “Let’s go to bed, I’ll get us the day off.” Aaron was so grateful.

While he called in sick, Spencer had an idea, and he knew just who to call.

_____

“Boy Wonder! How wonderful to hear from you on this frabjous day! We miss you and the Bossman dearly. We are definitely… working. Work is happening, and we’re doing it, and it’s getting done. You can trust me on that. Definitely no piñatas in the break room, where would we even find one on such short notice? Emily doesn’t even know where to get balloons! Anyway, what magical service may I bestow upon thee today, my little lord?”

Spencer bit back a chuckle, “Hi Penelope. Listen I need some advice on… interior decorating-”

Immediately, he got cut off by a squeal, “I’m on my way!”

“No! Garcia- after work-”

The line goes flat.

“Dammit. I should’ve just texted JJ.”

_____

Despite her best efforts, the rest of the team did not let Penelope leave the BAU for a ‘design emergency’. Fortunately for Spencer, that gave him some time to plan what he wanted to do while cooking lunch for his sleeping beauty.

After a full meal of soup and grilled cheese, Hotch retreated to the living room hoping to watch some History Channel with Spencer. They love watching the conspiracy shows together and debunking the awful propositions. Though Hotch learned quite surprisingly that Spencer is very open to the idea of aliens on Earth. However, he has a suspicion that that’s mostly wishful thinking on the part of Spencer's inner child. Nevertheless, it’s adorable and Hotch was excited for it, and waiting patiently for Spencer to finish cleaning himself up.

Before he could question what was taking so long, their doorbell rang a sweet lullabye sound (they had to change it from the awful buzzing that it was- it was too overwhelming for Spencer). Not expecting any company, Hotch was puzzled as to who could be at their door.

“Who is it?” He spoke through the intercom.

“Bossman! Sorry to hear about your incurable case of Work Sickness! If you could let me up, I brought you some warm soup!-”

Spencer bounded through the foyer from the bedroom, practically hopping over furniture and knocking down a flower arrangement, “I got it! I got it!” he heaved frantically.

“Babe, what’s Garcia doing in front of our building on a weekday?”

“Nothing Aar don’t worry about it, Penelope and I are just going out for lunch, see you later!”

Spencer grabbed his satchel and was out the door.

“But- Spencer you just had lunch!” The curly haired man was already running down the steps, “Bye!”

It was Hotch’s turn to be left alone and confused.

_____

In Penelope’s car, Spencer explained his idea to Penelope, without going saying too much about Hotch’s nightmares. In true Penelope fashion, the bubbly bits-and-bobs connoisseur knew the perfect place to get what Spencer needed. Penelope dragged Spencer around the independently-owned home goods boutique like a lost puppy for about two hours. She ended up with more bags for herself and Sergio than what Spencer needed.

A few texts and one missed call from Hotch wondering what the hell was taking Spencer so long prompted them to leave. Spencer thanked Penelope in front of their apartment and air kissed her goodbye, promising to show up at girl’s night next week..

Spencer walks into the foyer as quietly as possible and hides the bags behind the living room’s entertainment center.

“Spencer?”

“Yeah! I’m home!”

Aaron walked out of their bedroom with a soft smile. His round glasses were on, meaning he’s been reading… or looking at case files.

“Are you going through the case?” Spencer scolded.

The bespectacled man didn’t waver. “There’s something the victim’s parents said that doesn’t add up, they said that every Thursday Mandy went to soccer practice after school and swim practice in the next town over in the evenings. She takes the bus so if the unsub was stalking her he’d either have to take the same bus and risk getting caught or have a car- which goes against our age profile- so that would mean there’s someone driving him. Spencer, there are TWO unsu-” He was cut off by being pulled into a kiss. He hummed into it and wrapped his arms around Spencer’s slender waist, pulling them closer together. When they pulled apart Spencer whispered “Two unsubs. The team knows, they’re working on it. You-” he tapped his finger on the older’s chin for emphasis, “need to relax today.”

The resulting pretty pout was swiftly kissed away. None of that now.

“But I don’t know how to relax. I’m Aaron Hotchner, stoic as a statue, stern glare extraordinaire, Mr. Emotionless…”

Spencer rolled his eyes and trailed his hands down Aaron’s hard chest, “I know how to make you relax…” The other man grinned “Oh is that right?” Spencer smirked and led his boyfriend to the couch.

_____

That night when Aaron was gone to bed, Spencer quietly retrieved the bags from behind the TV and set his plan in motion.

_____

He’s trembling. And he can’t recognize his own thoughts, he can’t think straight, all he can see is his son- and Haley with terror written all over their faces.

He barely registers the sound of Jack’s wailing because, as if from right behind his ear, he hears a voice that he interprets as his own thought ‘shoot him’.

‘What?’

‘Pull the trigger’

He looks back up to his sobbing, terrified son, and without hesitation- click- BOOM-

Aaron bolted up from the bed, gasping for breath. His eyes darted around the dark. Jack? Where is he- Jack ohmygod-

His vision landed on Spencer’s sleeping form, breathing shallowly and folded into himself like a pretzel, sleeping soundly like an angel. Spencer. Real. Safe. He took a deep breath to regulate his heart. In for 4, hold, out for 6, repeat. This was exhausting.

Groggily, Aaron slipped out from under the covers and headed to the bathroom to get a drink of water and maybe splash his face a little. He thought of getting into the bathtub for the comfort he desperately needed right now, but he’d be embarrassed if Spencer found him in there again. Who does that? But nothing could have prepared Aaron for the sight before him when he opened the door.

Lights. Yellow, green, purple electric lights on strings, illuminating the room in a beautiful calming glow. They were suspended from the curtain rod of the bathtub, taped to the walls. Gorgeously scented candles perched on the sink, some on the ground, a few tea lights lining the edge of the tub. It smelled glorious and comforting and Aaron couldn’t tell what it was. Pine? Sandalwood? Campfire?

The most breath-taking part was the inside of the bathtub. Patterned sheets hung from the walls and draped over to form a delicate roof. Fluffy pillows perfectly laid out to coat every inch of the porcelain interior, and soft blankets piled on top for added comfort. Lights lined the inside of the sheet tent as well, it looked fantastical. Like something out of a book.

Aaron was floored, to say the least. Was this what Spencer had been doing today? He was flooded by a new emotion, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Spencer had done all of this for him? To make him feel safe?

He was still standing just barely in the room, taking everything in and getting emotional when he heard soft footsteps behind him and felt Spencer’s long arms slink around his waist. A chin hooked over his shoulder and a kiss was pressed to his neck.

“Are you alright? Did you have a nightmare?”

Aaron nodded, “You did all this… for me?” A tinge of awe decorated his voice.

“Yeah,” his boyfriend whispered back, “So you don’t hurt yourself when you sleep in here.”

Aaron felt stupid for ever thinking his wonderful, thoughtful boyfriend would ever feel embarrassed by him. Of course Spencer took everything he admitted seriously, of course Spencer cared about what he’s been through, Spencer cares… that's what he’s been feeling. Taken care of. Important. For once in his life, he feels like he’s allowed to let himself be loved.

The stunned man seemed to be frozen in place, not knowing how to respond. His mind was overwhelmed with love for his boyfriend. Spencer pulled away and grabbed the older’s hands, Aaron let himself be led to the makeshift fort.

They climbed in together, careful not to knock over any of the burning candles. Spencer settled on one end of the tub and pulled Aaron into him before he could even think of not cuddling with him. He made space with his legs for his boyfriend to settle between, chest pressed to back, arms wrapped around his love. Safe, warm, and comfortable in a sea of cushions like twin yolks in a shell.

Laying here, in his lover's arms, surrounded by low tranquil lights, and the gentle rise and fall of Spencer’s chest, Aaron felt as serene as he’d ever been. Spencer slid warm hands under Aaron’s shirt, bringing one up to rest cozily on his heart. Aaron turned his head and nuzzled further into Spencer’s neck, feeling the familiar tingle of the man’s touch and murmured a low hum of approval.

Spencer’s other hand, that wasn’t on Aaron’s heart, was used to tip the taller man’s chin up to look at him.

“I know what it’s like to be afraid of your own mind,” he cooed, “sometimes it’s impossible to take yourself out of that world. But in our home, Aaron, I want you to feel safe and protected at all times. I want you to be vulnerable and unashamed. You’re free to be everything you are in here, and I hope that you feel you can be everything you are with me, too.”

Aaron lost himself in his partner’s deep gaze, glorious hazel eyes boring into him. Completely enamored by the words spoken to him, all he could do was nod and lick his lips, trying to regulate his heart rate for a completely different reason now. Spencer had never been so… authoritative before and his sincere but stern tone sent thrilling sparks down his spine. A blush rose up his neck.

Spencer tracked the slow movement of Aaron’s tongue sliding over his bottom lip, and didn’t fight the impulse to drag his thumb over it. “You’re always safe with me.” He barely whispered before angling his head down to catch those lips in a languid kiss. Aaron sighed into it, waiting a little while before pushing himself up to fix their awkward angle. He positioned them so that Spencer was laid down flat on his back, allowing Aaron to lay between his legs once more, chest to chest. They tangled themselves in each other, lips colliding again like a match to a box, igniting a fire in the both of them.

Both were still tired from waking up in the middle of the night, but the desire coursing through their bodies was a more pressing matter. Spencer lifted his hands to frame his lover’s neck and wrapped his legs loosely around his waist, inviting Aaron to grind down onto him, both already half hard from the anticipation. Spencer groaned into Aaron’s mouth. A sound that went right to Aaron’s dick.

They explored each other’s bodies with a youthful novelty, eager to feel more skin. Never once pulling their lips apart. Aaron slipped his hands under Spencer’s shirt and shoved it up under his arms, digging his fingers into those delicious hips. Finally he broke away from the kiss to pepper the younger’s face with sweet ones. Aaron’s heart grew three sizes at Spencer’s soft giggles and let out a low laugh of his own. How ridiculous were they, making out like teenagers in a bathtub fort? Neither much cared to answer that question though, because the impatient genius bucked his hips up to meet his boyfriend’s, who was still in his boxers, let’s get those off.

Spencer eagerly reached for Aaron’s underwear and palmed at his bulge just until he heard that impatient sound from him. He pulled the man’s cock out now fully hard and dripping with precum. A groan escaped the both of them at the sight and sensation. They wasted no time in getting Spencer out of his nerdy physics flannel pajama pants, and grinded their dicks together. Lighting sparked right through the both of them, Aaron balanced himself on one arm near Spencer’s head and took both of their lengths into his right hand.

The rub of their slick cocks together was spectacular as Aaron kept a slow and steady pace, making sure to draw out all the best sounds he knew Spencer could make by nipping at his neck, where he knew the younger man was ticklish. Spencer whined at the excruciating pace, turning into a desperate whimpering mess. Making Spencer wait was so fun.

Spencer’s hands find grip in Aaron’s short hair, keeping him close, feeling the pull of Aaron's big hand on his dick and grinding up to meet him. It’s intoxicating bliss, being taken over the edge by the man he loves.

Their worlds minimized to just the slide of their cocks and the lips on their skin. The whimpering man felt the familiar build up in his abdomen, moaning freely now as he chased his orgasm, guiding Aaron’s hand with his own to feel his touch everywhere.

“Yeah baby,” Aaron encouraged, his own orgasm coming on quickly, “Cum for me baby.”

Spencer sputtered his release over both of their hands and stomachs, momentarily suspended in the intense bliss of his orgasm. He laid there spent, feeling like putty in Aaron’s hands, and pulled him down for a passionate kiss. He took his lover’s cock in hand and pumped him quickly, thumbing the head of his dick on each upstroke. Aaron came with a groan and a shudder, his arms gave out. They laid there catching their breaths for a while, ignoring the drying stickiness between them and tracing slow patterns on each other’s skin. They were so lucky to have each other.

“How are we going to shower now?” Aaron looked up and pouted.

“There’s a perfectly good sink just 5 feet away.” They laughed, Aaron pulled a blanket over them.

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

Taglist: @foxtrot91 @physics-magic @ssa-sarahsunshine @hearteyedhotch

[yvaineseleneposts]

The Troubadour

Requested: no

A/N: This has to be my longest piece ever! I hope it was worth the wait and that you enjoyed it. There could be a few mistakes in there both in English and Italian, sorry in advance. I loved writing this, it wasn’t exactly what I wanted but I am a perfectionist and I have rewritten this about 5 times. I just needed to post it now!

Pairing: OC!Diana Bianchi & Damiano David

Words: 3k

Warning(s): swearing, drinking, smoking (I mean it’s the 70s…), smoking weed, my Italian (I have been studying this beautiful language for three years now but people make mistakes)

West Hollywood, California // Mid-January 1972

Red eyes.

Sweaty foreheads.

That is all Diana would see when they screamed at her. “CAN I GET TWO BEERS AND A COKE PLEASE?!”

Working behind the bar was not her dream job. Diana remembered it like it was yesterday, she and her friend Tami had gone to The Troubadour to celebrate the weekend when she saw a “help wanted” poster. It was a godsend. Diana applied there and then and not long after she found herself behind the bar, handing out drinks to people who looked like they were having the best time of their lives. Another plus side was the fact that she could attend the concerts of all the artists and bands for free.

Obviously, there were also downsides to this job. For example, Diana couldn’t go out and live her teenage years. She isn’t allowed to drink (too much) on the job and the hours aren’t exactly great. The pay is okay though and the tips are even better. Half of the people don’t even know how much they are giving and walk off like they didn’t just hand you 20 for an eight dollar drink. She doesn’t complain much about her job but she does feel left behind sometimes. Like when Tami or her other friend chat about some weird adventure they had the night before and who they met or kissed. Diana felt like she missed out on a lot of things but she had no other choice.

Her parents had kicked her out when she was 15. Diana moved in with her grandmother and lived with her for a while until she passed away. She has been living alone in her grandmother’s old apartment ever since. A few friends had moved in with her but then moved out again when they had found a better place to live. So it was just Diana paying the rent for the place.

 “CAN I GET A RUM AND COKE?!” Diana gets snapped out of her thoughts. Shit, what did he want?! She thinks to herself as she stares at the intoxicated man.  “SORRY?!” She shouts back over the loud music. At least she had another reason for not hearing the man.  “RUM AND COKE!” That is all the man yells before turning his band to her so he could face the stage. Some weird indie band is playing tonight. Diana wasn’t really into it and honestly couldn’t wait until her boss would send her home for the night. She puts in a little less rum, the man will probably not even taste the difference.

The band had stopped playing somewhere around two a.m. However not all the guests had left around 2.30 which is something Diana hated the most. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy her job but after so many hours standing on her feet, she wanted nothing more than to clean up, go home and get into her warm bed.

 “Diana, can you come here for a minute?” her boss asked. What was that tone, was he going to fire her?! “It’s nothing bad, don’t worry.” Pfew. Diana walked behind him into his office.

 “What can I help you with, Doug?” She asked as she sat down in the very comfortable chair across from him. Doug Weston had somewhat become her parent over the last few years that she had worked here. He was always so kind to her and could always ask him for help if she needed him.

 “I want to get more bands from across the sea. I want interesting people and not just the same bands playing over and over again. New talent that no one has heard of before but will become known because of this place. Inspire new talent, you know?” He was rambling on with his sales pitch as if you had any input, it was his place after all. “And seeing that you can speak more languages than I have ever could, I was wondering if you could write small pieces for newspapers in Europe that will inspire these artists to come here and get all the fame and fortune they want.”

 “Sure, Doug. You know I would do anything to help this place… and you of course”, Diana said while a wide grin spread on her face. She felt like she was moving up when in reality it wasn’t a new job position. She would do anything to not have the same indie bands playing almost every night. Diana would never have imagined that she would change the lives of four individuals barely six months later, and change her own life along with it.

Rome, Italy // Mid-March 1972

 “The Troubadour. The place where artists and bands from all over the world can make it or break it in the United States. It all depends on the crowd. If they love you, you can come back for an entire week! If not you will receive the money for that evening but sadly you won’t be allowed back. It’s always packed with record executives so you could get a sweet record deal out of this experience. Do you have what it takes? Sign up and good luck to everyone competing in the battle of the bands! – D. B.” Damiano finishes reading. “Ragazzi, I honestly cannot wait till we get to play there! It’s going to be veramente stupendo!”

 “Bene Damiano, calm yourself. It’s less than five months away. We still have to play in this dump to even afford to go. We barely have enough money for a motel, we don’t even have the plane tickets yet!” Classic Victoria, always worrying as if she is the mother of the group.  “Calmati Victoria, noi staremo bene”, Ethan jumps in. “Let’s get back to practising before we start another fight, sì?” The rest nods their head and pick up their instruments.  “I was thinking, should we start with I wanna be your slave oppuro no? Is it too much?” Damiano suggest.  “Oh, and for outfits, I have a few ideas?!” Thomas adds like a little kid who is excited for Christmas day.  “Positivo, let’s look at those after practice”, Damiano says. Not even ten minutes later they had many up a little setlist. It was a battle of the bands so they had to at least practice 4-5 songs to play against other bands. Then if they were allowed to come back they had to prepare yet another 6 songs on top of those 5 they had already played. They could do it, they had enough songs in their database but were they going to sing their Italian songs or did they have to translate them? The members of Måneskin weren’t sure yet. Luckily for them, they had four months to think about it.

West Hollywood, California // Mid-July 1972

Diana hadn’t even woken up yet, but on the other side of the city, Måneskin had arrived at the airport.  “Finalmente ci siamo. Ce l’abbiamo fatta!” Thomas exclaims. Damiano chuckles and throws an arm around Thomas���s shoulders.  “Slow down, loverboy. We have not made it yet. We landed yes, but we have a long way to go from here to that stage tonight.”  “How every grown-up of you, Damiano”, Victoria teases. “I bet with Ethan that you would follow the first American girl that you saw in this airport and that we wouldn’t see you until much later.”  “Ha ha, molto divertente, Victoria. Sei una persona così divertente.” They continue their bickering whilst Ethan collects all of their suitcases.   “Addiamo?” He finally asks the group, they all agree and make their way through the busy airport to the designated taxi area. During this, they complain about how crowded it is and how much the air smells. It is nothing like their own country but you have to take chances if you want to become famous like their dream.

Later that day

Doug had told Diana to come into work later than she usually would. It was going to be a busy night and he’d rather have her work during the performances than during the day and wear her out. So here she was around six-thirty instead of two o’clock. It felt so weird because usually when she arrives there is no line out front and now there was one to the end of the block. She passed all the people waiting in line, hearing them complain and moan as she walks up to Mario, the bouncer. He doesn’t even need to see her worker-id, as she walks in he wishes her good luck with tonight. She liked Mario, he was working here before she came and even then he had told her if she ever needed anything him and his wife had an extra bed for her. Honestly, the sweetest guy… also the toughest guy you will ever meet.

As Diana walked to the changing area to hang her coat and bag, she ran into a few participants of tonight’s show. She greeted most of them but they were too busy with themselves, the fame they hadn’t even earned yet was already rising to their heads. Before she could make her way to the bar, Doug called her over.

 “Diana, come here for a second. I want to introduce you to a few people.” Classic Doug, always introducing everybody to everybody. If he believed you could make it, he would introduce you to all his workers. However, the bands did not know this, the workers would treat them a little extra. “They are from Italy as well!” As if Diana herself had moved for their, it was actually her grandparents. She could speak a little Italian but other than her last name, there was nothing Italian about her. Doug briefly introduced the members of Måneskin to Diana, who couldn’t keep her eyes off a certain member. To be quite honest she had not remembered everyone’s names and she stumbled to get her name out of her mouth. All because she was already head over heels with this handsome, tall, young Italian man.

After a couple of introduction, Diana was finally behind her bar, her safe space. Meeting Damiano had made her weak in her knees, she had never had a reaction like this before. She didn’t really pay attention to the competitors and focused on serving the people but when it was Måneskin’s turn, she started to lose focus on her work.

During most of their setlist, Damiano kept glancing over to Diana and winking at her. Or at least that’s what it felt like for Diana. However, after a rather sexy song (let’s be real most of them are) he kissed one of his male bandmates on the mouth. Now Diana is not one to judge people on who they love. She reasons that everyone should love who they want to love and receive love because of it. It wasn’t that she hated it, it kind of turned her on, but she was very confused. Had she read the signs wrong? Were there even any signs to begin with? At times like these she wanted to ask Tami for help yet she was afraid that if Tami came and tried to help her that somehow Tami’s charm would work on Damiano and Diana would still end up with nothing. No, she had to do this on her own, she decided.

After the battle of the bands was over, a few stayed behind to talk with record labels about future arrangements. Diana started cleaning up, and washing and drying a few glasses, secretly listening in on a few conversations.

 “I liked what I saw out there. Let your agent call me and we will discuss your expansion in the United States.” Well, that sounded very good. Diana turned around to see who the band was that this man was talking to, but when she turned around she looked right into Damiano’s eyes.

 “I have been trying to get your attention all night”, he says shyly.  “Really? I thought so but I wasn’t sure”, Diana responds. Damiano raises his hand and scratches behind his head.  “I was wondering, you know. If maybe- ugh. Perchè è cosi difficile?” He mutters, not looking Diana in the eyes.  “Provalo in Italiano?” she suggests and Damiano’s eyes shoot up to meet hers.  “Cazzo. Parli Italiano?” He looks even more nervous now.  “Si, parlo Italiano.” He laughs at her answer.  “Vuoi uscire domani sera?” Diana nods her head, she honestly cannot stop smiling.  “I’d love to go out with you. Do you want me to pick you up at the hotel? That would be easier than you trying to find my house.”  “Yeah, sure. We’re staying at the Millwood Motel, it’s not too far from the airport.”  “Ah yes, I know that place. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He leans over and kisses her cheek before leaving her to finish her work.

That night Diana barely slept. Did Damiano know any places here to take her to? Did she have to come up with a place? What if he was some weird guy? What if he was a murderer?! She sure was happy now that she didn’t give him her address. The following day she woke up around noon. She went to the kitchen and grabbed her Cona coffee maker, if she was to get through the day, she was going to need a big cup of coffee. She put water and coffee ground on the lower half of the pot and put it on the stove. She hated having to watch the coffee boil and couldn’t wait for better times when you would just have to push a button to get your coffee.

Seeing that she woke up around noon, it didn’t take long before Diana met up with Damiano. She asked him if he had anything specific in mind. Surprisingly, he did. He explained that he and his bandmates did a little sightseeing and they walked past a roller skating rink. Damiano always wanted to try that and he thought this would be perfect for their little date. Diana absolutely loved the idea and couldn’t wait till they got there.

Both of them were sad that the night had ended so quickly or so they thought. It was in fact 1 a.m. and they had already spend ten hours together. Diana brought Damiano back to the motel with her car and of course he couldn’t leave without planting a kiss on her lips. They kissed for a while before finally letting each other go.  “We’ll be leaving soon”, Damiano said and looked at their intertwined hands in his lap.  “Already? You just got here two days ago”, Diana complained. She just met him and now he is leaving already? She wasn’t prepared for that. She knew he was leaving at some point, he had to he didn’t live in the US, but still she had hoped for a little more time together.  “Maybe we’ll come back soon. We have a meeting with our agent and that record label guy tomorrow.”  “Could we meet up after? We should catch dinner together, I have another day off”, she suggested. Damiano agreed, kissed her one more time before leaving her car and making his way to his motel room.

The next day

Diana waited for Damiano in front of a large building. She was enjoying the sun on her face when she felt two arms coming from behind and hugging her on her stomach.  “Ciao, amore mio. Sei adorabile oggi”, Damiano said into her ear before kissing the side of her face.  “Ciao, you don’t look to bad yourself”, she said as she turned around. She grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him on his lips, his mates cheering them on in the background. “How did it go in there?” With that question Damiano’s face broke out in a wide grin. “What?”  “Amore, we’re staying here in the US. We got a record deal, we will be here for the entire year!” he shouts and all five of them jump in celebration. “I was going to tell you at dinner, but I just couldn’t wait anymore. We can be together, amore.” Diana broke out in tears, nodding her head, for she had never met a man who she loved more than Damiano. Her Italian lover boy.

[sassy-starker]

Five Times Stark Industries Employees Saw Peter Parker

(And One Time They All Found Out Who He Was)

Word count: 9128

CW: none

Notes: I promised @tony-is-my-daddy that I would tag them in my fluff fic and that was literally almost 2 weeks ago so I’m really, really sorry. I got caught up with finals and everything, but, I finally present to you, A Self-Indulgent Fic Where Peter and Tony Act Sappy And Confuse Employees

1.

Peter couldn’t focus.  His eyes were bleary and his mind was wandering.  His attention was completely taken up by the hollowness in his chest.  The workshop felt all too empty and quiet, but he knew that background noise wouldn’t help.  He needed someone there.  He needed people— hell, even just a person— to be with him.  His mind felt distant, yet all too aware at the same time and it was driving him insane.  He hated the winter.  He hated seasonal affective disorder.  He hated this.

In a rash decision, before his brain could even think, Peter pulled out his Stark Phone and tapped into messages.  He tapped on his most recent contact and began to type.

Peter: hey, do you think i could go down to the intern labs and just work down there?

Peter: like the ones with the individual workspaces?

Peter: i need to be around people

Tony: Of course! I should be done with my meeting at about 5 so then we can go binge shitty rom-coms and cuddle and eat Chinese food

Tony: Pepper saw me on my phone. Gotta go

Peter: <3

Tony: <3

Peter, now with confirmation, gathered up what he was working on in his backpack and shoved his phone in his pocket before getting up and moving to the elevator.

“Where to, Peter?” FRIDAY asked him.

“Fifty-fourth floor please.”

The elevator moved relatively quickly down the floors, and it wasn’t long until it dinged and the doors opened, revealing rows and rows of worktables with interns scattered around and working on individual projects.  Peter knew that they moved on and off the floor, depending on whether they were working in groups with their department or solo.

People looked over to the unknown young man while he set his stuff down on a table.  He paid no mind, feeling comforted by having people around.  He always felt nice when he knew that he wasn’t all alone, that the world was still there and time was still moving on.  Just as he sat down, though, a lab director from some floor below them walked right up to the desk.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think you’re allowed to be here,” he said in a sickly sweet, obviously fake voice.

“Excuse me?” Peter asked politely, looking up to the man.

“This space is for interns and employees. You don’t appear to be either,” the man elaborated.

“No, I’m allowed to be here,” Peter shot back simply before looking away from the man and reaching for his bag to pull out his project materials.

“Who do you think you are?” the lab director interrogated. “I’ll get you kicked out of this building!”

“I’m Peter-” the young adult started, but was cut off by FRIDAY interrupting.

“No last names, Peter,” the AI warned. “We don’t want anything to happen to you.  I can assure that Peter is allowed to be here.”

Peter simply looked up and gave a shrug to the lab director before continuing to pull out the materials from his bag.  The man looked up to the ceiling fearfully before retreating back to his own workspace.

That was the first time they saw Peter.

2.

The next time Stark Industries employees saw Peter could only be described as chaotic.

The door to the stairs opened and somebody rushed out, weaving their way around people and workstations with practiced ease, all while laughing so hard that there were tears falling from their eyes.

Upon closer inspection, the employees realized that it was, in fact, the mysterious young man from only a week earlier.

Moments after Peter rushed in, the elevator dinged and the doors opened, and out ran the Tony Stark, covered in red and blue glitter. Not to mention that he looked furious, but not the type of furious where he was genuinely angry. It was more like that fond kind of furious, where you’re annoyed and upset, but can’t help but find the situation a bit funny and the person responsible is somebody you care about.

Tony ran out of the elevator, also weaving around his employees and their projects, obviously chasing the young man. By that point, though, the young man was laughing so hard that he had slowed down considerably. Thanks to that fact, Tony caught up and tackled him to the ground. All the employees were frozen in shock and just watching as their boss stood up and rubbed glitter off his skin to get it onto the man he was now standing above.

“No!” shouted the younger, getting up from his spot on the floor and giving the engineer a light shove. Both of them were still smiling and laughing about it though. “This is gonna take forever to wash off!”

“How do you think I feel?” Tony retorted, sprinkling some glitter into the other man’s curly hair. Once again, the younger man gave him a light push.

That’s when the two of them became acutely aware of the attention they had garnered.

“Sorry for disrupting your work,” Peter apologized to the crowd of employees sheepishly.

“We’ll send somebody to clean up the mess we made,” Tony told them, eyeing the trail of glitter he had left on the floor, “but get back to work.”

Hesitantly, they all began to go back to their workstations, but kept their eyes on the two men as they talked quietly and walked back to the elevator. Nobody said a word until the elevator doors had closed, obscuring their view of their boss and the mysterious man.

“Who the fuck is that kid?” Ashley questioned, turning to the coworkers she was in an experimenting group with.

“I have no idea,” Dylan answered, slowly tearing his eyes away from the elevator doors.

“He’s definitely a weird one,” Jenna piped up decisively. “I mean, have you ever even seen a picture of Tony Stark smiling that fondly?”

“And he talked back to him!” Dylan added on. “Like, holy shit, that kid shoved him and Stark only laughed!”

“I’ve seen a lot of strange things while working here,” Ashley told them, sparing a glance at the elevator, “but this is definitely one of the strangest.”

3.

“Please?” Peter begged.

“No,” Tony answered for what felt like the hundredth time. “Gossip spreads across the building quickly and basically every employee is already trying to figure out who you are! I don’t want them finding out and leaking it to the press!”

“But they already know, so what does it matter? It’s not like the rumors will go away if they just don’t see me again!” Peter argued, jumping up from where he was seated in order to stand in front of his boyfriend.

“The rumors will die down if they don’t see you again. They’ll eventually move onto talking about something else,” Tony replied, grabbing Peter’s hand and pulling him close. Peter embraced the man and the two just stood there for a few moments.

“I just want you to be safe,” Tony told him quietly.

“I’ll be fine,” Peter responded, pulling away but still holding onto his boyfriend’s hands. “All your employees sign NDA’s, so even if they did leak something to the press, which I doubt they would, legal would be on their ass and sue them for all they’re worth.”

Tony sighed, realizing that Peter had a good argument that he just couldn’t counter.

“Fine. You can come help me with the presentation.”

Peter pumped his fist in the air and let out a whoop in victory, causing Tony to roll his eyes fondly.

+++

When the employees working in R&D walked into the small auditorium on the 16th floor, they knew Tony Stark was going to be there, but they didn’t expect the infamous mystery man to be there.  On the stage, Peter was talking animatedly about something or other while Tony just listened, a fond smile on his face and his eyes sparkling.

The crowd walked in hesitantly, everybody’s eyes on the two men up front, who still hadn’t acknowledged them.  When everyone was seated and the clock struck the exact time the presentation was supposed to start, the two finally turned to them to get started.

“Hello, R&D department! I hope you’re all doing well!” Tony greeted with his press smile on. “You all know who I am, but I have somebody else here with me today.”

“What’s up? I’m Peter,” the younger man introduced himself, hitting the woah as he said his name.

“Did you just-” Tony started with a sigh before cutting himself off. “You and your fucking tiktok dances.”

“You say that as if you didn’t ask me to teach you the Renegade last week!”

“That was different! That was for the Stark Industries tiktok! I need to be relatable so I stay relevant!” Tony defended.

“And yet you still won’t let me teach you the dance to ‘Say So’ even though it’s iconic!” Peter shot back.

“You and I have different ideas of what counts as iconic,” Tony said dryly before turning back to the crowd of employees. 

“Anyway, today Peter and I will be telling you all about the new prosthetics line that your department will begin developing!”

Despite the importance of the presentation, the employees were only half listening as they were more focused on whispering about the mystery boy.

“Okay but what the actual fuck happened at the beginning of this?” Jenna asked quietly as she leaned over to her coworker on the right of her.

“No fucking clue. I can't believe this dude is just casually talking and joking around with Tony fucking Stark!” Dylan whispered in reply, not taking his eyes off the stage.

“And apparently he taught Stark how to do the Renegade. That’s fucking insane,” Ashley added from Jenna’s left.

The three turned their attention back to the two men on stage, finally listening to what they were saying again.

“Street smarts!” the younger man exclaimed, jumping in about something they were saying before.

“Stay alert out there,” both Peter and Tony quoted with large smiles. As if nothing happened, they jumped right back into the presentation.

“This is the weirdest fucking thing in the world,” Dylan declared quietly.

“I second that,” Ashley muttered.

“I third that,” Jenna added on without taking her eyes off the stage.

The presentation went on a bit longer, but it didn’t drag on.  It helped that the entire time the two men were joking around and making the employees progressively more and more confused.

Peter and Tony wrapped up the presentation soon enough and the R&D employees began to file out, most of them keeping their eyes on the two men talking quietly on stage.  Jenna, Ashley, and Dylan walked out together, some of the last to exit the auditorium, and the three made it to the elevator before Jenna realized she left her jacket behind.  She told her friends that she would catch up to them and way back to the now empty seats.  Not paying attention to the world around her, she looked for where she had sat and made her way through the row until she reached her seat and found her cardigan.

“See, I told you it would be okay,” said a voice from the stage.  Jenna turned around and saw Peter talking to Tony, the men standing close together.

“You know I just get worried,” the billionaire replied, his voice more sincere than Jenna could’ve ever imagined. “I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I can take care of myself, Tones. You don’t need to worry so much.”

Jenna felt like she was intruding on a private moment, so she started to make her way out of the rows of seats and back to the door as quickly and quietly as possible.

“Just because I don’t need to worry doesn’t mean I won’t. I care so much about you, Peter. You know I love you.”

Jenna froze in place, right at the end of the row of seats and about to step into the main aisle that led to the doors.  Against her better judgment, she found herself staring up at the two men on the stage, her gaze stuck on them.  She just couldn’t look away.

Peter and Tony were basically right up against each other.  They only were a couple inches apart with both their hands intertwined.  She couldn’t see it earlier, but, now that they were right next to each other, Jenna could tell that Peter was about half a foot shorter than Tony.  The younger man was looking up at the billionaire with a bright smile that was returned.  It was like nothing she could’ve ever imagined; a ball of sunshine and pop culture references right next to a man known to be scuffed up and rough around the edges.  It was like this boy brought out a completely different side of Stark.

“I love you too,” Peter replied softly before leaning up on the balls of his feet to give Tony a soft kiss on the lips.

Jenna, sucked in a breath of air harshly, the sound being enough to alert the men to her presence.  The two men stared at her with wide eyes for a moment and she stared right back.

“Shit.” Tony broke the silence of the room, his voice conveying the concern written across his face.  Peter put a hand on his forearm and schooled his features into a comforting look.  The man looked over at him and tried to take solace in his lover’s gentleness.

“I told you something was gonna go wrong,” the billionaire said with a mix of concern and fear on his face.

“We’re not getting into this argument again,” Peter responded decidedly, his tone making it sound final.

“I- I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize I was walking in on anything. I just came in because I forgot my jacket! I . . . please don’t fire me, Mister Stark,” Jenna stammered once she had broken out of her shocked stupor.

“He’s not going to fire you,” Peter reassured her with a kind tone.

“Well . . .” Tony said, but his tone was a bit humorous.

“You’re not gonna fire her because we decided we couldn’t wait until we got back to the penthouse to be all sappy.” Peter gave the man a stern look and it occurred to Jenna once again that this soft, delicate-appearing brunet clad in pastels had somehow reined in the man who had spent so many years being known as a playboy.

“I’m not going to fire you, but you can’t tell anybody, not even anyone within the company. If you do, my legal team can and will sue you for all you’re worth. Understood?” Tony had a dangerous edge to his voice, letting the girl know that he was completely serious. There was no way that this was an empty threat.

“Understood,” Jenna replied with a curt nod. “But I just have one question.”

“Shoot,” Peter told her.

“How old are you? Because . . . well, you look pretty young.”

Tony started laughing and Peter gave him an annoyed look.

“Stop laughing! You do this every time!” Peter exclaimed, lightly slapping his arm.

“Everybody thinks you’re, like, sixteen! You look barely old enough to have your license!” Tony shot back, his laughter dying down.

“I’m twenty-one,” he told Jenna. “I’m not underage, if you were wondering. Tony may be a bit of a mad scientist, but he doesn’t date people who are underage.”

“Okay, good. I was just worried for a second. Um, thank you for not firing me and I swear I won’t tell anybody. I should get going,” she rushed out with a relieved smile.  Without another word, she made her way out of the auditorium, holding her jacket close to her chest.

When she got back to her floor, Dylan and Ashley bombarded her with questions about what took her so long, but she just told them that it took her a second to find it.  Of course, they weren’t satisfied with that answer, but Jenna didn’t let anything slip.

That was the third time Stark Industries employees saw Peter.

4.

When Jenna walked into work the next morning, early as always, she found an envelope sitting on her designated area of her group desk, which separated into four sections for her project team to sit at. Across the front, it had her first name written out in a neat, cursive scrawl. She furrowed her brows as she looked at it, questions racing through her mind as she wondered who it could’ve been from.

Without another thought, she ripped it open and pulled out the contents. She unfolded the paper that was inside only to find a letter written in the same handwriting.

Dear Jenna,

I wanted to write you a letter, but realized that I never caught your name yesterday. I hope you don’t mind, but I asked FRIDAY who you were. Thinking back on it, that definitely makes me sound like a creep, so I apologize.

I wanted to thank you for not completely flipping out on Tony and I in the auditorium yesterday. I know that the whole thing was definitely crazy and it would’ve made sense if you freaked out. I also wanted to thank you for not immediately telling anybody. Seeing as no news stories have come out and nobody in the building has confronted Tony, I’m assuming you didn’t leak it, which is relieving.

I hope you’re doing well and if you need literally anything, just drop off a letter in the company mailroom in box 106.

As a thank you, there’s a Starbucks gift card also in the envelope! I wasn’t sure if you liked coffee, but seeing as you work in R&D and most of the employees in that department survive off coffee, I’m going to assume you do. Enjoy!

I’ll (hopefully) talk to you soon!

-Peter

P.S. Tony might not say it, but he’s also grateful that you haven’t leaked anything! I can promise that you’re good in his books :)

“What’s that?” Ashley asked, sneaking up behind Jenna and startling the woman.

“It’s nothing,” Jenna replied quickly while shoving the letter back into the envelope and cramming it into her bag. Ashley gave her a suspicious look but let it go, sitting down at her area of the group desk that was beside Jenna’s.

“I have a prediction!” Dylan announced as he entered the almost empty floor and waltzed over to Jenna and Ashley. He collapsed onto his stool and dumped his bag onto the floor beside him.

“This should be good,” Ashley muttered sarcastically, crossing her arms.

Jenna just looked away.

“So, we’ve established that it’s strange that nobody has ever heard of Peter and how, out of nowhere, he shows up!”

“Yeah, that’s kinda why we all think it’s weird,” Jenna shot at him, hoping that it covered up her panic.

“It’s also odd that he’s got a bit of a resemblance to Stark,” Dylan continued, decidedly ignoring her.

“I don’t see it,” Jenna interrupted once more, but the man didn’t stop.

“Maybe, just maybe, Peter is Stark’s son who he didn’t want in the spotlight until he was old enough to handle it!”

Ashley gasped while Jenna glanced away from them with a look of both panic and amusement. 

“Or Peter is Stark’s illegitimate child and he doesn’t want to have a scandal!” Ashley built on the theory with an excited smile and wide eyes.

“What do you think, Jenna?” Dylan asked, and both of Jenna’s teammates had their eyes on her.

“I think you two are full of bullshit,” Jenna told them, trying hard to keep her voice steady. “He’s probably just Stark’s intern. Maybe he’s a super genius or something.”

“Bor-ring!” Ashley replied with a roll of her eyes.

“Yeah, our theory is way better,” Dylan bragged, a bit of humor in his tone.

Jenna stayed oddly quiet for the rest of the morning.

+++

When lunch rolled around, Dylan and Ashley went off to the food court floor of the building, but Jenna decided that she wanted to make use of the Starbucks gift card she’d been given. When she opened the envelope back up to get it, she discovered that it was a two-hundred dollar gift card, which left her in shock for a few moments. Still, she shook herself out of it and went to go get a sandwich and a coffee.

After lunch, she found herself back with her teammates, working on their project, but sipping on a venti white chocolate mocha this time around. Around half an hour after they’d come back from lunch, the elevator doors opened to reveal Peter, wearing a sunny yellow sweater that matched the smile on his face. He walked out of the elevator and seemingly ignored all the eyes on him. He made his way over to a table working on prosthetics and began to help them out, the team there looking a bit surprised but extremely grateful for the assistance.

When Peter looked up and spotted Jenna, he gave her an even brighter smile, which she returned. She shook the coffee cup in her hand a little, bringing his attention to it, and he gave a silent chuckle. Jenna took a sip of her mocha and turned back to her project.

“What the fuck was that?” Ashley asked, drawing both of her teammates away from where they were designing arm prosthetics.

“What?” Dylan and Jenna replied in unison.

“That little interaction you just had with Peter,” the blonde woman elaborated, looking at Jenna accusingly.

“What interaction?” the man piped up before the brunette could respond.

“She and Peter made eye contact and smiled at each other and then Jenna held up her coffee cup and Peter chuckled!”

Dylan gave Ashley an incredulous look before shifting his gaze to Jenna.

“It was nothing,” Jenna defended with a level voice before getting back to work.

“Does this have something to do with the letter from this morning?”

“What letter?” Jenna and Dylan asked in unison.

Ashley sighed. “Jenna, come on, just tell me what’s going on? Is there something you know that we don’t?”

Before the brunette could even respond, Peter passed by their table.

“Hey, Jenna!” the young man greeted cheerily.

“Hey, Peter,” she responded, a smile on her face.

When he was gone, she went right back to her work, ignoring the looks from her teammates.

Jenna knew it was going to be a long rest of her day.

That was the fourth time Stark Industries employees saw Peter.

5.

By the next Friday, the questions from Dylan and Ashley had died down, but the suspicious glances were definitively not stopping, nor becoming anymore secretive. Luckily, though, Jenna was becoming better and better at ignoring the looks from her coworkers.

There were no more appearances from Peter, but Jenna had been enjoying exchanging letters with the brunet. The letters would sometimes be accompanied by pictures, mostly of Peter and Tony, and the woman had fun printing dumb pictures of her own and sending them back. The two would share funny stories and talk about themselves, though Peter still never shared his last name, but the brunette didn’t blame him for that; she knew he wanted to continue to keep himself on the down low. Tony would sometimes put in a few sentences on a letter, mostly a short quip about something his boyfriend wrote, and Jenna couldn’t help but find her boss’s dry wit rather humorous.

As the weekend approached once more, Jenna found herself feeling glad to get away from her teammates’ conspicuous looks and probing questions. When it reached midday, she was beyond happy to escape to the food court, rushing in order to get ahead of Ashley and Dylan. 

When she walked into the food court, she knew there was something going on. The chatter of the floor was quieter than normal, despite the normal amount of people being there. It was less conversation and more pointed whispers. When she followed where everybody’s eyes were looking, she discovered Peter sitting at one of the round tables on his own.

The young man had a couple slices of pizza on a plate in front of him, with one slice in his hand. He had wireless earbuds in and his phone was propped up using a pop socket attached to the back. It was obvious that he was watching some show or another.

Jenna simply shrugged and went to grab her own food, paying no mind to the whispered gossip spreading across the floor. She got a container of Chinese food from one of the stations and looked around to find a place to sit before realizing that she didn’t know where to go. She usually sat with her teammates, but she had been trying to escape them until she had to get back to work, which left her with nobody to eat lunch with.

In a strange and unusual burst of confidence, Jenna walked across the floor and toward Peter’s table, decidedly brushing off the eyes that followed her. She put her food down and sat in the chair across from her boss’s boyfriend, attempting to act casual as the quiet chatter toned down in order to hear what happened next.

Peter looked up when she sat down, seemingly confused that somebody was joining him at his table. When he saw that it was Jenna, however, he cracked a bright smile. He took out his earbuds and put them back into the carrying case before shutting off his phone and setting it face down on the table.

“Hey, Jenna!” His tone was bubbly, an air of familiarity to it. Just hearing him talk made Jenna feel calmer; the boy had a way of doing that.

“Hey, Peter,” she greeted back, less excitedly but still conveying that she was happy to see him again. “What’s up?”

“Not much! Tony’s in a meeting and I decided to come down here for lunch. I didn’t like how quiet it was.”

“I think you mentioned that once. That you don’t like being alone in spaces, I mean.” Jenna paid attention to every word in every letter she received from the young man. She felt like she connected to him in a way that she’d never connected to anybody before; it wasn’t like any friendship she had in the past.

“Yeah. It just feels nice to know that the world is still turning and I’m not completely alone.” He looked sad for a moment, eyes glazed over and distant. It was a somber kind of happiness, a mix of emotions that weren’t supposed to be mixed in case of an explosion, but not a loud one; it was more of a combustion, internal and quiet, soft and powerful. “But, anyways, what’ve you been up to?”

“Not much,” Jenna replied, trying to move on from the delicate moment. “Been working on the prototype for the prosthetics and I think it’s going well. There’s a few bits and pieces that me and my teammates have gotta work out before we send the design to our lab director, but I think we’ll get there soon.”

“That’s really cool! I honestly can’t wait for the prosthetics line to go into production! I think it's really gonna change the game since it’s gonna be a high tech line but also more affordable than the competitors!” Peter’s eyes were shining, the gleam replacing the far off look from only moments earlier.

“I’m excited for it too!” Jenna admitted. “I know it’s gonna help so many people and I can’t wait for it to go on the market!”

Peter opened his mouth to respond, but his phone buzzed before he could speak. He picked it up and read the notification, giving a small chuckle and typing out a response before looking up at Jenna.

“Was that . . .?” Jenna trailed off, unsure of how to finish the sentence but sure that the brunet caught her drift.

“Yeah,” Peter responded easily with a fond, but exasperated, look. “He finished his meeting and asked if I saved him some food from my lunch. I did, but I’m tempted to eat it myself and tell him to go get his own food.”

Jenna snorted.

“I’m not that mean, though, so I’m gonna take him the last two slices.” He slid his phone into his back pocket and his earbuds case into his front one before standing up and grabbing the plate with the two slices of pizza.

“I’ll see you later, Jenna!” he called as he walked away, heading towards the private elevator.

“See you, Peter!” With that, the woman went back to eating her lunch, as if nothing had happened at all.

When two people sat down at the table, Jenna looked up at them, only to find her two teammates, who had bewildered and suspicious looks on their faces. Dylan’s brow was furrowed and Ashley’s eyes were narrowed, the blonde obviously more dubious than him.

“What the actual fuck, Jenna?” she asked, voicing everybody’s thoughts.

“What?” the brunette replied as if she didn’t know.

“Don’t act all innocent! How are you so friendly with him?! This shit doesn’t add up!” Dylan nodded along to Ashley’s words. 

Jenna gave an exasperated sigh.

“Sorry, but that’s confidential information. NDA’s and all that, ya know?” She was trying everything she could to weasel her way out of it, but it was the first time she’d given her teammates a semi-straight answer, even if it wasn’t that revealing.

“Oh, come on, Jenna!” Dylan finally spoke up. “It can’t be anything that serious! Just tell us what’s going on?”

“I’m afraid that Ms. Locke is right, Mr. Hoffman. This is confidential information that Ms. Locke does not have the authority nor the necessity to reveal to you,” FRIDAY interrupted, garnering the attention of the people watching.

Jenna only shrugged under the intense gazes of her coworkers, but it still shut them up about it.

That was the fifth time Stark Industries employees saw Peter.

+1

It was relatively quiet for the next few weeks after the food court incident. While the suspicious glances remained, the questions had died down, though whispers still followed Jenna around as her coworkers spread rumors about how she knew Peter.

Speaking of the brunet, he hadn’t shown up since the incident, but he and Jenna had continued to exchange letters, becoming closer friends as time went on. The next time news about Peter came, it was only news for Jenna, as nobody else had any clue of how the young man was involved.

It had happened when Tony Stark had come to the R&D floor to talk to the employees there about the progress on the prosthetics line. Everybody had been trying extra hard to look busy as the man went around, all of them hoping to seem like they were valuable employees who actually did work.

Jenna’s team was the last that the billionaire came to, but as soon as he started talking to them, the brunette noticed something.

He had an engagement ring on.

The woman mentioned nothing, though she did freeze for a moment when she noticed it. Still, she pushed through and continued with the discussion about the progress they had been making.

When her boss later stepped away to answer a text, she quickly told her coworkers she had to use the restroom, rushing away and going down the hallway that Tony had gone down, which happened to lead to the bathrooms.

When she got there, she found him smiling down at his phone and typing quickly.

“Did you guys get . . .?” Jenna started, but trailed off at the end, startling the man a bit. He looked up at her, eyes a bit wide, but immediately recognized her. He looked confused at the question for a moment before realizing that her eyes were on his ring.

“Yeah, we did,” Tony answered, looking a bit sheepish as a blush painted his cheeks.

“How did it happen?” It was obvious that the girl was excited to find out.

“It’s actually pretty funny. I got down on one knee to propose and he looked so exasperated and I freaked out because I thought he was gonna break up with me or something. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box. He was planning on proposing that night too.”

“That’s absolutely incredible!” Jenna told him excitedly, but still kept her voice quiet.

“When we told our friends, they all looked so unsurprised that something like that would happen for him and I.”

The two both laughed before the billionaire’s phone buzzed again.

“I’ve got a meeting in, like, five minutes, so I should probably go.”

The two said their goodbyes and he started to walk back out to the main area to head to the private elevator, but stopped and turned around before he could.

“Just do you know, you’re invited to the wedding.”

Without another word, he walked away, leaving Jenna standing there in shock. A million thoughts were racing through her head and her eyes were still trained on the end of the hallway where the man had disappeared from.

“I’m invited to the wedding,” she whispered to herself. Taking a moment, she shook herself out of it and began walking back to her team’s table to get back to work.

Before she could get there, though, Ashley rushed at her and grabbed her arm, pulling her back the way she came. The blonde pulled her into the women’s restroom and checked every stall to make sure they were empty before turning back to her coworker.

“What the fuck it this?!” She held up a letter and  Jenna immediately knew who it was from. She snatched it from her co worker's hand and skimmed through it, praying to Thor that it wasn’t one of the letters that explicitly mentioned Peter dating Tony. She then proceeded to thank Thor when she realized that it was one one of the notes that mentioned a relationship, but not outright who it was with.

“Okay, Peter and I have been talking through letters. So what?” she replied, attempting to keep her voice steady so it sounded like she wasn’t fazed by the whole thing.

“Are you fucking with me?! You’re friends with this mysterious dude who’s all buddy-buddy with Tony fucking Stark and you’re expecting me to just let that go?! You’re out of your mind!” Ashley was obviously worked up about the whole thing and the brunette didn’t know what to say, but, luckily, her coworker started talking again before she could get a word out.

“You’ve been so secretive these past couple months and it’s been annoying as all hell! You’re not telling me anything and it feels like I’m so disconnected from you! Just tell me what’s going on!”

“I can’t! I can’t tell you what’s going on! I’m sorry that I don’t wanna lose my fucking job just so you can know every aspect of my life! Just let it go and leave me and my letters alone!” Jenna blew up, which was something she didn’t do very often.

Unsurprisingly, Ashley looked taken aback, shock written across her face. Jenna immediately regretted it.

“I’m sorry,” she told her friend softly. “I just can’t tell you.”

Jenna turned around and left the bathroom, the letter in her grasp. As soon as she was out, she went to her lab director and asked if she could leave a little early, giving the excuse of feeling sick. Of course, her lab director was understanding as always and let her go. She quickly gathered her stuff, ignoring the looks from Ashley and Dylan, and hightailed it out of there.

+++

“Dylan!” the R&D lab director, Kelsey, called from her office.

The man shot up from his team’s table, where the silence was as dense as molasses and the tension was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.

“Yes?” Dylan asked as he made his way over and placed himself in the open doorway. The director stood up and handed him a couple files.

“I have to go to a meeting, but these files need to be turned in. Could you take them up to the boss’s office for me?”

“You- you want me to take these to Mr. Stark?” His voice was a bit shaky.

“It’s not that big of a deal. You go to floor 89, you find the office with his name on it, you knock on the door, you tell him that I sent you, you give him the files, and you leave. I promise it’s not as stressful as you think it is.” Kelsey’s tone was comforting, but it did little to ease his anxieties.

“Okay,” he muttered, turning around and heading towards the elevator.

When the doors opened and Dylan stepped in, he found himself alone in the elevator. The silence was filled up by his anxious thoughts about what could go wrong. He spent the entire ride up trying to take deep breaths and remember that it was a simple job; just go in, give him the files, and leave.

The elevator stopped and he stepped off onto the eerily quiet office floor. It seemed that nobody was there and it freaked him out; it felt like a horror movie. He crept along the halls until he made it to a door with his boss’s name on it. He raised his hand to knock until he heard voices coming from inside.

“I don’t get why it’s such a big deal.” That was Tony Stark’s voice, and Dylan recognized it immediately.

“It just is!” A voice replied. It took Dylan all of three seconds to realize that it was the mysterious Peter who seemed to show up at the most random of times.

Against his better judgment, Dylan peered through the semi-open blinds that covered the windows of the office. When he did so, he found Peter sitting on the edge of the desk and Tony a couple feet in front of him.

“It doesn’t seem like that hard of a decision. If you don’t like this guy, don’t invite him to the wedding! It’s so simple!” The billionaire looked confused at the dilemma at hand, though Dylan had no clue what they were talking about. He was getting married?

“But it’s not! I don’t want to invite him, but it would be rude if I didn’t!” Peter looked worked up about the whole thing, face slightly flushed and fiddling with his hands.

“It might be rude, but if you don’t want him there, then don’t invite him!”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Except that it is.”

“Maybe for you!” It wasn’t a yell, but it wasn’t quiet. Peter had stopped fiddling with his fingers and was now pulling slightly at his hair.

“What do you mean?” Tony spoke like he could accidentally shatter the young man in front of him if he wasn’t careful.

“I mean that you’re Tony Stark. You’re a famous billionaire that can do whatever you want. If you don’t want to invite somebody, you don’t invite them. You don’t care if it’s rude because you’re Tony fucking Stark and you can do anything you’d like. I’m not like that, I can’t just do whatever I want. I’m Peter Parker, an average guy from Queens, and I’ve always been just that. If I’m rude, there’s consequences and it can actually affect my life. I have to think things like this over, even if you see it as trivial.”

Tony paused for a moment, letting the words sink in.

“Except you’re not just some average guy. You’re Peter fucking Parker. You’re incredible. You’re gonna change the entire world. Maybe I don’t get these kinds of things because I was raised in such a different world than you, but all I want is for you to be happy. Whatever choice you make here, I’ll be fine with, but that isn’t what I care about. I care about you, because you’re the most amazing person on this planet. You’re Peter Parker, the man I fell in love with.”

Dylan’s jaw dropped as he finally found the closure he’d been seeking for months. He knew what Peter’s last name was, he knew what relationship he had to Tony Stark, he knew who Peter was. He had never expected this, though. He cringed as his mind went back to that theory he had about Peter being Tony’s son.

He watched as the two shared a short kiss and finally moved back in front of the door, feeling the need to give his boss the files, run back down to his floor, and tell his teammates everything.

Dylan knocked on the door and he could almost feel the two men inside freeze in shock. It only took a second before the door opened, though, and revealed Peter Parker standing there with Tony Stark slightly behind him, both of them looking worried.

“Uh, I’m from R&D and my lab director, Kelsey, asked me to deliver these files,” Dylan stuttered out, failing at his attempt to remain casual.

“Oh, uh, yeah, yeah, thanks,” Peter replied, seemingly relieved as he took the files.

“I, um, bye, I guess,” Dylan stammered before turning around and booking it out of there. He could feel the two men’s eyes on him as he left.

When Dylan got to the elevator, he pressed on the button a few times, praying for it to arrive faster, and jumped on the moment the doors had opened wide enough to get through. He then adamantly pressed the button for the R&D floor. The elevator ride down felt much longer than the one up.

When Dylan did get to his floor, he raced through the doors and to his teammates, grabbing each of them by the upper arm and dragging them into the men’s restroom. He checked every stall to make sure they were alone before locking the bathroom door and turning back to his teammates.

“You guys aren’t gonna believe this!” Dylan announced. “I found out some crazy shit!”

“Why am I here?” Jenna asked him in a deadpan voice. “Can I leave?”

“Jenna, you’ll actually wanna hear this! I found out who Peter is!”

Ashley and Jenna both froze, but for different reasons.

“You gotta tell us!” Ashley exclaimed excitedly.

“No, you better fucking not!” Jenna said over her.

“What?! Why?!” Dylan looked genuinely confused.

“Because we’re not supposed to know! It’s obvious he wants to keep his identity a secret! You can’t go around telling people! You need to tell him and Stark that you know so they can feel sure that his identity won’t get leaked!”

“God, you’re such a buzzkill, Jenna,” Ashley shot at her.

“No, I’m a good person.”

It made her teammates go silent, the words piercing through them like knives.

“If you wanna go and tell and lose your job, then go ahead, but I want no part of it.” Jenna turned around and started to leave.

“Do you know?” Dylan asked her, making the woman stop in her tracks.

“What?” Jenna slowly turned back to him.

“Do you know?” he repeated, voice cold and serious.

Jenna stayed silent for a few moments, mulling over what she could say.

“Not on purpose . . .”

“And you didn’t tell us?” Ashley questioned, betrayal written across her face.

“Sorry I respect their privacy!” It was obvious that she was very much not sorry.

“Wait . . . did you find out when you went back to get your jacket after the presentation?!” Dylan exclaimed, looking like he had put all the puzzle pieces together. When Jenna stayed quiet, he knew that he had gotten his answer. “Holy shit! What happened?! Did you, like, see them kiss or some shit?!”

“Kiss?!” Ashley shouted.

“Jesus Christ,” Jenna muttered, putting her head in her hands.

“No fucking way! They’re in a relationship?!”

“Yeah!”

“That’s it,” Jenna declared decisively and turned around.

“Where are you going?” Ashley asked her, bewilderment shining in her eyes.

“I’m going to go tell them that Dylan figured it out and that you know,” Jenna told the blonde, voice laced with venom.

Jenna unlocked the door and left, not letting her teammates get another word in, but the two followed her out and watched as she stormed past all her coworkers and to the elevator, disappearing as soon as the doors opened.

“I might lose my job,” Dylan muttered, eyes wide and trained on the now closed elevator doors.

“Is it true?” one of the other employees, Amelia, asked as she walked up to Dylan and Ashley.

“Is what true?” Ashley replied.

“That Peter and Stark are in a relationship? You guys were implying it in there, and you aren’t exactly good at being quiet.”

“I’m definitely gonna lose my job,” Dylan whispered, correcting his earlier statement.

“So it is true!” Eric, another employee, shouted.

Everybody started talking, the floor turning into a storm of chattering.

“We’re so fucked. We’re absolutely, completely, utterly fucked,” Ashley murmured, only loud enough so Dylan could hear, and the man only nodded in agreement.

The two slowly walked forwards, looking around at their gossiping coworkers as they made their way back to their desk. They looked completely horrified, and guilt was quickly eating away at Dylan.

Before they could sit down, the elevator doors opened and Jenna walked out with Tony and Peter in tow. Everybody stopped, staring at the three of them. Peter looked nervous and tears were glistening in his eyes, but Tony just looked furious, his expression mirroring Jenna’s.

“Okay, which of you knows?” Tony asked the room, his voice deadly calm. He didn’t yell or scream, but that steady tone was almost worse than him blowing up at them.

One employee raised their hand, and everybody else followed, the last people to put their hands up being Ashley and Dylan.

“All of you, go to the auditorium. Now. All the other employees will meet you there. Do not say a word of this to them before I get there to talk to them about it. Do I make myself clear?” 

If looks could kill, all of the R&D employees, minus Jenna, would be dead. All of them mumbled their confirmations or nodded and slowly shuffled off to the elevators, heading to the auditorium floor.

Ashley and Dylan had fallen into the back of the crowd and were the last to get onto an elevator, meaning they could see the floor before the door closed. The two watched as Tony turned back to Peter and Jenna, who were looking regretful and heartbroken respectfully. The last thing they saw before the elevator started moving was Peter beginning to cry and burying his face in Tony’s shoulder as the man embraced him and Jenna putting a comforting hand on his back.

By the time the R&D employees reached the auditorium and began to make their way into the seats, other employees were either already there or just getting there. There was chatter, a mix of people confused why they had been called there and those who knew praying that they wouldn’t be fired. The chatter seemed to die down a bit as everybody was seated, all of them waiting in anticipation for whatever was going to happen.

After a few minutes, the doors of one of the entrances to the auditorium, which had been closed, slammed open. Everybody turned, though plenty of them couldn’t see the doors, and watched as Tony Stark stormed down the aisle towards the stage, Jenna Locke behind him and looking slightly less, but still plenty, furious. The two made their way up the three stairs that led up to the stage.

All the employees gazed up at the two standing center stage, and they were glaring back at them with serious faces. After a moment of silence, Tony finally spoke.

“I’m sure the majority of you are wondering why I called everybody to the auditorium. Today, somebody found out something that they shouldn’t have about my private life and, instead of coming and talking to me about it in order to keep it confidential, they went and told somebody, and those people’s department overheard. That person who found out and told will be fired and the person who was first told and was complicit in revealing information about my life will be put on probation.”

In the back of the auditorium, Dylan and Ashley sank down in their seats.

“You may also be wondering why I have one of your coworkers up here with me today. If you weren’t already aware, this is Jenna Locke.”

Jenna gave the audience a curt nod.

“Jenna also found out about this information a couple months ago. Instead of telling anybody, she talked to us and promised to keep it to herself, and she has kept that promise. She was also the one who told me about the information leak.”

The employees, minus the R&D department, were on the edge of their seats, eager to find out the information but scared of their boss and what he could do to them if things got out.

“Seeing as nothing can seem to stay a secret here, I have elected to talk to you all about it. Keep in mind that what happened in terms of this information being revealed was a serious breach of confidentiality and disrespected not just my own privacy. Take this as a warning. If any of you are to tell anybody outside of this company about this, your employment will be terminated and my legal team will sue you to kingdom come. This is not a three strikes you’re out situation. Do not tell a soul about this. Keep in mind the fact that you all signed non-disclosure agreements when you took this job. This counts as a company secret, and you will treat it as one.”

Everybody seemed to nod or give a murmur of confirmation. It wasn’t much, but it appeared to satisfy the man.

“Moving on, I’m sure you’ve all either seen or heard about Peter. Only a select few of you know who he is, though without his consent, and others have seen us interact but never known who we are to each other. This information about our private lives was discovered and we have no choice but to let you all know in fear of rumors and gossip being spread around and taken outside the company. Everybody, please meet my fiancé, Peter Parker.”

The room was shocked into silence, the only sound being the clacking of Peter’s shoes as he softly walked out from the wings and to Tony’s side. None of the employees uttered even a sound as they looked up at the boy, whose eyes were still slightly red and puffy from when he had cried only ten minutes earlier.

“Hey, everybody. I’m Peter. You’ve all probably seen me around,” the young man introduced himself, voice only loud enough to hear. “Like Tony said, we weren’t planning on telling people yet, but we don’t get that choice anymore.”

They were still silent.

“Since this will be your only chance to do so, we’ll be answering questions about this,” Peter continued. Nobody spoke, until one person in the third row raised their hand and the young man motioned to them. “Yes, go ahead.”

“How, uh, how old are you?” the woman asked quietly, looking slightly concerned.

Peter sighed as Tony looked to him with a humorous smile.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” he told the billionaire, who didn’t have a chance to respond before Jenna started laughing a bit. “You too?! I can’t believe you would betray me like this! This happens every fucking time!”

The employee who asked furrowed her eyebrows, seemingly mirroring the confusion of the rest of the audience.

“I’m twenty-one,” Peter told her. “Tony likes to make fun of me because I look like I’m not old enough to drive. Jenna’s laughing because she asked the same question when she found out.”

The woman nodded along with the explanation and everybody went silent again before another person raised their hand and Peter pointed to them.

+++

Eight Months Later

“And this is your team!” Kelsey told the new employees excitedly. “Meet Jenna and Ashley! They’ve been here for a while and are definitely excited to show you the ropes!”

“It’s nice to meet you!” Jenna greeted. “What’s your name?”

“I’m River,” the new guy replied quietly, cheeks flushed.

“I’m glad to have you on the team, River!” Ashley exclaimed.

“I’ll leave you all to it!” Kelsey gave River one last smile and walked off to talk to some teams about their projects.

“We’re finishing up some last touches on the update to the prosthetics line,” Jenna explained to the new recruit as he sat down. He nodded along as she began to explain the project.

Jenna was cut off by the elevator doors opening and Peter walking onto the floor.

“Excuse me for a second,” the woman told her team before jumping up and running over to the brunet.

“Who’s that?” River asked Ashely as he watched Jenna excitedly embrace the man and begin to talk to him.

“Have you signed all your NDAs?”

River nodded.

“Peter!” Ashely called. “Come meet the new kid!”

Peter bounded over eagerly, a large smile on his face as he approached the two employees, Jenna trailing him.

“Uh, hi, I’m River.”

“Nice to meet you, River! I’m Peter Parker. It’s always great to see new faces around here!”

“It’s great to be here,” he replied awkwardly.

Peter nodded and was off again, going around to teams and helping with projects, but, more importantly, just talking to the employees in general.

“Is he a director or something? Everybody seems to know him,” River questioned his team.

“He’s even better than a director,” Ashley told him with a grin. “He’s Tony’s Stark’s fiancé.”

Shock painted itself across River’s face.

“There’s no way that’s real!”

Ashley and Jenna glanced at each other before turning back to River. They didn’t say anything else to him, which was unnerving to the new employee.

As if on cue, the elevator doors opened once more and the Tony Stark walked out, a small smile adorning his face. Peter worked up from where he was helping a team and flitted over to the man happily. The two shared a short kiss before Peter turned back a bit.

“We still on for lunch on Friday, Jenna?”

“Of course!”

Peter shot her a smile and the couple entered the elevator, talking quietly as they disappeared behind the metal doors.

“Okay, so maybe it is real.”

Tag List (Let me know if you would like to be added or removed):

@darkerstarker @dim-ships-johnlock @haylove5

[tinyboxxtink]

"Reunion" A Sam Gardener/Paige Hardaway "Fix It" One Shot *Atypical*

Alright, I should have been working on my series but ya'll I finished ATypical last night and I was FUMING. Actually I still am fuming. So fuming I had to write a "fix it" fic for the ending of the Sam and Page story. It will NOT end at the Olive Garden. I refuse to believe that.

So I spent all day writing this. I don't care if anyone likes or agrees with it, this was for me. In my heart this is how they ended up. Okay? Okay.

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

“My my my, Sammy you are lookin’ FLY!” Zahid stepped back and admired his work. Sam had reluctantly let him pick out his outfit for tonight. He felt very uncomfortable in the soft cotton t-shirt NOT the regular cotton t-shirt, distressed jeans NOT regular and non-holy, and an unbuttoned dark blue flannel, NOT a normal polo. But he wanted to look a certain way for tonight, something he thought she’d like. He needed tonight to go perfectly, and not because his atypical brain needed it to. His heart needed it to.

“Thank you Zahid, I’m very uncomfortable. That’s how I know I look good to other people,” Sam nodded.

“So true,” Zahid nodded. “Now are you sure you don’t want me to come with you tonight? Be your wing man?”

“No,” He shook his head as he studied himself in the full length mirror. “I need to do do this on my own, no birds necessary,”

“That’s my Sammy Sam,” Zahid beamed. “Always so literal,”

“Well, I’ll see you after the party ends. Probably before,”

“Unless things go well..” Zahid wiggled his eyebrows.

“If they go according to plan I will still come back home, you know this is the one of the only three places I can spend the night. The other two being my childhood home and Antarctica,”

“Yes I do know that,” Zahid nodded. “I am so proud of you for spending two months in that popsicle freezer, by the way,”

“I didn’t see one popsicle while I was in Antarctica, but I appreciate your praise Zahid,”

“Anytime, Sam. Permission to hug?”

“Permission granted. I’d normally say no in fear of wrinkling my clothes, but I’m pretty sure they’re already as wrinkled as they can be,” Sam raised his arms, gesturing to the crinkled flannel and jeans.

“Alright, well go and get her man!” Zahid wrapped Sam in a huge, tight hug.

“I hope so,” Sam nodded before walking out the door and down to his car that he could legally drive now.

-----------

When he arrived at the school, he parked and went inside, He glanced down at the invitation he needed to enter the party:

“REUNITE WITH YOUR FELLOW OWLS! 5 YEAR REUNION FOR THE CLASS OF 2019!”

He couldn’t believe it had been five years since he had walked down these halls. It seemed to go by so fast; from going to Antarctica to graduating from Denton to getting a job at the aquarium as a vendor selling his drawings of Stumpy and the other marine life. He would even take long term commissions or draw guests right there on the spot. He didn’t like doing those so much though.

He approached the table apprehensively, hoping he wouldn’t be met with any of his tormentors from high school. But to his absolute relief and delight, there to greet him was the very person he had come to see. Her blonde hair was missing it’s usual blue streak, but other than that she looked exactly like he had remembered her: Beautiful.

“Sam!!” Her eyes lit up when she saw him walking up. She ran around the table and met him before he even reached it. She almost went for a huge hug, but she wasn’t sure if they were still in that stage where he trusted her enough to do so without permission.

But to her absolute shock, Sam opened his arms and welcomed her embrace unprompted. Tears lined her eyes as she hugged him as tightly as she could.

"Hello Paige," He simply stated as she had her arms around him. Suddenly she was catching something she’d also never thought would happen

“Sam, are you wearing cologne?” She asked him softly in his ear, not wanting to let him go just yet.

“Yes,” He nodded as he pulled back just a little to face her, but still his arms around her. He usually hated soft touch or holding of any kind, but with Paige everything was different.

“But you hate foreign smells, especially on your body,” Paige blinked in disbelief while also mentally noting that Sam was not letting her out of his grip.

“Yes, I do,” He nodded again. “But I read that this cologne produces pheromones for the female human,”

“Sam!” Paige blushed, biting her lip and looking at the floor. “Why would you need that?”

“For the ladies obviously, buddy,” Sam used his line for lying, dropping his arms around her. He couldn’t focus on more than one social skill at a time. “You look very nice tonight by the way, Paige,” He added the compliment to complete the lie.

“Oh,” Paige’s voice fell a little soft and disappointed, but Sam was unable to detect it.

“Are you done with your duties? I’d have some things I’d like to discuss with you,” Sam gestured to the table where two other women were taking “tickets’”.

“Absolutely!” Paige replied over excitedly. “I’ll just tell them I’m taking my break,”

“I don’t want to break anything, Paige. I’d just like to talk,” Sam said in a distressed tone. He didn’t want Paige to think he was going to attack her.

“Oh no no no Sam,” She laughed nervously. She missed how literal Sam was. “I meant a rest from work,”

“Oh, right,” Sam shook his head nervously, picking at his fingers. He should have known that, he knew what a break was. Paige just made his thoughts foggy.

“Shall we?” Paige pointed down the hall. Sam nodded and followed her into an empty classroom where they could talk uninterrupted. She pulled up a chair at a desk while Sam did the same, then she realized where they were.

“Oh my goodness,” She whispered.

“What? Did I do something wrong?”

“No!” She waved her hands dismissively. “Not at all Sam. It’s just--” She paused and looked around. “Do you know where we are?”

Same studied the room for a moment, when his eyes caught a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower.

“We’re in the French Classroom, where I brought you your penguin necklace so you'd be my girlfriend again, and then you kissed me for the first time,” He informed her matter of factly, but with a small smile, a thing he never did for anyone else.

“Yes,” She nodded with a small smile while her cheeks turned red.

“That was a very good day,” Sam nodded while recalling the memory. He would never admit it to anyone, but that was his first kiss.

“Yes, yes it was,” Paige nodded as well.

“That relates to what I’d like to discuss with you, Paige,”

“Oh?”

“Yes,” He nodded while looking at the floor. He was extremely nervous to do this, but he wanted to do it now before he lost his nerve.

“Well, I guess first of all I should ask-- do you have a boyfriend right now?”

“Sam!” She blushed even more; she forgot how blunt and honest Sam was, straight to the point.

“That’s not yes or no,” He stared at her.

“It’s...complicated,” She played with her hair nervously.

“How is it complicated? You either have a boyfriend or you don’t,” Sam was confused.

“Well the short answer is no, I don’t,”

“Okay then,” He started to continue his line of questioning, but Paige put her hands up.

“Wait wait,” She stopped him, trying not to laugh at his eagerness. “Don’t you want to know the long answer?”

“Not really, but I have a feeling you’re going to tell me,” Sam shrugged.

“Yes I am,” She agreed as she took a deep breath to explain her story. Sam was not looking forward to a long story, but he loved hearing Paige talk. Also he could block her out at any time if he got bored with her words.

“Well, while I was working in Georgia my managers realized what a great foreman I would make,”

“How can you be four men?” Sam asked quizzically.

“No no,” She giggled. “A FORE-MAN, Sam. It basically means I tell people what to do at the building sites,”

“Oh,” Sam shook his head in understanding. “Well you are good at bossing people around,”

“Thank you,” She half laughed. “So, I moved up and up and now I’m a manager myself,”

“I thought you hated being a manager," Sam's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "That's why you used your magic birds to quit Spud E"s,"

"I did hate it there," She chuckled as she remembered that day. "But just because it was at Spud E's. You can hate or love something depending on your happiness in doing it,"

"Oh," Sam just nodded, even though he didn't understand it.

"Anyway, so while I was working my way up the ladder, I met this guy Daniel," Paige's voice lowered as she said his name, she saw Sam's face turn to distress.

"Oh," Sam looked at the floor. "So Daniel is your complicated boyfriend,"

"No no no!" She wanted to take Sam's eyes to make him look up at her but she didn't want to make him more upset.

"No, we did date for a while. And then last week, after I got the invitation for this thing, Daniel took me to dinner," Paige paused, not wanting to push him further emotionally by saying the next thing.

"And he asked me to marry him," She said softly. To her surprise Sam's head popped back up with an even more distressed face.

"So you don't have a boyfriend you have a husband,"

"No!," She once again started going for his hands instinctively to comfort someone, but she knew it was different with Sam. Everything was different with Sam.

"Sam, will you let me get through the whole story before you ask questions, please?" She knew she had to flat out ask him to follow social cues.

"Yes," He nodded.

"Okay," she put her hands in her lap to finish her story.

"When he asked me to marry him, I sat there and I thought about it. For a long time. And I thought back to that afternoon when I got the invitation to come here. I was so excited to come,"

"You do love it here," Sam nodded. Paige gave him a look. "What? You said no questions, That was an observation."

"Right," she nodded her head with a laugh. "Well, then I realized I was more excited about coming back here than I was about the prospect of marrying him,"

"Oh." Sam simply replied while looking at the floor once again. Paige wondered if he understood what she was trying to tell him. Finally after several seconds, he raised his head and looked her in the eyes.

"Paige, now may I ask you a question?"

"Yes Sam," she nodded.

"Good," he nodded looking back at the floor. He wanted to pick the right words, he knew he had only one chance at this. He was so lost in his head he didn't realize how long the awkward pause was lasting.

"Um Sam," Paige's voice knocked him out of his thoughts.

"Right," He nodded, rubbing his sweating hands together.

"Paige," He took a deep breath. "Did you say no to marrying Daniel because the archaic institution of marriage disgusts you, or did you say no because you didn't want to spend the rest of your life with him?"

Paige's smile grew bigger at the question. He did understand what she was saying.

"I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with him." She smiled.

"Good." He nodded, making Paige softly giggle. He didn't hide his thoughts, that's for sure.

"Paige may I ask another question?"

"Yes, Sam,"

"Good." He nodded. This was it, the big question. If he could survive 54 days in Antarctica, he could survive this.

"Paige, would you say yes to marrying someone if you wanted to spend the rest of your life with that person"

"Yes Sam," she nodded with tears in her eyes. "If the right person asked me, I would definitely say yes"

"Paige," he didn't form the statement as a question this time, the one time she was hoping for a question.

"Yes, Sam?" She asked with a very anxious tone, tears threatening to fall down either way this went.

Once again he looked at the ground, furiously picking at a loose stand in the flannel sleeve. She debated whether to say something this time, she could tell he was thinking very hard about something and she didn't want to throw him off. Finally, he looked up once again with the lightest hint of wet pupils.

"....I'm the right person" He said with a very matter of fact tone. He didn't ask, he spoke it as if it was the truest fact in the whole world. He was never absolutely sure of anything, but this one exception.

Paige couldn't hold it any longer, happy tears dripped her face. To her surprise Sam was holding his hands out for her to take. The one other time this happened their love story was ending. She had said that day that maybe someday, they would pick up where they left off. And that day was here.

She gently placed her hands in Sam's as closed his fingers so they intertwined with hers. She looked at him with the same look of love she had when they parted.

"I think you're the right person too," She answered him with a tear filled smile.

To her delight his face lit up with overwhelming happiness, something very rare for him. Even better, he pulled her up out of her seat with his hands still holding hers and kissed her.

It was very softly at first like she was accustomed to given his apprehension with displays of affection, but to her continual shock that evening she suddenly felt his lips press harder against hers, the hardest they'd ever been in fact.

The surprises continued when his mouth ever so slightly, and his tongue traced the very littlest bit of the inside of her lip.

She went as slow as she could, following his lead. She absolutely did not want to ruin this for either of them, and she knew what a huge and probably terrifying event this was for him.

Sam slipped his tongue into Paige's mouth little bit by bit, as slow as Edison's movements. But as he felt the roof of her mouth against his tongue, he began to panic at the thought of the germs they were trading right now. His instincts wanted to abruptly push her away from him, but he couldn't do that to Paige.

Instead he removed his tongue and his mouth away from her, quickly but as gently as his neurosis would allow. To his relief, Paige was smiling from the encounter.

"Wow, Sam that was--" She tried to find the words. That kiss they had just shared was even more intimate than any time they made love.

"That was amazing,"

"I practiced that from a video I saw on YouTube," He smiled proudly. "And Zahid,"

"Zahid?!" Paige almost laughed at his last statement. "You practiced kissing on Zahid?"

"What?! No?" Sam made a disgusted face. "I'm not Casey, or Magic and Sphen,"

"Who are Magic and Sphen?" Paige asked curiously.

"Gay penguins," Sam informed her.

"Of course," she shook her head with a soft laugh. She had missed his affection for penguins.

"Anyway Zahid just showed me how, with his girlfriend Honey," Sam continued.

"You know we don't have to talk about how you learned it, Sam," She laughed awkwardly. "I'm just curious, did you--- did you practice that for girls in general, or me?"

"You, of course," Sam replied in an obvious tone.

"I've never wanted any other girl's germs in my mouth, but for you I wanted to make an exception. I read that physical affection is important in a relationship, and if we're going to be in one for the rest of our lives I thought I should learn more,"

"Oh that's so sweet!" Paige grinned.

"Yes, I know." Sam nodded proudly once more. "If we both brush our teeth profusely and use the strong mouthwash we can try it again,"

"Oh, well that should be--" Paige started to respond but Sam was busy opening the backpack he brought everywhere.

He soon pulled out two toothbrushes still in the package along with unopened bottles of mouthwash and toothpaste.

"Oh you meant right now," Paige laughed in amusement.

"Of course right now, we're going to be together for a long time, we should start practicing now," He shook his head in an obvious manner.

"Sound logic," She agreed.

"Wait, I almost forgot something Paige," He went back into his backpack. He was so focused on getting through the proposal he forgot the best part.

"Oh?" She tried looking where he was rummaging.

"Yes," he finally pulled out a sparkling rock from the backpack and stood up.

"This is a rock from Stumpy's tank. I work there now. Not in her tank, but the aquarium." He explained.

"Oh thats--"

"Paige, can you wait to ask questions until I finish my story?" He mimicked her question to him like a parrot.

"I--" Paige started to correct him by saying she was making a comment not asking a question, but she thought better of it. "Yes Sam,"

"Good," he shook his head in approval.

"Like I was saying, this is a rock from Stumpy's tank. I made sure it was one none of the penguins would miss, but was also very shiny and pretty." He explained as he presented the rock. She just nodded, encouraging him to go on.

"When a male penguin wants to mate with a female penguin, he searches and searches for the perfect pebble to present the female. I didn't have time to find the "perfect' one, and its not a pebble its a rock--," Sam noticed Paige's start to make the face she'd make when he was over informing her.

"Anyway," He dismissed the rest of his penguins fact buzzing in his head. He was already on the ground when he pulled out the toothbrushes and the rock, but he knew there was a specific way you had to be on the ground to ask this question.

He moved one leg so he was kneeling on one knee. He presented the rock more towards Paige, who was crying once again. Sam had to remind himself that people cried when they were happy as well as being sad, especially females. So he didn't have to worry if she was sad.

"Would you accept this rock?" He asked nervously.

He didn't know why he was nervous she had already said she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him, but this gesture meant even more to him, given that penguins were his favorite thing. Next to Paige.

"Of course I will Sam," she nodded happily as she took the rock from him.

"Oh also," He pulled a small diamond ring from his pants pocket and held it out to her.

"My mom said its better to give a girl this so they can wear it, but diamonds aren't a rock," He laughed to himself like it was the craziest thing in the world to give a girl a silly mineral opposed to a sturdy rock.

"Oh my god," Paige softly whispered as he slipped the ring on her finger.

He had told his mother he was going to ask her to marry him. He had planned this ahead of time, even though he had no idea what she would say. He loved her so much, and she truly loved him as much in return.

Finally done with everything he had planned to do, Sam got back up off his knees and gave Paige a small peck on the lips.

"I love you, Paige," He smiled.

He had practiced saying those words longer than he had practiced kissing. He started saying it in the mirror at first, then saying it to his mom, then his dad, then Casey.

He had always felt the emotion for them, he just never felt the need to announce it. But he knew it was important to hear for neurotypicals, especially Paige.

When he had said he was in love with her before the lock in, she had needed several minutes to process it. He hoped she wouldn't need minutes processing this, he wanted to practice kissing again.

To his relief she only took about 30 seconds to accept that she wasn't dreaming or hallucinating, he had actually said the words out loud to her for the very first time.

"I love you too, Sam," She kept crying from happiness as he gently kissed her once again.

And they did indeed spend the rest of their lives together, just like penguins.

[patandpran]

Keeping it Quiet - An OhmFong fic

Finally filled this ‘secret dating’ prompt for the anon! I am still not over this pairing so.. enjoy!

Summary: Four times Ohm and Fong almost revealed that they were dating in secret and one time that they did…. 

Featuring a wise Earn, a drunk Phuak, a clueless Tine, love bites and a kissing booth.

1.

It was Phuak’s going away party and Ohm and Fong had been dating officially for about a month. They had always been an inevitability but since it was so new to both of them, they wanted to keep their relationship to themselves for the time being.

They were meant to be celebrating Phuak’s departure for his studying abroad trip but Ohm couldn’t help but bring along a monthversary gift for Fong as well. It was something small so he was able to conceal it quite easily until he and Fong finally had a moment alone.

At the height of the party, Ohm dragged Fong into Phuak’s bedroom and closed the door behind them. Fong gave him a questioning look but followed anyway, unsure of where he was being led. Once they were sure that they were alone, Ohm pulled out a small wrapped parcel and handed it to Fong.

“What is this?” Fong wondered and looked up at Ohm with wide eyes. “Is this something for Phuak?”

“Nope. It’s for you.” Ohm muttered shyly. “Today marks a month of us being together.”

“Ohm, you are ridiculously sappy.” Fong accused with a grin on his lips. “I love it.”

“Open it.” Ohm urged, eyeing the present anxiously.

Fong obeyed Ohm’s order and gingerly unwrapped the package, being sure not to rip the wrapping paper. Ohm bit his lip in anticipation as Fong opened up the box that held the necklace that he had purchased for Fong. It was a simple silver chain with a dangling bar that read ‘F+O’ on the side that would face Fong’s heart.

Upon reading the inscription, Fong whispered, “I love it, Ohm. Thank you so much. Can you help me put it on?”

Fong turned and Ohm helped to put the chain around Fong’s neck. Fong tucked it under his t-shirt and turned back to face Ohm. “I feel guilty that I didn’t get you anything.”

“Knowing you are wearing that is the perfect gift.” Ohm hummed with satisfaction. He was about to lean down to kiss Fong when someone came barging into the room.

“What are you two doing in here?” Phuak slurred as he stumbled into the room.

Though it was not as if they were being caught in the act, both Ohm and Fong froze as Phuak approached them and threw his arms around both of their shoulders. He was completely drunk and Phuak was not exactly perceptive on a good day so it didn’t seem like he had any sense that something was going on between Ohm and Fong.

“We were just, uh, reminiscing.” Fong responded lamely and Phuak seemed satisfied with the answer.

He nodded before pressing a sloppy kiss to both Ohm and Fong’s cheeks. “I love you guys. I’m going to miss you so much… are you guys going to be okay without me?”

“We love you too, man.” Ohm reached behind Phuak and squeezed Fong’s wrist with a fond look in his eyes. “As much as I think we’re going to miss you, I think we’re going to be just fine.”

2.

The whole gang was at a CtrlS concert when Sarawat winked at Tine from the stage. Everyone was dancing and having a great time and Tine waved back at his boyfriend. Fong saw this and felt a bit jealous about the fact that Sarawat and Tine could be so open about their affection while he and Ohm were still choosing to keep their relationship under wraps fro the time being. They wanted to see where things would go but Fong could not wait to be able to hold Ohm’s hand in public without worrying about his friends noticing.

Ohm looked at Fong and could tell that Fong was deeply thinking through something as Fong’s brow was furrowed in thought. Tine, Man and Boss were in the throws of an epic dance party so he felt emboldened enough to reach over and squeeze Fong’s hand with his own. It was over before it even started but the look of relief from Fong was well worth the risk.

“You know that I am ready to tell everyone whenever you are.” Ohm shared and Fong nodded appreciatively.

“Tell everyone what?”

Ohm and Fong prickled when they heard the question come from behind them. Green had posed the question and Dim was standing there with an arched brow as well. Ohm and Fong exchanged a look before Fong blurted, “Uh, tell them how ridiculous they look dancing like that!”

Green narrowed his eyes, clearly suspicious but Dim shrugged it off, convinced. Dim wandered off to join the dance circle and Green followed behind shortly but not before giving them another suspicious look before joining the rest of the group.

As soon as they were left alone, Ohm gave Fong an apologetic look and Fong gave him an understanding look. They were going to have to decide sooner rather than later to tell the group because keeping a secret like this was starting to weigh on the pair of them.

3.

“So, have long have you and Ohm been together?” Earn asked casually one night at L C Hol.

Fong turned to her immediately and whispered, “How did you know? We haven’t exactly told anyone.”

Earn’s eyes widened in surprise at this. She never really understood why people decided to keep things like relationship a secret but she obviously respected her friends enough not to blow it. She looked over at Ohm who was sitting further down the table and he smiled back at her and  Fong.

“Sorry.” Earn answered, keeping her tone lowered. “I don’t mean this to be rude or anything but.. it’s kind of obvious that you guys are together, at least to me. You can tell by the way that the two of you look at each other. It’s the same as how I look at Pear.”

“You and Pear are a thing?” Fong sputtered, completely thrown off by Earn’s words.

Earn chuckled at how oblivious Fong was. “Yeah, we’ve been girlfriends for almost a year. I guess you’re about as perceptive as Boss because he tried to ask her out a few months ago. Needless to say, we set him straight about the viability of that endeavour. I guess maybe you don’t have to worry about any of the guys finding out if you all are like this…”

“As much of an insult as that is, it’s kind of a relief to hear.” Fong relaxed slightly. “We’ll tell people when we’re ready.”

“There’s no rush.” Earn shared supportively, putting one hand on Fong’s shoulder in a comforting gesture.

“When did you know that you and Pear were ready to tell people?” Fong wondered, feeling a bit self-conscious but still wanting to know the answer.

Earn considered this for a moment before responding, “I think you will just know. It won’t feel like you need to hide it anymore and second guess anything. But, honestly, it’s nobody’s business who you are dating and if you two aren’t ready, then keep it to yourselves. Being in a relationship is such a personal thing. You don’t owe it to the world to the share every last part of yourself. Do what you need to do to feel happy with the person that you love. Nobody is going to judge you for taking your time to share it with others.”

“Thank you, Earn.” Fong shared and wanted to hug her with all his might.

“You look like you could use a hug.” Earn opened her arms wide.

Fong accepted the hug without a second thought and couldn’t wait to tell Ohm later that night about what had happened.

4.

“I don’t want to go to class.” Ohm complained, his head resting on Fong’s chest as they both lounged on Fong’s bed.

“Well, no boyfriend of mine is not going to be a slacker.” Fong shared, trying to sit up but the weight of Ohm’s head kept his pinned to the bed.

Ohm flipped himself so he could look at Fong and wrapped his arms around Fong, trapping him even more. “It’s just one class. Come on, let’s just stay here for a few more minutes. Pleaaaaaaaase?”

As tempting as it was to spend the rest of the afternoon lying in bed with Ohm, they had a project due that day and Tine was relying on them to show up. Fong flailed around and tried to wriggle out of Ohm’s grasp but Ohm just tightened his hold on Fong.

“Ohhhhhmmmm! Let me go!” Fong cried out in protest. “Don’t make me bite you.”

“Go ahead.” Ohm shared casually. “Maybe I’ll be into it. It’s never too late to discover a new kink.”

“Seriously, how old are you?” Fong rolled his eyes and Ohm laughed fondly at the reaction.

Ohm pressed a kiss to Fong’s cheek and nuzzled his face into the crook of Fong’s neck, dropping kisses there as well. As much as it was difficult to resist Ohm’s kisses, Fong’s need to keep a perfect attendance record outweighed the current situation. Fong poked Ohm in the side which caused Ohm’s arms to release enough for Fong to make his escape.

Fong immediately ran from the bed an slipped on his shoes, slinging his book bag over his shoulder. Ohm chased after him, laughing all the way until they were running through the halls of the dorm to make their way to class, Ohm hot on Fong’s heels.

Once they got to class, both of them looked ridiculously dishevelled. Tine gave them a relieved look when he saw that they had made it. He remarked, “Took you two idiots long enough. I thought I was going to have to do this presentation alone.”

Ohm and Fong shrugged apologetically. Tine narrowed his eyes at Fong and asked, “Do you have a love bite on your neck?”

Fong’s hand flew up to his neck and he pulled his collar up, hie cheeks burning with a blush. Ohm just smirked and said, “That’s why we were late. Fong got attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes so we had to run to the store to get some medication before class.”

“Oh…” Tine answered, although he did not seem thoroughly convinced with the answer.

Thankfully, Tine did not have time to question it any further as the professor walked in to start the class. Fong elbowed Ohm in the ribs but Ohm just continued to grin proudly.

5.

The music club was hosting a fundraiser carnival and everyone had pitched in to help set it up the booths. Tine, as the secretary, had enlisted Ohm and Fong to set up and run the kissing booth. There was a list of freshmen who were signed up in shifts to be the ‘kissers’ so all that Ohm and Fong had to do was take the tickets.

Aside from the screaming girls, the booth was running smoothly until one of the freshmen did not show up for their shift. Fong, in a panic at the ever-growing mob of angry people who were expecting a kiss, called Tine over to figure out what to do.

“What the hell should we do? One of your volunteers didn’t show up.” Fong muttered to Tine, trying to be discrete as Ohm attempted to satiate the frustration of the people in line. “It looks they’re about to revolt if we don’t do something quick.”

Tine checked through the schedule on his clipboard and frowned, “Everyone else is busy right now. Ohm or you will have to jump in for the time being until I can figure someone else to jump in. You guys are both single so it won’t be an issue, right?”

The idea of someone else kissing his boyfriend made Fong feel ill. He assumed that Ohm would feel the same way but he didn’t feel like it was the right time to tell Tine about their relationship without at least consulting Ohm first.

“N-no.” Fong stammered. “That’s fine.”

“Sorry, Fong. I’ve got to run. Green just set fire to the barbecue.” Tine rushed away before Fong could object. “I’ll send someone over as soon I can!”

Fong groaned before returning to the booth and leaning in to whisper to Ohm. “One of us has to step in…. I can do it if you want…”

“Ohm’s eyes widened in surprise before he stood up to his feet and walked to inside the kissing booth, plopping himself down on the stool. “I’ve got it.”

The entire line cheered with excitement as Fong felt a wave of nausea roll through him. He hated the idea of a complete stranger kissing his boyfriend but, without outing their relationship, there was nothing he could do. He knew Ohm was doing it because he didn’t want Fong to so Fong forgave him as he took the first ticket from an extremely excited girl.

Fong watched as she approached Ohm and sat on the stool across from him. She closed her eyes and began to lean in. Ohm looked at Fong and mouthed ‘sorry’ before turning his attention back to the girl.

Before he registered what was happening, Fong found himself standing between the girl and Ohm. The girl was no kissing his stomach and he was sure it made for a bizarre image to any outsiders. Ohm gave him an amused look and the girl pulled back in surprise.

“Uh, sorry.” Fong muttered, “But I can’t let you kiss him.”

The girl furrowed her brow, “Why? I paid the money. Shouldn’t I get the kiss?”

“He’s taken.” Fong explained and turned toward Ohm who was looking at him with a steady gaze.

“By who?” The girl protested, growing more and more upset by the situation.

“Me. Actually.” Fong shared and the girl stood up and countered, “I don’t believe you. Kiss him if he’s actually your boyfriend.”

Without missing a beat, Ohm stood up, directed Fong’s shoulders to face him and pulled Fong in for a kiss. The girl stumbled back in surprise but Fong and Ohm were too wrapped up in the kiss to give it a second thought.

They both melted into the kiss and were somewhat exhilarated by the fact that they were display their love for each other so publicly. Finally they could be themselves without constantly worrying about what others thought and might read into their every interaction. It was incredibly freeing.

When they finally separated after what felt like an eternity, they heard a small crowd cheering in support of them. Ohm and Fong turned out to see Tine, Wat, Earn, Pear, Dim, Green, Man, and Boss cheering them on. Some of them look surprised by the kiss but most of them just looked extremely happy for Ohm and Fong.

Ohm took Fong’s hand and turned to the girl, “Sorry, uh, there will probably be someone here soon that you can kiss.”

“You two are so sweet. Sorry for giving you trouble.” She responded before rushing back to the front of the line where her friends were gushing with excitement.

Ohm and Fong approached their group of friends. Earn was beaming at Ohm and Fong proudly and Tine was looking a little dejected, “Why didn’t you guys tell us sooner?”

Pear elbowed Tine in the ribs and he winced. She scolded, “This is NOT about you, Tine. They needed to take their time and so, they did.”

“Thanks, Pear. Yah, we just wanted to keep things between us for a while as we figured it out.” Fong explained, squeezing Ohm’s hand.

“Sorry for making it about me.” Tine stated. “I think you make a great pair. It kind of just makes sense.”

“You guys look great together.” Sarawat chimed in with a small smile.

Fong blushed deeply and Ohm slung his arm around his boyfriend’s shoulder, proud that they could be so open with their relationship now. Ohm responded, “Thanks.”

“We still need someone to be in the kissing booth.” Tine piped up, flipping through his schedule again to see if anyone was free. “The only single person here is Boss and he is… already in the kissing booth working his ‘magic’.”

The group all turned to see Boss making kissy faces at the lineup as he sat in the booth, waiting for his first victim. Everyone shared a laugh at this and Ohm and Fong were just happy how normal everything felt.

Nothing had changed… In the best possible way.

[mrsgreenworld]

Sen Çal Kapımı Episode 15 aka Soulmates

I know it's never taken me this long to gather my thoughts on a new SCK episode. But as I mentioned in my previous post Mike Flanagan's shows happened to me 😭😩😱

However, I also think it's because I had some mixed feelings regarding the episode. I guess while I was trying to watch it live (trying being the operative word here) the problems with the live stream influenced my overall first impression. I wasn't able to watch a good chunk of the episode and, of course, it got me annoyed and that, I guess, mixed up with my feelings about the episode. But after having rewatched it with subtitles I have a full and clear picture.

All in all it was a nice episode, very light compared to a much heavier angst of earlier episodes. I liked that light-hearted moments and humour were back. It was also a shorter episode which served it well. However, it felt a lot like a filler episode which, in my opinion, did nothing to move the story forward.

The things I loved / liked:

☑️ Eda: she was a true star ⭐ (ahah, pun intended) and the main highlight of the episode for me;

as a woman I was so proud to see her handle this situation with such strength, dignity and self-respect;

unfortunately, despite the old gender stereotypes slowly dying out, despite the fact that women are becoming more and more independent and aware of their value, we are still often portrayed as a weaker sex; I am not talking about physical strength, of course;

we are the ones left, we are the ones who suffer, we are made to love men with everything we have, we build our whole lives around them, we let our world revolve around them... so, when they leave or we lose them for any other reason - it's the end, everything falls apart, we fall apart; I am so sick of still seeing it on screen; that's why I freaking LOVED seeing Eda not fall apart, or at least she didn't fall apart for long;

I loved that she allowed herself to grieve, to cry, to be angry and to express this anger straight to Serkan's face; I think we saw Eda go through her own 5 stages of grief; but she didn't let depression take away more than one night of her life;

I love that Eda found out that Ayfer had contacted the grandma and, while her reaction might have been a bit too emotional (which is actually normal and understandable given she's still hurting after having had her heart broken and stamped on), I really enjoyed Eda protecting her personal boundaries and basically saying to stay the *uck out of her life - you go, girl!👏💪😎

I enjoyed the way Eda handled herself at the office and how she behaved around Serkan; she wasn't stealing lovesick glances at him or just brooding, she wasn't overly hostile, she wasn't running away;

oh, and when Seyfi brought that box, how she handled that - a standing ovation👏👏👏, everyone bow down to my Queen! 👑👸

speaking of that box where Serkan asked Seyfi to gather all of Eda's things, how he ordered to put away all her gifts - as Eda put it "he's trying to get rid of any trace of me"; in a way she's right; Serkan is trying to get rid of everything that could remind him of her and their shared moments but we know it's not because he doesn't love her (like Eda thinks), it's because he does and it's too much for him; and it's such a contrast to Eda who actually said to the girls that she wouldn't throw away or burn or whatever any of Serkan's gifts or other things that remind her of him and them, she openly said that she's not the one to run away from the memories; and it was so powerful - seeing the writers make a woman so undeniably stronger than a man👌👏

I also liked Eda around Efe, there wasn't anything romantic, I think it was completely professional and it didn't feel or look (at least to me) like Eda was trying to use Efe for petty reasons like make Serkan jealous (but of course our boy was jelly nonetheless 👽😁)

the little moment with Aydan: it was nice to see Aydan trying to comfort Eda (I guess she earned a few points for that) and I really liked the message she was trying to deliver - you can find love and happiness again;

I loved seeing Eda take that in, accept the message, agree that she will be ok one day; and I also liked seeing her not accept Aydan's support which felt a little bit like pity; Eda didn't want to be pitied and she said what she thought to Aydan's face; was it a little harsh? maybe, yes; but I understand where it came from and, given how insensitive, hostile, rude Aydan had been towards Eda in the past, Eda not really buying this whole support thing is pretty understandable;

☑️ Edser: whatever state these two are in - deliriously in love, flirty, pissed off, annoyed, lovesick, heartbroken - if they're together on screen it's always glorious;

do I like seeing them angsty and heartbroken? of course NOT! but the longing between them is SO GOOD!😍🤩

I loved that they introduced this soulmate theme; it wasn't there front and center but rather woven subtly through the episode: first, of course, pretty openly stated at the very beginning of the episode, in the parallel conversations Eda / the girls and Serkan / Engin; then symmetrically at the very end of the episode - the papers with the names of the drivers for the race, then Serkan being the one to notice Eda's absence, him just feeling her and being led by his heart until he found her - not bad for an emotionless robot, huh?😏😉

THE RINGS!😍😍 glad that they brought Eda's💍ring back into the picture; she demonstratively put it on the middle finger of her right hand; obviously she did it on purpose, she even explained the reason behind this decision - from now on it will serve as a reminder what kind of person Serkan Bolat is; but of course I think there's something deeper at play here; Eda could have easily put the ring on her left hand but she went with her right hand instead, with the middle finger which is so close to where it used to be, where an engagement ring should be - on her ring finger; so I think it's also a way for Eda to be closer to Serkan, it's almost like a phantom of what they used to have as well as of all the things they won't have... I am also 99% sure I am overthinking here and the intentions of writers were much simpler 🙈😆

anyway, I loved that Eda and Serkan both noticed and pointed out aloud that the other was wearing their ring; also Serkan's reasoning "to keep other women away" - why don't you tattoo "I am the property of Eda Yıldız" on your forehead, mister?👀🙈😆 could he be any more obvious?

the coffee scene was priceless 🤣🤣🤣 Serkan was so damn confident that Eda poured that cup for him and then him mumbling "for Efe" under his breath... like an offended child 🙈😆

them fighting looked a lot like flirting and the electricity⚡generated during their arguments could easily power their whole office building - I am sure;

the car ride to the presentation and that presentation itself - while I didn't entirely enjoy it and how controlling Serkan was I cannot help but admire the way his mind works; I also think he was doing it for Eda, it was his way of supporting and looking out for her without being too obvious; this way they also get to work together and even if it's just for work he will be closer to her;

Serkan showing up at that sport motivation thing like a boss 😎 and shamelessly checking Eda out 😏 I mean, was he aware there were other people around? and how is it possible that Eda was still buying the emotionless robot crap? the emotions the guy was looking at her with were enough to melt the glaciers 🔥🥵

and finally - that moment at the sea when Eda told Serkan that he wouldn't have apologized if he hadn't feared for his life; his immediate response was that it wasn't about that, "what if something had happened to you?"; when Eda answered with "Does it matter?" I swear I thought Serkan was gonna take her by the shoulders and shake her;

that jaw tick? man, he was pissed 😤

at Eda - for saying something like that, for being so careless with her life;

at himself - for allowing her to think that it wouldn't absolutely destroy him if something were to happen to her;

but the moment Eda left all anger left him and Serkan just looked... defeated;

☑️ Eda and Efe: might be an unpopular opinion but I actually liked their dynamic in episode 15; as I have already mentioned I didn't see or feel anything romantic and while I still don't trust Efe (him being from Mardin - a coincidence? nope, don't think so🧐) I liked how supportive he was with Eda; I think she needed that push to get back to work; okay, there is very likely some ulterior motive here but at least in this episode he seemed pretty genuine and it didn't look like he was using Eda; he wasn't provoking Serkan that much either;

☑️ Selin and Serkan: a short scene with the two of them in Serkan's office and Selin's reaction to Serkan and Eda's breakup; maybe to someone it may seem too strong but I actually liked Selin calling Serkan out on it like that; honestly I half expected her to find excuses for his behaviour;

☑️ Engin: keeps being a loyal friend who doesn't just offer silent support; I like how he always tries to reason with Serkan, doesn't shy away from telling him unpleasant truth;

glad he was there for Serkan at the very beginning of the episode;

loved how he checked on Serkan at the office and then tried to convince our RoBo that it's ok to not be ok and maybe take a vacation;

then the exchange:

Engin: "So, out of sight, out of mind?"

Serkan: "Exactly"

Engin (spotting Eda coming into the office with Efe): "Interesting how that's gonna work out for you" - interesting indeed 🙈😆;

Things I didn't like / was annoyed with:

❎ Serkan: yes, my baby boy made it into this category - there's first time for everything 🙈😆

just to be clear - he is still my cupcake and I love him dearly but here's the thing: we don't always like those we love;

I think in episode 15 Serkan was controlling and childish; and I completely understand where these tendencies come from but it doesn't mean I am gonna turn a blind eye on this or try to justify his behaviour;

that "Efe left but Serkan is here" scene was intented to be funny and endearing I guess but it was highly manipulative; and when during the car ride Serkan commented on Eda behaving like a teenager I was like "excuse me?! have you met yourself, mister?!" because that manipulation to make Eda go with him was worthy of a 12-year-old 🤨;

❎ Selin: when is she not annoying?🤔 while I liked that she didn't take Serkan's side and called him out on his change of heart, unfortunately, she still managed to make it about herself; it never fails to amaze me how selfish and self-centred this character is;

❎ Alptekin: what a poor excuse of a father and a man he is... almost feel sorry for him;

don't apologize on behalf of your son - he's a grown ass man who is capable of speaking for himself;

apologize for yourself, your mistakes and if you're not ready - then don't go to Ayfer just to make yourself feel better 😤😡;

❎ that almost copy-paste from Erkenci Kuş at the end:

getting lost and falling down into a pit in the forest? been there, done that in EK episode 19;

okay, we had beautiful sea views and they placed it at the end to add more suspense but all in all it was awfully similar and also kinda came out of nowhere;

after that emotional scene between Eda and Serkan we were whooshed into "Eda is not here, let's go find her"; I have no problem with the absence of the moment where she actually fell into that pit - wasn't that necessary - but a scene that could have served as a building block to this would have been good - show Eda going for that walk.

And... that's pretty much it.

Gonna get down to episode 16 now

[ivi-esperanto-blog]

The 5 Key Steps to Receiving a Massage That Will Help You to Feel Better

1. You are in every case right and ought to get precisely what you need. Many back rub buyers accept that you are going to an expert back rub specialist and hence whatever they say goes. The familiar aphorism that the customer is in every case right additionally applies to the back rub treatment industry. Obviously, you need to business trip massage( 출장안마 )with a "confided in master", yet that doesn't imply that in the event that you think you need more spotlight on a specific region or changed pressing factor that you ought not get precisely that.

A "confided in master" will pay attention to precisely what you need and apply the procedures that will assist you with accomplishing that objective. At the point when you go out to purchase something that you have effectively chosen to buy you won't allow a sales rep to sell you on something other than what's expected than what you had at the top of the priority list (albeit this happens all around very as often as possible in the commercial center). The equivalent is valid for your back rub treatment experience. In case you don't know what you require but rather have a particular grumbling, your back rub specialist ought to pay attention to your boss grievances and give an answer that assists you with accomplishing your ideal result (more on this later).

On the off chance that you sense that the back rub specialist you are working with isn't paying attention to your requirements, it is entirely okay for you to end the back rub meeting. This might appear to be somewhat cruel, yet burning through your time and cash on ineffectual medicines is anything but a satisfactory alternative.

2. What you ought to anticipate from your back rub treatment. The back rub treatment ought to explicitly satisfy your ideal outcome. You ought to expect that you will work with a gifted back rub advisor that will pay attention to your issues and assist you with getting a back rub that is exceptionally fulfilling for you. From the second you bring in to plan your back rub treatment you ought to have a feeling that you will business trip massage( 출장마사지 )with a specialist that will regard you as an individual and regard your individual requirements. It is suitable to request the back rub advisor's accreditations and experience.

You may likewise need to talk with a current customer to guarantee that they have had a lovely encounter a current customer that they work with that has had a charming involvement in the expert you are going to have a back rub with. You can request to drop by and see the office where you will accept your back rub. Does it look spotless, unwinding, and remedial? What does the energy of the office feel like? Does it line up with your energy and feel like a spot that you will be OK with? It is likewise proper to request to meet with the specialist who is will possibly be working with you preceding the back rub treatment so you can be guaranteed that you will be alright with the back rub advisor.

At the point when you have set up your back rub treatment and show up for your back rub you will be approached to round out some desk work. Take into account sufficient opportunity to round out the desk work so it doesn't meddle with your back rub time. All things considered, in case you are seeing a back rub master, odds are they are extremely occupied and they have customers previously, then after the fact you.

At the point when you show up at the foundation you ought to be energetically welcomed and offered water while you round out the administrative work and hold back to meet your advisor (in the event that you didn't meet them earlier). Your specialist ought to acquaint themselves with you and welcome you and direct you back to the back rub room. The advisor should then get some information about your particular objectives for the meeting and pay attention to you prior to continuing. You should feel that the advisor thinks often profoundly about your objectives for the meeting and is keen on assisting you with accomplishing them. The treatment room ought to be unwinding and consoling. The back rub specialist ought to clarify that you can strip down to your degree of solace.

Note: For certain individuals their degree of solace might be to keep the entirety of their garments on. This is entirely fine. I have worked with customers who began with me working with me completely dressed and as their solace level expanded they started to take off some apparel so I could knead straightforwardly to their skin. The truth of the matter is that knead treatment feels better when it is applied straightforwardly to the skin. The other truth is that a gifted back rub advisor can work with you with all your garments on and still give an incredible back rub.

You ought to be covered or hung with sheets appropriately during your back rub. This isn't just a law, however is planned for your solace. This implies that lone the space of your body that is being kneaded will be uncovered. The remainder of your body will be covered by a sheet and when you are cold a cover too.

Note: I have had knead at foundations that have utilized very little towels to cover my exposed body. I'm entirely alright with my body, however in one meeting specifically (at a San Diego foundation) I was freezing during the meeting and the draft made the back rub truly awkward. I have come to discover that this specific foundation may not be a genuine back rub practice yet a front for prostitution. You could never know this as it is advertised as a day spa, so be careful about where you set up your arrangement. I can ensure that if I could have executed these 5 stages I would have realized that this foundation was not genuine and I would have saved myself the awkward experience and the misuse of my time and cash.

The specialist will leave the room once they clarify where you should put your garments and they will demonstrate that they will be back in some time to begin your back rub.

Note: We executed a "unwinding switch" in our centers that when squeezed by the customer turns on a light outside to realize you are prepared. I have had various encounters of opening the entryway on customers who were not easily under the sheets. In the event that the foundation doesn't have the "unwinding switch" ensure that you rush to get on the table to stay away from any awkward dashing to the table situations.

When you are on the table you ought not need to stand by excessively long for the advisor to come and begin the back rub. The specialist ought to go into the room and ask you how you feel on the table. How is the temperature of the room? How does the table feel? How do the pads or reinforces feel?

Before advisor starts doing the back rub they should disclose to you that if whenever during the back rub you might want pretty much strain to simply tell them and they will oblige you. In case you are getting the back rub for general unwinding the back rub advisor ought not converse with you during the meeting. This is one of the boss grievances I hear from knead customers the nation over when they inform me regarding their back rub encounters. I have known about specialists who will inform the customer concerning all their own issues while the customer is "held prisoner" and is paying acceptable cash to committee these advisors on their private matters.

Recall the initial step, You are in every case right and ought to get precisely what you need, so advise the advisor that you like to simply pay attention to the music or daydream during your back rub. In the event that your specialist is a back rub master you will find that they will have paid attention to you depict your objective of unwinding and consequently they would hush up during your back rub meeting.

Note: If you are getting a back rub for an objective of remembering torment or a particular physical issue then your back rub specialist should talk about your set of experiences with you and clarify what they are doing. You likewise might be approached to move around on the table from face down, side misleading on your back.

After the back rub your specialists ought to thank you for the meeting and talk about their evaluation of your strong wellbeing. Your advisor will clarify what they suggest for a treatment plan for you to accomplish your objective. It very well might be just about as straightforward as you expecting to get knead once per month to keep feelings of anxiety sufficiently low to assist you with bettering deal with your life; or it might necessitate that you come in as frequently as 2X every week for about a month and a half to forcefully treat a particular issue you are managing.

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3. Why rub modalities are a relic of days gone by and what a back rub methodology is. In case you are new to rub you will scrutinize the back rub menu and can't help thinking about what this load of medicines are. A back rub methodology is a back rub strategy that has a particular reason for the back rub recipient. There are in a real sense many back rub modalities and they can appear to be overwhelming to somebody who has never gotten a back rub. There is additionally deception of back rub modalities by advisors who are not enough prepared in the methodology they offer. This is because of the third point I talked about in the potential issues knead buyers can encounter when getting rub.

The truth of the matter is that the solitary individuals that know what a shiatsu, reiki treatment, profound tissue back rub or Swedish back rub are rub professionals. As the back rub shopper you care around a certain something: that you will get a back rub that will assist you with accomplishing your particular objective for that specific meeting. Regardless of whether that is pressure the executives, sports execution, injury anticipation, injury recovery, help with discomfort, or simply by and large health, the methodology that is utilized to accomplish these objectives isn't of significance to you. More often than not you don't have a clue what the methodology is. In this way, in case you are confronted with picking between a Swedish, profound tissue, shiatsu, thai back rub or trager, then, at that point you realize that you might need to look somewhere else to get your back rub treatment. You need to work with a back rub master that will pay attention to your necessities and incorporate an assortment of modalities that satisfies that result.

4. Step by step instructions to adequately speak with your back rub specialist. As you review from the initial step you are in every case right.

[xxisxxisxxis]

Gateway Drug | Part Fifty-Nine

Words: 4.4K

Warning(s): Explicit language, minor sexual situations, mentions of drug abuse

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Sharise and I watch as Adriana demonstrates basic pole dancing techniques in the empty strip joint.

Sharise, me, Duff, Steven and Steven's lady friend/dancer, Adriana, all came into Adriana's place of work during closed hours, with the permission of her boss, being that this is the club the "Girls Girls, Girls" video is being filmed in and I decided I'd join Sharise in it.

Of course Sharise and I aren't gonna be doing Cirque du Soleil on a pole in the video, it's just an excuse to get out of the house and good off for a few hours.

"Okay, going upside down." She states. "Stand to whatever side of the pole is most comfortable, and whatever side you stand on, place the opposite foot close to the base of the pole." she tells us. "So, I'm standing to the left of the pole, so my right foot is gonna be near the base of the pole, and my right hand is gonna hold the pole at shoulder height, and you'll want to hold the pole close to you so it's a tighter spin."

"Ooo." Steven comments to add interest, sipping his beer.

"Now, your other hand, will hold the pole higher up, like this." Her left hand holds the pole higher up. "Then you kick the leg that's furthest from the pole, up." Her left leg kicks up. "While acting like you're trying to pull the pole downward." She's upside down in half a second. "Then the leg you kicked up wraps around the front of the pole, and the leg you kept closest to the pole, goes behind. And when you slide down," she slowly starts making her way to the floor, "keep your chin tucked so you don't fall and break your neck." She reaches the floor and is smoothly laid onto her back before she stands up.

"Okay, Viv, you try." Steven nudges at me.

"Yeah, Viv." Sharise echos, smiling at me.

"Oh, dear." I mumble, getting up from my chair, Duff, Steven and Sharise clapping as I get up on stage, standing to the left of the pole.

"Okay, so, right foot." I put it at the base of the pole. "Left foot here, right hand here, left hand here..." I say to myself.

"Now, kick." She tells me and I do so.

Obviously I'm not as graceful, looking like an upside down koala clinging to a tree for dear life, my eyes squeezed closed, a sound between a laugh and a shriek coming out of me.

"Be sexy, Viv." Stevie suggests.

I open my eyes, seeing his right side up figure sitting at the table with Duff and Sharise.

"I don't think I can get down." I admit, my legs keeping on the pole but curling closer and closer into me as my fear of falling on my head grows.

Duff and Steven sarcastically cheer, and I feel the sprinkling of cash fall over me before turning my head to glare at them.

"Here." Adriana helps me down, chuckling at them poking fun at me while Sharise thinks it's pretty funny, too.

"Nice job, babe." Stevie states sarcastically and I raise a brow.

"You get up here and do it, then." I reply and he scoffs.

"Oh, I will." He stands up, sashaying to the stage seductively and I hold back my laughter as Adriana raises her brows. "Okay, get down, lemme have my moment to shine." He nudges Adriana and I off stage and we go to sit at the table with Sharise and Duff.

Steven, the natural performer and entertainer he is, starts completely winging it--giving us a hot but very questionable strip tease.

I wrinkle my nose when he gets his shirt off and starts coming down from the stage, walking towards me.

His incredibly hairy chest grows closer and closer and I already know his motivations before he can get to me.

I try to get out of dodge, but Duff is a traitor and holds at my wrist so I can't get away.

I feel Steven's arms wrap around me, his itchy fur against my back and I squeal as Duff, Sharise and Adriana continue to laugh their asses off.

Nikki could barely get the hair on his chest to grow, and when it finally did, he was proud. I had never seen that much hair until I saw Steven with his shirt off.

He had enough hair on his chest and his stomach to make sweaters...when he was naked (which I discovered tended to happen when he got very drunk) I never looked long enough to try to find his prick in the thick of his pubes.

He's just a hairy, hairy, man.

I'm finally calming down and elbowing Steven, gently, getting him off of me in time to look at him, seeing Nikki leaning against the bar in the corner, looking oh so unamused.

"H-Hey." I say to him, really pushing Stevie away.

I don't want him to face Nikki's wrath incase Sikki decides to make an appearance and say something smart about us having fun together without his supervision.

He had gotten upset with me over staying the night with Duff, and I had finally shut him up with:

"You're angry because you know how you treat me, and you know the day I decide I'm done with your bullshit I can walk away from you and have every reason to do so! And I'll be even more inclined to walk away if there's someone that treats me better, and there is! You know there is and you can't stand the thought of it but you don't want to change, either, so I don't know what to tell you other than I'm here with you and I'm not going anywhere. But I'm getting tired, Nikki. Okay? I'm getting tired."

He didn't have a word to say to that. He just stormed out and slammed the door, and found Vanity.

"Hi!" Vanity's soft but perky voice echoes and I notice she's behind the bar, stealing liquor to hand Nikki a bottle of Jack.

Duff and Steven exchange looks before Steven's letting out a "hi!" in his own enthusiastic way.

She's sliding back across the bar to step to us, hugging me tightly to her.

"How are you?" I ask her, Nikki walking over to us.

"Fine, until Nikki started in on me f--"

"So, what're you guys doing tonight?" Nikki interrupts her and she rolls her eyes.

"Baby, I'm talking." She whines.

"Baby?" I ask and I swear I hear Duff nearly choke on his beer.

"Yeah, 'baby'. Ya know...just a cute little pet name I give some of my friends." She explains.

"Well, can you not call him that?" I ask her politely.

Her brows arch and her smile twitches.

"Sure." She finally lets out and everyone seems to let out a breath of relief, probably imagining the two of us getting into a spat over something so stupid.

"Duff, Steven, I was thinking we meet up with T-Bone tonight. Heather's outta town and he wanted to invite you guys and Slash over." He explains.

"Cool." Steven shrugs, but Duff hesitantly looks at me.

Nikki follows his line of sight and cuts his eyes for a moment.

"The fuck you looking at her for? Do you need her permission or something?" He suddenly snaps and Duff looks at him.

"I can't tonight, man. Thanks though." Duff replies coolly, finishing his beer, standing up.

"Girls, I was actually thinking of a girls night." Vanity tells Sharise and I, pulling our attention away from Nikki scowling at Duff as the tall blonde mumbles walks away, mumbling about going to the restroom.

Me and Sharise exchange looks before we're cautiously testing the waters.

"I can't. I'm gonna be with Sky." Sharise puts in.

"Oh, well, us then." Vanity beams at me.

"Actually, now that I think about it, I think you two can come with Steven and Slash and me to Tommy's." Nikki suggests.

Oh, he was saving his ass. He always played it off, but I now know anytime Vanity and I were together without him their to moderate what was being said on her part, he was a nervous wreck, always waiting for Vanity to mess up in a drunken rant or cracked out haze and let it slip she and Nikki were an item.

I still think back on how absolutely stupid I was.

All the signs, red flags, warnings, everything, were right in my face.

The biggest one being...

"When did you get that?" I ask Nikki as we head to his bike to go to the Seventh Veil.

It's a Roman numeral "V", and I keep trying to figure out what significance the number "5" has to him.

"While I was out last night." He replies.

"I leave you, Tommy, Slash and Stevie and Vanity alone and you get a tattoo?" I ask with a chuckle.

I didn't go to Tommy's last night because I was too tired to go party it up with him. We got home last night before Nikki went to his house and I climbed in bed and passed out.

"Yeah. Are you surprised though?" He asks me and I look at him and grin, shaking my head a little bit.

"Nope." I reply.

Once we get to the club, we're met by a plethora of girls, and Vince and Tommy looking like they're in absolute heaven.

I actually take the time to introduce myself to the girls, learning their names and trying to get along with them.

That's pretty easy to do because even though they look intimidating, they're nice.

Would I trust them alone in a room with my husband? No.

Are they sweet girls, though? Yes.

Wayne gives us an hour to get ready, even though they're basically already ready, and change into what we're going to wear in the video.

Ross wants to take promotional shots of the guys with the group of pretty women before it gets dark out.

So, while Sharise and I get ready, the band and the dancers are hitting the street to take pictures.

My favorite of those photos has to be of Nikki surrounded by them all hugged up and close to him and he's just eating up the attention. Of course he had to put on for the camera, but maybe if I would have gone, I would have been able to see exactly how comfortable he was touching on other women.

I finish my makeup as Sharise starts changing into her lingerie and I follow suit, raising a brow at the set she picked bought for me.

"Isn't that cute?" She asks me, nodding to the articles in my hands and I look at her.

"It's uh...revealing."

"As lingerie typically is, Viv." She replies with a small chuckle.

"Yeah, but...?" I hold up the thong for emphasis.

"What about it?"

"My ass is gonna be out. And one wrong move and my pussy is gonna be out there with it." I state.

"No, it won't, you don't have anything to worry about."

I let out a breath, hesitating to put it on and she frowns at me a little bit.

"Vivian, are you alright?"

"Yeah." I state.

"Are you gonna finish getting ready before the guys get back?"

I just nervously glance at her.

"Okay." She says, finishing putting her heels on. "What's up with you, huh?"

"I don't know if I want to do this." I admit.

"Why not?" She asks me and I raise a brow.

"I'm just--I don't know. I'm just not..." I motion my hands around my body and she looks confused before it clicks and she's suddenly looking like she doesn't believe me.

"Tell me it isn't because you don't think you look good?"

I don't answer and she let's out a breath, smiling at me.

"Vivian, you are a gorgeous girl. There's no need to think you aren't. I promise." She assures me and I inhale and exhale before nodding. "Good. Now get changed and c'mon so we can get this over with and the guys can stop badgering us about it, alright?"

"Alright." I smile, taking my clothes off to slip into the brand new lingerie.

I was weirding myself out because I had never had confidence issues, but something about 1987 just made everything plummet.

The only brightside was that I was beginning to be weaned off my antidepressant.

I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but I found out in 1988 that it wasn't necessarily good.

Being surrounded by all those women, very pretty, very fit, very sexy women, just made me feel like a fish out of water.

I guess when you're raised to believe showing the bottom of your thigh is a sin, you can feel like you're in a completely different universe that you don't belong in when you're faced with the responsibility of prancing around in your underwear for men, and the world, to see.

I was always happy when I felt like Nikki was proud to have me as a wife, but he just wanted me in that video to show off what he got to bed down anytime he wanted it.

"Girls, we're starting in five!" Wayne yells on the other side of the dressing room door as Tommy and Nikki step in, grinning at all the half naked, gorgeous women in here.

I straighten my crucifix, before my eyes hone in on the faint scar on my thigh that's just a little visible through the stockings, and doubt sprigs in my mind that other people might be able to see it.

I fucking hate the damn thing and it's quickly becoming the current bane of my existence.

"Girls, c'mon." Tommy playfully puts in, grinning, motioning them to the door.

They giggle softly, smiling at him as they step to the door, Tommy playfully patting all of them on the ass as they walk by, causing me to roll my eyes when it's my turn.

He just smiles down at me, folding his hands behind his back, innocently.

"We'll be there in a second." Nikki tells him.

"K." Tommy replies, tucking a dancer under his arm, shutting the door behind him.

I turn away from Nikki, facing the mirrors, pretending to make any last adjustments to my hair and makeup as he leans against the closed door.

He looks gone as shit, but when doesn't he, anymore?

After what seems like hours, he's stepping towards me, his hand reaching around my front, tugging the tie of my short, silk robe, his fingertips brushing up my stomach as he watches me in the mirror.

He pushes the robe off my shoulder, exposing my bare skin, pulling my curled hair to my other shoulder before pressing hot kisses to the previously revealed one, leaning his weight against my back, pulling my ass against his groin, causing me to let out a sigh and allowing myself a few seconds of bliss before remembering he's been mean the past few days...and said some fucked up shit when I told him where I had stayed that night he ditched me in town.

"Nikki," I start, his tongue and teeth traveling to my neck while his other hand slides down my highcut, dark-green, sequined, thong and finely meshed fishnet stockings. "Nikki, stop." I let out and he huffs out a breath, getting off of me, rolling his eyes.

"The fuck is wrong, now, Viv?"

"Okay, you can't just scream shit to me like you did earlier and then pretend everything is fine without addressing it."

"I can't even remember what the fuck I say to you half the time so I'm sorry if you're ridiculously needy and constantly need to be reassured we're 'okay' after every fucking disagreement. We're okay. Does that make you feel better?"

"No, because it's bullshit. We're not."

I notice him staring at my body, readjusting himself. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Of course."

"Then what did I say?"

"...Okay, I was more focused on your body language..." He says. "...which was telling me you're pissed off over absolutely nothing." He smirks and I cut my eyes at him. "Okay, okay, truce: I'll apologize for whatever you think I did wrong, if you just give me two minutes."

"Two minutes to what?" I furrow my brows.

He grins like the Cheshire Cat.

A minute later I'm gasping for breath, arching my back as Nikki flicks his tongue between my legs, my thong and stockings on the floor as my legs rest over his shoulders.

"Sixx and Sixx and a half, you ready?!" Wayne calls, knocking on the door.

"Almost, man, I'm finishing up on my dinner!" Nikki replies, winking at me.

"What does that have to do with Viv?!"

A loud moan falls from my lips when he suddenly shoves two fingers into me, and my face heats up at the sound of Wayne groaning in disgust and frustration because we're running behind.

"Just hurry the fuck up!" He orders, walking away.

Nikki goes back to what he was doing before we were interrupted, and I'm coming within a few more seconds.

Once I get as cleaned up as I can get, I'm pulling my stockings and panties back on before dropping my robe.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Nikki stops me before I can walk out. "That's what you're wearing out there?"

"Yeah? You saw it a second ago, didn't you?"

"The robe was kinda covering this up." He motions to my matching dark green, sequined bra that goes with my bottoms, my boobs nearly spilling out of it because it's designed to push them up.

"Okay, and?"

He turns me around, a weird look on his face as he looks over me.

"I don't like it." He finally says.

My confidence plummets and I look down at myself and up at him again.

"W-What? What do you mean?" I self-consciously try to cover myself up with my arms.

"It's just...slutty." He shrugs.

"Nikki, you don't mind when I dress up like this at home."

"That's different. That's for me."

I realize I look perfectly fine, he's just pissy I'm gonna be in the video that he begged me for weeks to be in, but I'm actually dressing the part instead of trying to keep it as modest as I can.

My self-consciousness evaporates and I raise a brow.

"It's called being more fun." I say, echoing what he told me the other night. "You wanted me in the video, Nikki, and now I'm in it. If you don't appreciate that, there are plenty of people out there that are going to." I slip my heels back on and he rolls his jaw. "C'mon, before Wayne kills us." I kiss his cheek and slip out the door, hearing a loud crash behind me due to Sikki throwing a few things around in the room out of anger.

He just thought he wanted to show me off, apparently once he realized the consequences of his actions of pressuring me for weeks to do the video, he despised the idea.

And Wayne, being completely all-in, just kept adding fuel to that fire.

"Alright, I need shots of you," Wayne tells Natalie, a blonde with the long hair pulled back into a ponytail, "you," he points to Pam, another blonde, but she has huge, fake boobs, that are barely being contained in her white bikini, "annnnd," he takes a moment, pressing his lips together as he examines the group of us, "Vivian. You're up to bat."

"I'm what?" I ask.

"She's what?" Nikki echoes me.

"Um, I thought I was just gonna be in the background." I add.

"Nikki said he wanted you front and center in some of the frames."

"I did?" Nikki snaps.

"You sure did." Wayne brushes him off, nodding at me. "Viv, c'mon, stage, center pole, now."

Vince is so obnoxiously pleased with this turn of events.

"I can't pole dance." I state to Wayne.

"Thought you used to dance?"

"Ballet. Not stripping." I reply.

"Oh." He furrows his brows before shrugging. "Well, just give a pole spin or something simple that I can catch in a handful of fps."

The look of utter anger on my husband's face from where he, Tommy, Vince and Mick were sitting in front of the stage, when I rested my back against the pole, facing them, and slid down in to a split...he probably wanted to murder me and Wayne at that moment.

I got a sick sense of satisfaction from it.

Before Wayne can yell "cut", Nikki's hand wraps around my ankle, suddenly, and he's snatching me to him.

I try not to scream at the pain of my joints popping in my hip.

His grip is hard, biting into me, and his pinpointed eyes are mocking me, despite his smirk disguising his anger, but the camera is still rolling so I make myself smile and laugh it off as if he's joking incase Wayne decides to keep the footage in.

Nikki's also decently aware of this possibility and instead of screaming at me like I know he wants to do, he kisses me.

He did keep it in, and it honestly looks merely harmless in the video. It just looks like we're goofing off.

He hauls me off stage, throwing me over his shoulder, his hand coming down on my ass one good time, sending a stinging heat throughout me that I actually yelp out "OW" in response to.

Once he sets me down, his hand is gently rubbing over my aching hip and I wince.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to do that." He admits in my ear.

I don't acknowledge it, hearing Wayne give orders to Natalie and Pam.

Once they're done with specific shots, he's replaying the "Girls, Girls, Girls" and telling the guys to "just go for it" so he can get the candid shots he wants.

Shots that include Vince offering Sharise money he's holding between his teeth as she gets handsy with him, grinning widely at him, looking absolutely perfect as she always manages to do so effortlessly. Another one includes him scooping her up in his arms, about to carry her out with her laughing.

A shot that I know won't make the censored version of the video is Nikki using his arm to clear off a table with a few business men at it, tossing me onto it with little warning, before biting between my legs, causing me to get red with embarrassment as he gives a second nip to my thigh, my stomach my chest and finally, my smile-adorned lips.

As the night goes on, Wayne captures everything he needs, including moving all of us girls back into the dressing room with Nikki and Tommy "helping" us get ready for the stage while Mick plays his guitar in one of the chairs in front of the vanity with girls touching up their makeup and outfits all around him.

Once Wayne's finished inside, he and the guys head outside to film them riding their motorcycles down the street and catcalling pretty girls. Sharise and I don't necessarily want to see that, so we hang back at the Seventh Veil and get changed.

"I think we all did good." Natalie pipes, grinning.

"Me too." Missy, the shorthaired brunette, adds. "So..." she starts, glancing at me as I pull my jeans on. "...You and Nikki have been together for how long?"

"Umm, married almost four years, we've been together for six, though." I explain and she nods.

"I was just wondering. It's hard to tell with a lot of these rock guys, ya know? I mean, some of them think if they aren't with their wife or their girlfriend, they have permission to mess with other girls." She says. "Some guys are with their wives or girlfriends and still do that, though."

"I'd kill him." I scoff out.

"Oh, me too." Sharise echoes.

"So, like, how do you get them to stay faithful, then?" Natalie asks us smoothly, her shaped brows furrowing slightly.

It seems like such an easy answer, but the more I dwell on it, the harder it is to find words...or an explanation.

"Well, um," I start, letting out a breath. "You do the best you can do. And if that isn't good enough then that's basically saying you aren't good enough, and you don't wanna be with someone who thinks that way about you anyway."

"So if you found out he was cheating or has cheated, you'd leave? Just like that?" Missy asks next.

"I've never thought of it. I don't know what I'd do, really. Except cry."

"No, no, no." Pam states, pointing at me. "You key the bikes and bust all the windows and tires from the cars, you destroy the record collections, you vandalize the house, and you get the fuck outta dodge." She says. "At least that's what I'd do."

"And that's why you've never been married." Missy adds, the two of them chuckling.

"I'd stay." Natalie pipes and we all look at her. "What? I know my worth, but with that much money, your financial security is guaranteed."

"Until the band becomes washed up and can't make a buck off a show anymore, sweetie." Pam replies. "Never settle for someone because you feel financially secure. That's how all these people end up killing themselves. They're so miserable but surrounded by all the money in the world. Money doesn't mean happiness."

"No, but a designer handbag every week does." Natalie suggests.

"Ha ha." Pam sarcastically lets out, rolling her eyes. "What about you, Viv? Love or financial security?"

"I'd gladly go back to living in that shitty apartment he had when the guys were broke as hell, starting out, if it meant getting rid of all the complicated shit and just loving each other." I say truthfully.

No amount of money would have been able to make me cover my eyes and knowingly allow him to do what he had been doing to me.

But you would have thought that was the case considering how much he got away with right under my nose.

I just had so much faith in him, I believed in him more than I believed in God.

That was one mistake of many.

[nightwingshero]

Character Study

I was tagged by @scarlettkat86 thank you, dear!

Yeah...I only did my favorites the ones I’m currently focused on right now. Jane is on the list, but I honestly think three is enough for this. Besides, it’s super early in the morning. 

Dahlia Strong

LAYER 01: THE OUTSIDE

NAME: Dahlia Mae Strong

EYE COLOUR: They’re ice green

HAIR STYLE / COLOUR: It changes, darling. It’s brown, clearly, but whether it’s short or long usually goes with the trend. But it’s normally short with curls.

HEIGHT: 5′03″

CLOTHING STYLE: *sigh* obviously whatever is currently in style. Mostly a dress with heels, stockings, a clutch and a nice coat and hat to go with. Now, I have heard of the women’s suits. Aunt Pol just got one and mine are coming in soon. 

BEST PHYSICAL FEATURE: *laughs* All of me isn’t enough? Mmm...I would say that perhaps my eyes would be the best. Maybe my smile, it tends to get people’s attention. Although Alfie would say it’s something else...and well, that’s not exactly appropriate for polite conversation, now is it?

LAYER 02: THE INSIDE

FEAR: I’m a Shelby, we don’t fear anything. But if I had to choose...losing my family and those dear to me. Our family is very close, don’t fuck with us, dear. 

GUILTY PLEASURE: I have a weakness for treats and sweets. There’s also a “baker” in Camden Town.

BIGGEST PET PEEVE: Stupidity. I have little patience for it. 

AMBITIONS FOR THE FUTURE: Succeeding with our family, dear. Shelby Company Limited is doing well. But I think deep down, I really would like to retire somewhere relaxing and enjoy that success. 

LAYER 03: THOUGHTS

FIRST THOUGHTS WAKING UP: Fucking hell, what did I have to do today?

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT MOST: The business, of course. Business comes first, darling. 

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT BEFORE BED: None of your bloody business.

WHAT THEY THINK THEIR BEST QUALITY IS: Darling, I am very good at sweet talking and getting out of trouble.I’m also good at yelling at people...

LAYER 04: EITHER OR

SINGLE OR GROUP DATES: Group date...? Is that another term for orgy? I would prefer not to, but thank you. There’s a certain...someone who would not appreciate my participation in such a thing.

TO BE LOVED OR RESPECTED: Respected. People don’t listen to you if they don’t respect you, my dear. Make sure they know who the boss is. 

BEAUTY OR BRAINS: What’s wrong with having both? That’s where the power lies, dear. Always choose both.

DOGS OR CATS: I have a cat, but I also adore dogs. They’re very cute, and good to keep around the house in case of protection. 

LAYER 05: DO THEY

LIE: If I did, I wouldn’t tell you, would I?

BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES: Bloody hell, of course I do. 

BELIEVE IN LOVE: Oh. Well, that’s an odd question. What does that matter?

WANT SOMEONE: *clears throat* I...I would rather not talk about this.

LAYER 06: HAVE THEY

BEEN ON STAGE: Oh, of course. I was a burlesque dancer. 

DONE DRUGS: No, although Finn tells me that snow is fun. Or well, cocaine, I should say. I haven’t tried it though, I’m rather fun without it. 

CHANGED WHO THEY WERE TO FIT IN: No. I am who I am, darling. People change to fit in with me.

LAYER 07: WHAT'S THEIR

FAVORITE COLOR: I like creams, grey, and blue. Also black. Very nice. 

FAVORITE ANIMAL: Animal? I like horses and deer. 

FAVORITE BOOK: I have too many to name. I have a full library. Would you like to see?

FAVORITE GAME: I like playing cards with my cousins. Arthur always gets so upset when I beat him. 

LAYER 08: AGE

DAY THEIR NEXT BIRTHDAY WILL BE: Oct 2.

HOW OLD THEY WILL BE: 36. That’s a rude question, dear. 

LAYER 09: I...

I LOVE: My family, money...a certain man that will remain nameless, and if you say a word, I will cut out your tongue.

I FEEL: Fine. I feel fine. 

I HIDE: Whatever I have to. 

I MISS: running in the grass in my bare-feet. That is fun, darling. 

I WISH: You’d piss off. But I suppose I wish something planned out would go right for fucking once. I swear, Tommy and I will go grey from it. 

Wren Blake

LAYER 01: THE OUTSIDE

NAME: Wren Marie Blake

EYE COLOUR: Blue green, they kinda change. 

HAIR STYLE / COLOUR: My hair is black. I either keep it in a ponytail because it’s easier, but I also wear it down, too.

HEIGHT: 5′04″, unfortunately.

CLOTHING STYLE: I like skinny jeans, honestly. With a tank top, maybe a flannel. I have some t-shirts, too. And I’ll wear a leather jacket sometimes with combat boots. I have dress pants, heels, and some button ups, along with some dresses that John bought me. 

BEST PHYSICAL FEATURE: My body from the neck down because have you seen my tattoos? *goes to take shirt off* I can show you if you like?

LAYER 02: THE INSIDE

FEAR: Not being good enough and being alone. 

GUILTY PLEASURE: Singing in the shower. 

BIGGEST PET PEEVE: Being lied to. Don’t fucking do it. 

AMBITIONS FOR THE FUTURE: Enjoy peaceful time. Is that so bad?

LAYER 03: THOUGHTS

FIRST THOUGHTS WAKING UP: Five more minutes. 

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT MOST: How fucking stressed I am all the damn time now. Fuck. 

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT BEFORE BED: I think about going to sleep because I fucking need it. 

WHAT THEY THINK THEIR BEST QUALITY IS: I don’t know, my sense of humor? Randy says its my talent at trying to kill people with my driving, but fuck him. 

LAYER 04: EITHER OR

SINGLE OR GROUP DATES: Single dates. I don’t do groups of people, not my thing. 

TO BE LOVED OR RESPECTED: Both. I want people to love how much the respect me, and respect how much they love me. *chuckles* see, sense of humor. I’m hilarious. 

BEAUTY OR BRAINS: Brains. But not in a zombie way. 

DOGS OR CATS: Cats

LAYER 05: DO THEY

LIE: I try my best not to. 

BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES: Eh...

BELIEVE IN LOVE: ...Yes

WANT SOMEONE: None of your business!

LAYER 06: HAVE THEY

BEEN ON STAGE: Yes

DONE DRUGS: I had some fun in college...ever had acid?

CHANGED WHO THEY WERE TO FIT IN: I’ve done it before, but I don’t anymore. What’s the point of it?

LAYER 07: WHAT'S THEIR

FAVORITE COLOR: Black, navy blue, and burgundy. 

FAVORITE ANIMAL: Ravens, hawks, owls, and foxes.

FAVORITE BOOK: I like a lot of things. Jane Austen is a personal favorite, along with Edgar Allen Poe. Crime and Punishment is a good one, too. But I think Carrie by Stephen King holds dear to my heart. 

FAVORITE GAME: Video games or...? Because Spider-man, the Arkham trilogy, and God of War are pretty awesome. I like kicking Randy’s ass at Uno. There’s also drinking games...

LAYER 08: AGE

DAY THEIR NEXT BIRTHDAY WILL BE: June 24th

HOW OLD THEY WILL BE: 28.

LAYER 09: I...

I LOVE: Singing, reading, listening to music, doing whatever I want that makes me happy. My friends. 

I FEEL: Stressed. All the time. 

I HIDE: My feelings and my stash of energy drinks. 

I MISS: *sigh* My mom. I really miss my mom. 

I WISH: This shit would stop, I’m tired of the fighting. 

Randy Miller

LAYER 01: THE OUTSIDE

NAME: Randall Michael Miller. But just...call me Randy, okay? I fucking hate  that name. 

EYE COLOUR: Blue

HAIR STYLE / COLOUR: Uh, it’s brown...and I brush it sometimes, does that...does that count as styling? I wear hats too. 

HEIGHT: 5′09″

CLOTHING STYLE: Pants, shirt, leather jacket and boots. I have suits too, I think. 

BEST PHYSICAL FEATURE: *laughs* arms. Definitely my arms. I tell Jane it’s my ass. 

LAYER 02: THE INSIDE

FEAR: *coughs* Wren’s fucking driving. 

GUILTY PLEASURE: Fruity drinks. I don’t give a fuck, they’re good and they fuck you up quickly. Jane makes fun of me. 

BIGGEST PET PEEVE: Don’t...don’t touch my bike, man. If you don’t want your face beat in, don’t touch my fucking bike. 

AMBITIONS FOR THE FUTURE: Pssh, don’t have any. Can I just worry about today? I think that’s enough. 

LAYER 03: THOUGHTS

FIRST THOUGHTS WAKING UP: Fuck this. And then I go back to sleep. Jane usually drags me out of the house. 

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT MOST: My dogs and my bike.

WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT BEFORE BED: I can’t wait to go to sleep.

WHAT THEY THINK THEIR BEST QUALITY IS: Oh...I guess my loyalty? Trustworthiness? Fuck if I know...my arms? Look, I can fight, okay?

LAYER 04: EITHER OR

SINGLE OR GROUP DATES: Eh...that all sounds like a rough time, I don’t date...well. Can...can we just skip that?

TO BE LOVED OR RESPECTED: Respected. Respect me, respect the bike, don’t touch it, and respect my dogs. Or else. 

BEAUTY OR BRAINS: I have both, so no brainer there...wait...

DOGS OR CATS: Dogs. Cats freak me the fuck out. 

LAYER 05: DO THEY

LIE: When I need to

BELIEVE IN THEMSELVES: I believe I’m pretty fucking awesome.

BELIEVE IN LOVE: Why are you asking?

WANT SOMEONE: *clears throat and shifts uncomfortably* Why are you asking these weird questions?

LAYER 06: HAVE THEY

BEEN ON STAGE: Fuck no.

DONE DRUGS: I plead the fifth...Johnny taught me that one. 

CHANGED WHO THEY WERE TO FIT IN: Fuck no. 

LAYER 07: WHAT'S THEIR

FAVORITE COLOR: Black and dark green. 

FAVORITE ANIMAL: Hawks and wolves are pretty cool. So are bears, when they’re not trying to kill you. 

FAVORITE BOOK: I like a lot of Ernest Hemingway, but I read mostly poetry. 

FAVORITE GAME: I kick Wren’s ass at Uno. We do drinking games, too. And Monopoly, but don’t tell her I told you. 

LAYER 08: AGE

DAY THEIR NEXT BIRTHDAY WILL BE: July 1st

HOW OLD THEY WILL BE: 31.

LAYER 09: I...

I LOVE: Fighting, riding dirt bikes and my motorcycle, my dogs...all kinds of things. 

I FEEL: Tired. 

I HIDE: My fucking whiskey because Wren and Jane steal it. 

I MISS: Motorcross racing. It’s so much fucking fun, man. 

I WISH: I had another dog. I’ve been thinking about either getting a German Shepherd, Boxer, or a Pitbull. I don’t know yet...I might get all three. 

Tagging: @pd3 @simonxriley @xbaebsae @tomexraider @faithchel @risenlucifer @abosaa @ja-crispea @dieguzguz @trialandseed @princess-underthemountain

[orderuponthe99prettygrimmdiaries]

Tired of being me

Started off with a pretty eventful Saturday morning, calling my sales manager and then the HR, both somewhat relating to the craziness on Friday. Yeah, that was another wild one. 100 orders in the morning, another 100 items to pack along with 600 gifts. Obviously with 5 people, that was impossible. And of course, why would anything go according to plan? Sure, we got to delay the shipment clearance, though the stocks arrived to office first and ended up breaking the cargo lift. But at least it was the final 2 and not the start of 7 pallets worth of stocks. 

Anyhoo, I digress. So, Saturday... Apparently the boss had learnt that my team had wanted to allocate more work to me, and since I was kinda close to the sales manager and she kinda knew how I was barely coping already, she helped me to convey that too. Also, surprising to hear that the other manager was saying she’s really busy too. On what? We aren’t entirely sure. Especially when it seems we’re basically doing most of their work for them. But hey, they’re the boss. Or something. But well, so there was that. And then the whole madness of Friday, boss wanting to know why it was so last minute and realising why she requested me to be with her during this covid situation split teams. 

Not really sure if this is gonna lead to something, but I guess now more people really know how I’m not able to cope with my current workload. I mean initially was just me talking about it to some colleagues, and mostly low-key crying at my desk (which I stopped for a bit). But it’s getting exhausting. Really exhausting. I mean the sales manager isn’t even working at the office anymore, and I think more people are realising what those two are actually doing (or not doing) to/for the company. 

I don’t know, a part of me had been wondering if I’m just unable to handle stress well and couldn’t cope with something that most would be able to. Or maybe because I take on more than I can handle at times too. Well, admittedly, at times it’s because I choose to help a colleague in need despite my own work, but most of those times it can be handled in time. But now, there’s just way more disruptions with more tasks, sometimes with even shorter deadlines. 

I also wonder if I’m being entitled. Expecting someone to help me out when everyone is struggling on their own too. Is it just me? 

Hopefully this means that work is looking up now... Funny it’s every time I decide I wanna leave. Not sure if this is supposedly a sign to stay, or just a test. 

What’s worse is that the covid situation here is getting bad again... which I guess was what also led to work being unproductive too, split teams, etc. And I think this also led me to consider things with him again. Kinda feels like deja vu too. He’s not really trying as much, I guess cos he knows we’d likely not be meeting up during this phase. 

It’s funny, I had basically decided that for me, I should take a bit of distance, but then he started texting more. And then there was that night he was there while I was having a breakdown. I guess he kinda took a step back from then, but I was also wondering if maybe I wasn’t putting in enough the past couple days because I was trying to keep my distance. And now, it’s back to being awkward-ish and strange. 

It’s probably my overthinking too and stressing about everything. And ugh, being overly emotional today. But honestly, with everything that’s happened... I just need to see how he’s trying to have this relationship on his own terms. When he feels like talking, when he feels like meeting. Sure, it’s not entirely on him for it all, but it’s definitely not balanced and we still haven’t really found a way to compromise to a proper balance. 

Also came across this on Reddit the other day (totally different context though): 

“It's akin to a drug dependency, you tell yourself it's to experiment, then it becomes a habit, after that you start to get used to the idea that having your fix is not a problem, the final stage is telling yourself that your life depends on it, it is no longer a question of wanting it, but needing it. That’s the stages of how a typical drug addict convince themselves, seen this countless time with mates who fell to the deep end of addiction, and it is freaking difficult to even convince them to quit it.”

And it hit me, hard. I think I’ve been addicted to our relationship. Telling myself that it’s okay, we’ll try whatever this is, whatever hot-cold phase, whatever casual relationship. And then telling myself that it’s okay, I’m not attached. But then, what do I do? I can’t keep my distance, I can’t let go. Maybe he really is my nicotine... And I don’t know how to put you down... 

Recently, I’ve been paying more attention to “signs”, maybe a little because of Manifest, maybe also because of the tarot readings that my friend did previously. So first, there was this grasshopper, which could mean I just needed to take a leap of faith. And then the other day, having a dream about a small flood, which could mean being overwhelmed with my emotions. Hella true. Am actually crying as I write this. 

Ugh, I’m just so tired. Tired of being upset, tired of being angsty. Tired of wondering if I’m a good or bad person/colleague/friend/daughter. Tired of thinking. Tired of complaining and ranting. Tired of being tired. 

Side note, this was actually meant to be a more positive post about the work change, but I guess I don’t necessarily have high hopes of much changes... So yeah. 

[pinkysfaultorbrainsfault]

animaniacs - season 1 episode 38 - spellbound

episode summary: inexplicably stuck in camelot times, brain tries to get the ingredience for a magic spell that allows the caster to take over the world. this episode has no relation to the other camelot episode and i don't... know why.

the rundown: we begin our episode with the assertion that this is England in 1194. at this point in history, everyone from fire emblem 16 has grown up and is gay married, but we're not focusing on them right now. we're going to camelot and asking about their round table.

lol.

anyway after we see this creepy spider do whatever he's doing, we meet... merlin, i guess.

my dude??? he looks different. did you go on queer eye, merlin? whatever. he technically doesn't say he's merlin, so... maybe he's the other guy? the older guy? who's like merlin's dad?

this fucker. is he in the original king arthur? idk man i only watch cartoons. anyway he is casting a spell and it is very important. important enough to require components from yoko ono, apparently. like she hasn't suffered on this show enough.

but who do we have here?

"mouse" as my flatmate elegantly put it when he walked past the tv room to get a water. but even better than mouse??? mouse in SHORTS. MOUSE IN SHORTS MOUSE IN SHORTS??? MOUSE IN SHORTS. MOUSE IN SHORTS LOOK AT HIS LITTLE LEGYS MOUSE IN SHORTS MOUSE IN. SHORTS MOUSE IN SHORTS. MOUSE IN SHORTS.

YES.

pinky is not wearing shorts, which is incredibly disappointing. he's wearing some sort of sleeveless shirt dress tunic thing in an awful colour that someone like kanye west or justin bieber probably sells on their merch store for like a thousand dollars. he got the yeezy fit, damn. despite the designer status of his clothes, his bedroom eyes still do not convince me.

"i wish i was a windowsill so i could be--! ah. um."

"an imbecile?"

"ah! haha good rhyme, brain!" the bop of the century. kanye west sells the "windowsill" remix in vinyl on his online store for an additional fifty dollars.

after naming a few more celebrities ("I win, you win, edwin newman") the cauldron explodes in a puff of green smoke! and we get!

a pie. “lo!” he cries. “i’ve made a nice pie.”

hm. pinky is impressed. brain is uh. i think he mentally checked out? whatever he's doing i cannot stop fucking laughing at it. i actually had to put this post on pause for longer than anticipated because brain’s stupid face got to me. i’m so sorry. i started writing this at like 11pm gmt on the 11th and it just didn’t get to y’all in time because of brain’s stupid fucking face.

i’m sorry. brain is less impressed and declares it a “waste of magic”, and that he “would never squander such mystical powers over mere pastry.”

“poit. but what if you were eating dinner and you forgot dessert?”

“maybe then.”

but there is trouble afoot! Old Man Merlin has realised that king arthur will want some of his pie, and decides he’d better eat it in the dungeon so that doesn’t happen.

brain takes this opportunity to look through Old Man Merlin’s big book of spells. he “will use merlin’s magic to take control of the world” and then we get another nice closeup of his funny little face.

i don’t know why animaniacs was so keen on doing this? does it happen this much in the reboot? it feels like every episode we stare brain down to assert dominance.

“oh, no, no. where will you find a magic spell for that?”

“in the table of contents, pinky.”

“oh, well, very good.”

(the table of contents also contains a spell to “win at blackjack”, next to the taking over the world spell. brain considers this, for a moment, and then decides now is probably not the time.)

so good thing they have all the components for the magic spell, eh? including the Half Eaten Gingerbread Cookie That’s Been Left On The Counter All Night.

hmm.

oh, wait, no they don’t. turns out they’re fresh out of red dragon toenails, so brain’s solution to this problem is just to... go and get more, which is obviously a thing people do. they have to cross the enchanted forest to do that. it has witches and stuff. pinky rightfully points out that that is a lot of danger to overcome, and brain gets his stealing-the-minivan vibes back and nicks Old Man Merlin’s magic wand. he only knows one spell, but that won’t stop him.

the first obstacle they have to cross is the gingerbread house owned by... witch hazel from looney tunes. she’s a lot less annoying here than in bugs bunny lost in time, and informs brain that she is “waiting for pudgy german children.” instead of taking her suggestion to “get outta here”, brain magics her ass.

charlie sheen, ben vereen, shrink to the size of a lima bean.

they do get their ass handed to them by aforementioned pudgy german children, but then the german children decide that the mice have syphillis and yeet them in the general direction of slappy squirrel, who is here now.

she starts an argument with the goodfeathers, who are also here now, and brain takes it as their cue to leave.

but never mind all that! good thing there’s a handy bridge over this stream!

unfortunately, the bridge likes to spawn Giant Purple Hands That Kidnap Goats, so brain concludes they should cross said bridge using Stealth. unfortunately pinky drops the wand on the source of the Giant Purple Hands, and it is... relatively unhappy.

so brain pulls out the old “ charlie sheen, ben vereen, shrink to the size of a lima bean” again.

i did definitely think the troll was going to kick him in the crotch. i was very much sure of this, actually. instead it yeets him into rita and runt and fucks off.

“for goodness sake boxy” i hear you cry, “aren’t they at the dragon yet! this review has lasted a good twenty years of scrolling down my dashboard!” and i hear you, and you’re right, but the first thing you need to understand is; pinky has spent this whole episode singing. that little guitar he has? he has spent the whole episode replicating windowsill. “we’re in the woods so dark and stinky, to conquer the world, go brain and--” and then he forgets his name and brain has to remind him that it’s pinky. or remind him of his own name, or suggest like, steam to rhyme with stream. that is the running gag of this episode, and it is very important, at this stage, that you know that. pinky has not, as of yet, stopped singing and playing the lute.

so even though they make it to the dragon pretty mucn unscathed (aside from brain getting sat on by a giant, but i won’t go into that unless y’all specifically want details) pinky just has to have his little song in order to keep the dragon asleep.

and then brain yells at him for forgetting the word “sandman”, which breaks the toenail off completely,

and also wakes up the dragon, which can’t be good. it’s not happy! it was growing its’ nails out for paris fashion week.

brain tries his best to rectify this situation.

“charlie sheen, ben vereen--!”

charlie sheen and ben vereen are dead. i’m sorry to have to tell you. they shrunk down so much they got stuck in the quantum zone from antman and the wasp. someone should probably do something about that.

anyway the mice decide to hightail it back to Old Man Merlin’s.

conclusion: 

spoilies: they do make it back in one piece. i won’t detail the whole chase scene because it’s just a bunch of running, because the post is long enough already, and also because tumblr has eaten it three fucking times and i could basically type all this in my sleep now. the things i do for y’all. donate to the wavemaiden.

so pinky shoves all the ingredients into the pot, while brain finds The Take Over The World Spell. the dragon is harassing them this whole time, which feels unfair.

“listen carefully, pinky. i need to recite this spell exactly, and once i start i cannot stop. so i need you to be extra quiet, okay?”

“sure thing, brain.”

this lasts for approximately five minutes.

“brain’s the boss! he’ll rule with ease!”

“mystical powers, your might unfurled, grant that i become--”

“he’s the one! the big, erm. banana?”

“cheese!” yells brain, who has given up entirely by this point. “it rhymes with ease! big! cheese!”

hm.

“are you alright, brain?”

“i feel. odd.”

this is an interesting development.

so brain is cheese now! cool. i guess they have to wait for merlin to get back from Pie Heaven and turn him back, somehow? with his spare wand or whatever. this is definitely pinky’s fault, because brain did ask him to stay quiet for a bit surprisingly nicely (in brain terms) and he... did not. and now brain is a cheese.

on the other hand, this would probably work again if they tried it again, once merlin goes back to pick up some more toenails.

brain: 2 pinky: 3 outside influence: 5

“can i get you anything, brain? some medicine? a cracker?”

“were i not a large cheese, i would make you pay for that remark.”

[fiction-in-my-blood]

Switching Sides: Part 5 (HLITF)

if anyone possibly wants to get on a tag list I’d be happy to make one

👉 @theshove 👈

If you wanna catch up, Part 4 is right here! Happy reading :)

Premise: Growing up in a life of crime in a Japanese mafia, Atsuko Motomori has seen enough injustice to last her a lifetime. To try and give back to the universe her family has taken so much from, she dreams of being a detective from a young age. Her twin, sharing her disgust for her father and many uncles, just wants an ordinary life away from the crime, paing and suffering. Instead, she wants to be in the spotlight with the soft notes she makes with her cello. In their escape of 2015, on their coming of age birthday, they must split ways, never to be together ever again. If one was found, they didn’t want the other dragged down with them. Atsuko, having changed her name and appearance as best she can without a scalpel, sets off to start her life of car chases and arrests.

Four years in a seemingly dead-end police station in the middle of nowhere, being passed over time after time for promotion, Atsuko finally gets a shot at her dream, having been sent to an academy for the best candidates in the country by her boss who had always kept an eye out for her. After discovering her boss may have made her bite off more than she could chew, Atsuko must become the slave of a dominating instructor!? Who so just happens to be the captain of the most famous police unit in Japan? Not to mention a total knockout! Will Atsuko finally achieve her dream? Or will her new instructor put her through the wringer?

Warnings: Language, Reference to sexual activity, Forceful nature

~~~~~~

It had been decided that I would go undercover as Kaga's girlfriend. So, some days later, I found myself in the Metropolitan Police Headquarters. 

"Hey, get me that file." Kaga ordered, pointing at a beige booklet on someone else's desk. I quickly follow his commands, and then his next and his next. He seemed to be working even more than we had already been, and that meant me following him around more. Naruko had started to worry about me, especially after I flipped out on her. 

It was an accident. She asked if she could look at more pictures from my childhood. I guess that breif insight into my childhood a few days after we met made her curious. The memory angered me and I walked away making her feel bad. We repatched things, but she had been checking in with me more and more afterwards. I had to keep reminding myself to chill out and forget about the past. But I couldn't get that phone call out of my head.

As I'm about to ask the instructor a question about the investigation, he rejected me before I could say a word. 

"Hyogo, you have a minute?" Shinonome appeared and Kaga is more than happy to answer any questions he has. "We haven't had any contact from that Shige guy who's undercover in Hoshi's office." The atmosphere instantly became tense as the subject is brought up.

"Last contact?" Kaga responded, not looking up from his files. 

"Yesterday at midnight. Nothing after that." My heart stopped at the thought of a man being behind the front lines, not being able to get in contact with the people he needed to report to.

"Yamashige is supposed to be good at undercover work." Another detective in the room spoke up, also seeming worried. 

"Do you think he's been caught?" The word 'caught' made me clench my fists, holding a stack of files Kaga is having me sort.

"Atsuko, sorry, but could you make some tea?" Ayumu leant over me and it pulled me out of my spiralling thoughts. 

"Sure thing." I jumped up, welcoming the distraction. 

"You don't have to be so nervous." He showed me a kind smile and, maybe because I had been so on-edge lately, I didn't see, or suspect, any malice behind it. Shinonome patted my back with a thump, pushing me in the direction of the drink station. "Look, Hyogo took you to eavesdrop at that love hotel the other time. That was tough enough, right?" Not surprised he knew that, I simply nodded. From what I had heard, Ayumu was meant to be a pro at collecting information, which is why I always found him a little too curious.

"There are people like Yamashige that get sent in for the initial stage all alone." Ayumu, maybe trying to calm me down, explained. 

"And you've had no contact with him." Appreciating the conversation to distract me, I started asking questions so I could actually learn something here. 

"Yeah. When it gets to a point where there's no contact like this..." I didn't have to listen to the rest of what Shinonome had to say, I already knew that side of it.

Once I had finished the tea, I passed some to everyone in the office before the door opened with a sudden bang. It was an old man, obviously a superior by the look of his stoic face. 

"Kaga, is your man really missing?" Were the first words out of his mouth and even I was surprised. Word really got around quick.

After Kaga also noticed this, the higher-up started to order him around. "You need to take responsibility for this mistake. Cut him from the team and give his mission to someone else." The bluntness of the savage order made my ears buzz. 

‘How could someone think that would be okay? If you have the resources, why wouldn't you go save your man?’

The man then threw some files at Kaga, which I was sure were resumes of other officers that would be able to take over the mission. When I watched Kaga really consider the papers in front of him, I started to think he was really up for the idea. 

‘Surely not?..’ I thought back to the phone call he had when we were walking to class and my palms grew sweaty.

"Of course. Dregs like him won't work. Thanks. I'll reorganise the team immediately." The words leaving Kaga's mouth left a satisfied smirk on the higher-up's face. Me, on the other hand, had anger bubbling up inside me. Maybe this was my naivety playing again, but how could they just leave a man to die? That was something my father would do. Again, it was becoming harder to separate the two.

"Yeah. Find someone suitable to take his place." The man nodded in satisfaction and left the room.

"Instructor Kaga." I walked up to my mentor's desk and he glared up at me. 

"What?" He spat and I tried to compose myself, not wanting to sound too emotional. 

"You're not deserting him, are you?" My words made the room go cold, but Kaga was the only one that reacted. 

"What're you talking about?" As if he hadn't just had that conversation, Kaga looked at me with a frown. 

"The investigator who hasn't checked in." I reminded him. 

"Are you saying I have to go there and save him?" The captain seemed exhausted just to vocalise the idea. His indifference frustrated me, but I gave everything I had not to raise my voice.

‘He says he'll get rid of morons on a daily basis... But he's going to abandon a man in a life or death situation?’

"Ayumu, you finished?" Ignoring my internal rage, Kaga looked over to his subordinate. 

"Of course. Everything's ready to go at any time." Shinonome passed a small USB to the Captain. "There's a backup." He reminded Kaga before he stood up. 

"I'll be away for a while, so you handle the rest." Kaga grabbed his blazer from the back of his chair. 

"You'll be going home today?" Shinonome replied.

"Yeah. I doubt it'll be that easy though." As Kaga nonchalantly headed for the door, I couldn't help but bite the tip of my thumb. The situation had made me spiral into where my sister could be and I was unbelievably nervous.

"You still here? Hurry up and get back to school." Kaga called out to me and I didn't really hear him. 

"I still have work to do." I was pulled out of my trance when I saw him glaring at me. 

"You're good for today." Kaga placed the USB Shinonome gave him in his pocket and leaft the room without saying another word to anyone.

‘How can he just leave like that?’ Obviously not having any clue what was going on in his head, I stood there, fuming. 

"Well, back to work." A detective's words made the atmosphere in the room alleviate- almost immediately. The detectives seemed more scared about what Kaga would do to them if they didn't finish their own work than for their endangered coworker. It was as if nothing had happened.

"You're all going to forget about this guy?" I was quite honestly shocked. I thought the police force I was joining was to save people, not to lay back when it's too hard to give it a try. 

"There's nothing we can do about it anyway." The detectives try to deviate me away from thinking about the subject, but it was too late.

"Atsuko." I heard Ayumu speak up behind me and I turned to see a meaningful smile on his face. I ran over, hoping to talk some sense into him. Hopefully whatever rivalry we had between us made us somewhat fri-enemies.

"Isn't he your teammate? You can't just leave him there!" It may have seemed like I was overreacting, but in the current state of my life, I felt like it was necessary to try and save someone if I have the chance. There was so many people in the same situation as Yamashige I had watched die at the hands of my father and my uncles, I wanted to help at least one of them,

"Don't say these things so loudly." Ayumu tried to calm me down. "It's like they said, don't say anything and let Hyogo do things his way." Shinonome seemed to know more than he was leading on but returned to work before I could question him further.

Just as I began to feel like I needed to go after Kaga, I was nearly hit by a yawning man emerging from a back room. 

"Excuse me." Thrown off by the strange occurrence in such a prestigious office, I jumped out of the way without thinking.

 "Yeah." The man merely grunted, looking too tired to be walking around. 

"You napping again, Chief?" Ayumu smiled at the man. 

"You're all so noisy; I woke up." He grumbled in response. 

‘That's the Public Safety Division's boss?’ I was completely thrown off by the man who still had bedhead. ‘He's the guy responsible for his subordinates. Surely he would help!’

I took a step in front of the chief, bowing after I introduced myself. "Yeah, nice to meet you." He smiled, now starting to wake up. "Do you need something from me?" He spoke so smoothly that I took an involuntary step back. 

He seemed a little mysterious; I felt like I shouldn't have been talking to him. I quickly shook the thought out of my brain and clenched my fists. "Um... Detective Yamashige has possibly failed his mission and been caught." I started to explain, but Chief Namba's expression d idn’t change. "But nobody will help him, not even Instructor Kaga..." Feeling a little betrayed on the detective's behalf, I got more annoyed at my instructor.

"Kaga?" Namba seemed shocked at the name. He took moment to think, looking a little stressed. "I leave matters like that to the squad captains. It's just not something I butt into." He sighed, looking away from my strong gaze. I instantly deflated; it felt like I had used my last hope.

"Oh, now that I think about it, you're the one going undercover with Kaga as a couple." Not realising my defeat, the Chief brought up a totally different subject. 

"Yes. I'll work as hard as possible." I sighed before answering him, not wanting to sound ungrateful for the opportunity.

"Then make sure you practice well for this role. If you're going to feel like a real couple, you should stick with Kaga." The chief's suggestion sounded like a death sentence. I would have thought he was joking, if not for the serious expression on his face. 

"He'll bite my head off but... Can you tell-?" Cutting me off seemed to be a trait for the officers in Public Safety. 

"Alright, I'll leave the rest to you." He winked before heading for the exit. 

‘Okay, he thinks its a good idea...’ I silently followed him through the exit to find out where the Captain had gone.

~~~~~~

I found myself in front of the building Chief Namba believed Kaga had escaped to. ‘I know this building’. I peered up at the skyscraper in front of me, wracking my brain for why it seemed so familiar. This was meant to be where the missing investigator infiltrated. Hopefully, Kaga came here to save his man.

Lost in thought, I didn't notice when two nasty-looking men exited the building. 

"Hey, you! What're you doing here?" The more muscular of the two called out and I jumped around. 

‘That tattoo!’ My eyes grew wide at the ink peeking out of his collar. It looked similar to the mark my father's mafia used and my heart dropped at the thought I could have walked right into his territory. 

"No way... You got something to do with that police guy, don't yah?" Probably noticing my pantsuit and not my familial features, the two started to surround me. 

"Seems like it'd be bad if we let you go. Come inside." Sensing my defensive aura, each man grabbed one of my arms. I started thrashing about, trying to get out of their grasps as they dragged me into the building.

~~~~~~

"Get. Your. Filthy paws. Off. Me!" I grunted as the men pulled me into an office on one of the upper floors. They threw me down after closing the door behind them. In the room was a desk and a man I knew for a fact I had seen before. He was one of my ‘uncles’. There's no blood relation, but my father trusted him with some of the more sensitive parts of their business. My eyes grew wide in fear of him recognising me. Standing beside my uncle was Kaga, holding a USB.

"Caught this woman sniffing around outside!" One of the rough men announced while I was still sitting on the floor, breathing heavily from trying- and failing- to escape. My heart was beating like crazy, fear of being shot on the spot swimming in my gaze as it didn’t leave that man. 

"We think she might have something to do with this guy." Kaga coudn’t help but glare daggers at me, but I didn't want to take my eyes off of the boss in the room. He was just as slimy-looking as I remembered. A shiver ran down my spine.

"The Chief told me to follow you," I announced to my instructor, not letting my gaze leave the man sitting at the desk. He glanced over at me, not noticing anything unusual. Especially the fact that I was one of his boss' runaway daughters.

"That was completely unnecessary," Kaga complained. "You obviously need more tailing training." I finally deviated my gaze from the old man to my boss, hoping a different angle of my face wouldn't light a bulb in his brain.

The tattooed guy from before spoke up, but Kaga quickly shut him down. "This girl is mine to deal with. Don't touch her." He threw them a relaxed smirk, otherwise unphased. "So, what're we doing? Negotiate or get thrown in a cell. Pick whichever you'd like."

"Y-You don't even care what happens to this girl?" The man who pulled me in here yanked on my arm to pull me up, making a show to get Kaga's attention. 

"I said get the fuck off me!" I yelled, punching him in the jugular. As he fell back, most likely choking on his Adam's apple, I rolled my shoulder back to make sure he didn't dislocate it. 

"So you're not an entirely useless moron?" Kaga seemed a little shocked, but otherwise didn't change his expression. I narrowed my eyes, annoyed I got myself in this mess. Why had all my years hiding in the shadows amounted to this? Sitting on the floor of the office owned by a demon of my past, glaring at the man that was meant to teach me how to defeat them And now my pants were dirty from the slightly grubby carpet. Who knew what was gone on in this room...

"I'll overlook all of this for you if you bargain." Kaga turned back to the boss, waving the USB in front of his face. Only now did I realise he looked like he had been roughed around a little- which did lift my spirits. 

"The original data is on hand, of course. If anything happens to me, you're done for." Kaga smirks as my uncle begins to sweat. "Well, choose." He demands once the boss hasn't said anything. I realise that the USB given to him by Ayumu has all the information of their crimes. Well, obviously it won't be all. But for them to be this nervous, there must be a decent amount. I glared from the USB to the pathetic man cowering in his office chair.

"I... I understand. We'll return your investigator." Defeated, the man slouched with a tired sigh. 

"Your understanding has saved you." Kaga waited for someone to make a move, but no one did. "What're you standing around for? Let's go." Kaga seemed to be talking to me, so I returned my gaze to him before the boss could match my eye contact. Kaga then gave the boss some advice on how to stay lawful, which seemed like a joke since he was chuckling and I knew all too well what crimes these people have commited.

Although, having seen Kaga's infamous skills used in real life, I was a little stunned. I didn't even realise it when my uncle's gaze clamped onto me. Kaga grabbed Yamashige, who had been huddled in the corner of the room, and I hurried after them as he left.

~~~~~~

Outside the building, I saw Yamashige, the one who lost contact. I looked down at his worrisome state. His clothes tattered, skin bruised and cut. It was obvious they had tortured him. I scowled to myself, knowing how well he really got off. It could have gone much worse for the investigator.

"Kaga, I'm sorry! I had just a little bit more to go, but I messed up like always." Yamashige begged for forgiveness as Kaga scowled. 

"Thanks to you, everything we have achieved is ruined. I had to save you because you have will-power, but you can't seem to use it." Despite his mean words, Kaga had gone out of his way to save the man. I couldn't fault him in that. Although, I couldn't stand his tone a second longer.

"Instructor Kaga! You shouldn't speak-!" Before I could try and defend the lost investigator, Kaga snapped back. I knew what this man had been through, he certainly didn't need a talking to right now. The least he needed was to see a doctor, then maybe a psychiatrist.

"You remember this. I have no use for morons who screw up. There is no next time." Kaga gritted his teeth, threatening either my livelihood or Yamashige's, I couldn't tell. With a final huffed out sigh, he seemed to calm down a little. I was sure he needed a cigarette by the tells I had noticed; spending extended amounts of time with him.

"Well, I guess thanks to that we'll now have a big information source in the future." Kaga was surprisingly positive about the situation, seeing as he gained the organisation's subordinates through his bribe. 

‘That is if they don't get him involved.’ I subconsciously bit my lip, worried about any security cameras or delayed epiphanies that might blow my cover, as Kaga laughed.

"Hey, servant." Kaga beaconed me and I jumped, used to that pronoun now. "Get this tattered dishcloth-looking guy some medical care." Although insulting him, Yamashige thanked his Captain. Then, Kaga took his leave, neglecting both the investigator and me.

~~~~~~

While I was helping Yamashige to a nearby hospital, as I had no other way of transporting us, I w asconstantly apologising. Not just for how uncomfortable this must have been, but for how he was caught, how he was treated, not only by the mafia but Kaga as well. Although, I didn't specify my regrets for him.

"I feel like I recognise you from somewhere." The detective spoke up as we turned a corner. I stiffened a little, worried about what that could mean. 

"I have one of those faces," I explained nonchalantly, walking a little faster so I could leave him earlier. Who knew what pictures were left out of me in that office or in my childhood home- if he was lucky enough to be trusted to be allowed entry, that is. My father was highly sensitive to the security of his main base, his home, he hardly let anyone in unless they lived there or had come to die. I remembered thinking the only way anyone would leave that place was in a bodybag. It could have been me on the several occasions my father got a little testy. 

"No, I'm pretty sure it's your face I've seen before." He persisted and I was really starting to get nervous. 

"Is this some weird pickup line?" I laughed, trying to throw him off his suspecting threat. What stopped him questioning me further was our arrival at the hospital.

~~~~~~

Back in the Instructor's Staff Room, a day or so after Kaga went out to save Yamashige, Ayumu was sitting in his office, alone. He was working on cases, classes and anything to keep his hands busy. Just as he was getting into the groov, his phone rung.

"Ayumu, we need to talk. It's Yamashige." The previously missing detective announced on the other end of the call, making the instructor a little surprised. Yamashige explained how familiar the woman who had come to save him looked. Being another detective, however clumsy, Ayumu agreed to look into it. 

"Have a look at the database. And see if she has any ties to that organisation." Yamashige sounded desperate, having had time to wrack his brain and not finding where he knew her from. 

"Are you insinuating-." But, before Ayumu could ask his question, Yamashige begged him, again, to investigate. "... Okay. I'll look into it." Shinonome sighed before hanging up. Then, he heard the door open to the common area. He stood up to look at who it was. When he saw the girl he had found suspicious since their first, official, meeting, having an obvious fraudulent entry, he closds the blinds so that she couldn't see him.

~~~~~~

As I'm doing filing work for Kaga in the Staff Room, Ayumu's office door flew open. I jumped at the sound of the door banging against the wall and saw him walking straight towards me with a sheet of paper in his hand. 

"What is this?" He slapped it on the table in front of me and I instantly noticed it as a missing person's report. I gulped, seeing what looked like my face on the paper, but the hair colour was all wrong. I explained the basics of what it was and Shinonome frowned. He told me to look at the face and I did. I noticed the report was made a couple of weeks ago, for the name my sister had been using. 

‘I guess that guy was telling the truth.’ I sighed internally, becoming more depressed as the conversation continued.

"Okay, she looks a little like me," I admitted teasingly, knowing there'd be no way to flat out deny it. We had the exact same face. "But what does that have to do with anything?" Acting as dumb as I could possibly, I waited for him to accuse me of something. He couldn't accuse me of being the girl in the photo, I had been enrolled by the time the report was filed.

However, before he could continue, the door to the office flew open. There was Instructor Soma, walking in from a lecture. Ayumu quickly hid the file behind his back, smiling in greeting. I breathed a silent sigh of relief for the interruption. When Soma disappeared into his own office, Ayumu turned back to me.

"The case was closed the day it was opened. She called in saying she was okay." He leaned down to me, turning my chair and putting a hand on either arm. The explanation made my heart stop. 

‘She's okay? She was alive enough to call the police and sound okay.’ The hope and joy bubbling up in my heart were hard to contain as Ayumu peered into my bored expression.

"Okay?" I pulled a confused expression, trying to get him off my back without gathering too much suspicion. He sighed, standing up straight and screwing the paper into a ball, throwing it in the trash can. 

When he finally returned to his office, I finally let myself breath. ‘Why did he think to look into that?’ The sudden realisation made my joy turn to anxiety, thinking about what I could have let slip for him to research my features.

~~~~~~

Soon after Shinonome disappeared back into his office, I decided to go up to the roof to get some air and clear my head. Pushing the fire escape door open, I began pacing the floor, running through my thoughts as I had no energy to do it mentally. 

‘Okay, if she called, that means dad obviously forced her, to avoid suspicion. So, that probably means he needs her for something.’ I think about my father's reasoning for having my twin ensure she wasn't missing. ‘He would have just killed her and made sure no one found the body if he didn't need her. She’ll hopefully be safe for now.’

Biting on the tip of my thumb, I was able to stop my thoughts from wandering to a darker place, but it was too late when I imagined her mutilated body thrown over the backyard of my home, right over the several unmarked graves my father placed all his other victims like trophies. Grass never grew from that patch, the earth was up-ridden every other week to add another body. It was like my father enjoyed the stench that came from the rot. At one point, he had to move to cremating remains and sprinkling them over the soil. There was no room left.

Suddenly, I saw someone standing at the edge of the railing which I hadn't noticed before. I turned to see Kaga, smoking a cigarette and leaning on that railing. It seems like he hadn't seen me as he hadn't yelled or even glanced in my direction since I started staring.

He looked better than usual. My thoughts even surprised me. The version I saw here, I couldn't imagine him insulting me or getting annoyed at everything I did. He hadn't had a barrier he would normally have up, which made my heart flutter a little. It was the same side profile as usual. 

‘Why does this make him look so different?’ Looking at the surrounding light from the setting sun and the peaceful aura of the rooftop hang out area, I questioned my views on men or any type of beauty standard.

‘I should go before he sees me.’ I told myself, scared I'd get into trouble, and ran back to the Staff Room to take my work to my dorm, pushing all my haunting memories and thoughts to the back of my mind.

[prongsmydeer]

Ayesha Liveblogs Tiger King 

“I think it would be fair to say that Carole is the Mother Teresa of cats” now there’s a sentence I never thought I’d hear

“I’d never been a person who had friends” statements like this always perplex me because surely there had to be ONE other person in however long you quantify childhood that you identified with. Like not one whole ass person? You’re not the only person who loves cats Carole

The juxtaposition between Carole Baskin’s “Animal Print for Animal Rights” and Joe Exotic’s “Tiger King underwear is our bestseller” is poetic cinema

Okay this isn’t a reflection of my opinions on this man but I Saw a Tiger is a good country ballad there I said it 

“When I first met Joe, I was like a month out of high school” well that’s not good

[Joe Exotic voice] Some people have tigers to cope

Doc Antle has only been on screen for 30 seconds and already he has made himself memorable by directing the film crew

Is Bhagavan Antle Indian in some way or did he just have a really intense Eat Pray Love journey with his guru

Also is he really a doctor orrrrrrrrr

“I am out there in the forefront so known of being this guy that is in love with big cats and has them love him back” please don’t tell me this guy does anything weird to his animals

“People only care about saving what affects them” 

“You can’t put a price on holding a baby tiger” but you did and apparently it’s $625 

The fact that multiple tigers have had albinism is probably a sign of major inbreeding practices at these zoos

You know, even if I ate meat*, there is no way I would be able to handle any kind of early prep stage of it bc seeing these cow carcasses is A Lot

*If u r reading this I don’t care if u eat meat leave me alone

“Animals just wasn’t enough, okay? So then I started adding magic” well that took an unexpected turn

I don’t know if it’s for real fair to criticize every person who has brought a big cat out in a public venue/talk show because I know at least like Dave Sal/moni is always going “THESE ANIMALS MAKE TERRIBLE PETS” 

As a sidenote from what I understand this Saff person keeps being deadnamed/misgendered throughout this documentary and I do not appreciate it 

“I grew up a professional cowboy in a family of professional cowboys” every sentence on this show is a journey

WHO is letting their ONE-YEAR-OLD lay on top of a tiger cub I know you’re at a zoo but BRUH

“It’s going to be a small Waco” to say this ON THE NEWS

This 2 minute stretch of episode is all the PSA anyone ever needs to never own a gun

Well I think we can all agree that PETA is a fucking mess

God this is like battle of the people who are terrible at doing anything good for animals

“What do you carry that gun for?” “People” AHHHHHHHHHHH?!?!!!!?!?

“I sleep with an AK-47 under my mattress, loaded, ready to roll” WILL SOMEONE HELP THE U.S. OF A

I was warned about this show and yet I was still not prepared for the level of UNHINGED it would be 

How in the FUCK does a place like this not have an on-site medic

“Why don’t you come back on another day” he said, after telling the public an employee had his arm taken off 

“I am never gonna financially recover from this” SURE JOE THIS IS ABOUT YOU

To go back to work a WEEK after getting your arm amputated... BRUH

“Any law that you think’s unfair or unjustice, it is your obligation, it is your responsibility to stand up against that bullshit law” well Thomas Jefferson was a slaveowner so clearly the injustice thing was relative for him

Traditionally don’t drug addictions fuel people choosing extreme paths with their life rather than the other way around? 

JKHGKJHGKJH this whole exchange:

Interviewer: What kind of doctor is he?

Maria: Mystical science.

Interviewer: Mystical science?

Maria, nodding: Yeah.

“How many wives does Doc Antle have?” I didn’t expect this but somehow it tracks

I’m gonna bet none of these people with subcontinental names have a single bit of South Asian heritage like okay “Moksha” and “Rajnee” did Bhagavan name you

On a more serious note: It’s really fucked up that these men keep meeting literal teenagers, making them their employees, and then also get into relationships with them. I cannot emphasize this strongly enough THIS IS NOT GOOD OR HEALTHY

It’s pretty weird that Doc Antle keeps emphasizing so frequently that one of his partners is Italian 

“I’m gonna go be a yoga animal trainer” ah, white people bullshit

“Goodbye. Don’t fall in love with your boss.” Good advice, Dad

I was not expecting all this subcontinental imagery to get under my skin this badly but what’s your problem dude can’t u be normal for like a second 

“You’re this garbage person, but if you listen to me, I’ll make you great” again this tracks but gross

Again, on a more serious note: if a partner ever talks to you this way please call a domestic abuse hotline 

Not that India is at all in a good place right now but I personally ban Doc Antle from ever entering India. Banned. Forever. I will not be accepting constructive criticism at this time

“I didn’t really know any better” is a really good way of summarizing what all of these younger partners have been through

Wow Carole is really explaining this abuse issue succinctly 

Antle’s indignation at being implied to be a cult leader despite the fact he is most definitely a cult leader

Joe’s story in his documentary is constantly “is this going to be a humanizing moment PSYCH it’s still terrible”

HOW IS THIS LEGAL PAY YOUR WORKERS A LIVING WAGE

Why is this husband-killing thing JUST A FOOTNOTE AT THE END OF THIS EPISODE OH MY GOD

We have deviated so far from the tiger thing oh my god

Why is the only man in this documentary who is faithful to his spouse the man that smuggled drugs inside of snakes

Every time I learn a new thing about a person in this documentary I have to reorient myself

This whole episode has been about this murder and I’m concerned that its title, “The Secret,” hasn’t even been revealed yet

GOD I take back what I said about I Saw Tiger, the concept of this song/music video for Here Kitty Kitty is so disturbing that this man deserves no credit whatsoever as a musician 

CAROLE WHY ARE YOU GIGGLING ABOUT THE MEAT GRINDER IT’S NOT FUNNY

Well I don’t have much to say about this episode other than yikes

I guess if you’re really out to spite someone stealing their brand and posting exactly the opposite of everything they stand for is an effective if weird and petty way to do it

Do you think the whole throne footage moment was a “Frankenstein realizing what he has wrought” kind of thing for Kirkham

This is really like watching a sports game of two teams you can’t stand except the sport is murder and other miscellaneous crime

If we’re all being real with ourselves the documentary filmmakers themselves MUST have had some issues going on to be able to walk into this situation and not do anything about it

This series really seems to present a compelling case for why every major figure in this documentary has potentially committed at least one terrible crime

Ah there’s the judgment from the woman in Florida I guess it’s two crimes with one stone

God these poor animals they do not deserve anything happening to them

While obviously people are enticed by the prospect of someone they’re into having an animal JUST GET AN ALREADY DOMESTICATED ANIMAL LIKE DOMESTICATED CATS AND DOGS EXIST OH MY GOD DO NOT USE EXOTIC PETS AS DATE BAIT

 It has been so long since we heard about Travis ngl I already forgot about him 

Why is every single person in this show SO OFF THE WALLS I mean I know why but also WHY

This documentary is also a treatise in the flaws of the U.S. prison system and how it sets up people up to fail or re-offend upon release

Take a shot every time a middle-aged man in this show mentions that he casually bought himself a big cat as a teen

“Joe was the entertainment director.... by title” I don’t think this was meant to be a burn but what a burn

I am almost certain I WATCHED that Last Week Tonight episode during that election and if u told me that 4-5 years later I would be rewatching that clip in a documentary about this man’s journey to being convicted for murder then I cannot say I wouldn’t be surprised but I would probably believe it 

Also I have to wonder what John Oliver thinks about being part of this 

[“Beyonce?” voice] Shaun Majumder?

Sidenote: Until this exact moment I thought of Shaun Majumder as Ben Mulroney even though Brian Mulroney is white as hell I guess I have faceblindness but only for Canadian talkshow personalities

I have been aware of this before now but the fact you can buy a GUN at a Walmart what in the FUCK is U.S.A. doing

Man does this campaign manager really want to take ownership of anything Joe Exotic has ever done

Ngl I was wondering why someone who had at one point clearly had a lot of money seemed to have such poor dental care access but meth certainly does explain it

I mean people can be attracted to both men and women (hello) but since Joe was fuelling their drug addictions since they were teenagers attraction is at best a null factor and at worst an added layer of terrible to this whole mess

It’s hard to even respond to this in a meaningful way because this is so fucked up. Don’t own guns.

“That was a big fucking mistake,” he said, right after someone explained that he was driving large groups of people in an enclosed space in a busy city with wild animals that could maim or kill them

Padlock penls piercing really does not seem like a first date bombshell

“We went to dinner and he never went home” well if that doesn’t set you with a sense of foreboding

TWO MONTHS AFTER WHAT IN THE HELL OH MY GOD also I hope Dillon is okay

“It wasn’t about the animals anymore” you THINK

“It was sort of funny when they started but it’s gotten really dark” how meta

Of all the reasons Joe could’ve abandoned his zoo, I really didn’t think embezzlement would be what pushed him

“He won’t tell anyone where he’s at, not even me,” said Dial, with no acknowledgement of the fact that Joe is also theoretically still married and would maybe tell his husband???

Oh Dillon spotted??? Yikes get out dude

Take a shot every time a white person who really doesn’t understand where the word “karma” comes from starts talking about karma as if it is the Law of Revenge

The fact this man brings a film crew out with him while he’s on the run evading a federal investigation..... incomprehensible

“Joe just wanted to put it in somebody’s name and continue to be the tiger queen, I mean king,” really REALLY of all the reasons to object to Joe you’re going to choose homophobia wow

Is this about an attempt to have someone murdered or does something happen to Baskin it is very unclear

This documentary has an interesting format of switching focus from crime to crime to crime 

“I’ve never been as proud of being married to anyone as I am being married to you” It’s weird to compliment your husband by comparing him to all your other husbands

How is the lesson for Jeff Lowe in this “let’s build another zoo” surely at that point it’s better to just cut your losses

[Garretson voice]: You should pay me for being a bro, dude

“I’m a libertarian, so technically, fuck the Feds,” I’ve never heard an intonation that better suits a conservative millennial 

I mean I don’t think it was advisable but honestly why are people surprised Joe took the stand isn’t delusions of grandeur kind of his thing

Sometimes it’s just that they’ve added in other moments to break up the awful immoral crimes with just run of the mill douchebaggery like the nanny/gym thing huh

I guess the silver lining in this is that potentially these big cat zoos will shut down but like where do these animals who have been raised in captivity go??? I don’t trust anyone in this documentary to not exploit them in some way ugh 

“Not a single animal benefited from this war,” correct, Saff

“I was wrapped up in having a zoo,” not really an excuse but ok

[misssophiachase]

Meet the Mikaelsons (formerly called Reality Bites) Chapter 5 - We Are Family

On FF and AO3

Playa Palmilla, San Jose del Cabo

"He’s so frustrating, do you think if I killed him and buried his body in the woods anyone would notice?”

“Given he’s Klaus Mikaelson I think so, Care,” Bonnie offered through the phone speaker.

“So, did you see him naked in the shower at least?” 

Caroline had to stop for a moment, not because she’d seen him naked or in the shower given she was too busy sabotaging his hot water supply but because there was a small, niggling feeling at the back of her mind that wasn’t averse to seeing him in that way. Not that she'd ever admit it aloud.

“Of course that would be your initial response, Kat,” she muttered wryly, once she'd recovered from those rogue visuals. “He is driving me crazy. First, he orchestrates the seat allocation change on the flight, then the accommodation and now dinner with the Addams Family.”

“You work with them every day, it can’t be that difficult.”

“Not all at once, Bonnie, and I usually have a whole crew of buffers to stop me from killing them but tonight it will just be us.”

“Like one big happy family.”

“Not helping, Katherine,” she growled.

“Look, I’d be more than happy to play buffer with Elijah Mikaelson,” Katherine purred. “My buffering skills are second to none.”

“I think you’re onto something,” Caroline murmured, wondering why she hadn’t thought of it sooner. “How would you both like to come to dinner? I’ll invite Enzo too. Klaus Mikaelson thinks he can mess with my life, well I’m going to do the same thing and play him at his own game.”

"You realize he's your boss, right?"

"The network is my boss and last time I checked he's co-producer," she muttered, still annoyed he'd taken half her job. "Anyway, in a few more weeks I won't have anything to do with him or his crazy-ass family so quite frankly I'm going to do what I like. Now, are you in?"

"Caroline?" She heard him call through the door. "We need to leave for dinner."

"Keep your panties on, Mikaelson," she replied.

"Stop thinking about my knickers and get your cute, little butt out here, Forbes."

"Are you sure you two aren't getting it on?" Katherine asked through the phone, reminding Caroline they were still on the line. "Because if you're not that's as close to foreplay as two people can get."

"Collect Enzo and get your asses to this dinner otherwise I can't be responsible for my actions," she growled then disconnected the call.

Caroline smoothed down her dress, took a deep breath, and closed her eyes momentarily to regain her composure. Just because she wasn't used to big, family dinners didn't mean she couldn't do this. She did work with them all at varying times so it should be easy enough.

Her eyes fluttered open, Caroline telling herself that it was only a couple of hours then it would be all over.

Opening the door, Caroline wasn't expecting him to look quite so handsome in a white, linen shirt buttoned low on his toned chest and fitting, khaki pants. Obviously the cold shower didn't dampen any of his appeal or her attraction to it. Why did he have to look like that? And smell like that? His spicy aftershave was infiltrating her nostrils and she was struggling to concentrate on what she was supposed to do next.

"Wow, you look.." she finally focused on Klaus, catching his dazed expression. 

"It's a dress," she replied, knowing full well she chose this white one on purpose because of how well it fitted her and highlighted her Californian tan. 

Not that she was trying to impress him but if she was forced to eat with the Mikaelsons then she had to look at least mildly presentable amongst all of their designer clothing. 

"It's beautiful," he murmured, the intensity in his eyes making her blush mildly. 

"Well, it's not designer but it'll have to do."

"I've always thought designer clothes were overrated," he admitted. "This shirt is actually from the Gap." She gave him a look which clearly said she knew he was lying. "You can, uh, check the tag if you like?"

"I'll pass on that," she shot back sarcastically. "You obviously haven't been to the Gap lately, but nice try to make me feel included, Mikaelson."

"Just because I haven't been shopping there lately doesn't mean I don't want to go there, Forbes," he chuckled. "Now, let's get going before my mother tells us off for being late and missing Grace." 

"You say Grace?"

"No, but I got you," he laughed. She rolled her eyes in his direction and then they set off for his mother's private villa.

"So, just in case you were wondering, my mother hates coriander, I think you call it cilantro, she’s incredibly paranoid it’s in the food even if it isn’t. Elijah’s pet peeve is anyone who doesn’t observe proper decorum when it comes to table manners and cutlery placement. Rebekah is incredibly fussy about food.”

“Trust me we’ve seen that particular trait daily on-set,” she murmured knowingly, feeling bad for the catering team all over again.

“She has a thing about separate food items touching. Fruit salad is case in point,” Caroline couldn’t help but giggle at that point.

“Defeats the purpose of calling it a salad I suppose,” she observed. “And Kol?”

“Kol has this horrible habit of licking his knife and talking with his mouth full. Henrik is the one you have to look out for though.”

“Innocent, little Henrik?”

“Don’t let him fool you, love. While being the nicest of all the Mikaelsons, many family meals have ended with at least someone throwing food at someone else." 

“Who knew Henrik could be so mischievous? And you?”

“I don’t like peas.”

“Everyone hates peas, that is nothing,” she snorted. 

“Okay, you’ve got me.” 

“Let me guess you help Henrik do the throwing?”

“Not every time,” he admitted. “Just when Elijah is being pompous and Rebekah precious and Kol immature.”

“So, most times then?” He smirked at her knowingly. “Are these all jokes too?”

"All truth, I couldn’t come up with all of those quirks if I tried. Plus, I swear on my Gap shirt," he teased. Caroline liked the fact that the Mikaelsons seemed like a normal family even if they didn’t let anyone see it publicly. 

"So, why did you feel the need to tell me that? Worried about my white dress getting dirty because of a rogue, food fight you may or may not have started?"

"Well, that," he began, sending her a small smile as they walked. "And because I felt a little bad about crashing your flight and making you stay at the villa.” 

“So, you admit you were wrong?”

“Easy tiger, I never said I was wrong. Klaus Mikaelson is never wrong.”

“Oh, puh-lease, enough with the ego and the use of the third person,” she complained.

“But I thought it would be helpful with our work. Also, I’m a little worried you’ll try that cold water trick on me again or dagger me in my sleep tonight.”

“I suggest you sleep with one eye open if that’s the case,” she said, only half-jokingly.  “I’m curious about this supposed work we’ll be doing. I mean the location team has been here for the past week setting up, the pre-production work is done, the crew has their instructions, the cast has their scripts, even if some don’t like to use them,” she raised her eyebrows at him accusingly.

“You never know when something will come up,” he replied mysteriously.

“If that’s your attempt to talk dirty…”

“I can’t help it if you misconstrue everything I say,” he teased. “I heard you used to work in research before you went into producing.”

“I did,” she confirmed. “What kind of research do we need exactly?”

“Well actually…”

“If it isn’t my two favorite producers in the whole world,” Kol singsonged, patting his brother on the back affectionately as they walked up the front path together.

“Maybe because we are the only two you know, knucklehead,” Klaus growled. 

Caroline was used to his younger brother’s weird sense of humour and she was busily trying to work out what Klaus needed and why it included her. Maybe it had something to do with the bride-to-be but, for some reason, it seemed more personal than even that. 

“Shouldn’t you be kissing in a tree with sweet Caroline by now, brother?”

“Shouldn’t you be acting your age by now, Kol?” 

“I don’t kiss in trees just for your information, Kol. I much prefer places that are comfortable and clean,” she offered. Kol’s eyes looked like they were about to bulge out of his head at her brazen response. 

“What a coincidence, love,” Klaus growled, his heated expression not lost on her. “Me too.”

As they walked inside and approached the rest of the family, Caroline realised she was going to have to find out later about this mysterious research project. 

First, she had to get through dinner with the Mikaelsons.

30 minutes later..

“Are you sure there’s no cilantro in this?” Esther asked the waiter, inspecting the plate of food suspiciously. Caroline noticed Klaus smirking in her direction and had to stifle a laugh. 

“We’ve been through this already, mother, it hasn’t touched anything, trust me I asked for all ingredients before we ate,” Rebekah drawled, knocking her head on the table in frustration. 

“Manners, Rebekah,” Elijah chided. “And, Kol, I’m taking away your knife if you’re going to do that. And Henrik,” he admonished, before the young boy could even speak. “Don’t you even think about starting a fight, this is a $5,000, Armani suit.”

Caroline couldn’t believe just how accurate his observations of his family were. Having said that though, Klaus had been relatively quiet until now. She thought it was due to the fact the other Mikaelsons were taking centre stage but something didn’t seem right given just how chatty he’d been with her earlier. 

“I’m sorry we’re late.” She looked up to see Enzo, Kat, and Bonnie being ushered in by the villa staff. “Someone had to change their outfit ten times.” Caroline eyed Katherine knowing who the guilty party was. 

“Of course not, sit down,” Esther fluttered her eyelashes at him. “Waiter, get these three some drinks and whatever this food is supposed to be. I hope none of you are allergic to cilantro.”

“And keep the drinks coming,” Rebekah muttered tapping her glass impatiently, her attention squarely focused on Enzo. Caroline wasn’t sure what Enzo had done to Princess Rebekah but obviously it required extra alcohol.

“Thank you for inviting us,” Bonnie smiled sweetly. Kol who’d been busy inspecting his facial features in the reflection of his butter knife stopped short, perusing their new dining companions curiously. 

“Of course, anything for Caroline,” Esther said, patting the chair next to her for Enzo. He gave her a brief look which meant ‘you owe me.’ 

She could feel Klaus staring intently in her direction, his crimson lips pursed tightly.  Maybe inviting them behind his back was immature but she’d been so worked up about his constant need to interfere with her plans. 

“Nice suit, Armani right?” Katherine asked, placing herself next to him. When she said she’d buffer she really meant it. 

“Yes,” he answered. “And who might you be?”

“Katherine Pierce,” she sent him a dazzling smile. “It’s lovely to finally meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, Ms Pierce,” he replied stoically. Caroline never knew anyone who could be so immune to flirting as Elijah. But knowing Katherine’s persistence he would soon know.  

“Who do we have here?” Kol asked, sidling over to Bonnie. “Are you a friend of our sweet Caroline?”

“Yes, I’m Bonnie,” she replied simply. 

“Well, I’m Kol,” he said confidently. “Although, I’m sure you’ve heard of me already.”

“Yes, your reputation precedes you,” she murmured quietly. Caroline could tell by Kol’s puzzled look he wasn’t sure if she meant that in a good or bad way. Maybe being kept on his toes like that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

“Can you pass the salt,” Enzo asked Rebekah politely after their meals had been delivered. She didn’t respond at first, just finished the rest of her drink in one go. Enzo gave Caroline another look which clearly meant ‘seriously?’

“Here,” she pushed it toward him her gaze purposely not meeting his. 

“Well, that would be great if I wanted pepper,” he muttered. “There is a difference.”

“Rebekah don’t be rude to the good doctor,” Esther chided. “I’m sorry about my children, they have everything they could ever want except for manners. Their father and I tried but obviously you can’t have everything.”

Klaus remained quiet, his gaze now downward. Caroline wondered if it was still because of her surprise guests or if it was something more. She didn’t want to care but, at the same time, for some reason she really wanted to know. 

[ad1thi]

i just called to say, i love you

dont let the title fool you this isnt fluffy at all

--

an au where the phone reaches before tony has fully recovered

post cacw, angst, past stony, 5+1, implied rhodeytony. the 5 times steve called and the one time tony did(nt)

--

1.

The first time it rings, Tony doesn't pick up.

No thats not right

Tony can't pick up, because he's just woken up from a 3 month coma and is currently breathing through a tube because there's a scar across his chest the size of Steve's shield and he's surrounded by life saving machines and he can't physically reach out and pick it up

He's happy he had the foresight to sign to FRIDAY that she needed to link the phone to her mainframe, because it rings only twice before there's a small click and the room fills with a hesitant

"Tony?"

There's a beat of silence, because Tony can't talk with a tube in his mouth and Steve's voice comes out more frantic

"Tony?"

Tony's saved from garbling a reply through the tube when FRIDAY steps in and says smoothly "Boss is indisposed right now, can I take a message?"

Steve is audibly flustered, Tony can hear him rustling sheets as he sits up, and he imagines its because of the surprise that FRIDAY replied and not him

"Hey FRI, uh is Tony incredibly busy?"

"Like I said, he's indisposed. Can I take a message or should I end the call?" there's a coolness to FRIDAY's tone and Tony absently wonders who taught his girl lip while he was under

"No thats fine," Tony can feel the dejection coming in waves, and there's a small, twisted part of him that's lying on a bed clinging onto his life because of the man on the phone- that still wants to crawl over and give him comfort, "I'll just uh- I'll try later that's alright."

There's a pregnant pause and then Steve's voice filters through again, "Would you tell him I called please?"

And FRIDAY replies, "I'll note it down on his low priority list" and severs the line before Steve can respond

--

2.

The second time it rings, Tony's just gotten back use of his throat. Rhodey has been wheeling in and out of his hospital suite periodically to feed him ice-cubes, and he's too worn down to fight the mother-henning

He's got all these ideas for braces that'll help Rhodey walk, but his hands shake too much and he's too weak to leave his bed, so he lets Rhodey heave himself up on the bed frame, and dutifully opens his mouth for food and water and ice cubes

but Rhodey isn't here and the phone is ringing and Tony can't stop his hands shaking

He manages to sign pick up to FRIDAY's camera in the corner of the room, and there's a soft click and a tentative

"Tony?"

just like last time

and it makes Tony want to laugh, inexplicably, because Steve left a hole in Tony's chest and he's the one who sounds scared while Tony is stuck to a bed

"Yeah Cap?" he croaks out, and he hates how frail he sounds, how obviously weak he is

"Tony? Is everything okay?"

Steve's voice is louder now, like he's holding the phone closer to him, like he cares

"you called?" he says and he's proud of how steady his voice is, how calm it is

"Yeah yeah i did i just," he trails off; and Tony bends closer to the phone until he realises that the call is being played by FRIDAY

"I just wanted to see how you were doing"

There's a hitch in Tony's voice, he knows because Steve says "Tony? Is everything okay?" but he can't breathe and the walls are closing in on him and his senses are dulling and

and someone's holding onto him, tight and steady and Tony leans into it desperately, anchoring himself to the lifeboat

His breath evens out and his vision sharpens, and in stages, he breaths in the musky scent of Rhodey

He loosens the death-grip he has on his shirt, but he doesn't move out

its selfish, so unbelievably selfish, because he knows Rhodey shouldn't be standing on his feet, but nobody ever accused Tony Stark of being a martyr

no, Tony Stark takes and takes and takes, and then he takes some more

His consciousness comes back in stages; and Steve's frantic voice starts getting louder

"Tony sweetheart, fuck sorry, didn't mean to call you that, Tony, are you- are you okay?"

Tony opens his mouth to reply, but Rhodey's dry tone comes out

"He's absolutely fine Captain, not that its any of your concern"

There's a soft thud and Tony knows its because Steve dropped the phone

he doesn't have the energy to smile

"Rhodey, I uh, I didn't realise you were there too"

"I am wherever Tony is, at all times Captain, its what friends do," there's a hitch in Steve's voice, but Rhodey continues like he hasn't heard it, "and its Colonel Rhodes to you"

The line clicks off before Tony can hear Steve's response, and he busies himself running soft circles, loosening his throat long enough to ask

"Is that all we are? friends?" in a hoarse voice

Rhodey doesn't say anything, but he does lean down and press his lips to the corner of Tony's mouth, and that, Tony supposes, is answer enough

--

3.

The third time the phone rings, its been so long, Tony's almost forgotten that the phone exists

Almost

As in its tucked inside one of his drawers, under a bunch of old files and documents, next to a small velvet box he found hiding in Steve's socks that he never got around to throwing away

Almost

As in he curls up next to Rhodey everynight, except the nights when he's looking for someone more muscular, someone blonder, someone who isn't the man sitting next to him

Almost

As in he's healthy and the braces work like a dream and he smiles more than he doesn't, but he still reaches for it sometimes and flips it open just to stare at the screen blankly

The phone rings and it takes him a second to place the sound, before he starts fumbling for anything that vaguely masquerades as a bookmark; thumbs the phone open and holds it to his ear

"Tony?" Steve's voice sounds gruffer, more focused, like he's actually called with a purpose

Despite himself, Tony straightens, and he silently signals for FRIDAY to call Rhodey; this might be an Avengers-level threat and while Tony's healthy- he isn't quite there yet

"Cap," he says neutrally

"Tony oh thank god," Steve's panting on the other end, and Tony physically bites on his tongue to stop himself from asking if he's okay, "Its Bucky"

Tony throws the phone across the room, and it hits the wall just as Rhodey is entering

To his credit, Rhodey barely flinches, he just walks over and maneuvers Tony until he's lying against his chest; fingers carding through his hair

Seconds, minutes, hours later, Tony whispers "he called about Bucky" and Rhodey bends down to press his lips to his forehead and they stay like that until they fall asleep; coccooned in each other's embrace

The next day, T'Challa calls to inform them that Wakanda will officially be initiating proceedings to exonerate James Barnes of all his crimes, and Tony feels a visceral anger until he realises that Steve probably called to give him a heads up

Its progress, evidence that Steve no longer meant to keep things from him, but the pain still burns anyway

--

4.

The phone wakes Tony up from his sleep, trilling and buzzing and Tony groans, flipping it open and pressing it to his ear

"Its ass o'clock in the morning Steve you better be dying or so help me god I'll kill you myself"

"You," he breaks off with a hic, "you called me Steve"

"I didn't think you did that anymore," there's a slur to Steve's speech- strong enough that it percolates through Tony's brain and he sends a silent curse to the entities above because his ex has fucking drunk called him

"Its been over a year Steve," he says softly but firmly, "I've moved on"

"You've, you've moved on?" he sounds so small, like a child who lost his favourite toy; and Tony's heart aches

but not a deep, twisted ache; a milder, softer one- for the man Steve used to be

"Steve," he says patiently, "its 2 o'clock in the morning; why you'd call?"

"I just called," there's a swish of liquid, and Tony has the image of Steve cradling a bottle, curled around the flip- phone burned into his memory, "i just called to say i love you"

"i love you and i miss you and i just-" he sniffles, and something he didn't know was still in him breaks at the thought of Steve crying, "i miss you"

"Steve," he says slowly, "you're drunk, and I'm tired"

"I'm drunk, and I love you," he slurs, "and tomorrow I'll be sober, and I'll still love you"

"goodnight Steve," Tony says and pushes the phone away before he says something he'll regret

--

5.

Its the stupid goddamn flip-phone. Thats how they find him. Tony's taken to keeping it on his person because all his intel says that something big is coming, and he doesn't want to be unprepared, so its not even a thought to slip it into his pockets before he flys to bumfuck Nevada to snoop around an AIM base

and he's so close downloading everything and getting away without detection, when the flip-phone starts ringing, and then all bets are off

"Steve," Tony intones as he bends behind a desk, "this better be important"

Steve says something in reply but its lost in the sound of bullets as Tony runs across the hall and ducks behind a pillar

"Can you say that again, I missed that"

"Tony are you, are you being shot at?" Steve's voice reaches new pitches and Tony shoots at the AIM goons coming 'round the corner before slipping down to the floor below

"I was being shot at," he says plaintively, keeping his voice low as he checks the expansive space, "now im being hunted"

"Why would you pick up when you're being shot at?!" Tony grimaces at his voice

"You did give me this phone for emergencies. I thought maybe this time you were using it for what it was intended. The end of the world waits for - ," he cuts off with a grunt as a bullet hits his leg, hobbling to where Rhodey is waiting with his escape ride

"- no-one," he wheezes out once he's in the car, and Rhodey is breaking a lot more traffic law than he should be comfortable doing

"the end of the world waits for no-one, so why'd you call?"

There's silence on the other end and Tony pulls the phone away from his ear to check the call hasn't accidently been disconnected, before saying "Steve? Are you still there?"

"you told me that I was only saying I love you because I was drunk"

Its so left field that Tony takes a few seconds to place what Steve is referring to, but when he does- he can't stop himself from sighing

"Steve look I - "

"I'm coming back to New York in 10 days," Steve barrels on like Tony hadn't started speaking, "I'm coming back home and I'm sober and I still completely and utterly love you."

"The only question is," and Tony can feel Steve steeling himself, "do you still love me?"

Tony looks over to where Rhodey is driving, petting the scar against his chest absentmindedly.

The scar had not hurt Harry in 19 years he thinks when Rhodey feels his gaze and smiles; but there's a tightness in his fingers and Tony knows that Rhodey heard the whole thing

"Steve I- ," he pauses, "ask me again once you're in town"

The line clicks on the other side, and he reaches out to intertwine his fingers with Rhodey's free hand

"I'm not going to make you choose Tones," Rhodey says softly; and Tony lifts their hands so he can press his lips to Rhodey's calloused hands because he knows

There's a silent countdown in the air that week, and Tony has a mental tally of the days,hours, seconds until Steve is back in New York

Except in the end, it doesn't really matter because 9h, 30 minutes and 4 seconds before Steve is expected to arrive in New York, Tony hitches a ride to space in a donut

--

--

+1

He's seen the news

Of course he's seen the news

Its all anyone's seen, and the only reason why he agreed to the godforsaken detour so that they could pick up Vision and Wanda

It's not that he didn't want to help them, its that he told Wanda not to go but she insisted and now instead of being in New York and saving Tony he's in Scotland, saving the person who was supposed to be looking after Tony

He's seen the news

He knows what's going on

But he still can't stop staring at the flip-phone, willing it to ring

So it honestly shouldn't take him this long to pick up when it actually does ring

"Tony?" he says, and he could cry because tony's okay tony's okay tony's -

"Steve?" thats not tony

"Steve hey its Bruce. Long time. Look I know its been a while and this is all very confusing and I'll answer all your questions later but Steve, Steve you need to come back to New York"

"Where's Tony?" he says dumbly, like he hasn't been watching the news obsessively

"Tony's," Bruce's voice cracks, "Tony's gone Cap. And we need you"

Fin