#afta-1

[sloppysequinz]

Baby's First House Party - Epilogue

The raunchy ending you've been waiting for. I think this one can be read independently, but if you'd like to catch up: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4

Some time later--maybe an hour? It's hard to tell--you're sitting on an unfamiliar couch in a room you don't recognize. You're leaned back against the cushions, body loose and numb and heavy. The beautiful girl you met at the party is straddling your lap. There's a cute little pink bong in her hand, smaller than the one at the party.

"Open your mouth and get ready to breathe in, sweetie." She tells you. You obey. She lights the bowl and inhales, then leans forward to press her mouth into yours, exhaling the smoke directly into your lungs. You breathe it in greedily. She keeps her mouth against yours so you don't exhale, pressing her tongue into your mouth, pressing her soft body into you. You groan in pleasure. She leans back, smiling.

"You're doing such a good job, sweetie. You deserve a reward~" she teases. She reaches for her chest and jiggles her tits gently. "How about these?"

"hu-bu...whu??" is all you manage to say. She laughs and pulls her neckline down, letting them free. You're not sure if the drool is from how drunk and high you are or just from the sheer sight of them.

"C'mon, you've been staring at them all night," she coos, pressing them together tantalizingly. "Don't tell me you don't want a taste!"

She leans forward and presses her nipple into your drunken, slack mouth. You pause in disbelief and then scramble to catch up, licking and sucking clumsily but eagerly. You've never been in this situation before, but you're not about to let it pass you by.

"Look at you, licking like an eager little puppy." She teases you again. You can't refute her. You've let this woman make you her dog, and you like it. She pulls away for a moment, and you whine. She laughs. "Don't worry, puppy. I'm just getting you a treat." She leans back and grabs the bottle of vodka off the coffee table. She presses her breast into your mouth again and you resume eagerly sucking as she unscrews the bottle.

"C'mon, puppy, open up~" she reaches her fingers into your mouth and opens it wider. Then she slowly pours vodka over her nipple and into your mouth. It's bitter and it burns, but you can't stop licking and lapping at her breast. "Eager little thing, good job." The praise makes you whine again. Your hips buck involuntarily into hers and she smiles indulgently. She pulls the bottle up after she thinks you've had enough and leans back, letting you breathe. You stare into her eyes, panting and dizzy.

"Doezsh...dish habben afta ebery party?" You ask. It seems insane that would be the case but you don't know, it's your first time. She smirks.

"No, baby, you're special." She replies.

"I'm babyyyyy~" you slur gleefully. She ruffles her hair and rocks her hips into yours, making you whine.

"Yes, you're baby. Now be a good puppy and give the other one some attention." She raises the vodka bottle to her other nipple and you obediently begin lapping and sucking, desperate for more of her tit in your mouth and swallowing as much vodka as you can. You want to impress her. As you suck and drink, she begins rocking into you rhythmically and continues talking.

"I saw you and I knew you were special. You were like a deer in the headlights, but you wanted that booze so bad. You listened so good too. You didn't even need me to corrupt you, you just needed to be shown what you are." She stops pouring again and leans back, but you follow her with your mouth until she leans too far back and you cant sit up any further and you collapse back on the sofa, too fucked up to move.

"Whaddami?" you try and ask.

"What are you? A cute little party slut like me." she replies. She grabs the bong again and presses it to your mouth. You breathe in obediently and she smiles. After you exhale, she makes you an offer.

"How about this, baby. I know you're new to this, but I think you like it, yeh?"

"Yeh I fuggin looooove it." You nod eagerly, making the room spin more. She tugs on your hair to make you to stop, forcing your hazy drunk eyes to stare into hers.

"If you promise to listen to me, to do everything I say, then it can be like this all the time, ok?"

"Yesz, yez yez" you respond, tripping over your words. You are in her thrall and you don't want to leave. Being sober, going to school...what does that matter when there's a topless woman in your lap feeding you bong hits and vodka and promising you more and more?

She smiles and runs a hand under your shirt, making you shiver and moan. "You'll have to give up a lot of other things in your life for this, puppy." She slips her hands into your pants and you groan. "The price of hedonism is...respectability, long term goals...a lot of things."

"I dondz caaaaare" you moan, bucking into her touch. "Don care. I juz wanna feel like dis. I promish I wannit...wanna...wan booze and weed and mooooore..."

She grins and sits up, looking down at her new toy. "I knew I picked right." she croons. She flicks the lighter again.

"Get ready to breathe in, sweetie. There's a long night ahead. "

[aishangotome]

Ellis Twilight: Chapter 2

Chapter 1

♡———♡

Ellis: Sorry to keep you waiting, Jude.

Jude: ...Huh?

Seeing me with Ellis, Jude gave him a momentary look of exasperation, but surprisingly, he didn't say anything.

(—Or rather...)

Kate: I'll be accompanying you as a Fairytale Keeper, nice to meet you!

Jude: ...Tch.

He clicked his tongue at Ellis, as if he knew it was pointless to say anything, and completely ignored my presence.

Ellis: I delivered the instructions for the procurement department, which is setting sail today, last night.

Jude: Of course. If it hadn't arrived first thing in the mornin', I woulda docked your pay.

(Even though he works as a Crown member, he still has to do company work... They're both so busy.)

I observed them silently, trying not to get in the way, and followed behind Jude with Ellis.

From my observations, I learned that...

Jude's company, Raven Inc., was a diversified trading company with branches overseas and a wide range of businesses.

Whether it was negotiating in the VIP room of London's leading department store or meeting with the inspection staff at the Port of London, the time spent following the two of them flew by.

-

And as for their work performance...

Jude: No deal until ya make amends.

Jude: It's only natural since ya've done something wrong. If ya don't wannna get into debt, cough up blood and make up for it.

Jude, sharp-tongued and quick-witted, seemed to be respected by his business partners, envied by his competitors, and revered by his employees.

On the other hand—.

Ellis: It's okay, I'll take care of the rest.

Ellis: This document is easy to get wrong. I'll teach you if you don't understand, so let's fix it together.

Ellis, with his gentle demeanor and attentiveness, was well-liked by everyone he met, both inside and outside the company.

(They're a perfect pair of opposites.)

In the meantime, the short hand of Big Ben was approaching the top.

Jude: Ya don't hafta come to the head office. I dunno what they'll say if I show up with a bonus.

Ellis: Yeah, I got it.

Kate: Thank you for allowing me to accompany you.

Jude: ...Ha, I'm looking forward to hearin' ya say the same thing the next time we meet.

(What does he mean by that...?)

I tilted my head, not understanding the meaning of his words.

Jude: Ya brought her here, so ya clean up afta' her. I won't interfere.

Ellis: Yeah... that's the plan.

(...It seems like Ellis understands.)

Jude left without even glancing at me, and Ellis turned to face me.

Ellis: You must be tired. I'm sorry for dragging you around.

Kate: No, not at all! I'm quite strong. I've been trained by delivering mail.

Ellis: Oh, good. ...Then, while we're at it,

Ellis: Would you mind accompanying me a little longer?

A little more, please, he said, and the place he brought me to was--

-

(Why am I here...!? )

It was the post office where I used to work.

As I hesitated at the entrance, Ellis turned around.

Ellis: What's wrong?

(I'd like to ask you that...)

Kate: I have a lot of acquaintances here because it's my workplace... Is it okay to meet before the promised month?

Ellis: Victor said that there are no restrictions except for going out alone, so I think it's okay.

A more relaxed answer than I expected came back, and I blinked.

(It's not something someone being watched should say... Are you sure it's okay?)

Ellis: I have some mail to send. I'll take care of the procedures, so do as you please.

Kate: Yes...

He left me there and headed for the counter.

(What if I ask my acquaintances for help and confidential information is leaked...?)

I can't hide my confusion at the overly casual "surveillance."

(At least, Ellis... trusts that I won't do such a thing, right?)

(Or--)

(If information is leaked, at that point, everyone who knows, including me, will be eliminated...)

"Shall I kill you?"

I remembered him saying that so casually, and I shook my head in a hurry...

Coworker with Braids: Kate!?

Kate: Ah!

Coworker with Braids: It is Kate! Everyone, Kate is here!

At that voice, my colleagues gathered around.

Coworker with Red Hair: Kate, what's with suddenly working at the palace?

Coworker with Black Eyes: We were all worried about you.

(They're so worried just because I suddenly stopped coming to work.)

(I can't tell everyone the truth.)

(And I definitely can't tell them that I don't know if I'll be able to come back safely in a month.)

(But...)

I didn't want to worry them, so I swallowed my anxiety.

Kate: I'm fine. Although it's only my first day and I don't know left from right.

Kate: I'm sure it'll be alright.

Coworker with Braids: Well, Kate, who turned a difficult customer into a good customer, would be fine anywhere.

Coworker with Red Hair: We'd be in trouble if you disappeared suddenly. We'd be lonely.

Kate: I'm... really sorry about that. It was beyond my control.

Coworker with Braids: Well, you can't really refuse an order from the palace.

Coworker with Black Eyes: But we're rooting for you, Kate.

Coworker with Red Hair: Here, take this!

Coworker with Red Hair: We bought it together, thinking we'd give it to you if you stopped by. I'm glad we could give it to you.

Kate: Wow... this much?

Presents piled up in my arms.

A blanket, cookies from my favorite shop, letters from my colleagues.

Kate: Thank you...

I held happiness in my arms, but if I moved, I might drop something, so I couldn't move a step...

Ellis: I'll carry it. Let me have it.

The items were snatched away from me from the side.

The eyes of my colleagues turned to Ellis at once.

Coworker with Braids: Wait... Who!? Kate's boyfriend!?

Coworker with Red Hair: Ah, I know this guy! He's the one guarding the scary trader!

It turned into quite a commotion.

Coworker with Braids: Kate, explain your relationship with this handsome guy!

Kate: Uh, well... He's an acquaintance from my work at the palace. We just met yesterday.

Coworker with Braids: Hmm, but it seems like you're pretty close for that.

Coworker with Red Hair: Suspicious...!

Kate: Wait, everyone, calm down...

As I was trying to calm down my excited colleagues, Ellis took the rest of the presents from my arms.

Ellis: It's become a big fuss... I'm sorry. I'll wait outside.

Kate: Ah... I'm so sorry! I'll be right there.

Ellis: Take your time.

I gave a small bow to everyone and saw Ellis off as he headed outside.

(I made him worry...)

Coworker with Braids: Marriage before returning to work...?

Coworker with Red Hair: Congratulations.

Kate: I told you, it's not like that...!

---In the end, the commotion was abruptly stopped by the postmaster's voice from the back, telling us to "stop it."

-

After saying goodbye to my colleagues and going outside, Ellis, carrying the presents, was leaning against a streetlight, waiting for me.

(He looks like a picture, even from a distance.)

His figure, with a supple body and long limbs extending from it, stood out in the cityscape.

Kate: I'm sorry to have kept you waiting.

Ellis: No, not at all. ...You could have talked more.

Kate: It's fine! Um, my colleagues made some very rude remarks...

Even though we're just working together, I might have made him feel bad by being teased about being my boyfriend.

(If I could apologize somehow... Ah, that's right.)

Kate: There's a delicious baguette shop nearby. Please let me treat you there as an apology.

Ellis: ........

His light-filled eyes stared at me as if he had found something.

Ellis: I think I understand a little bit why you get so many presents.

Kate: Huh...?

With a large bag full of presents from my colleagues in his hand, Ellis took a step towards me and... brought his face close enough to touch my forehead.

Ellis: No, you don't have to treat me, but I'm curious about your recommended shop.

(...Ellis is still a mystery to me.)

But his kindness had definitely entered my heart.

As proof of that, our second meal together was much more lively than breakfast--

-

Kate: Wow, it's already this late...?

When we left the shop, dusk was approaching.

Ellis: ...Let's get back to the castle soon.

Ellis looked at the streetscape as it began to darken and coughed abruptly.

It was the first time I heard his voice with a slightly urgent nuance, and I was startled by my own excitement.

(I've kept him company for so long, but maybe he had plans for the evening.)

Kate: If we go through this alley, it's a bit of a shortcut.

With my knowledge of the area from my mail delivery days, I stepped into a narrow alley.

Ellis: Ah...

Ellis: ...Well, I guess it's okay if we're together.

-

We walked quickly through the alley, which was shaded from the sun and gradually getting darker.

We were almost at the bright street.

Man in Hunting Hat: ..........

Suddenly, a man appeared, blocking our way. I instinctively tried to avoid him by moving to the side of the road, but--

(Huh...?)

The man stepped forward, blocking my way.

I felt something strange in the air and turned around to see two more men appearing behind me.

Man in Hunting Hat: Are you Jude Jazza's woman?

(Jude?)

Kate: No, I'm not, but... who are you?

Man in Hunting Hat: We'll confirm the facts later. Capture her.

The three men suddenly took out knives from their pockets and attacked.

(Eh--huh!?)

Ellis: Kate, hold this for a moment.

Kate: Wah...!

In confusion, I received the luggage containing presents from my colleagues, and the black knife Ellis drew deflected the leading man's blade.

Ellis: It might be a little scary, but it'll be over soon.

(Eh....)

While I was speechless, he knocked out the men one after another, just as he said it would be "over soon."

It seemed that he had drawn the knife only to counter the blades, and basically, his long arms and legs were enough.

Ellis: ...Heave-ho.

He lined up the unconscious men on the roadside, and as if to finish them off, Ellis' hands touched the tops of their heads, and the wrists of the unconscious men snapped together as if in prayer.

Kate: Are you a wizard, Ellis...?

Ellis: That's the first time I've been called a wizard.

(I remember...)

--"Cursed ones" have abilities that ordinary humans don't.

Roger-san's voice echoed in my ears.

Kate: Is that... your ability, Ellis?

Ellis: Yes, it is. It's convenient not to need a rope at times like this.

Ellis smiled as if he had finished a task and came to my side, then lifted the luggage from my arms again.

Ellis: Jude is hated in many places, so he's often attacked like this.

Ellis: It was rare for him to be accompanied by a woman, so I guess they mistook you.

(Hated... I see.)

I can understand it somewhat thanks to my observation of his work during the day.

(It must be tough working at a trading company if being attacked like this is a daily occurrence.)

Ellis: ...I'm sorry.

Kate: There's no need for you to apologize, Ellis! Thank you for protecting me.

But Ellis lowered his eyebrows slightly and shook his head.

Ellis: Actually, I could have predicted this. That this might happen if I took you out.

Ellis: But... when you found out I was going to work today, you looked lonely.

Ellis: I brought you along on a whim. ...So, I'm sorry.

(Ellis...)

He said it was on a whim, but I knew more than enough that everything he did today was for me.

(Breakfast, telling me about everyone at Crown, letting me accompany him to work...)

(Maybe even taking me to the post office.)

Kate: I was happy all day today... so, there's really nothing to apologize for.

I wanted to tell him that I was grateful for his kindness, and I smiled at him.

Ellis: ...I see. That's good.

The smile that appeared on Ellis' lips was warm, like the last light of the setting sun... but perhaps because the approaching dusk was making me anxious, it strangely stirred the depths of my heart.

-

Back in my room, I opened the presents from my colleagues.

"I'm thinking of you, Kate."

"Keep in touch."

The kind words written in the letter from my colleague warmed my heart.

(I was able to receive this... thanks to Ellis taking me to the post office.)

Because Ellis tried to make me smile, I'm feeling so happy now.

I've stepped into a different world.

I can't go back to my everyday life for a month--

I was scared, but I felt like he was telling me, "It's okay."

(I feel more confident than I did this morning that I can get through this month.)

(Especially if Ellis is with me.)

-

--And the next morning, I woke up with renewed determination.

Victor: I heard, Kate. You were attacked by Jude's business rivals yesterday?

Kate: Ah, yes. But thanks to Ellis, nothing happened.

Victor: That's good, but... Miss Kate being put in danger before the contract expires--

Victor: --That means the Crown's confidential information is also at risk! Right?

Ellis: Yes.

Jude: ...I have a bad feelin' about this.

At that grumpy voice, Victor put on a big smile...

Victor: So, Jude, Ellis.

Victor: I want you two to take responsibility and become Kate's bodyguards!

(Huh!?)

Jude: Huh?

Ellis: ...Bodyguards?

.

.

.

.

.

Chapter 3

If you’d like to support my translations, feel free to buy me a coffee here! :)

[spidereggs888]

Miguel’s new secretary ooh-la-la

(lol /j 💀)

Miguel O’Hara & y/n, any gender or non gender. Very casual writing style. TW Dark humor, dangerous situations, 18+. Y/n are sorta attracted to Miguel (why else would you be here?) but he doesn’t know you lol

This is a loooong read so make sure you have time or something. Also, there’s an illustration in the middle of the chapter! Enjoy

≋≋≋≋≋≋≋≋≋≋≋≋

MIGUEL & YOU

ACT 1 | ALGORITHMIC LOTTERY

It's the year 2110.

You are maneuvering through traffic in a sputtery fashion, the lifter problem in your engine getting so bad it almost sounds like you got rocks under the hood. The podcast is going on about alligators in Nueva York sewers.

“Couldn’t be more wrong,” you mumble, “there’s CROCODILES in the sewers, not alligators.”

You aren’t looking forward to this interview. How the heck did you manage an audition for office secretary to the CEO of Alchemax?!

“I don’t know,” you say aloud to your other self, “but if I get the job, Imma upgrade to a better ride than this heap of Maglev shit…”

But there’s other bitches who want this position. Two of them you are aware of: Syd and Brody. Syd is a real suck up who will say any damn thing to get the position. She out-groveled you and got the lead PR accounting job you wanted. Suck-up Syd is what you call her around your friends. Brody on the other hand is opposite; he thinks he can strong-arm his way into anything and he pretty much has. He’s kicked people down, screwed people over, and there’s a rumor he filed a sexual harassment charge on his friend Ashton just to get the promotion before Ashton could.

These two skanks are gonna be tricky, but that’s the least of why you loathe this whole thing. You also heard that Miguel O’Hara is a hard ass. When he came into power a few years ago, he immediately fired the former secretary for talking about his father in a positive light. Then he proceeded to chew and spit out people who ever had the misfortune of being in that job position.

“Or maybe they just cut their losses after raking in half a billion,” your friend Speshall guessed the last time you seen her, “they prolly couldn’t take the heat for that long so they waited until they were set for life then said something stupid on purpose to get him to let them go. What a retirement plan! To work for the sexiest man of the year then have him berate you on your way out!”

She was always like this.

Anyway, now your car is not being validated in the automated parking center.

“What the HELL?!”

“Sorry, your credit has been declined.”

“Oh fuck me-“

You fumble your lanyard of data sticks. You are looking for the green one, which has a small amount of credit you procured from test playing phone games. You lean out of your car window to bring the green stick drive near the wireless reader.

“Sorry, we cannot accept credit from online gambling. Please use another method of payment.”

“Oh fuck you!”

≋ ≋ ≋ ≋

Now you are walking. You had to park where they don’t give a shit about where your money is from. Alchemax is trying to create a good precedent by not accepting dirty money, but Alchemax, as far as you know, does dirtier stuff for pay. Why the hell is “gambling money” any different?!

Scowling so hard, you almost didn’t notice there’s some douchebag trying to walk close behind you. He probably saw the lanyard of data sticks around your neck, so you fluff your scarf around until they are covered.

“I don’t have any money, muh guy” you say in your heaviest Nueva York accent along with this generations lingo.

“Oh I’m not afta you. I was tryna tell ya there’s this otha weirdo following ya. I’m tryna group up here.”

You know better than to look back. That’s what this fucko wants you to do. He’s probably a flasher, so you walk into traffic.

“Hey that’s dangerous, yo!”

You don’t listen. Cars flying past is not as scary as going up to see the freakin CEO of Alchemax.

No cars hit you, so now you have to face reality. You walk into the Alchemax Business Bureau building (one of hundreds), and wave your ID at the receptionist in the lobby. The receptionist is preoccupied with a lady who has one hand on her hip and the other holding out a holo watch. It’s projecting a screen with a giant hourglass animation flipping over and over.

“I don’t know why it’s so hard to get a damn cup of coffee around here, I just don’t!”

“C’mon it’s not necessary to bring security here, ma’am.”

He remains standing behind his desk and grimaces at you. You really need to get him to validate your ID so you won’t be stopped by security, so you pull up your phone and say to the woman, “you want some coffee coupons for Dunkin Donuts?”

“What?”

You open your savings app and hastily air-swipe several coupons to her holo device like someone flicking bills at a stripper. She stops to look at them.

“A regular frap for half off? Oh woooow, how- will they really honor this?” She asks.

“Yeah! It’s good for two more days, so you may wanna hurry over to the kiosk at the west end.”

“Really?”

“They sell all brands of coffee, they’ll honor it.”

“Well, nevermind, then,” she says curtly to the receptionist as she turns her shoulder away, “Didn’t want hours-old coffee anyway.”

She turns on her fancy heel and trots away. You grin stupidly at the receptionist who rolls his eyes and snatches your ID card from you. He swipes it near his card reader then flicks it back without a word.

After a nod, you swiftly leave down the lobby to the elevator area. You round the corner and see an open elevator closing. It's the only one since the other two are under construction. You rush forward as fast as your legs will allow.

"Wait wait WAIT WAIT!"

The doors are closing and you see the face of Suck-up Syd with her smoky eyes and faux fur capelet. She smiles and does nothing as the doors close.

"Shocking typical," you grumble. But you know where the other elevator is. You take off to the other end of the building for the second set of elevators.

You make it onto the elevator with two other people, some white chick and an Indian dude. The lady sees your pass.

"Going for the secretary job?" She asks.

"Yeah."

“Me too. If I don’t get this, I’m going to jump from this building,” the lady jokes.

“If I get this, I WILL jump from this building,” you add.

“Either way, it's gonna be job security for the custodian department,” the Indian guy says. All three of you chuckle politely.

The elevator lets more people in. You check your phone. You are fucking late by 20 minutes, but so is the lady who wants this job or else. You assume it would have taken a while anyway, since there was about 15 people going in for this very same job. Could it be you?! Could you land this job?! What if your mom was wrong?! And what if O’Hara says yes? What if you are set for life?

The final floor of this elevator is reached. You wobble on your way out. The lady doesn’t move.

“Actually, I can’t do this. I’m going home.”

The elevator doors close and she goes back down. You hear a faint byeeeeeeeeeee as the elevator descends to lower levels. You pay no heed and follow the Indian man into the massive hall.

There’s already chaos. One guy is being escorted out of the lobby by his shirt collar, and he's spouting obscenities. Some lady had dropped all her paperwork and she’s too numb to pick it up again. Two ladies near her are sarcastically wishing each other luck, one of them is Suck-up Syd. She looks 10x more desperate today with her tight-fitting outfit and belt buckle the size of a plate. Her overly fake smile gives you no esteem or hope. You almost sit but realize there’s barf on the chair.

Okay, surely everyone is overreacting in here.

“Man I’m not scared at all. There’s a trick to facing down Alpha males,” says a guy who you didn’t ask.

“Ah, cool.” you say through a grin. It’s Brody. You don’t even have to see him to know he’s there with his overwhelming presence of snobbery.

“See, as a Sigma male,” he continues, leaning on the back of the barf chair to talk to you, “I don’t adhere to the Alpha’s orders. That’s how the pack survives! One guy is an outlier so like if the Alpha fails in his role as leader, the Sigma will show by example and the rest of the females and Betas will follow him-“

“BRODY!”

You and Brody see Ashton in the doorway you came from. Ashton beelines across the room with his briefcase raised high. He brings it down on Brody with a loud clunk and they grapple and exchange blows. You go ahead and sit down perfectly still.

"Oh my GOD!" Suck-up Syd muses. She only sees this as two less competitors. You wince as the men start yelling obscenities at each other in their struggle. The guards who took out the last guy come back in and see this happening and they both huff angrily.

"Next!"

"Ah, that's me!" Syd says, “you guys are welcome to leave, I probably got this in the bag.”

She gets up and thrusts her capelet onto the lobby assistant.

.˳˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱ⋅.˳ ˳.⋅ॱ˙˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.

Four hours pass. Brody and Ashton were escorted from the building, those bozos didn’t even get an interview, but it was funny watching Brody get dragged down to hell by a demon he wronged.

Suck-up Syd walked out in tears and a forced smile. You felt bad for making fun of her in the past. She’s just kinda desperate and a little pathetic. You assume groveling doesn't work on the boss.

Other people came and went swiftly. The cheerful Indian man from earlier left looking surprised at his failure. The lady who dropped all her crap earlier apparently already had an interview and was reeling from her bad luck. You understand their disappointment since being chosen for this position was like winning the lottery, except you don't know if you won or not.

“Next!”

Your stomach twists but you refuse to be like them. This is just a job. You’ll be answering phones, emails, and possibly even mailing some dry cleaning. No big fuckin deal.

You thank the lobby assistant but she ignores you and walks away. She is just doing her job. She looks very tired of everyone else’s shit and is probably glad it's over. You walk to the elevator where the second to last person is taking baby-steps, talking on his phone with someone nursing his wounded pride. That could be you in a minute.

I'm probably not gonna get it either, you think, but I'm going down with some dignity.

You work yourself up as you step into yet another elevator, this one glass paneled. You stare across Nueva York as you ascend, contemplating your future. So what if you don't make it? You will simply fall back to your job and go about your life. Your mom will say she's right about the invitation being a fluke. You will go back to paying off debts and supplementing your food budget by testing mobile phone games during work hours and before you go to sleep. You see your own reflection, no longer as young as you used to be, and you sigh.

The glass doors open behind you. You walk through another set of foggy glass doors. Despite your self pep talk, you are still not looking forward to this. You've seen pictures of Miguel O'Hara before; over 6 feet tall, wide shoulders that could support an ox yoke, and a presence so large one would think he could go toe to toe with Godzilla. How will the interview go? You imagine fire. You expect a demon sitting behind a black marble desk in the darkness, a horrendous mob boss wearing Scarface attire, spitting fiery facts and passing cruel judgment, his horns ascending at the heavens with searing indifference and contempt for mercy. You expect a fax machine in the corner that will print out your death.

This is not what you see.

There he is, in this meager temp office sitting behind a tiny desk covered in empty water bottles. His shoulders are wider than the desk, but he's scrunching them in to seem normal. He's wearing a regular dress shirt, no tie. No fancy jewelry either, just some off-brand oversized watch on his left wrist. He looks disappointed already, but not at you. He’s squinting down at some of the tiny desks’ interactive holo-projections. You see your name on one of the files he’s peering at through comically large anti glare glasses.

You don’t sit. You are too stressed. He hasn’t noticed you. He picks up one of the water bottles and carefully opens it with his monster hands. They look travel-sized compared to him. He sips it and notices you.

“Hello!” You greet.

He finishes it in two gulps and sets it down slowly, as to not disturb the other bottles.

“Okay I don’t have a lot of time left, so let’s cut through here… you work for the guys in the PR department-“

“Ah yeah, they are a very friendly bunch down there! That is until you get to know them!” You blurt out. He looks up at you with tired eyes and swipes through the files without looking at them.

“Says here you were demoted from vice head PR accounting a while back, but you attached a note saying you have an alibi? Let’s hear it.”

“Uhhh.”

“C’mon I don’t have all day.”

“There was a payment discrepancy, uh, I was given a raise but I noticed my boss didn’t update it for a whole month. He was on vacation and wasn't answering my calls, so... since he left the finances to me I updated it myself… And I got into trouble BUT it was technically not embezzlement, so I was given an ultimatum to either move to a lower department or get fired, so-“

“Self-reliant. Got it. There's a note from your current department head saying she's been notified anonymously that you've been paying for Alchemax home services with gambling money, what do you have to say about that?"

"I- that is a th- thing with SoloGameMedia, ah, they are a parent company to a gambling franchise, therefore every transaction from them is registered as gambling profit- but I test games with- from them directly! It's a side hustle- thing, I- that, I DO NOT playtest games during work hours! Only on-"

"Why do you think I should hire you?”

You are caught off guard by the most basic interview question.

“Hhhhhh WELL… because you need a secretary now?”

He’s already looking back down at the files again. You can see NYPD files, apparently he’s now looking at your small criminal record. You also notice his shirt is unbuttoned on the top. For curiosity's sake, you discreetly raise up on your toes to see down his cleavage. It's deeper than you expected. One mighty flex and that shirt will send buttons flying everywhere. He looks back up as you quickly drop back down on your heels.

“Yeah. Mmm. Ok. So you are way in over your head in college and credit debt, you have been gambling as a means to get by- really don’t care about that, and you did not dispute your boss's ultimatum when you had the chance."

"Wait, what?"

"Four years ago, when your boss gave you the ultimatum to get demoted or get fired. His proposal was ILLEGAL."

Your gut twists.

"That- that was illegal?!"

"You had six months to report him and you didn't. Why?"

"Be- because I just thought he was being fair, I-"

"I'm sorry, but you got screwed."

He looks sincere behind those nerdy lenses with his pout lips. You really want to throw something right now.

“I… oh…”

"Look, the most I can do is re-open your case," he says as he pushes his glasses back up his nose bridge, "You might get a small settlement out of it, but even that isn't guaranteed."

"So... I'm not getting the job?"

"How do you expect to get hired with such an unexceptional history of white collar crime and a meek attitude that's gotten you nowhere? Hey Lyla? Is this all we have?”

An AI assistant pops up from the interactive desk.

“This is the last one, sir.”

“Okay, cool. Look I’m sure you’re actually great at your job, but I have places to be-“

“Wha- well so do I!”

“Uh huh, nice talking to you,“ he scoots his chair back and hits his knee on the tiny desk, sending empty bottles scattering all over the room. He cringes.

“Well if I’m so unexceptional, why was I accepted for an interview?!”

“I’m gonna guess because of some algorithmic lottery? Probably to do with the amount of experience you have in your department, I dunno,” He guesses as he attempts to gather the bottles by sweeping them under the desk with his shoes, “If you wanna blame someone for the short interview time, thank those other time-wasters who came before you. I gotta go.”

“Now WAIT a… minute”

He stands up from his tiny desk as you say that. He’s towering over you with a tired expression and loose strands of hair about his face.

“What?” He asks, all friendliness gone.

“Can we continue this interview at a different time? You obviously haven’t found a secretary you want, but you still need one, right?! I could be the one you need even if I’m not the one you want!”

It takes every inch of your being to not slap yourself on the forehead. He is scrunching his nose, squinting down at you with mild contempt. You get a good look at his sharp, broad temples and cheekbones, complete with a hardened jaw. His thick dark lips are pulled to one side in annoyance and are accentuated with a pair of jowls that look poised to bite at any time like some kind of deep sea angler fish. His eyes are very dark. They almost look red…

His expression goes blank as he sighs.

“Okay.”

“Great! Ah, when?!”

“Tomorrow, same time.”

“Grabsolutely- Great- fantastic! I won’t let you down!”

“Uh huh.”

He leaves. You assume you should leave too. You awkwardly follow him. He grabs his coat off a nearby chair, and you get a brief display of his amazing body shape as he flips the coat over his shoulders. You avert your attention to the floor, already feeling disrespectful after having looked down his shirt. Now you are both in the elevator. You are doing all in your power not to pass out over your small lucky break.

O’Hara pretends you aren’t there as he looks at his phone and chats with his AI assistant.

“Lyla, push the evening meeting to tomorrow as well, except an hour earlier.”

“Roger that!”

“I need coffee.”

“Roger that also!”

“Please, PLEASE tell them to not add cream. I really hate when they do that.”

You wanna ask him if he’s lactose intolerant but you already pushed your luck today.

Apparently he is exiting the building in the same way you are going, but he's booking it with long ass strides and it's difficult to keep up. You both end up on the same elevator again, this time with other people. He awkwardly acknowledges you with a blank smirk and brow raise, then promptly looks back down at his phone. Everyone else is trying not to bother him.

"Hello, Mister O'Hara, I didn't realize you were here! Hi!" says a lady who is shooting her shot at a social connection (she totally knew he was there.)

"Ah, hey. Miss...?"

"Stacy Brian! We met at the Student Festival earlier this year."

"Oh, right, right! Miss Brian, how are you?"

"Doing well! I didn’t know you wore glasses!"

"Oh- I totally forgot these were on my face," he admits while taking them off and trying to find a place to stash them, "I actually don’t wear glasses, it's- um, I have issues with bright computer screens."

You discreetly watch him in the elevator wall reflection as he quickly swaps the lenses out for a pair of red sunglasses. The elevator doors open and everyone flows out into the foyer. You realize you never got his card.

"Hey one more thing, sir!" You call out to him.

"What?"

"I don't have your number! What if we need to reschedule?!"

"Ah, right. Get your phone out, please."

He turns back around and searches for something on his phone. With a swift flick of his hand, he air drops his ID and number to your device.

"Thank you!"

"¡De nada!"

He swiftly leaves through the front doors and trots down the steps. You watch this huge marvel of nature hail a cab. The automated transporter car is so small that he has to bring his shoulders in tight to fit through the doorway. This seems to have more to do with him not wanting to snag his nice jacket.

A man of this position and wealth... hailing a cab? Must be in THAT much of a hurry. You look down at the data he sent you. His ID photo looks like they took his picture after pulling an all-nighter, and his half-hearted smile reveals his crooked teeth. But somehow he still looks great in an unconventional way.

•°《💀》°•

You drive home, feeling both anxious and also deflated. Miguel O'Hara was a mixed bag of what you expected. Speshall hyped him up as a sexy hunk of the year and Brody felt so intimidated that he went on an unwarranted Alpha Male rant, but the guy was so awkward with his tiny desk and water bottles and weird glasses, and he was whining to his AI helper about his coffee. He’s a large… finicky… lactose-intolerant nerd, but he's also got the moxy to move mountains. What’s more, now ya gotta think of what to say to him in the next interview. What could be expected of a guy like that? What if he cancels the meeting and your chance is lost forever?

Your car makes it home and you sit in it for a moment. Speshall left you a text asking about the interview.

Went weird, you text back.

"Welcome back, tenant 27," the AI apartment valet greets.

You open your car door and notice you've been parked over the grates again. You remember when you last dropped your phone in this spot, the fucking thing went right in between the grate holes and you couldn’t get it back for a week. You have the presence of mind to upload the latest bit of information (O'Hara's phone number) to your data cloud.

You walk through the parking garage. You know all the safe routes. It didn’t matter who you were, Nueva York was never safe at night.

You hear footsteps to your left but it’s just a couple of people walking together, a man and woman trying to huddle. The garage opening is just ahead. You go ahead and march out, not looking back.

You step out into the warm breeze of middle-class Nueva York. The wind is artificial, billowing from the hydro-electric plants that keeps this city running. It took you forever to get here, a lot of cheap-skating, white lies, and debt piling to maintain this life, but you are here! Unapologetic holo screens buzz near you as you walk, begging you to spend money as they light up the way to your apartment. There's no point in tapping their "no" buttons since that just wastes your time. The screens showcased brand-new cars, beautiful clothes, and radiant health. If you had more money, at least some of that could be yours. You hate that people roll around in all the wonderful things this world has to offer while you have to make do with decade old clothing and over-processed food. Where the hell is everyone getting it all from? When the hell will you get yours?

“Hey! Wanna buy a shared data cloud?!”

You are now being bothered by a salesman. You say nothing and keep walking. Even saying no opens more dialogue. He gives up but another comes at you.

“Wanna be a part of the elite task force that edits any and all articles about Thor?! It’s a paying job! $100 an hour!”

As dystopian as it sounds, $100 an hour won’t get you far in Nueva York, not in this era of quadrillionaires.

“Hey, I saw ya on da street earlier! Ya walked into traffic!”

You accidentally glance over at the familiar voice talking about the familiar subject. He’s got you. Your eyes are fixated on a creepypasta face, his irises flashing in a hypnotic pattern. This was way worse than the idea of the guy being just a flasher.

He’s a black market demon. The worst street hawker known to man.

You can’t remember much else besides him taking you by the hand and leading you away.

_________________________________________

Next: ACT 2 | BLACK MARKET DEMONS

[smilingmxsk]

(Truth asks) What would you do if you found out there was a rat living in your apartment building (not your apartment specifically, just the building in general) that was one of Otis's that he "stationed" there to keep tabs on things?

My muse has to tell nothing but the truth for 10 asks.

[1/10]

She blinks a few times. How oddly specific.

"I mean... I guess it'd be kinda weird, but... It wouldn't be th' weirdest thing. 'Specially afta what happened a few weeks ago."

She idly rubs her arms as she recalls being bedridden, feeling the bandages under her fishnets.

"If he wants t' make sure I don't like, get invaded or like, turn into a blob monster, den sure I guess das fine by me."

[roguefromthexmen]

is it disorienting swapping power sets for you too? Any way to mitigate that?

(@not-just-1-species)

It’s definitely disorienting, havin’ someone’s mind in mind. Usually, it goes away afta a while but if not, I usually work with Jean or the professor to help with ma mind. I’m used ta it though.

[teeth-cable]

Oh my god Vivziepop not abiding by using pseudonyms is gonna screw her badly

1. Kesha might sue or blacklist Spindlehorse. Way to go you pissed on your idol because you prioritized your own sin of pride instead of someones life.

2. So SAG-AFTA actors will sometimes do non SAG-AFTA projects in secret (different than crossing a pick it line during their union strike) but they have to use pseudonyms to not have the union fine them and possibly kick them out. Helluva uses SAG-AFTA actors. Nobody in the union is going to trust her when it gets out.

SpindleHorse just put themselves in legal problem for the future.

I don't remember well but there were a few rumors going around when it was reveal the pilot VAs couldn't voice the characters in the show and it was because they weren't in the union and Viv didn't want to sign union papers.

She also said she doesn't think friends who work in any community project should be pay. Which is suspicious to me because even though you're working with friends, you should alway paid them back for their time in some way, money or not. Especially if the community project is making good money, it wouldn't hurt you to share some of that money with friends who work with you making the project even possible in the first place.

[thatunusualwriter]

𝙲𝚘𝙳 𝙶𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚡 𝙼𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚗! 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛 2

"𝕀'𝕧𝕖 𝔾𝕠𝕥 𝔸𝕝𝕝 𝕄𝕪 𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝔾𝕚𝕧𝕖"

Character pairing: (CoD) Simon "Ghost" Riley x Short!Chubby!Reader (is gendered as a "she/her" throughout the story, and has subtly pointed out details about her appearance.)

Summary: Just when you think you know a guy, it turns out you don't. Also, Y/N gets her ass handled by the big Brit himself, oops.

Warnings: Vulgar language, talking about the mortician profession, slow burn, Simon with dissociative identity disorder (DID) and PTSD, Reader has social anxiety.

.⋆｡⋆˚｡⋆｡˚｡⋆.⛓🖤🔪💀⛓.⋆｡⋆˚｡⋆｡˚｡⋆.

When 1 am rolled in, so did work calls, requesting Y/N to show up because of a young lady who had a car crash. Very unfortunate for someone very young. Choosing not to drink had been the right choice, after all, even when she wanted just one little shot of rum she did not succumb to her salivating tastes.

The unexpected turn was when Johnny wanted an invite to her home, claiming he has nowhere to sleep though John Price kept saying otherwise.

Hook, line, and sinker.

That's what Y/n was when saying yes to him because he added that Simon has to go with him too— later changed his drunk mind that everyone has to stay the night over at Y/N's. She had to pat herself on the shoulder proudly for cleaning the apartment the day before, she isn't in a position to argue and just threw the towel in right away, she has two hours to prepare for the teen girl they were transporting by now.

It was funny that the two Mexicans and Johnny were plastered and happy about it, although her Scottish friend was an adventurer on his own when 'leading' the group home — he got distracted by side quests, the last one was a peak of disaster. Johnny went to smooch the kitties in Sherwood street and Simon, that big guy who held his liquor well, wobbled behind him silently to "watch his back".

Y/N and John were left at mercy for both Alejandro and Rodolfo who — quite literally — clung up to anything while fighting against sweet slumber, they were so close to dozing off on the spot.

Those two hung onto Price eventually and he lead them to the hotel they were supposed to be staying at, Y/N was fine with that since those last two grown men weren't difficult.

Also, how is John able to walk and talk normally when he had as many shots as the others have? Who is built like that?!

Y/N had turned for just a second, waving the three goodbyes, when Johnny began to yell bloody murder in Scottish slurs. A few strays began to aggressively nibble on his calves and his clumsy-ass legs couldn't work mechanically to kick them off, he risked a painful fall on the concrete.

Simon stood by the side like a gently swaying twig (a thick one at that) and rumbly, silent laughter was muffled underneath his mask.

Alright, best friend or not, this is getting recorded.

"Ghooost— Lt.!! Regiment's afta ues!!" Johnny slurred, running up to Y/N while dragging cats that had their claws stuck in his jeans. He panicked when more of the furballs ran at him.

"Run ye basta'ds!!" he roared at the top of his lungs, passing by Y/N and the cats let go one by one, she just recorded his back as he ran off, laughing at this idiot who surprisingly went the right direction of her home.

Y/N's poor phone almost met its demise on the ground if she wouldn't catch it in time, it literally jumped from her grasp, and a high-pitched shriek tore from her throat into the night air when she was lifted all of a sudden.

A muscular arm hooked around her body, just below her breasts, and lifted her upper body up with shocking ease but Simon's hold was tight and itself was a promise that she won't be dropped.

"FU— Ugh! PUT. ME. DOWN." she yelled into deaf ears of men with a mission objective.

Too fast—!

"OhJesusfucksTOP—"

It took just a few blinks and she found herself beside Johnny, the British man caught up to him. But Y/N's whole being was rattled, everything was blurry for she was but a sack of potatoes in Simon's mercy. It was quite shocking at first that he carried her this easily, not even Johnny was ever able to carry her this far — and in truth, she preferred to be the one doing the carrying.

While Johnny kept on screaming incoherent words about an enemy at their tail, Y/N glanced at her mobile and with difficulty checked it over, having it almost pressed to her face. Her eyes widened when she noticed it was still recording.

Oh, how she loves paybacks.

.⋆｡⋆˚｡⋆｡˚｡⋆.⛓🖤🔪💀⛓.⋆｡⋆˚｡⋆｡˚｡⋆.

What would have taken about 25 minutes, took around 15 minutes. It was just as impressive as it was painful.

Johnny roared around like a football sports madman, feeling victorious. Of what? Of surviving the army of stray cats, that's what. Simon leaned his whole frame against an apartment building, next to the door Y/N was about to open and watched his coworker make a fool of himself like it was any other casual Monday. He almost gave off a vibe of a guard dog with the way he looked around observantly with his sharp glare. Wonder why is that...

"Ach, Christ on a stick!"

Simon towered over the short woman's shoulder, peering into the bag her hand was dived in, moving around rapidly.

"Damnit!!" Y/N barked, frustrated and her little fist punched at the wall next to her, it will hurt later this day. She was being observed by the tipsy soldier on her left while she took long breaths, in and out before craning her neck up to look at him with an apologetic look in her eyes. "... Fuck. I forgot my keys at home."

He, however, as nonchalantly as ever nodded once and stepped back, whistling at Johnny and the loud man perked at that sound, Simon having all his attention and waltzing over to them from the parking lot.

When he finally faced Y/N's confusion, he didn't plan on beating around the bush. "Which o' these are your windows?" he asked, straightforward, stone-cold.

Y/N's shoulders rose as those of a cat's hinges, she stared at him, waiting for the joke to be explained so she can move on and call her landlord to open up for them. But Simon was dead serious and when piecing two-and-two together, she was ready to slap her disagreement in his face.

"No." she crossed her arms over her chest and glared up at the giant in a mask, all of a sudden he was a bit more intimidating.

All the assumptions that there's no way that, Simon Riley, could be a jackass had been shattered. He left no room for her to argue, nor he was nice when she gave in. Johnny seemed fine with that, but not her. They broke in into her apartment by the escape stairs at the side of the building, conveniently her kitchen window is on that side. Y/N kept her back turned on those two, looking around, panicking inside until she began to sweat bullets while the boys worked their brute strength against the locked window. It was open within five minutes and Johnny basically invited himself in by jumping in head first.

"Beastie, get in," Simon called out, grumbling, and looked over his shoulder as if he saw movement by the trash bins at the corner of the building.

Y/N — since being on edge — was a bit startled by that command, swallowing dryly and squatting down before going in one short leg at a time, fearing she would fall flat on her face.

Johnny waited for her and grasped her hands once they were offered to him, and he supported her tiny but triumphant jump inside. Y/N smiled at him with gratefulness. And Simon followed close behind her after one sweep of looking around, just to make sure, and closed the window.

Great, busted lock. It's gonna make her wallet bleed, and just when she thoroughly planned out to buy her favorite snacks this weekend.

Y/N took a deep breath.

"One problem at a time. Be polite."

She has guests she needs to take care of before going to work. She watched how Jonny made himself comfortable on the sofa in the living room and dozed off without a problem. Simon seated himself at a chair in front of a kitchen island and Y/N took this peaceful time to use the toilet and change from her outdoorsy clothes, also grabbed her keys on the way.

Fixing the collar of her blouse while walking out of the bathroom quietly not to wake up the sleeping Scottish lad, Y/N stopped at the threshold of the kitchen and observed the tall Brit quietly.

Simon was quiet and hunched over, with his back to her it had convinced her that he was asleep.

An evil idea that will be a big regret later dinged in Y/N's brain, payback clouding her sane mind. With curled lips to a sly smirk, she approached on her toes slowly, and as silently as her creaking floorboards allowed her. Giggling like an imp almost gave her away when being at arm's reach from him.

Digits curled into a claw shape before they attacked their prey, and Y/N just barely grazed Simon's sides when she was sent flying over his wide shoulder.

Like a sack of flour.

And her back smashed against the floor so hard she nearly thought that either the wood or her bones had gotten broken, cracked.

Although the back of her head got the most out of it, the pain was like a burn you can't douse, Y/N's ear rang and wondered if her brain turned into mashed potatoes when all she could see were stars in the abyss for a few seconds. Air knocked out of their lungs caused a momentarily struggle to breathe back in, as soon as oxygen filled them her broken vocals tugged at the man's heartstrings.

"Bo-ones...?" she croaked.

Simon began to sweat cold bullets. Y/N laid like a starfish below him, pinning her while her arm which he used to flip her with was still in his grasp, and once realizing he's been twisting it, he let go of Johnny's old friend immediately. Watching with dread how she tried to regain focus on her surroundings, his knee — which he had forgotten to lift from her ribcage and suddenly it wasn't that hard to breathe — now tucked closer to her side as he towered over her. His hands opened and closed into tight firsts, having no idea what to do with themselves.

"Fuck! Fucking hell!" he cursed at himself, although he was forced to manual defense when he was about to be sneaked on, no one should jump on a soldier no matter how mentally stable he may be.

"Why did ya— Shit, can you sit, Y/N?"

Simon's calloused, glove-less palm supported her upper back between her shoulder blades and she slowly sat up in time with his (short) patience. Y/N used her other hand to grasp at his bent knee for a better, final push, nails scratching lightly over the material. She was dizzy for a while, and she felt a headache coming on, but still alive and kicking.

The exhaling breath she didn't know she held, Y/N met his stressed yet angry expression. "Ah— Apologies..."

All of this for a revenge tickle...

"Fuckin' sorry won't make ya feel better, now will it?" Simon coldly spat, it made her flinch at his raised voice.

"Hey... Uff..." Y/N trailed off, rubbing around the spore spot before pushing in at the forming bulge at the back of her head.

"Bloody Jesus, if I opened your head..." grumbling under his breath before grasping at her waist and under her legs securely and lifting her up, she made a noise of surprise but let him carry her to the stool he sat at before.

Simon looked over his shoulder at his snoring coworker, who has no clue of this accident just yet. Probably for the best. "I won't hear the end of it from Johnny."

Y/N swallowed dryly, finally feeling grounded enough to think she was all good. And the sour mood is something she never wished to happen. It was supposed to be all fun and games, if she knew Simon can be a dick then she would've stopped herself from being goofy long ago instead of looking like a fool in front of him.

"... Well, karma's a bitch. I shouldn't have thought about tickling you in the first place." Y/N offered a small smile but it strained when he brought his digits to his eyes, rubbing them while answering her with a rumbly grunt.

"I could've killed you, so don't you take it lightly!" Simon growled, irked by her shrug in return. He really was close to doing so, even when unintentionally something inside him just snapped at that unexpected jump pulled by her.

"But ya didn't," Y/N grinned cheekily up at him. "Though it's cute seeing you worry about me already." she might have just gotten smacked like a doll but it never stopped her teasing. "Though what was that? A reflex?"

Simon sat down beside her, still towering over her. His shoulders were squared and tensed. It wasn't just a reflex, his body told him he was in danger, jumped by the enemy at his moment of exposure, and Ghost kicked in for self-protection. They are still fresh out of a mission, his paranoia of not letting his guard down spiked and his brain kicked his muscles into action.

"Somethin' like that."

Y/N nodded, looking at his tired eyes even though he kept looking at the spot he pinned her, guilt churned his stomach.

When she stood Simon's shoulders rose slightly, he observed her go to a high kitchen cabinet and pulled out two small boxes. One had painkillers and she swallowed two once she got herself some water for comfortable swallowing, and it ate at Simon he knew he was the one that caused said pain. He, who exists for the sole purpose of assuring that civilians like her has their normal life without violence he and his team can help.

"You can go sleep in my bed, you look like shit, Simon." it wasn't exactly an offer, it was an order. Only it was said innocently, sweetly, it made odd shivers down the masked man's spine.

"Thanks, darlin'. Needed to hear that." Simon forced himself to roll his eyes at her and she could see. She returned it with a smile, of course.

"I take you to have trouble sleeping," Y/N put the other box in front of him once grounding the counter island, along with a fresh glass of water. The soldier eyed her and then the stuff, especially the small bottle of sleep drops she pulled out.

"20 drops in the water, 2 hours before going to bed. You'll sleep like a baby." she cooed like a mother coaxing her child to take nasty medicine, and it worked.

Simon looked at her with a slight frown and leaned down, the proximity of space between them closing in and Y/N could taste his bourbon breath through the mask.

"Goin' soft on me, Beastie?"

A curious question. She might be. Y/N is just like that, giving people she met just for a day her heart and testing whether they'll let it drop or not.

"Or you just wanna make sure I'm knocked out cold so you can smother me in my sleep?"

Y/N smirked at that, her emotions could never be hoarded under the surface for too long. Fingers reached at his jacket and plucked a hair from there, Simon watched her little hand with something like awe.

Wonderment.

They're so small, and gentle, but can inflict great pain judging by the stories he heard from Johnny about his and her teen shenanigans. His are big, calloused from hard work, and training for killing without hesitation, even a little pat on the shoulder was a gesture he felt like he needs to master unless he'd want to inflict accidental pain. Ironic to what happened moments ago.

Grasping confidence out of nowhere, Y/N came an inch closer to the man she should feel intimidated by or be angry at but she felt neither.

"I should, you'd deserve it for being such a dick," she began. "... But Johnny's friend is my friend too, even if I may not like it."

Simon searched in her soft-hazed orbs for something, trying to figure out if she was lying, but not once had she stuttered. He wouldn't mind getting lost in the warmth of them, it's something a loner like him craved but was too proud to admit such feelings in the first place.

Y/N's fingerpad poked into his chest, below his collarbone, it made his head tilt in silent curiosity and prompted her to continue. "Revenge is better served in the middle of it heating up. I will smother ya. With affection. Best torture for the likes of you."

Simon Riley would have laughed, hard, if he wouldn't be so tired. The smile under his mask mirrored hers, and Y/N felt her heart bloom inside her ribcage.

"Now, be a good boy— drink the drops and go to sleep, I'll be back later this morning. You two dogs might be wide awake by then." she used one of her strict tones with a glare that always worked on kids she babysat.

Simon snorted in amusement and pulled his open palms up in surrender while straightening up in the chair. "Roger, ma'am." he huffed, his thick Manchester accent gruff and rumbly. He sounded almost playful, and Y/N loved that it might be the case, the start of their friendship sure is rocky so she'll take it. Also, this nickname made her feel things in her stomach, it always did.

"Oh, and," Y/N stopped in the doorway, tugging on her favorite jacket, mismatched outfit or not, it's comfy. Simon looked up at her from the little bottle, already filling the water with drops. "Don't even try to be nasty in my bed with Johnny-boye. Or I will circumcision ya both."

Nearly dropping the bottle into the glass by that discussion, Simon cursed under his breath with a barely noticeable stutter while she left her apartment, and sudden, palpable silence was there in exchange. It was uncomfortable. The sooner he'll sleep the better.

Demons will still haunt him, even in his sleep, but perhaps this promised, the dreamless night he could look forward to.

Setting the bottle away into the box, he stared at the still water in the Coca-cola glass, his fingers began to drum on the cold surface of the counter desk.

"Better not get attached." Ghost mused sourly, frowning and the water mirrored the reflection.

And Simon couldn't agree more, but the circumstance of the situation that they're on monthly leave and Johnny wants him (them) to be buddy-buddy with Y/N might be difficult. He tried to be distancing but she still found a way to be at an inch from his personal bubble, not trespassing, and not intending to leave and give up either.

"Stubborn."

Y/N might be patiently waiting for him to let her in, even just an inch, but Ghost's overprotectiveness might never allow for that to happen.

Simon gulped the water in one swallow and put the glass in the sink before beelining towards her bedroom door.

[diona-98]

*deepest inhale in the land of deep inhales*

Okay so basically, theres this small little AU called Heartslost. This girl was born, but her powers were deemed wicked and unholy by the villages, and she was banished to a part of the Earth. This part has one way barriers, once you go in you cant come out. Unless of course, you have the power of 7 human souls.

The young girl uses her powers to create life. She first creates Ink, who uh.. turns out soulless. He kinda leaves out. She then creates Error, because Ink is a little bit of a danger and someone needs to keep him in check. After? She creates Blue, Frisk, and Chara.

Wait.. isnt making humans overpowered!? Couldn't she just make the human souls!? Well.. no. She can only make psuedo souls, which are the same strength as monster souls.

Continuing, Frisk is a ghost who kinda just.. vibes with Chara. And Blue? Well he grows close to the girl, almost like a brother.

She decided to make only a few more creations. Dream, and Nightmare. The whole "nightmare eats black apple thing" still happens, but like.. theres no bullies really? He does get a bit bullied but not that severe. ITS FRICKIN' ADAM AND EVE??? HOW DID YOU GET IN THIS STORY??? Basically one of Nightmare's "friends" tricks him into eating one.

Dw tho, he's still chill. Just even more emo now.

Okay you're probably getting tired of me setting this AU up, so basically this girl named Olivia (Soul; Courage) gets stuck, has a little ghost pal following her, befriends everyone, and frees them.

Oh and also Blue helped the girl come up with a name. And that name is Afta.

Afta and her creations are free, and Olivia is their ambassador. Afta reunites with one of her birth family members too! Her brother, who also had a "curse" but it didnt happen until way later in his life and he could hide it.

OKAY WOOOO THATS OVER WITH.

NOW WE CAN GET INTO THE MULTIVERSE- OH SHOOT MORE BACKSTORY.

I'll make it short! Or try..

Basically theres a glitch in a copy of Heartslost, and Afta has been replaced. The new person quickly gets corrupted though. Went through torture, blah blah blah, lost their whole AU. Seeks vengeance.

So? They use an abandoned AU from the multiverse over. Including Ink, Error, Dream, Nightmare, Blue, Dust, Killer, Cross, Horror, Lust, Classic, and Fell. And maybe a few more. They play around with corrupting it, before abandoning the project. They did a hard reset on everything, leaving the experiment rewritten.

Then, their plan was inacted. They corrupted an au known as Sweetsverse. They also went around and corrupted a few more.

Okay now I'm getting tired so I'll just give a run down.

The corrupted person, Ochita, went around corrupting AUs. They eventually corrupted Heartslost, leaving Afta corrupted. Though the building resistance had found a way to fix them. Basically, you just split it. Two versions, the uncorrupted and the corrupted version.

Though none were powerful enough to do this. So they had to summon a third deliverer. These deliverers bring the messages of above. The third deliverer, Okita, managed to fix the AUs using this method. This summoned a new ally, Invert, a corrupted Afta.

Yadda yadda, Ochita corrupted more aus, oh also so many lesbians. Eventually though, one Afta knew what to do. Dessert, aka Swap!Afta. They had once been friends with Ochita. And they knew who they had to contact.

There were test versions for the Afta AUs. And their leader, Lav, aka Test Dessert, was pretty powerful. The two did a little thingy thing and fused. Eventually, the battle with Ochita came to an end, The fusion stabbed, and killed them.

And.. that's the end. Of Gen 1. Theres 2 more wars, both separated by gens. Gen 2 and Gen 3 are next. BUT ONLY IF YOU ARE STILL CURIOUS!!

I managed to get my half sleepy eyes to read this, unfortunately i couldnt read the multiverse part since im tired now

Ill make sure to read this in the morning (well, if i even remember it)

But over all, great au, love it already, oh and i hope you have a great day

[miraculousalt]

So when S6 starts Adrien wont know yet that Ladybug didn get the Butterfly miraculous cuz she'll probably just tell suhan, Alya n maybe Luka. So Chat Noir will likly ask her for a reveal in ep 1 cause thats wha they always said, they reveal when its save.

Is there evn any point in hoping tha she ll go bout that any other way than jus lyin her ass off again, stall for time with excuse afta excuse until Lila will attack as Butterfly & Chat has to find out the worst way again tha she lied to him n keepin his hopes up? Her jus keepin him 'happy' by telling him they ll finlly getta know each other soon just for her to never have had that intention in the first place?

Wow, that sounds like Ephemeral all over again. Great, cant wait.

[ao3feed-tf2ships]

the warehouse

read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/53092594

by tomfooleryprod

It's over for me. need to start writemaxxing more

Words: 7586, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Team Fortress 2

Rating: Mature

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Sniper (Team Fortress 2), RED Sniper (Team Fortress 2), RED Spy (Team Fortress 2), Spy (Team Fortress 2)

Relationships: Sniper/Spy (Team Fortress 2)

Additional Tags: Top Spy (Team Fortress 2), Bottom Sniper (Team Fortress 2), Spy is a guiding partner, Sniper is a nervous wreck, Tender Sex, Spy randomly drops French bangers during (dirty talk), literally google translate my bad guys, Sniper can't understand shit but it's all good, caring Spy, Sniper seeking out for a bond with someone, One Shot, porn no plot, based off a drawing I made, Scout appears afterwards, author lore drops in the middle of the sex, author is actually brain dead, author should be studying for their exams but is writing shit like this instead, It's over for them, Medic mentioned once, gotta studymaxx afta this, Light Angst, Vanilla, Gentle Sex, Bit off character I think

read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/53092594

[redemptioninchaos]

'small things' - 1 for aurora and andrew, 1 for aurora and iyana, 1 for sheriko and chiasa

"Andrew could work 24 hours straight and still be aware enough to know when I'm lying next to him. Without fail, he'll feel me crawl on top of him, let out a soft mumble, and wrap an arm or two around me in his sleep. I still squeal when he does that."

. . .

"The way Iyana's eyes changed when she first had my cooking...that's when I realized why I was here. If it was just to make sure one of the brightest young minds would get sufficient food, sufficient rest, sufficient care, it would be enough for me. I pray that she's felt more at home here in Durtal since she met me."

. . .

"I know I'm a small 'baxi, but it always, uh, surprise me when Chiasa jest carries me in her arm like I weigh nothin'. I was so used ta gettin' so little sleep that when I started gettin' some good rest, I'd wake up well past the mornin'. We on the move a bunch, and Chiasa coulda woke me up before we moved, but she jest...let me sleep. I'd wake up like I was still sleepin' on top a' her, and she'd be carryin' me, bein' real gentle so that she wouldn't wake me up. She ain't have ta do that, but...she did. I ain't wanna leave her side afta that."

[schrijverr]

A Homecoming Wrapped in Lies 4

Chapter 4 out of 6

5 times Oliver didn’t come back from Lian Yu + 1 time he did

AKA I think we should talk about Oliver only being on Lian Yu for 48 hours before he was rescued and the implications of not being on a deserted island but in civilization for quite a bit of his time away.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: none

~~~

4. Alcohol

Tommy is a bit more worried about throwing his back from the death bash after the dinner with his family, worrying if he should be drinking at all.

In a way, Oliver agrees with him. He shouldn’t be drinking. Not because he can’t handle it – after a year of drinking like a Russian he’s more than qualified to drink as much as he wants – but he has a corrupt millionaire to visit later on and, no matter how many times he’s shot straight with a gun and too much vodka in his system, he’d rather not risk it.

However, he also disagrees with Tommy. The newly returned Ollie Queen should be seen out drinking and partying. He wants people to view him as he was, as someone incapable of being who he is now.

It’s a part of why he came back in the first place, of everything he has to do. He hasn’t come back to be back, he’s come back with a reason, a mission. As much as he has liked being back with friends and family, back in Starling, he’s not here for that. He can’t afford think like that. He has important things to do.

So, he isn’t responsible and shrugs off all of Tommy’s concerns, placating him with excuses about how his liver could never forget all the fun it has had and it’ll all be fine, vomiting is part of the experience anyway.

Tommy is still concerned, that much he can see, but like everyone else in his life, he doesn’t push back too much. Everyone is scared to break him, it’s almost funny that they think they can, that they think it hasn’t happened already.

When the times comes, he plays his part, downing his shot of tequila with a loud holler, pretending to feel at home in the large crowd, a spotlight on him.

He acts a little more drunk around Tommy than he should be after the shot, trying to pull on high school memories when alcohol was still novel. He slurs: “Guess I shouldn’t’ve’d tha’ drink afta all, my liv’r forgot,” as he drapes himself over Tommy.

It’s his excuse to leave, playing it up even more for Laurel to force her away. She’s always been too good for him, even before he became the monster he is today. He doesn’t want to taint that.

After he’s shaken her off, he disappears into the hallway he has to take to get to his gear, so he can cross over and pay Adam Hunt a visit.

His chest still hurts and he wishes he’d had more than that one shot of tequila, or that his lies were true and the shot did more to him than it actually has.

He doesn’t want to go down that road. The type of drinking from before, to forget himself and get lost in the bodies around him is lost to him and he can’t go back. It’s also not the same to drink with people now, not like in the Bratva. There he drank with his family of killers, all knowing how to stay sharp, all a reminder that his guard couldn’t be down. But still a group he could be himself with. He can’t be himself with the people here, they don’t understand.

In the hallway, he runs into Diggle, who is even more suspicious of him than he’d been since the Chinese restaurant. Diggle’s a good man, one to keep his eye on. However, a distraction and obstacle for now. So he takes him out.

Later he plays drunk at the opening of the research branch dedicated to his father, honoring his memory. Only a bit of a guilty taste in his mouth, along with the alcohol.

Oliver has drunk enough to get a bit of a beep on a breathalyzer, just in case his mom pulls it out, that new sheen of too much concern that always hangs over her now not having left. However, it’s far from enough to actually effect him, so he still has to play drunk.

He can see Tommy frown, probably recognizing the way he plays tipsy, yet also smelling the alcohol on his breath. There’s a bit of suspicion in his gaze too and Oliver can’t forget how he looked when he asked him what happened on that island. But he ignores it.

Tommy can be suspicious, Laurel can hate him, mom can think he’s fragile, and Thea can think he’s being an overbearing hypocrite. How they see him doesn’t matter, getting the people he cares about back is a bonus, a nice positive side effect, but it’s not why he’s here.

Oliver has a mission.

[spideyhexx]

different afta anon-might be biased because kirsten dunst is the love of my life but i feel like if the movie was made a few years earlier she would’ve been my #1 pick

interesting!!! she’s such a great actress🫶

[myrammmortal]

Chapter 37, this is Richards POV and shit is about to get even weirder.

AN: OK EVRYBODY IM GONG ON VOCATION ON DA FRIST OF JULY SO IM EEDER GONNA END DA FIK OR UPDAT IT IN WEEX. fangz!1 oh yah nd prepz stop flaming sa story!11 raven fangz 4 da help c ya gurl afta vocation!11

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX666XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

RICHARD’S PONT OF VIEW LOL

Vampire and I chaind Hairgrid 2 da floor.

“Oh mi fucking satan!11” Paul Darkness Alzheimer Birdflu Landers said. She wuz so hot. “Maybe I cud uze Amnesia potion 2 make Satan foll in love wif me faster!1”

“But u r so sexy and wonderful aneway Tata,” said Vampire. “Why would u need it?”

“To make everyfing go faster lol.” said Paul Darkness Alzheimer Birdflu Landers.

“But you wont have to do it wif him or anyfing, will u?” I asked jelosly.

“I am here too and OMFG u guyz r so scary!11” said Britney, a fucking prep.

“Shut the fuk up!1” said Willow.

“Ok well anyway lets go 2 Profesor Trevolry’s room.”

Richard, Paul Darkness Alzheimer Birdflu Landers and I went to Profesor Siniater’s room. I don't know how I'm here twice but sure. But Profesor Sinister wasn’t there. Instead Tom Rid was.

Oh hi fuckers he said. Lizzen, I got u sum kewl new clovez.

I took out da cloves from da bag. It was a goffik blak leather miniskirt that said ‘Booty Slut’ on da bak, black stilton bootz, blood red fishnetz and a blak corset.

“OMG fangz!” I said hugging him in a gothic way. I took da clothes in da bag. I love dressing in drag!

“OK Profesor Sinister isnt hr what the fuk should we do?” asked Richard. Suddenly he loked at a sign on da blak wall.

“Oh my fuking satan!1” I screamed as I read it. On it said Evry1 Profesor Sinister is away. She is too gottik she is in Azkhabian now. Classes shal be taught by Daddy Till who is bak but he shall not be principal 4 now. Sincerely Profesor Rumbridge.

“OMFG!111” I shoted arngrily. “How could they do that!11”

Suddenly Daddy Till came.

“WHAT DA HELL R U DONG IN MY OFICE!1” he began to shoot angrily. Sudwenly I saw Morty Mcfly’s blak tim machine!111 I jumped seductivly in2 it leaving Richard and Vampire. Sudenly I wuz back in tim!11 I looked around. It was……………Profesor Slutborn’s efface! I sneaked around. Suddenly I saw da Amnesia potion on his desk. It wuz blak wif blood-red pentagramz in it. It was the shape of a cross. I put it in my poket. Suddenly da door opened it wuz……..Profesor Slutgorn!11

OMG wut r u doing fuker he shooted angrily I don’t kno wut da fuk r u DOING I SHOUTED ANGRILY.

“Oh sorry I wuz just looking around koz I thought it wuz class.” you said finally hoping he couldn’t c da potion in ur pocket.

“Oh ok u can go now.” said Profesor Slutborn.

You went to the conmen room after putting on my clothes. Silas, Samaro and Snap were there practicing Vampirez will Never Hurt U by MCR.

“Oh hi you guys.” I said seductively. “Wheres Satan?”

“Oh he’s cumming.” said Serious. “BTW u can kall me Hades now.” Suddenly Satan came. He was wearing a smexxy blak leather Jackson, blak congres shoes, a Slipnot t-shirt and a blak tie.

“Ok I will see you guyz at da concert.” I said and then I went with Satan. 

[lonestarflight]

"STS-29 Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)/ IUS deployment from Discovery, OV-103, payload bay.

Onboard view shows Space Shuttle Discovery's payload bay with tracking and data relay satellite D (TDRS-D) in stowed, pre-deployment position. In this head-on view, TDRS-D stowed components including single access #1 and #2, solar cell panels, SGL, S-Band omni antenna, and C-Band antenna are visible. TDRS-D rests in airborne support equipment (ASE) forward cradle and aft frame tilt actuator (AFTA). Discovery's aft bulkhead and orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods are visible in the background.

Crewmembers were Astronauts Michael L. Coats, John E. Blaha, James F. Buchli, Robert C. Springer and James P. Bagian."

Date: March 13, 1989

NASA ID: STS029-71-000AE, STS029-71-026, STS029-78-019

[qiyra]

was tagged by @siffriend but the post is a bit too long and not the original chain anyway so I'm restarting it.

URL song game

the rules of the game are to write one song for every letter in your url, and then tag as many people as there are letters in your url.

I don't remember song titles so I'm going through saved artists for this list! ^_^

q - Quest, Afta-1 i - In and Out, Letherette y - You and I, Washed Out r - Regret Making Mistakes, Balam Acab a - Anxiety, Giraffage

tagging first five mutuals in my notes: @lafortis @pricklypearsnactus @psifly @davidtennantpussytulpa @untamed-pussy