#also I easily spent like. 5 hours on this just today by accident because I loet the little perception of time I have

[lil-lost-mind]

You spent so much time looking for something out of your reach that you lost yourself

Guess who never left the building- they gotta stop letting me into events-

Anyway. Piece I made for the first room of @mcytblrescape

(no blood this time sorry to let my beloved mods down)

Gif(with a terrible quality I'm sorry) bellow the cut

[widow-maximov]

I'll be your knight

Pairing: Natasha x Fem Reader

Warning: Language, fluff, angst, smut.

Summary: Dealing with sexism is a real struggle but eventually a line is crossed and anger is unleashed.

A/n: This is my first time writing smut so hopefully it's good enough :3

Word count: 3.5k

⸻⸻⋙☸⋘⸻⸻

Being an Avenger isn't easy, especially for any women that join the life style of a hero. You had to put up with sexist comments all the time, most of the time it didn't really bother you but the more you heard random men talking about your best friend like she was some toy, the more it annoyed you.

The comments towards you stopped when you were recruited by Tony Stark, there was some level respect for you and you kind of liked it.

You had some issues with opening up to the team but when Wanda, showed you they are harmless, you slowly opened up more and more as you knew that they were going to be your new family from now on.

Everyone on the team warned you about the one particular redhead but you didn't listen, you wanted to be her friend, she looked scary but is an actual softie, but only around you.

It took time for the Russian to even greet you when she saw you but for you it was worth it, you respected her and always been there for her when she had no one to turn to.

She warmed up to you as she saw the security you were offering her, and you never backed down from your offer, she wasn't keen on your presence but had to learn to accept it.

Even if she didn't trust you fully, that was okay. You trusted her with everything because you knew she was a human just like you and no doubt needed someone to lean on.

⸻⸻⋙☸Flashback☸⋘⸻⸻

You walked around, exploring the place that now it was your new home, you never saw anything more fancy than this place, the room you were staying in was more than enough for 4 people.

Your own tv along with your own big walk in closet and your own bathroom, literally a five star hotel, you didn't complain at all, you were just shocked at how spacious this all was.

Each room was bigger than the other and it was starting to get all confusing, when you left the room, you would get mixed up with the way you walked in.

You loved it but at the same time you hated it, you accidently bumped into the Russian, she looked sweaty in her work out clothes and you stared at her with awkwardness.

She eyed you and cleared her throat, attempting to walk past you and continue where she was going but you stopped her "I'm sorry to disturb you but I just want to know where I can find the gym"

You rubbed your neck awkwardly "I- um- I tried searching everywhere but I'm lost"

Usually when people stutter around Natasha, it meant they were obviously attracted to her but with how you stood and looked away from her just showed her that you were afraid of her.

She didn't smile or anything "Walk straight until you reach the end of the hall and turn left"

You looked at her but she was already on her way so you shouted "Thank you!"

You made your way with her instructions of where to go, she knew how to hide her emotions but it was totally shocking for you how she never had a smile across her lips.

This was your first real conversation, not the hello's or goodbye's. It was a proper conversation, well kind of a proper but it was a start and that's what made you happy.

Second encounter with the redhead was a lot better, the two of you actually had a normal conversation in the morning, you were barely awake so coffee was your way of helping with that.

Walking into the kitchen, not really expecting anyone up early this morning, but the sight of the yawning Russian met your eyes, you smiled at her the best you could as you turned to make yourself a coffee.

"You know there is a coffee maker here?" Her naturally raspy voice spoke which caused you to look at her.

"Yeah I seen it but I have no idea how to use it" You confessed, you weren't embarrassed, you just weren't that fancy to ever own one or even be around one.

She turned around without a word and pulled out a cup, placing it underneath the little nozzle and within seconds the coffee poured out, she took the cup and placed it down as she slid it towards you.

You looked at her and then back at the coffee "Thank you Natasha"

She nodded as she sipped on her own drink "Since you are the only person who is up right now, you mind taking a look at this report, I'm not really sure what it means"

You was taken back, she was asking you for help? Shouldn't she know all of the reports like the back of her hand? She noticed your silence "Or you don't have to, I'll probably figure-"

"No, no I have nothing to do today so I don't mind helping" You smiled and took the coffee with you as you followed her into the room where she had a loads of reports laid out.

You looked at all of them "You know you can work on two reports at a time?"

She nodded "I know but the more I do within a certain time, the less I have later on"

You nodded as you sipped your warm coffee, it was very different to what you were used to, but this was definitely easier to get used to. It was the first time Natasha spent more than 2 minutes with you and you were more than happy to accept that.

So from that time, the two of you worked every morning with each other on reports, you learnt so much from her and in some way she learnt more about you rather than from you, she was impressed by your calmness with her constant questions.

To be fair you wanted to open up to the Russian, she had that safety vibe coming of her and you knew that she would never betray you or your trust that you put in her.

The mornings spent on reports also turned into evenings and soon there was movies every other day, she loved horror movies but you on the other hand loved action movies, there was plenty of action as a hero of the world but it never was enough.

She started to show herself around you more often and you really liked how you could make her laugh with simply couple words. She loved how close she gotten to you and how you trusted her with everything.

She had some doubt but you were always to reassure her, she was thankful for it each time, so in return she would ask you questions about yourself and you never hesitated for a moment to tell her.

⸻⸻⋙☸End☸⋘⸻⸻

But the problem was that not everyone saw it like that, they saw her for her body but not for her heart which is one of many reasons to why she was slow at opening up.

It angered you that people didn't want to treat her like anyone else, just because she was gorgeous didn't automatically make her less of a human.

Today was one of those days where you were busy, like busy busy, overloaded with bunch of reports that needed to be sorted before the next day, so you spent your whole day in you room, you glared at the clock on the wall.

You was doing this for 6 hours straight, no breaks so you decided to just do that. You stood up and stretched out, walking out of your room without anyone around, it did ignite curiosity in you so you walked around cautiously to see what was the deal.

Three of your teammates with two random agents were placed on the couch in the living room, trapping Natasha in between them, from her body language she didn't want to be there.

Bruce and Bucky along with Steve seem to laugh at the agents jokes, you moved closer to the door as you listened to what they were saying.

"Come on Natasha, you should do that power pose and show off that body" One of the agents spoke up as they eyed the Russian.

The other agent tried to move closer to her but hesitated, knowing she could easily tackle him "You can't let that body go to waste"

The anger was raising as words spilled out of their mouths, why didn't Steve stop them? Did he really think that as well?

"I was near to tapping that ass but you know women" Bruce made a comment as he laughed along with the agents.

"If she dyed her hair blonde, the amount of jokes we could make then" Bucky smirked as he spoke loudly.

Natasha was just taking in all of the comments, you could see across her face that she didn't enjoy it at all, so she stood up and what they did next made you finally act.

They all looked at her ass and whistled "Romanoff, you should dance for us, show off those curves"

"I am a little hungry as well, you might as well move that pretty ass of yours and make us something to eat" One of the agents spoke up as he laughed.

You walked in as you raised your brows at the 5 men sitting and eyeing Natasha as a piece of meat, you pulled her into you causing her to jump a little but relax when she realised it was you.

They all looked at you and the other agent smirked "Are yous going to put on a lesbian show for us?"

Now you wasn't just unimpressed but also pissed, you pulled yourself away from the Russian as you stepped forwards in front of Natasha "Listen here you little dick, If I hear that you even looked at Natasha in any way, I will fucking haunt you and make sure you don't live to see tomorrow"

His friend was terrified, he gulped when you looked at him "As for you, I want you to go and make her a fucking five star meal and if it's not good, I swear to god you'll regret being born"

He shook his head so fast as he stood up but you stopped him with your powers "You want a show? I will fucking give you a show"

You gripped his face, squishing his cheeks very firmly, your hand started to glow blue as you made him hallucinate that he was in pain, from the fact that he couldn't move and he felt as if his skin was being peel off he only could scream.

You looked at the 4 men who looked very terrified of you, your eyes had flames and you wasn't going to go easy, on neither of them "If any of you ever comment anything sexist or inappropriate about any woman, including Natasha. I will make your life a living hell"

"Do yous understand?"

They shook their heads and scattered away from you as fast as they could, you let go of the dude in front of you, he looked weak but he gotten up so fast that you could swear he had powers as well.

You turned towards Natasha, worried "Are you okay? Did they touch you?"

You looked her up and down as you made your way towards her, she shook her head with a small smile. You pulled her into a hug as a single tear slid down Natasha's face.

You pulled away as you wiped that tear off with your thumb "Why didn't you act Nat?"

"What's the point? It wont stop them from saying what they want Y/n/n"

The pain in your heart was strong at the words, how could any woman not be scared of what could happen if they do protest against men.

You cupped her face as you looked into her eyes "Natasha Romanoff, I promise you that I will protect you from their filthy mouths"

She smiled, this time it met her eyes which caused you to smile. You crushed on Natasha for a long time and promised yourself that when the time was right you would tell her but each time it was harder to do so.

Her and Bruce at the time were something but when she decided to break it off, you were there for her you told her she didn't need to tell you the reason to why she decided that but reassured her that it was probably a good reason to do so.

Now you are holding her face as her eyes are locked with yours, you could feel those butterflies in your stomach raise up "I will be your knight in casual clothes because armour isn't my style"

She laughed with her whole heart, causing you to laugh as well "Gosh I love you.."

You froze at her words, and so did she, her eyes widen at her words but she knew there was no way out of this so she pulled her sleeve and started to fidget with it.

Your hands were on her face but dropped at those words, you stood still trying to understand what just happened, she continued as she looked down "I hope that's okay but I love you Y/n"

You couldn't believe your ears, the woman who always had trouble opening up, right now was vulnerable with her whole heart to you and you was stuck, frozen as you stared at her.

"I never had anyone stand up for me the way to did today, I started to realise that I had feelings that one day when you were near to death on that mission" She was still fidgeting with her sleeve.

"It's okay if you don't feel the same way but you just needed to know.." She confessed, she was standing in front of you holding her heart out in her hands, offering you to take it.

You smiled whole heartily as you looked into her eyes when you pulled her face by her chin "It's more than okay Tasha"

Your hands dropped to her hips as you pulled her in closer to you "Because I love you too"

That look in her eyes, you could see that she had those butterflies too, her eyes locked with yours, she tilted her head slightly to the side and crashed her lips against yours.

Her hands were placed on the back of your neck pulling you deeper into her kiss, you slowly backed her into the wall and when her back hit the wall, she gasped which you used the opportunity to slide your tongue inside her mouth.

The kiss became heated real quick, forgetting that the two of you were still in the public place, only when someone cleared their throat, make the two of you look where the sound came from.

Natasha hid her face in the crook of your neck as she quietly laughed at how awkward that is, you pulled yourself away from her as you looked in the direction of Tony, who looked at you with pure disgust.

"As if you never done this, but sorry you had to witness..." You rolled your eyes at him at first but looked over at Natasha who was still leaning on the wall "This"

She smiled as she intertwined her hand with yours and tugged it to pull you out of the living room, the two of you made it to her room but it wasn't long before you reclaimed her lips with your own.

This time it was a little bit more gentle, you backed her up to the bed as the back of her leg hit the bed frame, before you pushed her back and claimed on top of her.

The only light was the moonlight that was shining through the blinds, you kissed her passionately and redirected your kisses down to her neck, she moved her face to the side giving you more access to her neck.

You left marks as you slightly stank your teeth in but sucked the spot right after, earning a few small moans from the redhead beneath you, she was slowly turning into a mess but she managed to slightly pull you away.

"Don't you have a lot of work?" She asked a little worried but lust was more visible.

"It can wait" You declared as you looked into her eyes "Are you sure you want this?"

She smiled at you being caring and asking for consent "I want this детка (baby)"

You smirked as you placed a soft kiss on her lips and returned to her neck, giving it a couple more kisses and slowly moving down, the only thing that stopped you was the material of her clothes.

She slightly lifted herself off as you pulled her shirt off, exposing her upper body, you looked at her in admiration, her eyes had slight doubt across them but you were quick to reassure her.

"You are beautiful Tasha" You meant every word that came out of your mouth.

There was a blush across her cheeks as she smiled at you, your hand reached for the back of her bra as you unhooked it and pulled it off her.

You took couple of seconds to admire the view before attaching your mouth to her nipple, she bit her bottom lip to prevent her from moaning.

Your free hand glued itself to the other breast, giving it the same amount of attention as your mouth did, you moved your lips to her ear as your hand kept playing with her now hard nipple.

"I want to hear you Natty" You whispered into her ear and with that Natasha moaned into your ear causing a small smirk to settle on your lips.

You continued to kiss down her body until you reached the bottom of her stomach, you looked up at her to see if she was okay, she nodded to give you the confirmation.

You pulled her shorts off along with her underwear, exposing the bottom half of her body, you could smell her arousal which only fuel you on.

You teased her as you kissed her inner thigh, leaving marks there as well, you would from time to time lock eyes with her. You moved closer to her pussy, teasing her with your tongue causing some frustrated moans to escape her mouth.

Her hips would buck as you would teasingly lick her wet folds, she looked down at you as her eyes were consumed with lust "Please Y/n! Just fuck me already"

That's all you needed to hear before you attached your mouth to her dripping pussy, giving her clit the attention first as the more louder moans escaped her mouth.

You gripped her with your hands as your tongue worked it's magic against her hard clit, she was gripping the bed sheets as moans were spilling out of her lips, not caring if anyone heard.

You moved one of your hands as you slipped one of your fingers inside her and without letting her adjust you started to thrust into her, the feeling of pleasure was building up quickly in the bottom of her stomach with each thrust.

"Oh god" Those were the only words she managed to choke out, she was soaked which stoked up your own arousal along with her moans.

Her hips were quick to match your pace as you thrusted, bringing her closer and closer, you pushed the second finger inside and this time you curled the two fingers, hitting her spot all over again.

One of her hands gripped your arm as her nails dug into your skin, the other hand was still tightly gripping the bedsheet, her head was thrown back as you came up to her face.

Your pace of your fingers never slowing down but thrusting harder and fast "Let me show you how you should be treated instead darling.."

You kissed her lips as she moaned, you moved back down as you felt her walls tighten, knowing she was about to cum. You pushed your fingers even deeper into her, her breathing was heavy letting out low and loud moans.

You watched as the orgasm consumed Natasha with your name falling freely from her lips, you slowed down your thrusts to let her ride out her orgasm, holding her steady pulling your fingers out of her as you licked her clean, and moved back up to her lips.

Kissing her as she slightly moaned at the taste of herself into the kiss, you pulled away from her as she was still breathing heavily, staring into your eyes with a smile.

"Now it's your turn" She spoke in between breathes.

You shook your head "Not today darling, today's focus is you.."

You stripped yourself naked as you pressed your warm body against Natasha, glaring at the marks you left and holding her tight in your arms as she slowly calmed down from her high.

You were sure in this moment that you wanted to hear her moan your name till the rest of your life, it was the music to your ears and you didn't want it any other way.

⸻⸻⋙☸⋘⸻⸻

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Tag-list: @diaryoflife,@wandanatblogs,@madamevirgo, @eilarch

[prettyinlimegreenboots]

Coffee Outing Gone Terribly Wrong - Life in the ER Newsies Series

The RedFinch meeting from this story that you’ve been waiting for!  There is cursing in this section! Also, there are some mentions of stitches and blood in this one.

June 2016

It was a perfect Spring day. The temperatures were finally warming up and the sunshine was peaking through a couple of stray clouds. It was also the perfect day for Albert and Race to meet up for their weekly best friend date. But what Albert didn’t anticipate was Race’s new skateboard. 

“You’re telling me that Spot, the nurse, got you that for your birthday?” Albert asked, raising an eyebrow at his best friend. “You’re a walking disaster, why would he aid in your hazards?” 

Race grinned happily. “He didn’t exactly get this for me. He told me to pick anything out and I picked this out.” 

“But you’ve been known to trip over air. Why would you add wheels to that tripping hazard?” Albert looked over at him, shaking his head. 

His best friend’s face fell a little. “I’m hurt that you don’t have confidence in me, Albie.” 

“Need I remind you about the many times you’ve visited Kat, Spot, and myself in the Emergency Room?” He looked at Race. “Do you know how many times our hearts have stopped when either you or Jack show up hurt?” 

Race grinned. “But this isn’t going to be one of those times. Spottie got me a helmet and pads as well. He almost bought a roll of bubble wrap but didn’t at the last moment.”

“You need a giant bubble ball.” Albert mumbled under his breath as he watched Race put a tentative foot on the skateboard before pushing off, actually balancing on the board. 

Albert jogged to keep up with him as they maneuvered the streets. Albert was glad that he was a runner by nature, easily being able to keep up with his best friend. Stopping at a crosswalk, he looked at Race. “Stop for coffee up ahead?” 

Race nodded, skating across the street with a gleeful yell. Albert shook his head, jogging to keep up, only stopping at the coffee shop. Hopping off the board, Race stuck his tongue out at Albert with a laugh. “What was that for?” 

“For having such little faith that I wouldn’t be able to do that without hurting myself.” Race said with a laugh, picking up the board before walking into the shop. 

Albert followed behind him. “The afternoon is still young. Spottie working today?” 

“Yeah, him and Kat are working until midnight. I kinda hate that they work nights.” Race admitted, scratching the back of his neck as he looked at Albert. 

Shrugging, Al nodded. “I feel you. They moved me to days a few weeks ago and though I love it, it’s an adjustment. Besides, days are much calmer than nights were.” 

“Huh, I would’ve thought days would be crazier than nights.” Race said stepping up to order his coffee, giving a glance at Albert, letting him know he was picking up the tab. 

Albert shook his head, placing his order, looking at Race. “Nah, nights are much crazier; people do weird shit in the middle of the night, knowing the ERs don’t close their doors.” 

“That’s true.” Race nodded, moving down the line to wait for their coffees. “Ever thought about moving on from Emergency Medicine?” 

Their names were soon called as they grabbed their drinks before heading outside to a table. Race dropped his board so that it was under the table before looking at Albie, his questions still hung in the air. “No, I think I would be bored if I moved on from Emergency Medicine. Though it’s crazy, there’s never a dull moment.” 

“You, Kat, and Spottie all have that in common.” Race said, sipping on his coffee. “Damn that’s good.” 

Albert chuckled, taking a sip of his own. “That is good. You done for the summer?” 

“Yeah, exams were given last week and I spent the weekend grading them so I’m free.” Race grinned. “Driver’s training starts up in two weeks so I’ll be busy with that but it’ll be good.” 

Albert couldn’t say anything at that moment because Race’s skateboard had been pushed out slightly from under the table that a (incredibly good looking) stranger slipped on it as he was walking by, effectively spilling his coffee as he fell to the ground.  Pushing back from the table, Albert rushed to the ground, looking over the stranger. “Are you okay?” 

“Damn that was a wicked fall.” Race commented, kneeling on the ground next to Albie, giving his friend a wide eyed look. 

The stranger slowly opened his eyes, groaning at the fall before carefully pushing himself to a seated position. “What the hell happened?” 

“You slipped on a skateboard, falling to the ground, spilling your coffee everywhere.” Race supplied. 

Albert gave him a look. “Will you get the gloves out of my bag?” 

The guy’s eyes went wide, looking over at Albert, who just smiled. “The name’s Albert and I’m a nurse, do you mind if I check you for injuries? You hit your head pretty hard. That idiot is my best friend, Race. What’s your name?”

“I’m Finch.” He said, grimacing at the pain. 

Albert took notice, giving him a look. “What hurts?” 

“The back of my head and my arm.” Finch said as Race handed a pair of purple gloves to Albert. 

He quickly looked over Finch’s arm but didn’t see anything worrisome. It wasn’t until he felt the back of his head that Albert started to worry. Taking a look, he saw the cut along with the blood. “It seems as if you’ve cut open the back of your head, it doesn’t look too bad but you will need stitches.” 

Finch groaned but nodded at Albert’s assessment. “My car is right over if you want to drive me to the hospital.” 

Albert nodded, looking over at Race. “Grab the shirt out of my bag and we’ll use it to keep pressure on the wound. Race, text Spottie and tell him we’re coming in.” 

“He’s going to kill me Albie.” Race whined, giving his best friend a look as he handed him the shirt. 

Albert shrugged, pressing the shirt to Finch’s head. “That’s your problem; I wanna give him a heads up.” 

Finch watched the two with wide eyes. “Why do I feel like I’m missing something?” 

“Because most people are when they meet us.” Albert said, helping him to his feet. “I work at the Memorial ER with Race’s boyfriend Spot. Race is giving Spot a heads up that we’re coming in . . . Race is somewhat accident prone so anytime he’s hurt a heads up is usually given.” 

Finch chuckled, hissing in the immediate pain that came shortly after. “How many stitches are we talking about?” 

Nearing the car, Albert pulled away the shirt, looking at the cut. “Probably five or so. You got lucky that it isn’t any bigger. Race, you coming?” 

The three quickly got into the car, Race driving as Albert held the shirt to Finch’s head. Before long, they were pulling up to the bay doors. Albert helped Finch out as Race went to park the car. Walking slowly, Albert glanced at Spot waiting at the doors with a gurney. After helping Finch onto the bed, Spot gave Albert a look.  “What happened?”

“Your idiot boyfriend’s skateboard was poking out from the table and Finch here, slipped on it, fell to the ground where he busted open his head. He’ll need stitches and was complaining about his arm but I didn’t see anything.” Albert said as Spot looked him over as they headed towards a room. 

Nodding at Al’s assessment, Spot gave Albert a look. “And where is said idiot boyfriend? Did you leave him for dead?” 

“Nah, he’s parking Finch’s car.” Albert stepped back, taking off his used gloves before grabbing another pair. “He feels really bad. But the bigger question is why did you go along with the skateboard?” 

Spot glanced at Albert. “Because the idiot wouldn’t shut up about it so I figured he got one, use it for a few times then lose interest in it.” 

“Brilliant deduction, dear Watson.” Albert mumbled as Finch chuckled at the two. 

Spot’s eyes went wide looking at Finch. “On a scale of 1-10, how much pain are you in?” 

“Like a 4.” Finch said as Spot nodded. 

The curtains were thrown open as Kat and Race joined the crew. “For once, I’m thankful Race isn’t in that bed. Al, isn’t it your day off?”

“Yeah Plums but I happened to be at the scene of the crime when it happened.” Albert grinned at his favorite coworker. “Finch, this is Katherine Plumber, Physician Assistant . . . she’ll take good care of you.” 

She stepped up closer to the bed, giving him a look. “Whatever happened, I apologize, especially since Race was involved. Now what hurts?” 

“Back of my head and my right arm.” Finch said, looking between the people within the room. He was definitely missing something, though he couldn’t tell what that was.

Taking a light out of her pocket, she looked at the back of his head before whistling. She quickly moved onto his arm. “Finch, you’ll need stitches, Albert can help you out with those. I want a scan of his arm, it doesn’t feel like anything’s broken but let’s rule it out. Also, Spot start an IV, I want a bag of saline in him before we discharge him. Do you have any questions, Finch?” 

“How long am I in here for?” Finch asked. 

Plums looked at the clock before smiling. “You’ll be out of here by 5 tonight . . . a couple of hours. As soon as the scan is done on your arm, I’ll take a look at it. If it’s broken or fractured, we’ll put a cast on it; if it’s just tender, we’ll put a brace on it. I’ll be around if you have any other questions but Albert and Spot will get you sorted out.” 

Snapping off her gloves she left the room with a grin and a pointed stare at Race, who sat in a chair in the corner. Watching Spot hook an IV up to him, Finch avoided looking at Albert who was gathering supplies for his stitches. “Do you need anything Finch? Some food, something to drink?” 

“Can I get some water?” Finch asked, looking over at Spot. 

“Sure I’ll get you some water and check in Radiology.” Spot nodded before looking at Albert. “You good for the stitches?” 

Nodding, Albert walked back over to the bed, dropping several things onto it. Holding a basin and a syringe full of saline, Albert smiled at him. “I’m going to clean the wound a little before numbing it up. Can you tilt your head forward?” 

Finch did as he requested, wincing at the coldness of the saline. “Sorry, I should've told you that it might be cold. I haven’t said it yet but I’m sorry about my friends.” 

“You all seem pretty close.” Finch commented, feeling Albert’s hands poke around the back of his head. 

Albert chuckled. “I went through high school and college with those idiots. Spot, Kat and I all had several classes together which made college easier. Race and Jack, Kat’s boyfriend, are teachers at the local high school so the five of us have always been really close.” 

“That’s really cool that you’ve maintained your friendship for so many years.” Finch commented.

Dropping the syringe into the basin, he placed it on the bed. “They can be a pain in the butt at times but I wouldn’t trade them for the world. This may sting a bit but I’m going to numb you up now.” 

Finch inhaled sharply at the needle pricking his skin but soon he didn’t feel anything on the back of his neck. “How many stitches?”

“Looks like maybe 7 but we’ll see when I tie it off.” Albert casually shrugged, thankful Finch couldn’t see the light blush on his face. “So what do you do with your life?” 

Finch chuckled. “I work for a project management company in the city. I’m in charge of building the new hospital across town currently. And I promise I don’t trip and fall over skateboards all the time.” 

Albert chuckled at his humor as Finch grinned at the sound of his laugh. “I’m sure that’s a lot of challenges but good rewards.” 

“It’s fun to work on a project six months to a year before moving onto another.” Finch smiled. “There’s definitely never a dull moment.” 

The door opened as Spot slipped in, handing Finch a cup of water with a straw in it. “Al, Radiology can take him in 15 minutes.” 

“Thanks Spot.” Albert nodded as he started stitching Finch’s head up as Spot wandered out of the room. “So the hospital is your latest project. Would I recognize anything else you’ve worked on?” 

Finch chuckled. “The coffee shop was one of my first projects after I graduated - they wanted something modern in the old building. To this day, that might be my favorite project.” 

“That’s really cool. So is your background in architecture or something else?” Albert said, continuing with the sutures and keeping Finch’s mind off what was happening. 

“It’s actually Architectural engineering. My entire family, outside of my mom, are engineers so it was just nature for me to go into engineering but architecture has always been fascinating to me.” Finch explained. 

Albert nodded. “That’s really cool. Big family then?”

“Two brothers and a sister. Both brothers and my dad are mechanical engineers while my sister is a biomedical engineer.” Finch explained. 

Albert whistled at his pedigree. “That’s quite impressive and really cool.”

Quietness fell on the room. “Hey Albert, I have a weird question for you.”

“Weird is in my daily dictionary.” Albert chuckled. “What’s up?”

“Can I have your number?” Finch asked as a blush flushed across his face. “You know, in case I have any questions about the stitches.” 

If Finch didn’t sound so sincere, Albert would’ve laughed. “Yes, you can have my number - give me your phone and I’ll put it in in a minute. Alright, your stitches are done - only had to put in 5. Do you want me to put a bandage over them or will you remember that you have them and not touch the back of your head?” 

“Better put a bandage over them.” Finch chuckled as Albert saluted him, walking over to the cabinet and grabbing gauze and some tape. 

Carefully, Albert put a bandage on it before pulling out his phone and texting Spot. Grabbing the phone Finch offered, Albert quickly put his number in before texting himself.  “Specs will be here in a few minutes to take you to Radiology. I’ll be around and will check up on you before they discharge you. Do you need anything?” 

“I think I’m good but thank you Albert.” Finch said, giving him a look, holding out his hand to shake.

Albert smiled. “You’re welcome but I think anyone would’ve done what I did. You just got lucky that I was in the right place at the right time.” 

Quickly washing his hands, Albert glanced at Finch once more before leaving the room, collapsing in a chair at the nurse’s desk with a sigh. “Is he doing okay?” 

“Yeah, stitches are in. Did you tell Specs he’s ready for Radiology?” Albert asked, hearing his phone ding as he looked at Spot. 

Spot nodded. “Specs said he would take him up.”

Albert grabbed his phone, opening up it to a text from Finch. Grinning, he quickly replied as he heard a chair slid across the floor. “So did you get his number?” 

Giving his best friend a look, Albert glanced between Spot and Race. “What are you talking about?” 

“Spot said you couldn’t keep your eyes off of Finch so I’m asking if you got his number.” Race said, leaning over the chair with his chin in his hand, batting his eyelashes in curiosity. 

Pushing Race’s head away from him, Albert rolled his eyes. “None of your business. Besides why are you still here? Thought Spottie would’ve kicked you to the curb by now.” 

“That’s just plain mean, Albie.” Race’s face fell before a grin slid across his face. “I wanted to make sure Finchie was okay. Besides, Spottie grounded me from the skateboard so that means I would’ve had to walk home.” 

“You’re still going to have to walk home due to neither of us having a car.” Alber gave Race a look. “Spot and Plums are working until midnight and I’m not planning on hanging around the emergency room longer than I need to. I have to be back here tomorrow at 7.” 

Spot continued to chart as Race and Albert talked quietly, Spot interjecting every now and then. Plums threw a chart on the counter with a sigh. “Albie, I just saw Finch’s scans. It’s not broken; he’ll just need a brace on it for a couple of weeks. You can remove the IV and he’s good to go.” 

“Can he drive?” Al looked at Plums, who bit her lip. 

“No he shouldn’t be driving.” She said, reviewing his chart. “You okay to get him home?” 

Nodding, Albert moved to slug Race, who had a shit eating grin on his face, as he stood from the chair, grabbing the discharge papers from the printer. “Just for that Racer, find your own damn way home.” 

“Love you Albie.” Race called as Albert waved his hand in the air. 

Making his way to Finch’s room, Albert slid open the door. “Hey, Finch. You’re free to go. You’ll need a brace for that arm but it’s not broken.”

“That’s some good news.” Finch chuckled. “Can I drive home?” 

Albert grabbed a pair of gloves, grimacing before shaking his head. “Due to the lidocaine, you can’t drive until it wears off which will be several hours.” 

“Sorry if this is a bit forward, but can you drive me home?” Finch asked as Albert came over to the side of the bed. 

Albert nodded. “I can if you want me to; don’t have anything else planned for the day. Sorry we didn’t ask earlier but are you squeamish with needles?” 

“No, just pull it out.” Finch sighed. “The sooner I’m out of here the better.” 

Albert nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with the statement. “So I probably should’ve asked you before I gave you my number but is there a significant other?” 

“Nah . . . I’ve been painfully single for the last year.” Finch chuckled. “Old boyfriend couldn’t handle my work schedule.” 

Albert knew that frustration only too well. “I can see that.” 

“You?” Finch asked, looking up at him as he pulled the IV out, grabbing a gauze pad to ward off any bleeding. Finch’s fingers brushed Albert’s as he held the gauze pad in place, allowing Albert to clean up the IV. 

Albert scoffed. “It’s not easy dating a nurse who’s schedule at times can be unpredictable. I’ve dated here and there but it’s been two years since my last serious relationship. Part of the reason why my friends can be a pain in the asses at times.” 

“We might have to change that.” Finch grinned, watching Albert throw the IV in the garbage before grabbing something from the cabinet, walking up to the side of the bed. He put a bandaid on the gauze pad before giving Finch a look. 

Handing him a stack of papers, Albert smiled. “These are your discharge papers. There’s instructions on how to care for your stitches - you’ll have to go to your primary care doctor in a few weeks to get them taken out. Let me grab a wheelchair and your keys from Race and you’ll be all set to go. Any questions?” 

“I don’t think so but thanks again Albert.” Finch grinned up at him as Albert nodded, leaving the room, hoping his heart would calm down. Finch’s smile was a dangerous thing and Albert didn’t know how he felt about that.

Grabbing a wheelchair, Albert stopped by the nurse’s desk, getting Race’s attention. “I need Finch’s keys. Where did you park it?” 

“How about I get it and bring it to the bay doors so you don’t have to go wandering through the lot to find it?” Race asked, raising an eyebrow as Albert nodded. “But first did you get his number?” 

Albert laughed. “How about you worry more about how the many ways Spot is going to kill you and worry less about my life?” 

“I just want you to be happy Albie!” Race cried, giving his best friend a look while hugging him. 

Giving Race a look, Albert shook his head. “No, you want to be the first with the gossip.” 

“True but all I want is for you to be happy, Albie.” Race said, giving him a sincere look. “I’ll go grab the car and bring it around. Meet you at the doors?”

Nodding, Albert pushed the wheelchair to Finch’s room, helping him off the bed and into the chair before scanning the room to make sure they had everything. Albert ignored the cat calls that came from the nurse’s desk, opting to throw a one-finger salute behind him as he pushed Finch to the exit. As promised, Race was waiting for them with the car, helping Finch to get in as Albert took a deep breath, willing his heart to calm the hell down.

With a pat on the back, Race slammed the door before walking back into the emergency room. Getting into the driver’s side, Albert smiled at Finch as Finch handed him his phone, directions to his home already pulled up. 

The drive was quiet and quick, which Albert was thankful for. Pulling into the driveway, Albert looked over at Finch with a smile. “I know this is crazy and preposterous of me, but do you want to come in for a bit? Just tell me if I’m reading this wrong.”

“I don’t think you’re reading this wrong and I’d love to come in for a bit.” Albert smiled, reaching over and squeezing his hand. “Let’s get you inside.” 

They made quick work getting Finch inside and laid up on the couch, giving Albert the opportunity to look around the modest dual floor condo. “This is homey.” 

“It’s nothing much but it’s home.” Finch groaned as the pillow hit his stitches. “Feel free to make yourself at home.” 

And so the afternoon went, them both taking turns to ask questions to get to know one another. After Finch had fallen asleep, Albert called an Uber and left the condo without another word. Several hours later, he got a text message as he was preparing for bed. 

Dinner and a movie tomorrow night? My treat? 

Albert grinned, shaking his head at how sweet and simple the message was from Finch. He simply replied name the time and place. 

So that’s how Albert met Finch! What did you think? Feedback would be wonderful! 

[littlebitoffanfic]

Celebration

Fandom: The Collector/The Collection Character: Asa Emory – the collector Relationship: Asa Emory/reader Request: Since I have seen you do some slashers, can I request Asa from The Collector? Something sweet where the reader works with him and is an alibi and then saves him when Arkin comes for him in the collection?

  You knew him from your work although you didn’t know him well. Asa was a private man, reserved to his office and displays for the museum. You were tour guide with a hand in some of the office work. After all, the museum didn’t get an awful amount of funding to be able to employee more office workers. Today, you were happy. It was a sunny day, which meant people were less likely to come to the museum for an indoor activity. Your tours still ran ever 2 hours, but a smaller group had less questions and you could normally be done within an hour, leaving an hour free. You all but skipped down the halls like a school girl, your project held tightly in your arms as you stopped outside Dr Emory office. knocking three time, you waited for him. He towered over you, and had such a demanding presences that made you weak at the knees. Your crush on his was not unnoticed by your co-workers. 

“Good morning.” You smile, trying your best to work through the flutters in your chest. “Its 1.30.” he stated, his eyes unreadable. “Oh, well, good afternoon. Could I steal a few minutes of your time?” You ask, nearly slapping yourself in the face for your mistake. His eyes darted to the folder in your arms and he stepped aside, allowing you to enter. This was a privilege in itself. Barely anyone was allowed within his office. But Asa seemed to tolerate you more than the others. Perhaps because you were his neighbour. Now that had truly been a happy accident. His previous neighbour was selling and you were looking for somewhere when you moved here. It just so happened that your neighbour to your left was also a co-worker. Entering his office was like entering a new world. The walls were decorated with various bugs throughout different ages in their lives. Butterfly’s, beetles and roaches but the most prominent member of his displays were spiders. Your attention was drawn to a particular specimen. Pinned in a shadow box was a blue spider. The sign under called it a Cobalt Blue Tarantula. “Wow, those markings are fascinating.” You mumble aloud, more to yourself that to the mans whos office you were in. “Truly. The Cyriopagopus lividum.. native to the borders of Thailand.” Asa speaks so fondly of the dead creature that it makes you smile slightly. There was no denying his love for his work. “Are they venomous?” You ask, purely out of curiosity. “Yes, but the venom not strong enough to kill an adult human. Although its not pleasant.” Asa walks past you to his desk and drawing you from your thoughts. “Now, you wanted something?” “Yes, I was wondering if you might help me with an exhibition.” You hold out the folder to him as you sit at the other side of his desk. He takes it and opens it, showing a sort of mood board you had put together ranging from other exhibitions to enclosures to photo life-spans of certain creatures. “an exhibition?” His eyes flick up to meet your own with curiosity. In truth, you hated how under appreciated he was at the museum and his knowledge should be put to good use. “Yes, for insects. Of course, I’d do most of the work, but I’d really apricate someone who I can fact check with and can offer some insight.” You smile sweetly, and the small smile that pulled at Asa’s lips told you that he was in.

-------------time skip ------------------

Your time spend with the entomologist was one of the most pleasant and interesting interactions you had had in a while. Walking to his office, you held your papers in your hands. You were about to knock when you heard voices inside. Pressing your ear against the door, you listened. “Dr Emory, unless you can provide an alibi for your whereabouts on Saturday evening, we will have enough to arrest you under suspicious of connection with the collector killings.” A voice spoke with authority. Your heart stopped. The collector killings had fascinated you ever since they had come to light. And Asa, well, he was a private man. If they were threatening such a thing, there must be something behind it. And you wanted to know. The two men that seemed to cloud your thoughts could be one. Your mind thought quickly as you came up with a plan. Knocking on the door, you walked in without waiting – something you never really did. Once inside, you acted like a deer in headlights. Two men sat opposite Asa’s desk  in suits. “oh, sorry. Are you from the board?” You asked sincerely but you didn’t let them answer before quickly adding. “Look, Dr Emory and I are neighbours. Its perfectly reasonable for us to spend our evenings and weekends in each others company. Besides, if Tiffany told you about us, she has been having an affair with the janitor.” You could tell Asa was just as stunned as you were. One of the men smiled and stood. “You don’t need to be alarmed, miss. We are from the investigations team.” He then presented his ID badge to you. “Oh, gosh. I am so sorry.” You looked stunned, despite already knowing. “Its okay. But I am interested in what you said. Do you know where Dr Emory was on Saturday evening between 5pm and 11pm?” The man leaned back on Asa’s desk while the other twisted to fully look at you. “He was with me.” You said, talking to the two detectives. “At my house.” “with you? He said he was home alone.” The one with the strong jaw line narrowed his eyes at you. “Yes, well, its not against any policies, our director has been known to fire people for having… interpersonal relationships with colleagues. We’d agreed to keep it a secret. He would have been trying to protect me, in case this got out to the others.” You explain to them, not daring to look at Asa. You knew you were playing with fire here. But what you said wasn’t a stretch. The director had fired a member of the geology department… for sleeping with his wife in astrology. He really cared what staff did as long as they did their job. And didn’t fuck his wife.   “Is this true?” He asked Asa, who gave a single nod. “And is there anyone who can corroborate this?” The detective asked you, more kindly than the others. “Not really. As I said, it was a secret so I’d appreciate it if you kept this between us. Although, you can ask half the staff in this building and they’ll tell you that ive had a crush on the man since I moved here, and they know we have been spending more time together. They are so fond of teasing me for it anyway.” You manage to draw a chuckle from one as he jabbed the other detective in the shoulder which earned a smile. Apparently, there was a similar situation going on where they were. “Right, well, we’d better be on our way. We’ll be back in touch soon.” The one sitting rose to his feet, nodding to both you and Asa before he and his partner left. They left and the door had closed for a brief moment before you felt someone grab your arm and you were twisted to meet Asa. He didn’t say anything and his cheeks were slightly red, but his ears were bright red. “So, you are the collector?” You breathe, looking up at him with a small smile tugging on your lips. “What do you want?” He growled, his voice low and menacing. Oh, he wasn’t happy. “I want to know.” You breath, stepping closer to him. “You take parts, right? What do you do with them? Keep mementos? Are you making something?” His nostrils flares out, obviously angry. You understood. You had let yourself into his world, and he couldn’t do a thing about it. He couldn’t kill you because it would point the fingers back to him. No, it was smart to keep you close. He let out an exasperated sigh, reaching up and pinching his brow. “look, once this has blown over for you, I wont say a word. I don’t expect anything for it. If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to.” You reassured him. “Why?” His eyes narrow at you, but you shrug. “honestly, you fascinate me.” You confess to the man, even more intrigued than before. You saw the smirk that twitched at the side of his mouth.

----------------- time skip ------------

The world of the collector was one you never dreamed you would see inside, and you loved it. It took trust to get him to let you see. First you saw the inside of the hotels lobby, then some traps, then some of the beautiful creations he made, then his prize possession. you never participated, but you provided a bit more support for him, offering help from the side lines in exchange for information and his time. If he was suspicious of you, he couldn’t deny the genuine interest in your eyes as he spoke, or how you hung on every word of his. He seemed to love how you marvelled at everything with a child-like innocents. Wide eyes and a curious mind. He kept you very close, at work and in your personal lives. It took 5 months in total for the cops to ease up off of Asa, but they still occasionally found their way to his house, watching it. He would come to yours in those situations, still keeping the façade up that you were in some kind of relationship.   Not that you cared. You found that the two of you had a lot in common which made the time easily spent. Of course, his dogs loved you. When you came round to his, they were pawing at the floor to get to you but waited for their master to give them the signal to move. They really were puppies at heart. Also, sometimes you thought Asa just said they were there to spend time with you. Either way, you didn’t mind. Tonight, you were buried in a book when a harsh knock at your door made you jump but you hurried to answer it, finding a slightly wet Asa. You smiled, stepping aside and allowing him to step in. “You’d think the police budget within the millions by how much they come around.” You giggle, helping his jacket off his shoulders to hang up to dry. He hummed in response, wiping his face with a hand to try get the stray rain droplet off. “So, how was your recent game?” you asked as he followed you into the living room, where you had been reading. You collapsed back into the couch and held your book on your lap. “Uneventful. No one worthy to take.” He mused as he walked over to your book shelf and pulled out the book he had been reading last time. As he returned to your sofa to sit beside you – a show for the police outside – the book fell open to the page he had been reading. But instead of the paperclip he had been using to keep his place, it was a book mark. A novelty bookmark that you had swiped from the gift shop. It was one of those fake 3D ones, with spiders moving on green leaf’s. You raised your book over your mouth to hide your grin. “very amusing.” He soft chuckle left his lips as he placed it to the side. You giggled, moving to reposition yourself. Your sofa faced the TV which was to the right of the window. Meaning anyone who walked by outside could see in. but it was a quiet neighbourhood. Apart from the undercover police. You lay on the sofa, your legs draped over Asa’ lap which you rested your head on some pillows propped up against the arm rest. Asa rose the book without tearing his eyes away from it to allow your legs to move before lowering to rest his forearms on your knee and thighs. Despite being a bit of a play for the police, it began to feel a little more real. You would engage him in conversation through out the evening, and he would tear his attention away from the book to ask you about your day. In fact, you had started to think that Asa had missed this. With the police’s interest dwindling, so had his trips. Even your encounters in work were now limited as you had finished your exhibition. Or many it was just the part of you that had fallen so madly in love with the man that wished he wanted your company. Your eyes left the page to glance at his face. mature features with intelligent eyes. You hated how he could make your heart stop. Maybe this was fake to him, but it was so real to you. Turning your attention back to your book, you didn’t look up until the sun had fully set. Glancing at the clock, you were surprised to see it was nearly 10pm. “Gosh, I swear I’ll never get use to these changing sunsets. Every year it takes me by surprise.” You sit up, stretching as Asa chuckles. Leaning forward, you press a kiss to his cheek before lifting your legs off his lap to stand up. Asa followed, and you smiled when he marked his page with the bookmark you had gotten him. “You’re nearly finished. I told you it’s a page turner.” You nodded to the book, which he was nearly finished save for 50 pages. “Yes, all the more reason to come back.” He shot a look over his shoulder that made you smirk. Playful teasing had become something you adored in the man. It was another reason that made you doubt this was fake. They couldn’t hear what was happening, so why play around. Sliding the book back into the slot, he picked up the remote which had been forgotten on the sofa to go to the window and place it on the stand. A ploy for him to see if they were still watching the house. “I think you’re right. They get far too much funding. It could be going to the museum.” He mused as he turned back to you. Maybe they needed to see more. Or maybe you wanted more. Just to test the waters. Walking up to him, you reach up and placed your hands on his shoulders. “Kiss me?” You whisper to him, pressing your body against his own. Wide eyes met your own and you couldn’t help but giggle. “They can see through the window.” That was enough to encourage the man to duck down, pressing a kiss to your lips. he could have lightly kissed your lips and pulled away after a few moment, but he didn’t. In fact, you were sure he had forgotten all about the car outside. His arms wrapped around your waist and you were pulled tight against his strong chest as his lips fought your own for dominance which you quickly surrendered. His tongue slipped inside your mouth, making you moan as reach up and place your hand on the back of his head near his neck to keep his mouth to your own. Not like he was pulling away any time soon. you felt him push you backwards and you allowed him to push you till your back hit the wall and he pinned you to it. they couldn’t see you anymore, but you didn’t care. Raising your right leg, you hooked it around his hip as his hand trailed down your side and followed the curve to your thigh, holding you in that position. He was driving you crazy, his touch was like fire as you cling to him. When he does pull back, you are left a panting mess with rosy cheek. But his tell was his red ears despite the smirk on his lips. “So, tell me, where does the line between fake and real stop?” he asks, keeping his face close to your own. “With a kiss like that.” You bite your lower lip, completely aware of how his hand had kept your leg hooked on his hip. “The police aren’t outside. They left over an hour ago.” Asa’s voice was low, barely about a whisper. “They did?” You raise your eye brows at him. A nod answers your question and you were left pondering your next move. “Good.” As leans down, sealing his lips over your own.

 -----time skip ------

 You were sitting in your living room, half heartedly flicking through the channel when you notice Asa’ car drive past your window. Smiling, you turn off the TV and grab your small bag. It was a Friday, which meant that Asa worked late. But it also meant you would be staying over with him. A few weeks ago, shit had really hit the fan. You really didn’t know what happened, expect that the hotel was burned to the ground, and Asa only just escaped with his life. He was badly hurt, and you were thankful that he had taken a week off for holidays. It had been holidays he was going to spend with you in his cabin up north, but plans changed. You stayed by his side during his recovery. Asa had lost nearly everything that night. His creations, his sanctuary, his dogs, his prizes. But he had been thankful to come home to you. He had extended his own holiday but you returned to work the next week. He said he had fallen while on a hike so no one questioned his cuts and bruising when he did go back. You took your bag and left your home for the evening, locking it up as you set to go to Asa. He had regained most of his energy and health back, which you were hoping he might be up for something a little more… activity related tonight. The lingerie in your bag certainly hoped so. he was already out the car and into the house as you walked up. But something caught your eye. In his living room, there was someone hiding in the corner. Your breath caught in your throat as you recognised the man. His name was Arkin. He had been the one who had escaped Asa, the one who caused his injuries. You only recognised him because Asa had pointed him out when the new came on one evening. And you highly doubted that he was here to say a friendly hello. Running around the back, you ducked under the window so as not to be seen. You ditched your bag in a bush as you made your way to the back door just as you heard heavy metal music blare through the house. You wanted to scream to Asa, but the glint you had seen in Arkins hands wasn’t enough to tell you if it was a gun or a knife. Slipping into his kitchen, you heard the music being turned off and then silence. You took a large knife from the knife block on the counter and held it as if to stab. And you were willing to. Then you slowly opened the bottom draw, which had some duct tape in it. You round the edge, only slightly pulling it off. If you were going to hurt someone, they cant make a lot of sound. You moved into the hallway which connected to the living room and dinning room. “All those insects. You’re quite the collector.” A voice, Arkins voice spoke, making you pause as you made sure no one knew you were here. “In a 200 mile radios from where we last saw each other, there are 14 licensed entomologists. You were number 12.” As Arkin spoke, you moved slowly down the hallway, looking behind you ever second in case someone else was here. “Your daddy ran a museum, didn’t he? Fucked you up real good.” His words made you feel sick. Asa never spoke of his father. His mother was held with high regard, and he said he wanted you to meet her when she was next in town. But he had shut off when you asked about his father. Arkin was right. “Turn around.” You pressed your back against the wall as you inched closer to the doorway. Tape in your left hand, the edge taped to your finger, and the knife in the other. You could see from the glass display cabinet that Asa and Arkin were standing face to face near the entrance to the dinning room. Arking had his back to you. And a gun raised at Asa’ face. Fear rushed through you as the analogy of ‘don’t bring a knife to a gun fight’ flooded your mind. “Are you here to kill me?” Asa spoke with a calmness you couldn’t fathom. “No. that would be too nice. First im gonna make sure feel everything that I felt. Then im gonna kill you.” You could hear the smugness in his voice. “So that you can never hurt anyone-“ He was cut off as Asa lunged at him. But Arkin gave a swift jab to the face, causing him to tumble back. Into a red box. Your gasp was covered as Arkin flipped the box and started slamming the lid shut again and again, growling “fuck you.”  Before the lack closed. he stepped back, gasping for air. He thought he was alone. Darting into the room, you raise the knie and bought it down into his right shoulder and an angle. He instantly dropped the gun. Letting go of the knife for a moment, you grabbed the roll of tape and started wrapping it round and round his mouth. He had only just managed to let out a cry of pain as his legs gave way under him. He reached up, struggling so you grabbed the knife and pulled it from the flesh. Using the sharp, bloodstained blade, you cut the tape and he collapsed to the ground moaning. You gave him a quick kick in the face before kicked the gun that had fallen out of reach. The last thing you needed was neighbours calling the police for gunfire at the house. You raced over to the box. “Asa, its me.” You reassured him through the small walls in case he tried to attack whoever opened the box. When you pulled the lid open, he scrambled to his feet, the anger in his eyes blazing as he found his attacker on the floor. Arkin was groaning, unable to move just yet but you were sure he’d be up and about soon enough. “Your hands.” You whispered, reaching out and taking his right hand which was covered in blood from Arkin slamming the box down. Your heart broke. He had not long healed. Arkin began to come around, his eyes darting between the two of you as he realized what had happened. He looked at you with an unimaginable about of rage and anger in his eyes as he tried to scream. Asa darted forward, twisting him around and pinning him to the ground, a knee in his back and his hand pressing on the new wound. “The tape.” He commanded of you, and you immediately grabbed the duct tape which had rolled away slightly. Finding the end, you saw Asa grabbing Arkins left hand and you mirrored with his right. Bringing them forcefully behind his back, you taped them in place, then went to tape his ankles together. Once satisfied, Asa hauled the man off the ground and threw him into the box, the lid closing over with the force. Asa flipped the latch. Looking him inside. You didn’t realise you were panting and shaking until Asa was looking at you. Racing forward, you wrap your arms around his torso and bury your face in his chest. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?” He ask, holding him as tightly as you could. A bloody hand stroked your cheek as another rubbed your back to sooth you. “No, you got here right on time.” There was a softness to his voice that made you melt as you looked up at him and smiled. “I’m too late to be a guard dog. Ludwig or Vivaldi wouldn’t have let him get close enough to hurt you.” You shake your head as you pull back, taking his hands in your own once again to inspect the damage. But he turned his hands over and took your own. “How about we go up to the cabin this weekend?” Asa askes, his question not very well fitted for the currant moment. “huh?” Your eyes glanced to the box which was moving slightly as Arkin struggled. “Oh, we’ll take him. And, since I am out of commission right now, perhaps I can show you some tricks.” Asa smirked as your eyes light up at his words. “Yes!” You bounce on the balls of your feet. You went up on your tiptoes to kiss him, resisting every urge not to pull him upstairs to his bedroom right now. Pulling back, you dart down and pick up the gun, offering it to Asa. “I’ll go get some stuff to see to your hands. And I’ll run back and pack a quick bag and then come and pack your things. I think I should drive, though. You’ll have to give me instructions.” You rattle off, the excitement obvious in your voice. “Oh, you’ll get use to taking instruction this weekend.” Asa whispered in your ear, making you blush and bite your lip with a smirk. Arkin seemed to get a burst of energy and started flaying around in the box, which only moved slightly. “He truly is annoying, isn’t he?” you huffed, hating the moment was ruined by him. Asa simply chuckled and walked up to the box, sitting on it and stopping it from shifting. As you flitted around, gathering supplies and seeing to his hands and then packing his things, Asa watched with a soft eyes. He would be lying if he said he trusted you from the start. And even more so if he admitted there had still been a small part of him that thought you were with the police. but that doubt was well gone. And this weekend, he wanted to celebrate this strange relationship. And oh, what a celebration it would be.

[outrebanx]

Dragonfly - Chapter 6

JJ Maybank x female!reader series

Summary: JJ and reader spend the day together, building on their feelings they’ve now admitted to each other but an accident ruins the end of the day (my summaries literally get worse with every one I write)

Word Count: 1.8k (shorter than the others I really struggled with what to write)

Warnings: language, injury (grammar probably)

Catch up: Chapters 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 

A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out but i didn’t know what I wanted to write (tbh I don’t even like what ive written but I needed to write something) and I still dont know how I want this series to end but it’ll probably be only another chapter or two - feedback is always appreciated :)

You had moved slightly in the night, but when you woke up, JJ’s arms were still around you, holding you close. You rolled over so you could look at him, his breathing still heavy as he was sleeping, his face a calm and relaxed, no sign of the emotion he had experienced last night.

Almost as if he had felt you looking at him, he opened his eyes, giving you a soft smile, “Hi.”

“Hey.”

“I didn’t leave in the night this time.”

You laughed, “I can see that, but I’m definitely glad you didn’t.”

“So am I,” he sat up, “anyway, what should we do today?”

“Well I don’t have work today so I’m completely free to do whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want?” He asked, his lips forming a smirk, eyebrows raised.

You playfully hit him, “Within reason you idiot - is your mind always in the gutter?”

“Yep, and it’s not my fault the effect you have on me.”

You rolled your eyes, getting out of bed, “Sure, well I’m gonna go and shower,” you put your hand up, stopping his comment before he could even say it, “without you, and whilst I’m gone you can decide what we’re doing today?”

He pouted, “I suppose, it’s not like I get to have fun.”

Smiling and shaking your head slightly, you leant down to kiss his cheek, “you can always have fun another time JJ.”

He was still watching you when you walked out of your room, his cheek warm from where you kissed him, as if he could feel the love through it.

—————

“Are we gonna invite the others?” You say to JJ, looking out at the ocean where you had planned to spend most of the day.

“Not today if that’s alright? I want you to myself for once and they don’t need to see my face like this.”

“Okay then,” you hugged him from the side, “just us.”

“I hope you’re ready to see that you’re not better than me at everything.” He said, walking towards the sea, board in hand.

You laughed, “You’re wrong but hey, I like the confidence - it’s kinda hot.”

“I’m always hot Y/N.”

“Come on,” you say, ignoring his last comment, “lets see if you’re all talk or not JJ.”

You and JJ spent the first half an hour trying to outcompete each other on every wave that came your way, you’d do a trick, then he’d do it and so on. Even with the competition  between the two of you, you were having an incredible time, something about being around JJ made your heart feel lighter and he was always cracking jokes which had a big part in this - anytime your face fell slightly, even if there wasn’t something particularly wrong, he was there, saying something stupid to make you laugh. This attention alone made your heart swell, it showed he was paying attention to your facial expressions, showing he cared. You were doing the same for him but his face was yet to show any sign of the sadness you’d seen last night, maybe he’d already put his wall back up, but even so you planned to make sure he was truly happy today, something you’d want if it was you.

The two of you had paddled out behind where the waves were breaking, floating on your boards, talking about everything and anything.

“I’ve been meaning to ask,” JJ said, “what’s with the dragonfly necklace? I’m yet to see you where anything else.”

You subconsciously reached up to hold the charm between your fingers, “My mum gave it to me when I was younger, there was this day where we out at a lake in the woods near us and a large dragonfly landed on my outstretched hand.” You smiled softly before continuing, “She took a picture of that moment and I earned the nickname dragonfly within my family - and since she died I’ve worn it everyday in memory of her.”

JJ smiled at you, “That’s really sweet, and at some point I think I’d like to hear more about your life before you moved here if you’re up for it?”

“Yeah I think I would be, it might take me a while though because I’m not one who shares things easily, but I think I could with you.”

“Alright then I look forward to it, and I’ll share stuff with you, and maybe we can both come out of it as better people.”

“Yes sounds good - get through the darkness together?”

He had paddled closer to you and held out his hand for you to hold, “Get through it together.”

You sat like that for a while, holding hands, floating on the water and enjoying each others company.

“Come on, let’s get a few more waves in, then we need to eat because I am starving.” He patted his stomach with his hands to emphasise his point.

“I was starting to think the same thing.”

You were about to head back to the beach when you saw a really promising wave begin forming behind you, so you paddled towards it, turning as it got closer so you could ride it.

You had been standing up on your board for a few seconds when you realised too late that you’d gotten too close to the rocks at the side of the beach, you tried to turn your board away from them but it was too late.

Your board clipped against one of the rocks, throwing you off your board and into the rocky water underneath.

As you fell you heard JJ shout your name, but it was of no use, you were already under the water, the waves turning you in the water - you felt the rocks scratch your arms and then this was followed by a horrible pounding in your head.

You must have backed out for a few seconds because the next thing you knew, JJ had his hands underneath your arms and was pulling you out of the water and onto his board

You coughed up some water, the hammering in your head too loud to even hear JJ say your name repeatedly.

Slowly the pain began calming down enough for you to take in your surroundings, you groaned.

“Shit Y/N, are you okay?” His voice laced with worry.

“Um yeah I think so, my head hurts and my arm…” you looked down at the arm you’d felt against the rocks, blood was all over it, one of the gashes was much deeper than the others, most of the blood seeping from it, “my arm also hurts.”

“Okay well let’s get back to the beach, then I can look at the injuries.”

“Where’s my board?” You had realised there was no weight on your ankle where it’s usually attached, JJ wouldn’t meet your eyes, “Where’s my board JJ?!”

“I’m sorry Y/N,” he pointed over to the rocks where you’d crashed, your board had broken with the force, “Shit, I don’t have enough saved for another one yet.”

“I’m sure it’ll work itself out, but right now we need to get to the beach Y/N.”

JJ got off his board, allowing you to lie down on his, and swam to shore, pulling you with him.

Once you were sat on the sand, JJ moved in front of you, moving your wet hair off your forehead, wincing when he saw the large cut there, “Um I think you should go to hospital.”

“No, I’m sure this is all stuff that can be bandaged at home.”

“Fucking hell, it’s not Y/N, I mean you can see your arm and your head is just as bad, please you could have a concussion or worse - let me take you to the hospital.”

“I don’t like hospitals JJ.” Avoiding his eyes, knowing you would agree with him if you looked into them.

“Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go to one when you need it.”

“Ugh fine,” you reluctantly agreed, “but I don’t want my dad to know yet.”

“Okay, I’m taking that as a win,” you could tell he was more worried than he was letting on, still trying to make light of the situation, but with the pain you were feeling, you felt like there could be cause for worry.

He picked you up bridal style, one arm under your legs, the other around your back, careful not to hurt any part of you and carried you towards your car so he could drive to the hospital.

—————

Once you got there, JJ sat you down on one of the chairs in the waiting room before going up to the reception desk and trying to get some help.

You closed your eyes whilst you waited, hoping the lack of light will help the pounding in your head, but with them closed it didn’t take long for you to pass out, embracing the darkness where there was no pain.

There was beeping nearby, you opened your eyes to see you’d been put into a room and were lying on a bed - the beeping you’d heard was a monitor to the side of you. To the other side, JJ was sat gripping your hand with incredible strength, his head resting on a small gap on your bed.

“Hey,” your voice was croaky - how long had you been out?

His head whipped up, smiling “Hey, how you feeling?”

“Better I guess, what happened? How long have I been here?”

“Um you collapsed whilst I spoke to the person at the desk, which gave me a small heart attach by the way,” he couldn’t help but laugh at the ‘oops’ face you’d made, “and then they brought you into here to stitch up the big gash on your arm and forehead - I’ve been waiting for you to wake up for like an hour.”

“Wow best sleep I’ve ever had.” You joked.

He grinned at you and then squeezed your hand, “I’m really glad you’re okay, I don’t think I want to lose you yet.”

You squeezed his hand back, “You won’t - I’m too stubborn.”

He laughs, looking between your eyes and your lips, and as he leans forward, you let your eyes fall shut as his lips meet yours. The way he kisses you takes your breath away - it’s as if kissing you was all he ever wanted and the events in the past couple of days have pushed him over the edge.

You pulled back, smiling at each other, before he says “This is definitely the most eventful first date I’ve ever had.”

A/N: I almost took this to a much darker place but I’m in an alright mood today so I decided against it and hey I might save that for another fic/series

Taglist: @jellyfishbeansontoast @tangledinsparkles @k-k0129​ @jjsbxtch​ @outerbankslove​ @obx-beach​ @emerald-xcd​  @danicarosaline​ @belledutchess​ @teamnick​ @justcallmesams​ @claryherondhaleparker @hurricane-abigail​ 

strikethrough means I couldnt tag you :(

[breanime]

Closer

Fulfilling two Bandit bingo cards: Sharing A Bed and First Time

Warning: Steamy!

*gif not mine*

You had decided that today had been the longest day of your life. There was no way, you concluded, that this day was only 24 hours. Clearly, this day was some kind of anomaly that made its own rules, because it was the longest day ever.

The day started well enough; you, Karen, Frank, and Billy were supposed to be driving to a cabin Frank had rented for the four of you, and the drive was only supposed to be 2 hours long. However; traffic was ridiculous, they shut down all but one lane, and the drive ended up taking 5 hours. Technically, six hours because some asshole had rear-ended a teenaged girl and was screaming at her on the side of the road. Obviously, none of you could let that slide, so you pulled over so you and Karen could comfort the girl while Frank and Billy made sure the man learned a lesson in civility—a lesson which ended up taking a little over an hour.

But in all honesty, you weren’t horribly upset about that, because it gave you the opportunity to see authoritative Billy, giving orders and calling shots with that don’t-fuck-with-me voice. It was unnecessarily hot to witness. Billy, on principle, as a person, was already ridiculously attractive, but seeing him in action like that…

…You had to remind yourself not to drool.

You and Billy were friends—of course. He was your best friend’s (Karen) boyfriend’s (Frank) best friend, and the two of you actually had a lot in common. You had a similar sense of humor, exasperation at your black-and-white morality friends, and a shared sexual tension in common with him. But you never acted on it—neither of you. Sure, you flirted, and sure you got jealous when he went home with other women, and Billy wasn’t a fan of any guy you took home, but the two of you shrouded your attraction to each other with friendship, denying any feelings when prompted by Frank or Karen.

Which is why it was so hard for you to have to sit next to Billy, thigh to thigh, after seeing him command that asshole the way he did. It was hard to be so damn close to him with how badly you wanted him. You tried to act casual, but he kept looking at you with a certain look in his eye that had your heart racing. You sighed, relieved, when Frank turned down the road that led to the cabin, eager to be in your own room and away from Billy for a minute.

“I don’t say this often,” Karen said, stepping out of the car with wide eyes, “But I think I’m actually speechless…”

The cabin was gorgeous; spacious and perfectly secluded without flirting with that whole murder-scene-in-the-woods vibe. Frank grinned, putting his arm around Karen’s waist as he led you all to the front door.

“The guy I rented it from said it’s only 15 minutes from town. He also said there’s a lot of animals around, so that’s good for sightseeing.”

“Bears?” You asked, glancing behind you as Frank unlocked the door.

“Don’t worry,” Billy leaned close to you, his voice low and deep in your ear, “I’ll protect you from bears.”

“And wolves?” You asked, stepping inside, eyes focused on Billy and Billy only.

“And wolves,” he agreed easily, “You know if you need me, I’m just right across the hall.”

You felt yourself shiver at his words. He always knew just what to say to get your imagination to run wild… “Yeah,” you said back, trying to keep your voice even, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Billy stopped, turning to you, and you realized that Karen and Frank had wandered off to explore the cabin, leaving you and Billy alone in the living room. “You know those two,” he inclined his head towards the back of the cabin where Fraren (Frank/Karen) had disappeared, “are gonna be doing couple stuff this whole trip…” He smirked, all teeth. “… That leaves us free to…”

“…read our Bibles and practice serving the Lord? Yes it does, amen,” you finished for him, turning to walk down the hall. You heard his answering chuckle as you moved through the cabin, looking for Frank and Karen. You found them in a doorway, heads huddled together as they spoke lowly to each other. “Ewww,” you sang, “What are you guys doing? Is this… Is this foreplay for you? Are you making out right now?”

They both turned to you, Karen laughing and Frank rolling his eyes. “No, Y/N, we’re not teenagers on spring break,” Karen said, shaking her eyes.

“We kinda are, but go on…” You replied.

“Where’s Bill?” Frank asked, looking behind you as if he expected Billy to be on your heels. “Can’t believe he let you out of his sight.”

Now it was your turn to roll your eyes. “What are you trying to imply, Frank-and-beans?”

“That Billy is really into you,” Karen answered for him, “Which is why this isn’t as bad as it could be!” She said cheerfully.

“Bad? What’s bad?” You asked, tilting your head to the side.

“We should tell them at once,” Karen said, moving to look past you, “Hey, Billy! Come back here!”

You looked behind Karen into the bedroom. It was nice; one bed in the middle of the room, a nice big window, cozy-looking furniture… Karen and Frank’s bags weren’t in the room, so you figured this must be your room or Billy’s. You turned to watch Billy as he walked down the hall, swallowing as you took in his easy stride and long legs. There was no reason he had to be so damn good-looking all the time; it was really annoying.

“So—good news and bad news…” Karen began.

“Good for you,” Frank muttered to Billy with a smirk.

“…So it turns out this cabin—which we all agree is beautiful—isn’t exactly equipped with everything we thought we needed…” She went on.

“So what? We need to go shopping?” You asked, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Y/N and I can go,” Billy offered, grinning when you groaned at having been volunteered for an errand.

“That’s not exactly it…” Karen said slowly.

“C’mon, Karen,” Frank huffed, “Just tell them…”

“Tell us what?” Billy asked.

Frank gestured towards the room. “Bill, Y/N… Looks like you’ll be sharing a room.”

You felt your eyes go wide. Suddenly the room wasn’t as charming as it had been a few seconds ago, and you were struck with how small it was, and how there was only one bed.

“Are you guys serious?” Billy asked, eyes going from the room, to you, to Fraren.

“Yeah… It looks like Frank’s buddy gave us the wrong cabin, and it only has two rooms…” Karen said.

You and Billy looked over at each other, and you imagined what it’d be like to sleep in the same bed as him, curled up against him with his arms around you and…

…oh man, this was dangerous.

“I can sleep on the couch,” Billy offered quickly.

“No, Billy, you don’t have to—” you began.

“We can just switch,” Frank amended, “Me and Bill can take one room and you girls can have the other…”

“No, we don’t have to do that,” you interrupted, “You guys can still have your room, it’s fine, we can share.” You glanced over at Billy. “Right, Billy?”

Billy quirked an eyebrow. “You sure?”

You shrugged. “Yeah, it’s no big deal.” Your words were casual, but the energy amongst your friends was not. Frank and Karen were practically vibrating with glee, both grinning from ear to ear, and you wondered how much of this was an accident and how much was planned. Billy was looking at you with those unreadable dark eyes, and you could see a tension growing in his shoulders that hadn’t been there before.

The four of you settled in after that; Billy brought your bags and his to the room, but beyond that, you both avoided your shared room. You spent the rest of the evening in each other’s presence though, as planned; walking around the property together (Billy pointed out random fauna to you that he recognized from his tours with the Marines and pledged—once again—to protect you from any wild animals), stocking the fire in the fireplace together, cooking dinner while Frank tried to distract Billy and Karen kept pouring you all drinks—it was nice. The day had been long, but this—spending time with each other, sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace with Billy’s arm around your shoulder as he and Frank told stories about the old days, having his laugh in your ear and his body so close to yours… It was dangerous.

You wanted more.

Karen, in all of her Karen-energy, insisted on doing a horror movie double feature, which evolved into you curling into Billy’s side and burying your face in his shoulder during some of the scarier scenes. Karen was passed out at Frank’s side before the second movie even started.

“’M gonna take her to bed,” Frank whispered fondly, “Night, you two.”

“Night, Frankie,” Billy said, glancing down at you before looking back at the TV.  

“Good night, Frank.” You watched him pick Karen up, noting the small smile on his face as he looked down at her, and couldn’t help but smile. They were so cute. You turned back to the TV once they left, but you could feel Billy’s eyes on you for the rest of the movie.

You tried to ignore it as you went back to cowering in his embrace, but his focus was clearly only on you. You were starting to get distracted by it, by the heat of his gaze on you, so much so that the next time something jumped out of a corner on screen and you clung to Billy, instead of looking back at the TV, you looked up at him.

And man.

Those eyes were burning through you. Billy was staring at you, unblinking, eyes soft and yet…reserved, like he had something he wanted to say that he just couldn’t spit out. His arm was still wrapped around you, and his face was so close to yours that you could see the freckle under his eye and the curl of his eyelashes. He was close enough that you could smell his expensive cologne…

…close enough to kiss.

So you did.

You leaned in, completely uninvited with nothing but a slight buzz to spur you on and pressed your lips against his. You felt Billy freeze, and you were about to pull back and evaporate into a cloud of pure shame when you felt Billy’s hand on the back of your neck, angling your head so he could kiss you deeper. You sighed against his lips, sagging into him as his tongue slipped into your mouth. When he pulled back, you were both breathless.

“Oh,” you said, a grin blooming on your face, “well…”

“We should have done that a long time ago,” Billy grinned back, “Fuck self-control.”

Your reply was immediate. “Fuck me.”

Billy’s eyes widened as he let out a laugh. “Here?” He asked.

“No,” you shook your head and placed a hand on his thigh, feeling his warmth beneath you, “In our room.” You licked your lips. “If you want.”

Billy grabbed you and lifted you up, making you giggle as he carried you bridal style to your room. You were certain you would wake Karen up with how loud you were both laughing. Billy kicked the door closed as he carried you through the threshold and then plopped you onto the bed.

“You sure this is what you want?” He asked, staring down at you with those unblinking black eyes.

You nodded, propping yourself up on your elbows as you looked up at him. “I’m sure. I’m very, very sure.”

He grinned. “How sure is very?” He asked, crawling over to you, his body hovering over but not touching yours.

“Is there another word I could use beside ‘very’ that would convince you?” You drawled back.

“Just want to make sure you’re not drunk,” he answered, nuzzling his face against your neck, “I don’t want… don’t want you to regret it. I don’t…” He paused, his mouth brushing against your skin. “…I don’t want this to be the only time…” He pulled back and looked at you. “…for us.”

Now it was your turn to pause. Billy was staring down at you, the brown in his eyes so dark it could have been black. “Us?” You asked, your voice barely above a whisper.

He nodded, nose brushing against yours with the action. “I’m…” He ducked his head before looking back at you again. “Things between us are… I like being your friend,” he clarified, “I do, but… I would be lying if I said I never considered what it would be like to be…more. To have more. With you…” He took a breath, and you did too. “Watching Frank and Karen today and spending all this time with you, I… I don’t want this to just be a one-time thing…”

“I don’t either,” you said back, wrapping your arms around his shoulders, “Billy, I… I’ve wanted to be with you for a while now…”

“Wanted to be with me just physically or…?”

“Physically, emotionally, all of the above,” you answered, “I don’t want this to be a one-time thing…but I do want this.”

Billy grinned. “Oh sweetheart,” his voice seemed lower than it had been before, and his grin was all teeth, “I’ll give you anything you want…”

He kissed you then, pushing you down onto the mattress with his body, lips pressed against yours. You whined into the kiss, feeling how hard he was getting on top of you, and you wanted to see him, to touch him, to be close to him. You needed to be closer.

“Billy,” you turned your head as he kissed your neck, “Billy…”

“I know,” he said back, a chuckle in his voice, “I know… But I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.” He sat up, and you felt a tremor go through you at the sight of him. “Imagined the when and where and how…” He pulled his shirt off, and your eyes practically popped out of your head as you stared at his bare chest and toned abs. You felt like a cartoon wolf as you drooled over him. “I know you want it,” he went on, leaning down again and kissing you softly as he talked, “but we have to do this right…” His hand slid under your shirt and under your bra, and you sighed. “…Slow…”

You humped up against him then, and Billy groaned. “Billy,” you whined, “I need to be closer…” You bit down a ‘please’ and instead put your hands on his ass. “Take my clothes off, Billy.”

He didn’t need to be told twice. He started with your pants, sliding them down and taking your comfortable fuzzy socks with him. He worked on your shirt next, helping you take it off and gently pushing you back onto the bed when you were just in your underwear. Billy was staring again, and you watched his chest move from the force of his breathing. He was as wound up as you were; you could see the tent in his pants.

Wordlessly, Billy lifted a leg and pressed a kiss to your thigh before dropping it and leaning over you again. You stared at the ceiling, too excited to look directly at him, as you felt Billy hover over your panties. You felt his long fingers as they played with your waistband, coolly brushing against your sensitive skin. Billy bent down and took your underwear in his mouth, pulling it down with his teeth, making you shiver. He tossed them across the room, not even bothering to look back to where they fell, before burying his face between your thighs.

You clapped your hand over your mouth, eyes wide, to cover the aroused screams that were bubbling up inside of you as Billy ate you out. The things he was doing with his tongue was just…masterful. His hands were on your hips, gripping you, and his body weighed you down, keeping you from jumping off of the bed as he licked and sucked. Your free hand—the one that wasn’t covering your mouth—went to Billy’s hair. You wondered if he was going to object to you messing with his hair—you knew how much time and money he spent on keeping it nice—but Billy groaned when you started to play with his hair; clearly, he liked it.

You wanted to play more, but you could feel your thighs clench around Billy’s head, and you knew you were going to cum soon. Sensing your approaching climax, Billy slid a hand between your legs and added two fingers to the party his mouth was throwing.

That did it. You came, head thrown back and hand slapped over your mouth as Billy eagerly licked it up. His beard was wet when he sat up, grinning.

“Okay,” he said, breathless, “I gotta get inside you.”

You sat up and unclasped your bra, feeling like a goddess with the way Billy was staring at you. Once you were completely bare, you pulled Billy back to you and kissed him, tasting yourself on his tongue. You let Billy push you back down onto the mattress and watched as he stepped out of his pants and crawled back onto you again.

Billy was gorgeous, beyond gorgeous, actually, and he laughed at the stunned look on your face. “Like what you see, sweetheart?” He teased.

You nodded, unable to lie in the face of his beauty. “Mm hmm…” You answered, licking your lips and still tasting his kiss and your cum. “I want—I need—can we--?”

“I know,” he laughed again, kissing you softly as his body draped over yours, “You want to be closer.” He kissed your neck. “I want to be closer, too.” His mouth traveled down to your chest, and you sighed happily when his lips wrapped around your nipple. “But I need to hear you say it…”

Your eyes were closed, and you put a hand on his back and the other back in his hair. “S-say what?”

“I need you to say that you need me,” he said, kissing between your breasts, “Need to hear that you want to be closer…”

“I want to be closer,” you said immediately, “Billy…”

“I got you,” he muttered, kissing his way up to your neck again, “I got you…” Billy lifted your leg a bit and shifted on top of you, and you felt his cock on your thigh. He nuzzled into your neck, kissing you softly. He said two words as he slid into you, his voice deep and breathless: “You’re mine.”

You gasped at the stretch of him, eyes growing wide as he pushed deeper inside of you. You scratched at his back, nothing but moans and gasps coming out of your mouth as he made love to you. Billy was soft and slow and careful, taking care to pull back when he sensed it was too much, kissing you as he rocked against you, caressing your curves and touching your skin with nothing but reverence. You wanted to up the ante, wanted to make him feel half as good as he was making you feel, but all you could do was lay back and enjoy the ride. Billy didn’t seem to mind, he moved against you with purpose, making you squirm in his grasp. He knew you were close to your climax almost as soon as you did—speeding up his pace to bring you over the edge.

Billy put a hand on the base of your throat, gently forcing your head back so he could see your face. You looked back at him, staring into his dark eyes as he moved inside of you until it was too much, and you had to close your eyes again. You felt your stomach tighten, and you knew you were close. Billy’s voice, when he spoke, was right in your ear, soft and deep and intimate. “You look so beautiful right now,” he said, hips pushing against yours, “All mine…”

“I’m yours,” you gasped back, clawing at his back, “Billy, I’m yours, I’m yours!” Your words turned into gasps as you came, and Billy grunted into your neck, his grip on your throat tightening as he came.

Billy slumped against you, sighing happily into your shoulder. You wrapped your arms around him, hugging him, and you felt Billy chuckle into your skin. He pulled back a bit—not much, just enough for him to have a good look at you—and smiled. He was still on you, still inside of you, and you grinned back. He kissed you before speaking, that dazzling smile still on his face. “So,” he asked, “this close enough?”

You answered with another kiss.

You woke up in Billy’s arms the next morning, his naked body warming yours. And when you whined, cuddling into his side and kissing his cheek, he pulled you on top of him, closer, and kissed you slowly.

It was a deliciously long morning after that.

Later, when you and Billy joined Fraren for brunch (you had missed breakfast by a long shot), you tried to ignore Karen’s knowing smirk and Frank’s downright gleeful giggling when you walked in wearing a scarf to hide the hickeys—Billy wasn’t helping. You couldn’t move an inch without him, his hands were on you all day; a hand on your waist there, brushing your hair out of your face with his hand here… not to mention the random kisses he’d press to your cheeks when Karen’s back was turned or the way he’d smile as he put his arms around your shoulder as you walked together. He seemed like he just wanted to be closer to you.

You, of course, didn’t mind a bit.

And later, that night, as you let him carry you—again—to the bed you shared, his mouth on yours, you let him pull you closer again…

…and again, and again, and again…

...After that, you never had to worry about wanting to be closer with Billy ever again. He was always there for you, and you were always more than happy to be close to him. 

*******************************************************************************************

Maaaan, this took me like four days to write and it’s not even that good. But I did like the idea of spending a weekend away at a cabin with Billy without getting murdered.

Taglist: @lexxierave @loveintheroyalfamily @suchatinyinfinity @fanfictionrecommendations-com  @maxslime-blog @elanor-of-imladris @songforhema @lucielandss @fandomlifeandeverythingelse @themadhatter92 @realduckvader @the-blind-assassin-12 @christinawxxx @anabella-baby @blackcoffeeandgreenteaforme @luminex3​ @littlemermaidprobz @ashkuuuu @luckysstrikes @carlaangel86​ @floralpeaceofmind​ @dylanobrusso​ @teacuplotus​ @iaintnofurry​ @thesumofmychoices​ @ymariejp​ @its-my-little-dumpster-fire​ @mrsjaxtellerfan​ @whovianayesha​ @holamor​ @drinix​ @rhabakoli​ @stories-you-wont-hear​ @king4thesirens​ @starkrobb​ @marauderskeeper​ @charlylama​ @gollyderek​ @leahnicole1219​ @evanlys19​  @something-tofightfor​ @banditthewriter​  @binbons-is-theloml​

Benny B Characters Taglist: @thesandbeneathmytoes​

Billy Taglist: @honeyydippaa​  @thebabblingbookworm​ @khuangpu13​ @ladyblablabla​​ @woodlandreads​ @belladonnarey​ @ms-delos​ 

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten Twice Stupid prt.59

Three weeks passed without a word from Pidge, Lance feeling helpless. He’d turned off his private phone in the end, and kind of guilt tripped Coran into letting him stay for the time being. He knew his moods were up and down, he also knew he couldn’t ask Keith to stay when they were. He’d had a word with Coran about Keith working, he wanted things to be clear. When Keith was meant to be working, then he wasn’t allowed down to visit Lance. Keith wasn’t thrilled, but Lance felt it necessary, or he’d spend every moment thinking about his boyfriend rather than pretending he was being useful to Allura.

Allura was nice about everything, like she usually was. He didn’t push her about her friendship with “Loturd”. Keith had accidentally let the name slip, after his boyfriend came to see him. His and Shiro’s furniture had finally arrived. Keith bringing his favourite blade to show Lance, and Kosmo. Lance missed having Kosmo around. He had Blue for company, but Kosmo was too adorable, and his precious princess was hoing herself out for pats and attention from everyone she came across. When they’d agreed Lance could stay, he’d asked Shiro if he would Keith take Kosmo home with him. He wanted his boyfriend to have that feeling of coming home to his waiting puppy. If they were going to be out overnight, Kosmo came for sleepovers. Keith was such a proud dog father that Lance kind of felt like the only time he was happy was when Keith was gushing over his fur son.

Lance’s mood hadn’t gone unnoticed. Allura had planned a “spa night” for the both of them. Curled up on the sofa with face masks on, they’d watched movies and Lance painted her nails for her, and complimented her over perfect skin. It struck him how lonely it must be for her, and he silently swore to himself that he’d find a way to invite her out for some fun on the town. His Mami had noticed his mood. Luis wasn’t there the first time he visited after the “accident”, meaning he had his Mami to himself. Climbing into bed beside her, he’d fallen asleep in her safe and loving hold, her cold hadn’t progressed into pneumonia, proving there was plenty of life left in her. He hadn’t been to see her with Keith again, she understood he had work, so Blue came in her carrier.

Called to Allura’s office, through the personal phone he had in his room, Lance powered down his laptop before heading out. He had a nicer room now. His single bed now a double, plus there was a desk and wardrobe and space for Blue. Matt had come to check on him, apologising for what had happened. They’d hugged it out long enough that Shiro tugged Matt off of him. He hadn’t heard from Pidge either, so it was what it was. Leaving Blue sleeping on his bed, Lance headed out. He’d kind of been pretty much an errand boy for Allura, “helping” by making copies of things or running things between her office and the labs. His mood had picked up when he had something to do. It got him out of his head and not thinking about how much he missed his best friends.

When Lance reached Allura’s office, he knocked lightly on her door before opening it. His eyes totally bugging out as he eyed his boyfriend. Dressed in tight black jeans, a black T-shirt, a cropped red leather jacket and a thick pair of leather boots, his boyfriend looked hot. Hot and happy. Clapping her hands together, Allura looked particularly proud

“Lance! Excellent. Now, you may be wondering why I called. You and Keith are going on a date today”

Lance raised an eyebrow. He didn’t particularly want to leave the complex. He’d only left to see himself Mami and that was it

“I am?”

“Yep! Consider this a little thank you for allowing us to steal Keith away. The work he’s doing is vital to help ensure Platt remains relatively peaceful. Plus, you haven’t had a break in the last fortnight. Tonight is completely on me”

“You’re kicking me out?”

Lance was half joking, maybe more like he hoped his tone his that he was serious. He wasn’t supposed to go anywhere. His pheromones could be a serious issue. Allura didn’t see it as a joke, quick to give a shake of her head

“Not at all! I love you having here. No, I thought you and Keith might enjoy each other’s company. Keith has proved himself a valuable asset, and we want to thank him for his work”

“What she means is they think I might snap if I have to go one more undercover mission”

“You have been rather stressed of late”

So stressed Keith had snapped at him for not understanding. It’d been a small fight, Keith easily brought back under control when Lance wrapped his arms around him and told him while he didn’t, he was still there for him. It was weighing heavily on Keith not to be able to tell him everything. In some ways being in Platt made it harder for both of them, another reason Lance didn’t want to move in with Keith. He wanted Keith to have that safe place at the of work to relax and destress. Keith sighed at Allura, Allura ignoring it

“Now, you have a few hours before your dinner reservation. I’m sure the pair of you can find something to do. I don’t want to see either of you back here tonight. Keith, I give you permission to discuss things with Lance, though that is left to your discretion”

It was now Lance’s mind went into panic mode. He wasn’t dressed for a date. He wasn’t dressed any different from normal. His hair wasn’t tamed. He wasn’t wearing nice clothes. He didn’t know how to date! He’d never done a “date” date. And Keith... Keith was standing there looking calm and collected! What... what was he supposed to do? Why couldn’t he remember what normal people did on a date? Keith wanted to go on a date with him? Him of all people? What did they talk about? What did normal people talk about? What did Keith like to talk about? Letting out a squeak, he could have died on the spot of embarrassment. Keith hiding his laughter behind his hand

“I think you broke him”

Allura giggled, playing along

“Oh, dear. Don’t tell me you don’t want to go. Keith and I planned this days ago”

“I... me... you... we... date?”

He was short circuiting. Keith’s goddamn smile made him feel all goopy inside

“That’s how a date normal works, babe. Do you not want to go with me?”

“Yes! Date me!”

Now he was yelling? And Keith was laughing again. What was he even saying?

“You guys have fun tonight. I’m leaving him in your hands, Keith”

Allura left them. Lance covering his burning face with his hands. Coming up to him, Keith kissed him on the forehead, Lance peaking up at him

“It’s okay. I didn’t plan much”

“I... are you sure you want to go with me?”

“Well, you’re the only one I’m dating. Plus, you’re not the only on freaking out”

“What are you freaking out for? You’re all dumb and hot and smiling and can work English”

“Because I’m going on a date with you”

“But you planned it!”

And he was yelling again

“I’m freaking out because it’s a date with the guy I’m dating”

“But I’m me”

“That’s why I wanted things... You know, what, let’s just go”

“But... I’m... not even dressed”

“Pretty sure you’ve got clothes on, babe”

“That’s not what I mean. You’re all... hot”

“Do you want to get changed? I think you’re fine in what you’re wearing”

“But... I look like me”

“And I like you. God. You’re making me even more nervous and shit”

“Can’t forget a good shit”

Lance swore he could almost see his soul escaping from in the inside. Groaning, he slid his hand back up

“Just leave me here. Here lays Lance. Killed by his boyfriend’s niceness and unfair hotness”

Keith wrapped his arms around him. A date with Keith... an actual declared date. Like a boyfriend date. Keith’s scent was wonderful, Lance’s knees going a little weak

“Oh, babe... hey, if you’re not up to this, that’s okay too”

Nope. Keith had said date. He was having his date. He was having this date and going to prove he could function like a normalish human not a mess of a vampire

“No. I want to... God, I want to. How are you not making a fool of yourself?”

“I already made a fool of myself asking for the day off. I asked Allura, because I know you two have been hanging out...”

Allura hadn’t told him, see if he was going to braid her hair again when she couldn’t even give him a heads up

“I feel really happy right now... and like I’m going to throw up”

Keith’s hold meant everything, his boyfriend hiding his face against Lance’s shoulder. Fuck... it should be criminal to be this awkward

“Me too... okay. We’re doing this. Just two boyfriends going on a date. Doing boyfriend things... and shit”

Keith wasn’t going to let him forget. So he was going to have to make him forget

“I’m going to date you so fucking hard you’ll forget shit”

“I’m looking forward to the full Lance experience”

Lance huffed, feeling like someone more adult should be supervising them

“You just had it”

“Over so quick? Babe, I knew I was good, but damn. Should you be bragging about it”

Oh fuck... now he was thinking about sex...

“Shut up. God. Let’s go already before I really do expire from embarrassment”

*

Keith’s brought his motorbike. Keith had brought his motorbike and Lance wasn’t sure how to feel. With his arms around his boyfriend’s waist, he spent the first 5 minutes trying to accept he was on the back of a death machine with Keith weaving in and out of traffic like a mad man. He felt like he’d left his stomach somewhere behind on the trip, the vibration and noise taking a bit of getting used to. Keith called him brave, but Lance liked to think he was more like Hunk in this situation, safely cautious.

Despite his nerves, Lance felt strangely disappointed as Keith pulled up to a stop. His ears still ringing, despite the helmet he was wearing deadening some of the noise. Raising his head, he questioned Keith’s idea of a date. The sign above the door read “SPlatter-field”. A not so clever play on the business being in Platt. In the window was a sign advertising it being a shooting range. Climbing off the back of the bike, Lance tried to hide his confusion, and some of his disappointment. Dates meant romance. He wasn’t sure how guns said romance. Keith climbed off, pulling his helmet off as he did. Noticing Lance hadn’t taken his off, his boyfriend’s face fell

“You don’t like it?”

Keith had gone to a lot of effort to plan this date. He probably wanted to do something different and unusual. Pulling his helmet off, Lance shook his head

“It’s not that. I just wasn’t expecting a shooting range”

“Allura said you went hunting as a kid.... I messed this up...”

Keith was crushing his heart right now

“No. No. Look, sure, not a place I would think of, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be fun. Besides, I’m a total crack shot at fair games”

“You don’t need to try and make me feel better”

He was a dick. He’d hurt Keith’s feelings

“I’m not. But you better be prepared to have your arse kicked”

“So it’s okay?”

Lance gave Keith the warmest smile he could muster

“It could be fun”

“If you don’t like it, we’ll go”

“Okay. Let’s give it a shot”

With Allura being Keith’s co-conspirator, she’d given Keith his wallet ahead of time. Lance hadn’t even noticed it was missing. Which probably said a lot about how distracted he’d been lately. The man behind the counter didn’t seem so sure about him being 26, but his ID was valid and he was forced to swallow his tongue, as they signed all paperwork related to their outing. Trying to remember the last time he’d held a gun, he flushed at the memory of telling Keith to shoot him. God. He’d been so lame. He was struggling to remember ever being “cool” in front of his boyfriend. Allocating them two hand guns each, Keith produced his firearms licence, which was enough to let the man take over explaining how things worked. Lance was pretty sure Keith hadn’t meant it as a bragging move, but he did delight in the man being taken down a peg. Which was probably his ego showing.

Following Keith through to the range, he found they were the only two there, other a bored looking supervisor who made to follow behind them, Keith leading them to the last two cubicles, before turning hot instructor of him, Lance blocking out the man watching

“I know you know how to use a gun, but it’s important not to treat it like a toy”

“So I don’t point the end at my feet and pull the trigger?”

His boyfriend scowled

“No. Each magazine holds twelve rounds. You fire all twelve then put your weapon down on the desk. Seeing you’ve got a sight advantage and I’ve got an experience advantage, we’ll set the targets at the furtherest points. On the paper there’s zones, each zone is worth a number of points. I know you don’t want to shoot to kill, but I think it’s important you train up on your skills”

Lance jerked back a little, not expecting Keith to be so serious. Behind him, the man supervising the range backed off

“Should I be worried? Am I in danger?”

“No. But if you ever are, I want you to be able to protect yourself. The investigation is getting nowhere fast... and... the targets are all vampires. I know we could have done this at VOLTRON, but I didn’t want you to feel self conscious while handling a firearm. Taking the shot is never easy. Even when you tell yourself it it. I’ve had to shoot before and the first time left me messed up for days”

Keith was chasing a vampire killer? Lance tried to pretend he was surprised... Well, more surprised. He wasn’t actually all that surprised given vampires were most douches. Now it made sense. Keith wanted to make this as stress free as possible, knowing he disliked guns and the Coran would fuss if he was training with them

“Okay. I understand”

“Now, the way you hold the gun depends on the make and model. We’ll use two hands on these. There’s a little bit of a kick back, so when you press the trigger, make sure you’re not squeezing or you’ll end up shooting something you’re not meant to. I’ll set the targets up. Put your safety glasses and earmuffs on”

Lance did as he was told. Keith knew his way around a shooting range. Lance wondering if the one at Blade Headquarters was anything like this. Probably not. He could picture a whole wall of guns and other dangerous weaponry. Sending the sheets to the back of the room, Lance was starting to feel nervous. A shotgun wasn’t the same as a hand gun... or one of those weighted guns at a fair. He didn’t feel guilty for winning at a fair when the owners used cheap tricks. Coming back to his side, his boyfriend tugged Lance’s earmuffs off his ears

“I’m going to show you how to stand and how to hold the gun. It’s important to control your breathing”

Lance rolled his eyes, Keith didn’t find it funny. He needed to be serious. Gun’s weren’t toys. He knew guns weren’t toys. His ego was flaring again, and he kind of wanted to shoot himself for it

“Sorry. I’ll behave... please teach me all you know, Samurai”

[my-arlington-academia]

The main 10 cheering up a crying Scholar (Y/N) finally part 2!

Here are Neha, Raquel and Tadashi! I had to cut the last 5 in 2 posts because tumblr doesn't allow more than 250 blocks of text... But anyway! I finally did it! It's been 84 years... though I feel like those are not really headcanons anymore. They're all so long that it would be more accurate to say that they're scenarios. Sorry! It's probably gonna be really annoying scrolling up and down.

Neha

- crying is a really good way to let your emotions out and it always worked out for you

- whenever it's all too much you make yourself cry to feel better afterward

- one day, once you finished crying your phone rang

- it's from Neha, she's inviting you to her room

- oh boy.

- when you moved into the dorms Karolina did say that the previous owner of the room would put loud music on and they would hear it

- 'did Neha hear me cry?' God you hope not

- When you knock, the door immediately opens as if Neha was right in front of it waiting for you

- She pulls you in and starts taking your measurements

- "I've decided to use you as my model for my next outfit."

- "W-what?!?"

- now you're almost sure that she did hear you, or else why would she make an outfit just for you when she's got Karolina?

- surprisingly a few days later the outfit is done! Does it really take that little time usually? You're pretty sure that Neha already had the design ready in her sketchbook

- during that time though, everyday until the "outfit" was ready she would go out of her way to talk to you everyday even though she's usually either busy or with Karolina

- she knows that it annoys her but even when Karolina was around Neha would still come and chat with you for a bit

- You're guessing that she didn't want you to feel like you're alone in your hard times

- when the outfit was done she called you over again

- "Here, try it on!"

- there's more excitement in her voice than usual and it's really freaking cute

- "You mean right here, right now?"

- she keeps staring at you in silence before coming back to her senses

- "Oh, right. Sorry. I'll turn away while you change."

- but then while you're taking your clothes off the door flows open

- "Neha, did you see my-"

- Karolina looks at the both of you and while she's trying to process the scene all that she gets from the situation is: you taking your clothes off in their room, and Neha waiting for you to take them off while facing away?

- "N... Nevermind. Just do your thing I'll come back in one hour. Or uh, two hours. Actually."

- She closed the door in a hurry. Welp. She probably misunderstood.

- Neha kept on facing the wall but you could see her ears getting red

- that little accident is quickly forgotten when you've put the outfit on

- it's so elaborate and classy. it's making you feel self-concious

- Even though Neha was the one who made the outfit she blushed when she saw you in it

- "You look so lovely- uh. I mean the dress! The dress looks lovely on you, obviously, since I'm the one who made it."

- her bashfulness is making you blush too but you tell her that you can't pay for it

- "Are you kidding? It's a gift I've made for you. No one else in the world owns this and won't own it because I won't put it on sale. It's a special outfit only for you."

- She takes her sketchbook and rips out a page, it's a sketch of the outfit and... you're the one wearing it on the drawing!

- "To be honest, I had already heard you crying a few times in your room and I didn't know how to help. So uh... I guess what I mean is. I've been planning this for a long time but I wasn't brave enough to ask for your measurements until recently and um..."

- She's rambling and rambling, you've probably never heard her talk this much

- "Basically... when you're sad come over. Or ask me to come over, whatever. Our rooms are right next to eachother so whether you cry in your room or here I'll hear you anyway so you might as well be with me."

- this was maybe not the best way to phrase it, but you got the feeling she was going for and that's all that matters

Raquel

- Noticed that you weren't feeling good right away

- but more in a "are you catching a cold?" kinda way

- but it didn't have anything to do with your health

- You actually wanted to explain what happend as soon as it did but when you tried to, tears came down immediately from the very first sentence

- Raquel grabbed you by the shoulders

- "It's okay! You can tell me later if it's too hard."

- The next day when you were getting ready to go to school Raquel came to your room dressed in casual clothes

- "Hey Y/N! Let's skip today."

- You tell her that you can't because you're a scholarship student and all but she ends up convincing you anyway

- "It's all fine, it's just for one day! Everyone thinks that you're a really hard-working, punctual and honest person! They'll believe whatever you say."

- "Raquel... I am a hard-working, punctual and honest person..."

- "Exactly! And that's why you can take advantage of that and no one will doubt you."

- Oh well...

- it's not like you were looking forward to that math test anyway

- you sneak around and get out of the school through Raquel's knowledge of... blind spots?

- you feel a little guilty about it since you'll have to lie to the teachers later about "not feeling well"

- Raquel makes you forget that pretty easily though

- "Okayyy! Now let's go have our breakfast, I know a place."

- "Ah, cool."

- "You don't sound really excited... But you know, the both of us sneaking out of school to go on a date: isn't it a little bit like we're secretly lovers during war time between two kingdoms in a movie?"

- Wait, this was a date?? You had no idea

- You spent the whole day just walking around town in different fast foods, parks, and shops

- everytime you wanted to buy something Raquel would try to buy it for you

- You refused everything except the food, she was being extremely pushy about paying for the food

- on the way back you decide to tell her about your troubles again, this time hopefully you won't burst into tears

- She's incredibly understanding and doesn't let you downplay your feelings

- anytime you say "it may sound stupid"/"maybe I'm being too emotional" she's like

- "No! Fuck that! There's a reason why you feel this way and it's not dumb."

- You get a little bit teary eyed and before you can even think about crying Raquel hugs you

- then she whispers in your ear

- "Did it hurt?"

- "Uh... what?"

- At first you thought she meant your feelings because obviously it did hurt, you just spent like 20 minutes explaining what had happened

- but then you understood

- is she seriously trying to cheer you up with pick-up lines?

- "So did it hurt or did it not?"

- "You mean, when I fell from heaven?"

- She makes the biggest grin before replying

- "No, when you fell for me."

- You're trying your best not to burst into laughter

- "Nah, not really. It was a quick fall."

- Oh no, you outsmarted her lame pick-up line

- you guys end the day with the most stupid pick-up line fight

- little do you know that Raquel will shoot a ball in the face of a certain someone for hurting you

- maybe multiple times if she feels like it

Tadashi

- To be honest he didn't really notice at first

- maybe it was one of your "bad days", Tadashi knows what it's like so he totally gets it

- but then when it's been 3 days in a row and you're still in that state?

- he cancels all of his work and assignements for the day

- calls you over in such a professional manner that it's kinda scary

- he literally asks you to meet him in the student council's room

- tells you to "please sit down" in front of him

- Honestly, this situation is making you really tense. Did Tadashi figure out that one time, 3 months ago, when you stole a smoothie from the cafeteria?

- "Look, I'm sorry okay? I was just really thirsty and I needed sugar. Also, it's not like I wasn't allowed to get one! There was no one at the counter so I figured it wouldn't hurt to..."

- Tadashi IAmConfusion™ looks at you

- "Why are you talking about that now? Don't worry, I know."

- Now it's your turn to get confused

- "You mean... you knew and you didn't give me detention?"

- Now he looks a bit frustrated

- "Come on Y/N, I'm not that mean. I won't give you detention just because you came 5 minutes late to our meeting."

- This is most likely a misunderstanding...

- "This is what you were talking about just now, right? That the reason why you came here late is because you were drinking a smoothie. I figured you were probably busy doing something so no need to feel so guilty about it."

- "Oh. Oooohhh... yeahh... totally. Sorry."

- Now that this is out of the way, he asks you to tell him what's on your mind

- At first you hesitate a little but, if there's someone with whom you want to share this with, it's Tadashi

- he's listening really closely to what you're saying without cutting you off but sometimes you can see his eyes getting a bit darker

- Like, you're not being specific enough about a detail or something and he's probably taking notes of all the questions he has so that he can ask them when you're done

- At some point though, you become really emotional and your voice starts cracking when you're talking

- You end up crying and your tears fall on the desk

- Tadashi jumps out of his seat, his chair falls down as he panics

- "Hey! Y/N?? Err... Um..."

- Takes you in his arms carefully, like he's not really sure if that's what he's supposed to do when this type of thing happens

- "It's okay! I'm here... I'm here so... d-don't cry Y/N I'll do something about it no problem!"

- when you've calmed down he puts down his wallet on the desk

- "Uh... what?"

- "You can use it."

- "You mean your money??"

- "What else?"

- he explains that you can take all the smoothies and premium food in the cafeteria with this

- "Are you kidding? I can't use your money for that."

- He's literally trying to cheer you up with money which is obviously not the way to go about it

- He sees that you're not convinced so he pulls out his phone and shoves the screen on your face so closely that you have to take a step back in order to read what's on it

- It's Tadashi's to do list, probably the place where he writes all of his tasks for the week

- The spot on number one is you. It reads "1. Y/N"

- when you look at him Tadashi is furiously blushing and looking away

- this is incredibly sweet until you notice how wrong this sounds

- "Wait... Tadashi?"

- "Yes?"

- "I'm first on your... "To do" list? Seriously?"

- "What's that's supposed to mean? Of course you're number one on my- Oh god..."

- he just understood how wrong it sounded and took the phone back before rewriting the list

- He's making it so easy for you to tease him

- the poor boy is literally begging you to stop it but you can't until he shows you his phone screen again

- this time it's written "1. Make Y/N smile again", you're literally his number one priority. This is so sweet to the point where you can't tease him anymore. It would be too mean.

- As for Tadashi, let's just say that he's about to get "really mean" with the person you were talking about just now and he's not going to hold back

[westallenfun]

Westallen Secret Santa--- White Lie, White Christmas

WestAllen secret santa gift

From: @cee693

For: @backtothestart02

Note: For Lauren, Happy Holidays!!

~Prompt: “AU - Barry gives private skiing lessons at a lodge. Iris sees him and thinks he’s cute, so even though she’s a highly experienced skier, she signs up for lessons to snag a date.”

Iris inhaled the wafts of fresh pine amidst the crisp morning air as she sipped her chai latte. 

Sunrise had begun and the snowy white terrain outside her window was drenched in a swirling pink and red phenomenon.

No matter how often she made the trip up to these stunning mountains, she knew she would never get used to the view.

From high up here, away from civilization, Iris felt like she was peeking into a tiny corner of heaven.

‘This is just what the doctor ordered,’ she thought before she chuckled with amusement. 

She realized that that wasn’t just an expression. Ten days at the world-renowned North American, Starsken Ski Resort, was actually noted on the blue prescription her pain management physician had written her.

And despite her initial push back, she was glad that he’d made her come. She was overworked- she’d be the first to admit that. But, she has been in denial about how much her work had begun to affect her physically.

She’d only been here for a few days and already she felt the joints in her hip and the tightness in her lungs begin to open up. 

The quiet of the resort, the thin air, and the crystal clean spring water were already more effective than the meds she still found herself having to take even all these years after her accident. 

She took another sip of her steaming drink when a muffled ruckus caught her attention downstairs. 

She peered over her balcony railing and saw a small group of young children walking single file out towards the trail to bunny hill.

The children were all jabbering excitedly and Iris was surprised that they would be in such agreeable moods so early in the day.

Though, she thought taking note of the now familiar silhouette leading the children, the right company could make even a 6 a.m. wakeup call pleasant.

On the list of things the resort had that had been helping to ease her tension, Iris couldn’t deny that she should probably include the tall green-eyed ski instructor who always had a friendly smile and a kind word to spare.

The instructor turned to face his charges and spoke excitedly to them. Iris couldn’t hear what he was saying from way up where she was, but it looked like he was pointing out the different trees nearby.

Watching him, Iris was struck with an idea. And she wondered why she hadn’t thought of it before.  

She smiled to herself and sipped some more of her latte, already running through the breaking day’s plans.

Barry’s eyes flickered down to his watch as the next kid in line came towards him. He sighed in relief when he saw today’s lessons were almost done.

He loved teaching, he did, but even he had a limit. He was running on empty and he needed a break, but he was holding out as long as he could for the sake of the kids. 

His class wasn’t big- about ten kids of all ages. It wasn’t a formal class by any means. Barry just liked to 

His godmother was the general manager of the exclusive resort and Barry was known to spend mini vacations up here throughout the year. Whenever he was around and available, he offered free classes to the children here with their parents- providing fun alternatives to the rigid lessons the resort offered. 

He also offered paid private lessons for adult beginners which were easier because those were just one-on-one. He was happy to do it for the kids. He was less enthused about his older clientele, though. Those tended to be rich housewives who were typically dragged along by their husbands. Wives who weren’t above flirting with him to pass the time on their boring vacations.

Barry sighed as he remembered that he had one such client in a few hours. He gestured the next child forward to him.

A subtle change in the wind made Barry look up. He didn’t expect to see anything out of the ordinary. Just to take stock of his surroundings. But, when his eyes landed on her, he felt his entire world freeze and then tilt. 

She was breathtaking. The lack of air in his lungs was testament to that.

She was a tiny thing. He shouldn’t have even noticed her amidst the giant evergreens and packs of people scattered throughout the hill. 

But, there she was, at the center of everything; her rich brown skin glowed in beautiful contrast to the shock white all around them. Even through her snow goggles he saw her eyes sparkling in the sunlight. As if they were mirroring the light dusting of snowflakes drifting in the wind.

He watched, transfixed, as she made her way to the end of the lift line, taking her time and nodding her greetings at the few people she recognized along the way.

The spell that kept him glued in place was broken when she smiled. Barry felt a jolt run through his body when she did. The electric pulse ended almost painfully at his fingertips, causing him to flex them unthinkingly. 

And the young child he’d been holding up fell right out of his hands.

“Ouch!” the poor boy exclaimed indignantly, rubbing his butt through his snow pants. He glared up at his ski instructor looking for an explanation.

And at first Barry barely spared the boy a second glance, before he shook himself out of his stupor and realized he’d dropped the six-year-old he’d been trying to get into some skis.

“Shoot! I’m sorry. Just shake it off, Kai.” he quickly righted the boy and helped him dust the snow off his pants. “Shake it off.”

Barry quickly looked around to see if any of the parents had noticed. To his relief, none were around or looking in his direction.

And he reflexively tried to spot the brown-eyed beauty who’d caused his momentary lapse, but she’d disappeared somewhere in the wide space.

He sighed, rubbing his neck wondering if he’d had a hallucination of some kind. 

“Okay,” he rallied his group of kids, shaking off the strange encounter. “Now that you all are strapped in, let’s talk about the best position for controlling your ski gear.”

Thankfully, his lessons concluded not long after that. He’d been up since 5:00 and he’d yet to eat a single thing. He couldn’t wait to get back inside where there was heat and food. Barry waved goodbye to the kids and promised another lesson tomorrow as he packed up his own gear.

“I hope that was the first time you’ve dropped one of them,” a teasing voice said behind him. “Otherwise one of these days you may walk into a snowball ambush led by a pack of eight-year olds.”

Barry looked up and saw the mystery woman from earlier looking down at him with an amused grin.

Barry quickly stood and dusted himself off. He chuckled. “It would actually be six-year olds. And They would destroy me.”

The young woman laughed. 

“But, it was a one-time thing, I swear,” Barry put up a hand. 

The woman nodded and pointed at his gear at his feet. “So, would I be safe to enroll in one of your classes then? No chance of sudden butter fingers?”

Barry grinned. “You’d be perfectly safe! But, I’m pretty sure you would be way above my current class’s level.”

She tilted her head and wisps of dark brown curls broke free from under her hat.

“Not the kid’s class. I’ve seen you running private lessons with some of the other guests,” she said questioningly.

Barry nodded and shrugged. “Even then. I work with beginners and kids. You’d be pretty bored sitting in on any of those lessons.”

Barry hadn’t seen her ski, but she looked pretty legit standing in her gear, leaning confidently on her poles. 

“Oh well, I’m glad I look the part,” Iris smiled appreciatively. “But, I’ve never skied before. I thought I’d try it out since I’m here anyway.”

Barry’s brow raised. “How long are you here for?”

“About six more days,” she said. “I love this place, but the days can stretch if you don’t fill them.” she held up her poles. “And this definitely looks interesting enough.”

Barry nodded. “It definitely is.”

He sighed quietly. He knew he really had no room to add on another client. He was only here for one more week and as it was, he’d certainly been working more than he’d been relaxing this break. 

Even still, he already knew there was no way he would turn this woman away. He was glad she seemed like a nice enough person so far because then he wouldn’t have to examine his own shallowness. Since he was certain he would’ve agreed to teach her just based on how attractive he found her.

Iris sensed the tiniest bit of hesitation from him so she flashed a wide smile. “I promise I’m a model student, Professor.”

“Professor?” Barry smiled, stepping closer to her unconsciously.

Iris shrugged. “Seemed appropriate. I didn’t get your name.”

Barry mentally berated himself. “Sorry. It’s Barry. Barry Allen.”

“Iris West,” she stuck out her hand and he shook it carefully.

“Well, Barry Allen,” she amended, waiting for his answer. “What do you say?” 

“Sure,” he agreed. “Why not.”

Iris was pleased that the proposition had gone well. “When can we start?”

“I’m free the rest of the day,” Barry said hurriedly. The lie rolled so quickly off his tongue that even he was surprised by it.

“How about right now then?” Iris slid over to where all his equipment was. And the two of them got to work.

Barry started Iris off with properly stepping in and out of her skis and while she worked on that, he discreetly texted an excuse to his next client, cancelling their afternoon session.

He and Iris spent over two hours out on the hill. A lot longer than he spent with his clients, especially on the very first day.

But, they both enjoyed each other’s company and they easily lost track of time. Iris was pretty hopeless out on the snow and Barry realized she would need lots of help to fulfill his guarantee of making it down the bunny slope by end of the week.

He really did enjoy teaching the sport at the resort, but working with Iris, Barry found himself in a better mood than he had with any of his other clients. 

She was very funny and her tongue was very quick and she kept him on his toes the entire time. They trudged back to base together, sharing even more laughs as they went.

However, when they returned to the lodge and removed all their snow gear, Barry’s good mood was dampened almost immediately.

As soon as Iris took off the goggles that had been taking up most of her face, the hat that had covered up her mass of lively curls, and the thick jacket that had hidden her svelte, shapely physique, Barry realized just how out of his league this woman was.

After he stared at her for a few seconds with his mouth opening and closing and no sound coming out, he sighed in resignation and tried to think of the best excuse to retreat to his room.

Iris shook out her hair and sighed contently, pleased to be back in the warmth of the lodge. She looked back at her lanky instructor. 

He was cuter than she initially thought, she realized as she took him in fully now. Pale, but not as flushed as he’d been out in the winter cold. His sea green eyes were just a smidge darker in here, a bit more soulful. And his amiable personality made her impulsive little white lie even more worth it.

“Can I interest you in some hot cocoa, Professor?” Iris smiled up at him. “My treat.”

The question was enough to momentarily quell Barry’s plans of escape. “Sure! Thanks.”

Iris grabbed them two big steaming mugs of hot chocolate as well as a tray of s’more ingredients. 

She ushered them to the large fireplace in the corner of the room and set about setting up their treats.

“The trick for these is to smear just a dollop of peanut butter on the graham crackers,” she whispered conspiratorially pointing to the small plate of peanut butter she’d snagged. “It takes it up to a hundred.”

Barry watched her excitedly swipe some peanut butter on a long cracker before she handed it off to him.

He skewered a marshmallow and let it crisp before he cushioned it between two crackers. Barry looked at the dessert cautiously, but Iris beckoned him to eat it. “It’s good, I swear.”

Barry took a bite.

“How does it taste?” she wondered eagerly.

“It’s perfect,” he told her seriously. She gave a small happy dance in her seat and Barry wondered once more where this woman came from.

Iris licked peanut butter off her thumb as she assembled her own s’more. “So you said you’re here for a week too?” she asked, trying to remember if she’d heard him correctly earlier.

“Yeah,” Barry nodded. “I’ve actually already been here for eight days.”

Iris’s brows shot up. “Wow! That’s a long vacation!”

Barry murmured his agreement. “Yeah. I definitely come up her more often than I probably should,” he laughed. “My room is kind of becoming a vacation home of sorts.”

Iris laughed at the joke. 

Barry shrugged. “I can’t help it though. As much as I love Central City, nothing can beat the view from up here.”

Iris perked up. “Central City, Missouri?”

Barry nodded, surprised she’d heard of it.

“No way!” Iris laughed in disbelief. “That’s where I’m from too!”

“Are you serious?” Barry checked. 

Iris nodded. “I live downtown near Chaumont avenue. Been there my whole life.” 

“Wow,” he chuckled too, noting that she lived right by his apartment. “Small world, huh?”

“So what do you do in Central City when you’re not here?” she wondered.

He thought briefly that maybe he should make up a job cooler than the one he actually had, just so he wouldn’t seem even less on Iris’s level, but he ultimately decided on the truth. “I’m uh actually a scientist. I work at STAR Labs on the bioengineering team focusing on renewable energy. But, it’s not as dorky as it sounds.”

Iris smiled. “That doesn’t sound dorky at all,” she promised genuinely. “That actually sounds really impressive. So me calling you ‘Professor’ wasn’t too far off was it?”

Barry’s mouth quirked up at the compliment and he ducked his head, thanking her and taking a quick sip from his mug to hide his red cheeks.

“So what do you do?” he asked when he felt his face cool down.

“Oh,” Iris sighed and chuckled, leaning back in her seat. “That’s a bit of a story. But, the short version is I’m retired.”

Barry’s brows shot up. “Really? How o-” he stopped himself from asking her age and tried to think of a less-rude line of questioning.

But, Iris caught what he’d been about to ask and she smiled good-naturedly. “It wasn’t exactly by choice. I was a detective with the CCPD, but I got hurt pretty badly on the job. So, I decided to hang up my badge and slow things down.”

“You worked at CCPD?” Barry questioned, not meaning to bypass the last part she’d said, but too stunned by the coincidences between them. “My father works there too. He’s a doctor. A criminal psychologist.”

Iris tilted her head and looked him over more fully. “Barry Allen,” she repeated his name, piecing together that information. “Your dad is Henry Allen.”

“That’s him,” Barry nodded, happily.

She laughed and shook her head incredulously. “What are the odds? I loved working with your dad,” she gushed. “He’s a really great guy. He’s incredibly smart and such a nice person. We worked on a lot of cases together.”

“Yeah,” Barry agreed, thinking of his father. “He’s pretty great. I’ve actually been trying to convince him and my mom to come up here more often, but I’m sure you know how much he loves our city. He’ll never leave.”

“I can definitely see the laid-back pace of this place suiting Dr. Allen,” Iris agreed.

“So what about your parents?” he queried.

“Yeah,” she sipped her cocoa. “My parents are still in Central City too. My dad’s a jazz singer and my mom is a painter.”

“Wow,” Barry said impressed. 

“Yeah, growing up my house was always full of music and art. I loved it. I think in another life, if  I wasn’t so determined to be a detective, I would’ve been a ballerina. I practiced it until college.”

“Oh well that definitely explains your body,” Barry said unthinkingly.

Iris blinked at him.

Barry coughed and shifted in his seat. “Uh I um, I mean that explains your legs. No, not your legs.”

Iris continued to stare.

Barry could practically feel the steam coming off his face. “I just mean that you had good balance out on the slopes today,” he said earnestly, desperately trying to fix his word vomit. “You had good balance.”

Iris nodded once slowly. Barry would’ve been sure she was uncomfortable with what he said if the amusement in her eyes weren’t so clear.

“Thank you,” she said simply, appraising him for a beat before she leaned back again and finished up her hot cocoa.

Barry coughed again and took a breath, telling himself to calm the hell down. 

“So, now what do you do in your free time?” Barry asked, trying to get the conversation back on track.

“Now I’m a writer,” Iris revealed. “Just trying to create the next great American novel.”

“A writer,” Barry smiled slowly. Of course. 

The title fit her <em>perfectly</em>. 

“If there were any place to find inspiration to hole up and write, it’s definitely these mountains,” he stated.

“Believe me, I’m already finding more inspiration here than I have anywhere else in a long while,” she set down her cup and her sparkling eyes seemed to cut to the core of him. “So when is our next lesson, Professor?”

The way she innocently blinked at him as she said the nickname with a sultriness he <em>knew</em> he wasn’t imagining was mind-bending. 

“Whenever you want,” Barry told her. 

“How about tomorrow morning?” 

“Sure,” he agreed readily, mentally noting to cancel his morning session with Mrs. Greer.

Iris smiled brightly. “Perfect,” she set her mug down and grabbed her gloves. “I think I’m going to back to my room for a few hours. After that workout outside, the jacuzzi is calling my name.” 

Barry flashed a small smile, trying not to imagine his newest client in a bathing suit. He wondered if she was leaving because of what he’d said earlier, but a quick glance at his cell showed him they had been together for well over three hours. More than double the length of a typical session. 

“I should get going too,” Barry told her. He downed the last of his drink. “I guess I’ll see you  tomorrow?”

“First thing, Professor,” Iris smiled once last time before said goodbye and made her way upstairs.

And Barry returned to his room as well. He took a shower and a nap and by the time he woke up, the sun had set and soft piano music was coming from the dining rooms below.

Barry teetered between ordering his nightly room service and actually venturing down to eat with the other guests.

He usually steered clear of the dining rooms during mealtimes. The housewives were typically out in full force and Barry could only endure so much rich-people small talk and veiled flirtations before he lost his appetite altogether.

But, the thought of running into Iris actually had him contemplating taking his chances down there tonight. 

Ultimately, he decided against it and ordered up some food to his room as usual.

And while he waited, he called up his parents at home to speak to his dad.

Henry was so excited to hear from Barry which made Barry feel guilty for not calling as often as he should whenever he’s away. Still, he used his father’s good mood to his advantage.

He bribed his father with every gift and promise he could think of for any information he had on the former Detective West. 

And thank God Iris was telling the truth. She and his father <em>had</em> been friendly and Henry Allen was generous with what he could remember about her. By the end of the phone call, Barry had a sheet full of topics and conversation starters to sprinkle in throughout the rest of the week.

He even practiced ways he could introduce brownies, kickboxing, and Toni Morrison into conversation. He went to bed feeling good, determined to have no reason to ever embarrass himself again in front of her.

“Iris, I really am so sorry. I don’t know what happened,” Barry apologized again as he helped Iris with her skis while she sat down on the ground.

“It’s okay, Barry it was actually my fault,” Iris breathed out, grimacing at the pain in her side. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

He groaned internally. They hadn’t even been out very long and Barry had managed to knock Iris clean off the ground.

He’d been mining the proper technique to push off the ground with his poles and he had no idea how it happened, but suddenly Iris was in his line of movement behind him and he was shoving her hard in the stomach with the end of his pole.

“I’m so sorry.” he repeated. 

“It’s okay. Really. I wasn’t paying attention. I leaned down to tighten my boot and I was too close,” she assured, waving off his remorse. Angry at her own rare bout of carelessness.

It seemed that Barry wasn’t the only one afflicted by a loose set off limbs out here. She reminded herself that serious injury could happen out here when you weren’t paying attention. 

Iris stood and shook herself off. “Do you want to continue? I’m good. I just had the wind knocked out of me.”

Barry looked her over warily. 

“If you’re sure.”

He helped her up and picked back up his poles to continue the demonstration. This time making sure Iris was far off to the side of him.

Iris discovered that once the thick wall of awkwardness and clumsiness wore off, Barry was in fact an amazing teacher.

He let her in on her tricks and tips even she didn’t know and the way he talked about skiing and snow had her hung on his every word.

She didn’t really have a plan yesterday when she approached him for lessons. It had been an impulsive and pretty daring thing to do. 

She hadn’t meant to be dishonest with him. But, when he said he only taught children and beginners, it was the only thing she could think to say.

Now she almost regretted the lie. In all honesty, she was enjoying their one-on-one lesson and Barry’s hands-on approach getting her in proper positions, but she did wonder what it would be like to fly down this mountain side by side with nothing but the thrill of the skis and the rush of wind between them.

Barry gripped her hips and turned her just a smidge to the right. “This position is best for high speeds. It gives you better control at the ankles and takes the weight off your lower back.

Iris found Barry Allen unbelievably adorable. Despite his sturdy body and confident stance, she discovered that if she tilted her head this way or brushed up against him just a little, her  unsuspecting instructor could be reduced to flailing limbs and stuttered words. 

She couldn’t help herself purposely twisting her the poles in her hands in the wrong direction so that he would put his hands on top of hers to correct them or keeping her legs tall and straight so that he would ease behind her and bend them in the proper way. 

Their lessons flew by when it was like this. 

There never seemed to be enough time for her to get her fill of her cute teacher and pretty soon, Iris was finding excuses to see him off the slopes as well. She invited him to dinner and to play cards in front of the large fireplace in the lodge. 

On the morning of their fifth lesson, they woke up to a heavy snowstorm. Trapped inside, Barry ushered them to a hallway she’d never been before and they shared a plate of scones and  watched the snow fall.

Barry told her that, as strange as it sounded, snowstorms were his favorite thing. Aside from waves on the sand, snow was the only thing that could wipe something clean in an instant.

You could go to sleep to charred ground and barren trees and wake up to the world totally new. Even the worst storm left behind a clean slate in its wake.

Barry broke out of his musing when he heard Iris giggle. His face heated up when she asked him if he always talked like that.

“Only when I’m being silly.”

Iris shook her head. And when she looked at him, Barry told himself it was just the sun reflecting off the snow and through the window that made her eyes shine like they were.

“You’re not silly,” she promised. “You’re a poet.”

The next day they are back outside, picking up their class. 

Iris casually mentioned going into the sauna one day after she inadvertently tripped over her own skis, but Barry had coughed and sputtered profusely before he vehemently declined joining her on the account of an afternoon client.

By the time Iris’s sojourn began to wind down, she resigned the two of them to never going beyond feather touches and friendly conversation. 

Which was fine. When she’d first approached Barry, she hadn’t expected a romp in bed or a sweeping romance. She hadn’t thought beyond wanting to get to know the cute ski instructor  she’d probably never see again. 

But, once she found out they lived in the same place and once she saw how much the two of them had in common, Iris thought… well she didn’t know what she’d thought. But, she knew what she wanted. 

So the day before her trip ended, she decided to finally act on it.

She met Barry at the ski lift bright and early. They’d planned on her riding the lift to the bunny slopes so that she could try skiing from a drop for the first time.

Barry offered to accompany her in case she needed the support.

He was quiet that morning. So was she. Iris didn’t know what his reason was, but her uncharacteristically nervous fumbling and second-guessing had her more in her head than ever before. 

They had chosen the rail line that took the long way to the bunny slopes, so as they traveled they took in the scenic view of the steep hills and trails along the way. 

Eventually, Barry struck up conversation, mostly just giving her last-minute pointers and words of encouragement. 

Iris felt herself relax the more he talked. She knew his words were meant to be applied to skiing, but she used them to unravel the bundle of nerves in her belly. His words also confirmed the gentle type of person she found him to be. 

So, before the lift found their destination, Iris swallowed the last of her jitters and leaned over, pressing her lips firmly against Barry’s.

Barry immediately stopped whatever he was saying.

He didn’t kiss her back, but he also didn’t pull away which was a good sign. Right?

Iris leaned back after a few seconds and looked up at his face. His eyes were closed and his lips still a tiny bit pursed.

Iris was too nervous to find this as amusing as she would’ve otherwise. And the furrow between his brows only added to this.

“You kissed me,” Barry said after a beat. 

He sounded mystified by this. Even a little suspicious.

And he was. Actually that was an understatement. 

Barry was dazed. 

He was twenty-six years old and a kiss from a girl had just left him completely tongue-tied and stunned.

“Barry..”

Well, in his defense it wasn’t just any girl. 

In the week he’d known her, Barry was blown away by how great of a person Iris was. 

Barring any unforeseen revelations, Barry was pretty convinced that Iris West was the girl of his wildest dreams.

“Barry?…”

She was funny and smart, and incredibly sharp. She was also far and away the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. 

So, he couldn’t blame his brain for short-circuiting like this as they dangled a couple of feet off a mountain. 

And he couldn’t blame his hands for reflexively grasping the safety bar just a bit too tightly. 

He tried to think of something smooth to say. Something romantic and light to seal this moment, but all that came out of his mouth again was ‘you kissed me.’

Barry stuttered out some more and turned to look at her. 

Iris looked unsure of herself now. His fumbling had definitely cast a shadow on her confidence. 

But, as usual, Barry’s nervousness translated into flailing limbs and jerky motions and, as he tried to slide closer to her, his knee came up and hit the safety bar real hard.

And it gave way just enough for both of them to slide under it. 

“Oh my God!” Iris yelped. 

They both grabbed onto the bar to keep from sliding out completely and Barry quickly reached for Iris to keep her in the lift.

“Hold on!” he called out to her. He swung his legs back and forth trying to get some momentum going. 

When he felt some wind under him, he used it to heave Iris back up into the chair fully. 

Unfortunately, this caused him to slip even further out the cart and he knew that he had no choice but to let go. 

Iris knew this too and she quickly tried to grab him. 

But, with the safety bar broken, he couldn’t risk pulling her out again with him.

“Wait, don’t let go,” she tried, but Barry pulled his hands from hers. 

“Barry, wait! At least try to take your poles!”

He didn’t have time to catch that last part before he was flying down towards the ground. 

Barry was bracing for a horrible wipeout of a landing, but by some miracle, he landed on his feet. 

Unfortunately, the momentum of his landing was just perfect enough to send him sailing down the steep, jagged hillside with no poles and no way to slow down. 

He didn’t know how he kept himself going, but it took all he could to keep his skis straight and steady. 

He didn’t know how he’d slow down without potentially hurting himself. He’d never been in a situation like this. 

Somewhere behind him he heard a heavy thud. He dared turn around quickly to see what it was and gave a startled shout of confusion. 

Iris was sailing behind him. She had her knees locked and she leaned forward, pushing off her poles in quick succession with a serious look of determination. 

He wanted to ask how the hell she was doing this, but he had to face front before he crashed into a tree or a rock. 

Iris kept pushing, praying that she could reach Barry before he seriously hurt himself.

Finally, she caught up to him and was able to cut him off. She eased back just a bit so that he didn’t crash into her and she took hold of his waist, carefully veering them both off the trail and onto a soft looking pocket of snow. 

They both dropped to the ground in a heap. 

The entire rescue lasted only a few seconds, but the fright and adrenaline left them shot. 

“Oh my God, Barry!” Iris heaved, crawling over to him. “Are you alright?“ 

"I’m fine, I’m alright,” he rushed out, checking her over for injury. “Are you!?”

Iris waved off the question. “I’m fine.”

“How the hell did you ski that?” Barry demanded breathlessly. “That was amazing, but how the hell..?”

Iris clutched her chest, trying to catch her breath. 

Barry stood up and helped her to her feet.

“Barry, your ankle!”

Barry looked at her then looked down and noticed that he was hobbling on one foot.

Okay, now that their adrenaline was actually wearing down some he felt a <em>really</em> sharp pain in his right foot.

“Think I sprained it,” he realized.

“We need to get you back to the lodge!” Iris said at once. She patted herself. “I think I lost my cell. Do you have yours? If not I’ll head back to the lodge and grab help.”

Barry looked at her as if she had two heads and Iris was certain he had quite a few questions for her. But, before he could form his first one, shouting up the hill caught their attention.

A couple was waving them down. “Are you two alright!? We were a couple of chairs back and saw you fall off!”

“We’re okay,” Iris called up to them. “Just a little sprain. Could you help us get back to the cabins?”

The two men climbed down, ditching their skis for more sturdy footing as they each flanked Barry’s side and helped him slowly make the trek back to base. 

It had begun to snow and it wasn’t long before they were trudging through a brewing storm.

About halfway there, patrol met them and loaded Barry and Iris into the back of the car.

With nothing to distract them, the ride together was once again filled with jitters and shy glances. 

Well, Barry’s glances were more confused than shy and Iris’s were shaded in contrition.

“So you know how to ski?” Barry finally asked as they pulled into the lodge. He knew the answer. He hadn’t been that good of a teacher. “Really well it seems.”

She nodded apologetically. "I do.”

Barry chuckled breathlessly. 

He would ask why on earth she led him to believe otherwise, but the affection written all over her face gave him his answer. 

Still he was baffled as to why he of all people interested her enough to lie.

Some workers helped him out of the car and Iris trailed behind closely. They offered to bring him up to his room, but instead he requested to stay downstairs with an ice pack and a pillow.

By the time the house physician looked him over, confirmed his sprained ankle, and set him up comfortably in front of the fireplace, he was pleasantly surprised to see Iris had stayed rooted right by his side. 

When they were alone once more, he beckoned for her to sit beside him. 

“I’m so sorry, Barry,” Iris apologized earnestly.

“Iris, it’s not a big deal,” Barry laughed again, thinking about the last week together. “I’m pretty sure I would’ve made up an elaborate plan to talk to you the first time I saw you if you hadn’t approached me first.”

Iris shook her head. “No, not that. Well, yeah I’m sorry about that too. But, I meant your ankle.”

Barry’s brows furrowed. “This definitely wasn’t your fault. Blame the faulty chairlift.”

“I’m pretty sure the bar only broke because I kissed you and scared the crap out of you. I kissed you and you almost broke your ankle.”

Barry blushed hard. “You didn’t ‘<em>scare</em>’ me,” he said slowly. “I was just caught off guard I guess.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I wasn’t expecting… you to…”

Iris’s face burned and she looked down, smiling self-consciously. “Barry, it’s okay. You don’t have to explain I get it. I’m sorry I put you in an awkward spot.”

Barry realized she’d misunderstood him. He reached over, taking care not to move his ankle and he held her hand. 

Iris looked up at him.

“I don’t know why you’re the one apologizing,” he said gently. “I promise, if I’d had even an ounce more chill today, I would’ve kissed you on that lift. But, I think that I was so preoccupied trying to pinch myself awake, that I’ve botched this entire thing up really badly.”

Iris smiled, touched by the sentiment and relieved that the reason he’d struggled in the lift was nerves and not disinterest.

Before she kissed him, Iris had been fairly confident that Barry had feelings for her too.

But, after kissing a guy then watching him practically escape under a safety bar mid-air, a girl could start to wonder.

She shook her head. “You didn’t,” she promised, trying to keep her giddiness under control. She pointed to the thick snowflakes drifting onto the ground outside. “Snowstorms remember? Perfect redo.”

Barry grinned appreciatively and cupped her cheek. “That’s good because I’ve waited too long for this not to be perfect. It’s taken everything in my power not to kiss you these last eight days.”

Iris smiled and Barry saw her trademark mischievous glint enter her eyes. “There’s no need to waste any more time then, Professor.”

And she was right. He slid up in his chair and moved closer until he was flush against her, sprained ankle be damned. 

And when their lips met, Barry was certain no mountain could ever make him feel as tall as this did. No feeling of wind whipping through his hair or death-defying ski run had ever come close to the exhilaration he felt in this moment. 

He thanked their lucky stars that they were alone because he couldn’t have made this kiss a short one even if he wanted to.

Iris hummed appreciatively against his lips and eventually she pulled back for some air.

She didn’t pull back much. She hovered close, not wanting to be separated any more than he did.

She studied Barry. 

His eyes were still closed as he savored the moment and as she took in his impossibly long eyelashes grazing his cheek, Iris decided that this was her favorite thing about kissing Barry Allen.

“Barry?” she whispered against his lips. She ran a soft hand along the back of his hair.

Barry opened his eyes and looked at her intently. “Mm?”

Iris bit her lip and smiled sheepishly. “In the interest of full disclosure, you should probably know that I can also snowboard like you wouldn’t believe.”

Barry blinked and then he burst out laughing, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her across his lap. 

And Iris’s giggles soon joined in with his own as he tickled her in retribution.

Their laughter echoed out of the sitting room and into the peaceful winter night.

[butyoulikethat]

Welp, another night of no sleep.  It seems like as Simon’s health decreases, so does my own.  I know that I will eventually have to get a doctor’s appointment to discuss the new development of random pains all over my body (which leans towards a diagnosis of Fibromyalgia or Ehlers-Danlos, not unheard of in those with the other medical disorders that I have) - but right now, my concern lies with Simon.

See, I’m of the belief that when you adopt an animal, it's forever - not until you get bored or tired of said animal.  My first cat lived until he was 22-23 years old, next cat lived to be 10 when Megacolon (and potential cancer) claimed her, and now Simon, who’ve I’ve had for just over two years (He’s now roughly 4 1/2 - 5 years old).  But I’m now being faced with the prospect of euthanizing a relatively heathy cat due to behavioral issues.

I know, I know - hear me out.

Simon has always been an extraordinarily vocal cat (no, he’s not a Siamese), which we’ve more or less learned to cope with.  He also, looking back, showed some signs of separation anxiety but, again, our behavior was easily modified to ease his anxieties.  

The first week of September resulted in me sleeping in another area of the house, away from him, while my mother recovered from knee replacement surgery (my own knees are.....bad, so constant, repeated trips up and down the stairs when she needed something were just not an option).  Simon coped with this change okay for the first couple of days, and then I noticed he was throwing up on a daily basis.  Since this was some of the previous anxiety behavior he had exhibited, the vet and I both decided it wasn’t a medical issue and thought it would stop once I transitioned into being in the basement with him 24/7 again - insert the narrator voice, saying “It did not, in fact, stop” here.

Over the next week, it progressed from throwing up once a day into throwing up several times a day; This vomiting never happened if I was able to give him 24/7 hands-on attention.  Anything less than constant attention resulted in vomiting episodes which were admittedly gross, but at least easily cleaned up (as long as he hit the crate liner and not the bedding, which had to be washed every time).   We tried new crates, new cat trees, new treats, new toys, new toys that held treats, new litter boxes, etc. and nothing was working.  We spent an easy $400 on various new items to try and curb the behavior, which pretty much depleted our pet emergency fund.  

The vet recommended we seek help from an animal behaviorist for the low, low cost of $150 per hour (and the initial appointment would have been two hours for a total of $300 just for a consultation).  I tried to email her several times and received no response - but I continued to adjust behavior and routine to suit Simon’s unique needs.   This was hit-or-miss; Some days, he has been okay for long enough that I could get a quick shower and a few household chores outside of the room done.  Other days, I couldn’t even get an hour of sleep because he needed my attention RIGHT THAT SECOND.  This stage lasted for probably a month now, resulting in an increasing amount of frustration from myself and a noticeable decline in my own physical health as I focus solely on tending to Simon.  

A few days ago, he began showing an escalation to the point that he was urinating outside of his litterbox - and anyone who has owned a cat can vouch for how (A) difficult this is to clean up and (B) the horrible smell.  He got a free pass on the first one as a “maybe whoopsie accident” kind of thing, but it has continued at least once a day.  Now, we have even FURTHER escalation as after just three hours of sleep, I was woken up to him “rage shitting” (as my brother calls it) all over his crate because I had the AUDACITY to go to sleep rather than give him 24/7 attention.  The line in the sand has been drawn and Simon has long since crossed it.

Do I enjoy the idea of putting a cat to sleep because of anxiety issues like this? No, absolutely not.  Would I be willing to rehome? Sure......but there are legitimately NO cat shelters who will take in a cat with inappropriate litterbox habits, not when they are already full-to-the-brim with cats who do NOT eliminate in inappropriate places and are NOT Big Balls of Anxiety™.   

I cannot live in filth for the rest of his life (which, tbh, if he were healthy, could be anywhere from 1 to 20 years), and cannot force him to live a life where he is constantly stressed to the point of physical illness.

I just don’t know what to do.  I’m at the end of my rope and really hoping that a phone call with my vet today helps me decide one way or another.

[theasstour]

Nora ok so I have a little story it might be long but for some reason I feel like you would enjoy it so here goes 💝. One year ago now I moved to another country to do this program and live there for a year. There were a few Americans also doing it that lived in the town I was assigned to so we all became friends mostly out of necessity and security. But there was a guy there that I kind of automatically hit it off with, which is very rare for me but I’ve always had this intuitive sense (1/ )

(2/ ) for when I’m going to get on with someone right when I meet them and he was one of them. The first time we met we spent a 3 hour train ride together (which obviously is just inherently romantic) and at the end of the night when we separated I just had a sense that I didn’t want to be apart. Anyway we were both working so it was a while before I saw him again but everytime it just reaffirmed that he was one of the few people I could have a genuine connection with. He was just very unlike

(3/ ) a lot of people I’ve met and we connected in ways I haven’t with other people. We shared a lot of the same thoughts, he had done things in life that I’d always dreamed of, I was just overall really in awe of him. One of the things we bonded over was books, he saw that I had a few books stacked in my room and said it must be important to me if I was willing to lug them across the world (I was like this dude just gets it!!). We even had the same taste in writing styles/authors/themes, etc.

(4/ ) and overall he was just someone who I could talk to about those things and who valued my opinion and had one of his own. We had kind of a confusing dynamic, I was very drawn to him in some ways but he was also very hard to read. We never did anything physical, not even holding hands, but every once in a while if we were out late with the group he would have to crash at my place bc of the buses not running, so we slept-just slept- together in bed a few times and overall there was just an

(5/ ) intimacy I had with him that I haven’t had with anyone else. The thing was I never knew how he felt, some days I thought he was interested, some days I thought he didn’t like me at all even as a person much less romantically. Anyway the program ended and we moved back to our respective homes and fell out of touch. I think I’ll always romanticize the whole thing purely because of the what if and possibilities were better than the likely realities. Then today out of nowhere I had this really

(6/) strong feeling like I should go get this book off my shelf, the one that I had let him borrow almost a year ago. I realized that at the time when he gave it back to me he didn’t really say much or give an opinion and we were in a group so I didn’t really push it. But for some reason I realized that I had never looked inside the book to see if he had written anything or left any kind of note, I just had this intuitive feeling. So I sat there and flipped through all 300+ pages. I make a lot

7) of notes and highlight and underline things so at first I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. But then I came to this one passage that had been underlined, but it was in different ink, it was subtle and not easily noticeable at first glance but I knew then it wasn’t from me. It said “if any man ever dared to translate all that is in his heart, to put down what is really his experience, I think then the world would go to smash, that it would be blown to smithereens and no god, no

8) accident, no will could ever again assemble the pieces, the atoms, the indestructible elements that have gone to make up the world”. I was so at a loss for words because it had been there the whole time I had no idea l!!!!!! I haven’t spoken to him or seen him in months and now I’m wondering if he thinks I just blew him off or I wasn’t interested. I think maybe the chapter is done and it’s best to leave it as is, but I couldn’t believe something so Romantic™️ happened to me and I had to share 

[scaredofthebasement-blog]

When Love Walks In - Chpt 3

Bringing Auston Out of a Coma

2484 words

It’s around 10:30 am when Dr Quinn comes by Auston’s room and informs the family that since Auston’s been in a Coma now for five days, her team plans to proceed with the Microlaryngoscopy and Bronchoscopy to determine how well Auston’s Larynx is restoring itself.  If all tests results show progressive healing, that his deflated lung is working again and his lungs appear strong enough to be weaned off the Ventilator, then the plan is to take steps to bring him out of his Coma today.  

For Auston’s family, hearing Dr Quinn’s words is like having life breathed into them.  

Dr Quinn continues, “After Auston is brought out of his Coma, he will require breathing therapy to get off the Ventilator.   Down the road, depending on how well his vocal cords have healed, we will determine if he will need the vocal cord rejuvenation procedure that I had alluded to previously.  Do you have any questions for me at this point?” Quinn finishes and waits.

Brian speaks for the family, “No questions right now, Doctor. Please, can you do what you need to do to be able to wake Auston?  We can’t wait to see him conscious again.  It’s been torture waiting”, he begs.  The rest of the family nods in agreement.

“I understand completely.” Quinn sympathises.  “I’ll make sure the team is ready for the procedures to begin.  You may now go and be with Auston before the attendants come to get him”, she instructs the family.

“Thank you so much Doctor”, they all chime.

“What you have done and are doing for Auston means the world to us”, Ema speaks up in appreciation and awe.

Dr Quinn blushes and nods her head modestly as she responds, “It is very nice to be appreciated.  I wish I could make it all be back to normal for your family and Auston, but there’s a long road to travel still.  It is my intention, to help Auston and you all, every step of this journey.”

The family all gather around Dr Quinn to give her a group hug.

After disbanding, they attend Auston’s room to hug, kiss and tell him how much they love him before the attendants’ transfer him onto a stretcher and wheel him to the operating theatre where Dr Quinn and her team await.

In the operating room, Dr Quinn is able to determine that Auston’s Larynx is healing well, his airway is staying open, and both lungs are functioning adequately.  Auston passes the test to determine if he has the ability to be weaned off the Ventilator.  Dr Quinn and her team are pleased.   They immediately start decreasing the drugs that have been keeping Auston in his Coma as well as some of his pain medications.

Auston is delivered back to his room in the Intensive Care Ward while Dr Quinn washes up and follows shortly after.  Walking toward Auston’s room, she approaches his family in the waiting room.  

“Doctor Quinn!  How did it go?”  Brian begs as he and his family quickly stand, anxious to know the outcome.

“Well, I have some pretty good news.”  Dr Quinn tells them.

“Auston’s Larynx appears to be healing well, his airway is open, and both lungs are working adequately.”

Dr Quinn continues, “We will soon take steps to wean Auston off the Ventilator because we believe he will be able to breathe on his own after some breathing therapy.  He will alternate between using the Ventilator through his Trach and an oxygen mask with the hope that his breathing strength improves.”  

“You’ll be thrilled to know that we have already taken steps to wake Auston from his Coma!”  She tells them.

Dr Quinn must caution them, “However, I need you to understand that it may take a while before he comes out of unconsciousness.  It’s different with each person’s circumstances, and we can’t easily predict the timing for such things. Be aware too, that coming out of sedation can lead to hallucinations, disorientation and agitation as so many drugs are still withdrawing from the body. My advice to you is just to be there to reassure Auston with your familiar faces and friendly voices talking about daily life etc. That can help a lot.”

“Also, keep in mind that Auston will have lost a lot of muscle strength even though it has been only five days.  Recovery can be a long, slow and sometimes painful process as the body has been through major trauma.  Being a professional athlete may make Auston’s recovery much quicker, but at the same time, it may bring him considerable frustration.  I would not be surprised to see him suffer from an identity crisis of sorts.  Just the idea that he may not be able to do what he has spent his entire life training and focused on can set a person down a dark road.  Expect that he will probably struggle with many things.  Psychological Therapy, as well as Physical Therapy, will be offered when deemed appropriate, and I hope you will encourage him to take the former as much as the latter.”  

“We understand.  Thank you, Doctor.  Were you able to see if his vocal cords are joining up?”  Ema asks.

“No.  I’m sorry.  Testing for that is highly specialised and will be conducted in due course at the Vocal Cord Reconstruction Lab when Auston is out of his coma and feeling stronger.”

“Okay Doctor.  We understand.”  The group all indicate with a mixture of fear and excitement dripping from their voices.  “Can we please see him now?!”  They beg.

“Absolutely. Let’s go!”  Dr Quinn leads the way back to Auston’s room.

The two nurses have finished checking feedback from the machines, adjusting intravenous and catheter lines and noting results on their clipboards.  They step aside to allow the family to gather around Auston’s bedside. All eyes are focused on Auston as they wait for any signs that he is stirring from his coma.  Nothing yet.  

Dr Quinn lets the nurses and family know she is leaving the hospital to attend to a few things but will be back as soon as she is summoned.  She speaks directly with the nurses and instructs them to inform her of any concerns they might have and to let her know when Auston shows any signs of waking.  She advises that she will be available day and night by pager.    

Dr Quinn steps up behind Ema and Brian and places her hands tenderly on their shoulders as they stand next to each other watching Auston.  She reminds them again to contact her for any reason whatsoever, anytime whatsoever.  She gives both of their shoulders a light squeeze, walks over to hug Alex and Bre and then departs.

It is hours before Auston makes even the slightest movement, but it comes with the twitching of his fingers. Dr Quinn is immediately summoned by Nurse Kelly.  

Upon Dr Quinn’s return to Auston’s room, she joins the family and observes Auston moving more parts of his body, some of them flailing in small bursts.  Then, at last, he starts to open his eyes.

Ema is near Auston’s head on one side while Brian is on the other.  They are both holding his hands.  His sisters, Alex and Bre are at the foot of his bed.  It is apparent that Auston is trying to focus on something when he opens his eyes.  The lights in the room are dim.    

“Auston? Papi? Honey?  It’s Mom!  Your Dad and I are here and so are your sisters, Alex and Bre”,  Ema tells Auston as she smiles looking into his eyes and smoothing his hair.  

They all watch Auston closely for any facial expressions that might give them a hint as to what he is thinking, but his face remains blank.  His eyes look around the room slowly, not able to focus on anything or anyone in particular. Then his eyes roll back and close.

About 5 minutes later, Auston’s eyes open again, and it is Brian who speaks up. “Auston?  Son? It’s your Dad here.  I love you, Auston.  You had an accident, and you’re in the hospital recovering.  You are getting great care.  We haven’t left your side, and we won’t leave your side”,  Brian’s voice is coated with emotion.  There is no response from Auston to indicate that he hears what his father says; just a blank stare and his eyes close again.

After about a half-hour of nothing, Auston starts to come alive, so to speak.  He appears to be hallucinating, flailing and going in and out of consciousness.  Dr Quinn quickly determines that it is in everyone’s best interests to have restraints attached to Auston’s arms, wrists, legs and ankles to protect him and others from injury and calls for the attendants to put them on.

Auston’s family, along with Dr Quinn, can’t help but recognize the situation as surreal and giggle out of nervousness when it appears Auston might get out of the restraints.  

Dr Quinn jokes, “The pressure those restraints can withstand is too high for anyone to compromise, yet your ‘Bam Bam’ here has me concerned. I have a feeling Auston is going to surprise me at every turn.”  His family grin, catch each other’s eyes and nod in agreement.

“Welcome to the world of Auston Matthews, Dr Quinn”, Alex speaks up proudly.  “He’s been overachieving his whole life, so we’re hopeful for his progress. He will love it when we tell him what he did here.  He’s very competitive.”

“Yes, apparently.  It seems he’s turned fighting his restraints into a competitive sport”, Dr Quinn adds with a small laugh.

“Dr Quinn, you have to tell him! We’re sure that will make his day to impress you”, Bre suggests giggling.

“Oh, really?  Well, I’ll be happy to tell him, but first, we need to get your feisty, yet very sleepy, brother to wake up so I can do just that”, Dr Quinn jokes.

“We can’t wait for Auston to meet you, the one who saved his life”, Ema adds as she walks over to give a side hug to Dr Quinn.

“I appreciate that Ema, but I can’t take the credit as so many people contributed to saving Auston’s life”, Dr Quinn says humbly.

Brian speaks up, “Don’t be so quick to gloss over what you have done for Auston.  We know others played a role, but we also know it was you that made every difference between him being able to just exist, to him having a chance to really live again.  We know that it is because of your special expertise and skills that Auston will have the best chance of recovery.  We know, that what the puck had crushed beyond all recognition, you found a way to reconstruct so that he could have a chance to breathe on his own and hopefully speak again.  We have heard from so many people in the medical community that say you are the best at what you do.  Believe me when I tell you, Dr Quinn, that I left no stone unturned to know just who was in charge of looking after our son.  If you weren’t the best, then we were going to get the best.  We learned that Auston lucked out big time getting you as his surgeon and specialist.  We have been informed that, if this horrific accident had to happen at all, Auston was in the right place, at the right time.  We have been told that you have risen at an unprecedented speed through the ranks of medicine and that everybody who is anybody in the medical community, lobbied the Canadian and Ontario Medical Associations, The Medical Council of Canada and The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, to grant you exceptional status to be able to do what you do, in the discipline that you do it and at the level that you do it, sooner rather than later; that has and will make all the difference for Auston.  I am given to understand that there is no one else, even internationally, that is as successful in the field of throat surgery, nor as knowledgeable, skilled or qualified in the field of vocal cord reconstruction as you.  Have we been lied to, Doctor?”  Brian asks, confident in the answer he is about to get, as his family all look at Dr Quinn as they await a response.

“Well, you certainly did your research, Brian.  Would you mind writing a Wikipedia page for me? Dr Quinn laughs slightly embarrassed.  “I am very flattered.  I suppose I cannot dispute any of the things you just revealed, but I hesitate to think of myself as ‘the most’ or ‘the best’ or ‘only’ as I am sure if another truly applied themselves and cared as much, they too could do what I have done.  I can tell you that since I was seventeen years old and watched a dear boyfriend climb and slip from a metal, spoked cemetery fence and get his neck impaled by a pointed stake, I have never been the same person.  Not long after his death, I resolved that I would be the one who would find a way to make sure that anyone suffering from a neck or throat injury would live and be able to breathe and speak normally again.  I became possessed if I’m being completely honest.  I was shocked and concerned to learn of the lack of study in the field and the shortage of dedication and talent in this specific area of medicine.  I have had one goal since then, and I am thrilled that I am achieving it.  I sincerely hope with everything I am that people like Auston will benefit.  His success will be my dream come true.  My next goal is to train other doctors to be able to do what I do, as I am stretched pretty thin.”  As Dr Quinn finishes speaking, she looks towards Auston and notices that he is awake and staring at her.

“Well, look who has decided to join us?”  Dr Quinn announces with a huge smile, gesturing towards Auston.  

Did he just hear all of that? She wonders.

He did.

As the family turn around, elated, they focus their attention on Auston, as he tries to raise his arms to his throat.  He can only get his arms about an inch off the bed before they collapse from the restraints.  His eyes find his parents; looking afraid and pleading for an explanation.

Ema and Brian desperately try to explain things to Auston, but Dr Quinn senses it is just confusing him more as he starts to get agitated, withering on his bed.  

“Ema and Brian, would you mind? I’d like to speak to Auston for a moment?”  Dr Quinn asks.

“Oh, yes please Doctor”, Ema begs as she steps aside allowing Dr Quinn to approach Auston.

[ill-skillsgard]

Sweet Demons, Part 1 - Zeitgeist/Axel Cluney

Title: Sweet Demons Description: It's the weekend of Friday the Thirteenth, the biggest motorcycle rally and festival in the Western Hemisphere but nothing is more enticingly chaotic to her than the mysterious new member of the famous Motor City Sweet Demons. Warning: 18+ Mentions of drugs/alcohol/violence, eventual smut/various kinks

Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

"Angel? You don't mind hanging all of this up in the backyard would ya, sweetheart?"

Dad carried a big basket full of freshly washed towels and bedding. With a fake sour look I took the basket from his grip and sighed, "Well, I suppose if you're having me here for the Summer I might as well make myself useful, huh?"

"I've got to run out to grab provisions."

"That wouldn't happen to include a trip to the liquor store would it?" I asked him, faking innocence this time.

Dad tried to avoid my stare as he shoved his wallet, cigarettes and lighter into the inner pockets of his leather vest. "Remind me again how old you are?"

"Old enough to drink, old man," I leaned over and gave him a small peck on his stubbly cheek while giggling. "I'll take a bottle of red wine. Any kind will do. Oh! And some gin. And if you're going to the grocery store would you mind picking me up some ginger ale and lemonade?"

"Damn kid, can't you just drink beer like the rest of us simple folk?"

"Simple folk? Dad... These are your people."

"Ah, quiet you. Will you write me down a list?"

"I can text you just as easily."

"I hate my piece of shit phone. Just write it down or you'll get what I remember and the way my mind is going-"

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Give me a second."

I jotted down a list of items on the back of a liquor store receipt and handed it to my father, He jokingly snatched it from my hand and read it incredulously. After a wink and a promise to be back in an hour, I watched him make his way out of the house and down the driveway to his truck. I took notice of his worsening limp. It filled me with curious remorse to see him struggle to hoist himself up into his ridiculously over-sized truck like my lengthy absence had somehow made it worse since my visits had been infrequent over the years.

The distant drone of motorcycles soon drowned out my thoughts and I huffed, snatching the basket of laundry to go outside into the backyard clothesline. The July sun was ablaze and the sound of people hooting and hollering over blaring radio rock music sounded from all directions. Everyone was in their backyards barbecuing and drinking, enjoying the perfect weather.  Not only that, but leagues and leagues of motorcycles were already starting to make their way into town for Friday the Thirteenth- a tradition in my town that had been going on for longer than I had existed.

Every year and sometimes twice a year for the die-hards, hoards of bikers came to our little beach town in gathering to celebrate Friday the Thirteenth. It was a legendary motorcycle rally that drew hundreds of thousands of people into town. Given that the population hovered over six thousand, it tended to get crowded and downright overwhelming. Every single year since before I was born, thousands of bikes would come chugging into town from every direction to line the streets with metal. Biker gangs, clubs, racers, leisure riders, and tourists flocked into the streets, cutting off most of the normally lazy town's circulation for one day.

Friday the Thirteenth meant so much in my town that they had even attempted a world record but had failed due to a technicality. Each year it got bigger and bigger, and growing up among the bi-annual chaos had been equal parts amazing and terrifying. It helped shape me and exposed me to things that no young child shoulder ever bear witness to.

Besides the streets I played in being flanked by rows upon rows of motorcycles, there were hoards of bikers and the clashing of egos that usually came with being around a bunch of scary guys who may or may not have been in and out of jail cells. When I was young, I found it all very scary but as I grew up with it I also grew accustomed to the company of the less-than-civil. After all, my father owned a bike shop and had been fixing, building, buying and selling motorcycles his entire life. The smell of oil alone was something that could give me nightmares.

As I got older, there were a couple of years when Friday the Thirteenth was the most exciting time of my life. It was better than Christmas to me because I got to hang around people who had travelled the world and had unbelievable stories to tell. People came and went from my house regularly because of my father being so well-known in the community and as he would like to believe, all across North America. His bike shop was a haven for cyclists and served as the clubhouse every year when his old bike gang came into town.

His old gang was called the Motor City Sweet Demons because of the co-founder, Frank Sweet. He had passed away before I was born but I heard many stories about him from Dad. Frank Sweet and my father had grown up best friends and started working on dirt bikes together as young boys. Their bond and mutual interest solidified a pact that they would open their own shop and ride motorcycles until death. Unfortunately, an accident had claimed Frank Sweet's life, but the gang continued on and my father became the President for decades.

Once his health began to rapidly decline, he retired from the gang and called in Frank Sweet's son Max to take over the role of President. That gang had spent many nights under our roof and became somewhat of an extended family to me; A family that returned a couple times a year to drink excessive amounts of alcohol and smoke too many cigarettes while revving their engines loudly through the nights.

The older I got, the more I hated the tradition, and the more I wanted to escape my hometown. I began to hate bikers and the sound of motorcycles annoyed the hell out of me. It was no help when my dad tried to rope me in as an apprentice, claiming I was his only heir to his legacy. Respectfully enough, I declined the offer. He knew that bikes weren't my thing and, although deeply disappointed that I didn't share his affinity for bikes, he was also strangely understanding. He never over-pressured me to become anything besides what I wanted to be and for that, I was thankful.

I managed to get away for a few years on the premise of going to school. It was the only option I had after high school to make it so I never had to spend another shitty Friday in November or a freezing Thirteenth of February in my town ever again. Yet there I was, in my dad's backyard, hanging up clothes on the day before my first Friday the Thirteenth in almost four years. I had finished school and was forced to move again. Because of the squeezed job market, I couldn't find employment and certainly could not afford my own apartment with how much student debt I had accrued so I was left with no convenient choice but to move back in with my dad until I found another way out again.

The four years that had passed was enough for me to evolve from an apathetic teenager to a somewhat less apathetic adult with a taste for drinking and a love of partying. My dad didn't know that I had spent a giant portion of my time in school going to raging parties all the time and had procured a partiality to spending my nights wasted, dancing and fucking. The idea of a Friday the Thirteenth celebration actually sounded rather inviting now that I was of age to be taken seriously among the likes of the Sweet Demons and countless other famous bike gangs from across the country. 

I preemptively decided that I was going to have a really good time and woke up the morning of Friday the Thirteenth by the sounds of bikes ripping by my old man's house at nine in the morning with a smile on my face. 

I showered and put on a pair of black jeans that I had cut off at the knee and a black tank top before bouncing down the stairs to get the day started right. The kitchen fridge was just as stocked with beer as it had been the night before. Without a second thought, I opened one with a satisfying tssst and started drinking it before my dad found me because I knew he would have something to say about the fact that my first meal of the day had come out of a brown bottle.  

After I chugged it down, I brought the bottle to the garage where all of the empty ones were stored but found that somebody was already there and it wasn't my dad. It was Braun.

"What the fuck? Braun? What are you doing here?" I asked, shocked to see my old high school friend hard at work on a bike's skeleton that only had the front wheel on it.

"Oh... Hi Angel. I'm just working on my bike before the show today."

"Your bike?" I asked, incredulous and still taken aback that he was in my dad's garage.

"Y-yeah. I, uh, yeah. I kind of work for your dad now."

"He's my apprentice," my dad's gruff voice sounded from behind me.

I turned around, forgetting about the empty beer bottle I had clutched in my hand. His eyes automatically landed on it and he shook his head. "Little early to be catchin' a buzz, isn't it, Angel?"

"Can you guys stop fucking calling me Angel. You know I hate that shit."

"Well," Dad said, eyeing the bottle in my hand once more with only a tinge of disdain but mostly amusement. "She certainly don't act like it, does she?"

"So you finally found somebody worthy enough to work in the garage, huh?" I asked.

"Ah, he's as good as any apprentice. Aren't you, Braun?"

"I'd like to think so," Braun said quietly in that nervous way that reminded me instantly of how he was in my high school memories of him.

Not much had changed for Braun except for now he had the permanently stained hands of a mechanic, a nose that had been broken one too many times and had grown nearly another foot. He was easily six foot three and just as gawky as I remembered him. Braun stood out in my mind forever because I had famously rejected his prom proposal and he made a huge crying scene over it, earning him a very unflattering nickname for a guy that was just starting to experience full-throttle puberty. I toyed with the idea of reminding him that a couple of months proceeding our senior prom, kids all over school called him Sniffles.

Recalling that memory made my mouth twist as I tried to contain a giggle. Both of them looked at me until I shook my head, remembering that I had gone into the garage to dispose of the empty beer bottle but instead got caught red-handed.

"The Sweets will be here any minute so open that garage door and move that piece outta here, Braun. We'll need all the room we can get on the driveway and in here."

"Don't the bikes usually fit on the driveway?" I recalled inquisitively.

"Not since there have been new members."

"Oh, shit... Max recruited?"

"I don't know," Dad waved his hand dismissively. "The kid does whatever he wants. Any fuckin' kid with a bike and an attitude can join the Sweets now. When I was President, you had to be one of the meanest, baddest motherfuckers around to even ride with us. Max has gone all soft over the years. Lettin' girls into the gang and bragging about how he's all open-minded."

"Max let a girl in the club? Now that's awesome." I smiled and it was apparently infectious because Braun smiled too.

"He's a good kid but, shit, is that club miles and miles away from what Frank and I started."

"Welcome to the twenty-first century, Pops! Did you know they let women vote now?" I chimed, shoving the empty bottle into a box with several other musty bottles.

The real party didn't start until the Sweet Demons rolled up onto our normally quiet suburban street and started filing into the long driveway that led up to the open garage door. It was a noisy parade of shiny black bikes, blaring engines, glinting helmets, demonic face masks, aviator sunglasses and matching leather vests; assaulting to the senses and perhaps a bit frightening for anyone new to how we celebrated Friday the Thirteenth. I stood at the top of the driveway beside my dad as they all pulled in, Max first and the rest of them following behind like they had rehearsed it all before. My dad had been right, there were at least five more bikes than I remembered, bikes that I didn't recognize with unfamiliar people riding them.

Once Max rolled up on his 1985 Virago 1000, he killed the engine and the rest of the gang did the same one after the other, all lining up to park their bikes side by side on the cement. He pulled off his helmet and set it on the seat of his bike, yanked a glove off one hand and approached my father with it stretched out. Even though dad had just been ragging on him, he greeted Max with a hearty slap on the back that was returned just as enthusiastically if not more so.

"Fuck, be careful, kid, I'm frail these days," Dad said.

Max was a dashing young guy with a pretty face and just about everything about him reminded me of a Disney Prince from his blue eyes to his blond hair. If it hadn't been for his black leather vest with the word "President" embroidered in white and his gold tooth, he could have easily passed for a model.

Behind him, I recognized Jimmy and Bradley Fox, two brothers that had known me since I was born. Being away for over four years had aged them all from what was in my memory. Jimmy had much more gray hair and Bradley had become softer in the belly and had permanent crow's feet that branched out towards the old English-style tattoos on his face. When I was twelve, I had had a crush on Bradley Fox, a man twenty years older than me all because we knew him around town as Foxy Bradley or just Fox. He was known for being a lady killer but when I saw him then, it looked like he had been killing cases of beer, pizzas and cartons of Paul Malls.

Nevertheless, I greeted them with nothing but kindness. I was all swept up in the pleasantries of seeing people that had been a part of my life not all that long ago that I didn't notice somebody unfamiliar coming up the driveway. It must have been one of their recruits because I had never seen him before and he looked to be only slightly older than me.

He wore the most obnoxiously green boots as if the scattered tattoos on his arms weren't enough to draw attention. He had this way of sauntering that was noticeable mainly due to his height but also because his fashion choices were totally questionable. When I noticed the mesh tank top underneath his leather jacket I rose my eyebrow in his direction. He didn't quite notice me for a moment as he was taking in the scenery of the garage but when he did, fuck did our eyes ever meet.

His brown hair was all wind-swept backward, and he looked like he hadn't shaved in a week but the sharpness of his cheekbones drew my attention anyway. I started taking in the little details about him like the tattoo on his neck that said eat shit and die. 

Oh damn, I thought, we have a bad boy in our presence.

I could just tell from the first thirty seconds of him being around me that he was full of destruction and I couldn't look away. He was an accident waiting to happen and the adrenaline rush I got just from locking stares with him was enough to assure that. His eyes scanned me from head to toe and back up again like lasers and once we looked too long we both pretended like we didn't really see each other in the first place.

"So Max... Are you going to introduce us to your newcomers?" I asked, only giving a slight indication that I wanted to know more about the tower of a guy with the green boots and mystical eyes.

"Yeah, of course. Guys... This is Al and Angel. You all know about Al and this is his daughter."

"I was head of your club when you were still shitting your pants," Dad said loudly enough for everyone to hear and laugh too.

Out of the group, the woman was the first to approach us and offer her hand to shake. She was tall in her heavy leather riding boots and had a long shiny, tightly wound black braid that came down from the base of her skull and laid over one shoulder like a thick tail. She must have been in her thirties and looked just as forbidding as any biker I had ever met. She was friendly though and introduced herself as Janet Adams.

Then it was bad boy's turn to introduce himself. He gripped my dad's hand tightly and shook it with a nod. "Name's Axel. Nice to meet you and your daughter, sir."

"What, do you have to be over six feet to join the Demons now? I feel like I'm talking to a bunch of circus freaks!"

Axel laughed with my dad and they both expressed how great it was to meet. As much as Dad liked to give people the shit, he was one of the most welcoming people in the world. Despite his outlaw background, most anybody willing to share a beer and a conversation could do so pleasantly enough with him if they could take a roasting here and there. 

Axel then turned to me as more conversations took over in the garage. He nodded his head curtly but didn't offer his hand. Instead, he hooked his thumbs on his hips and stared at me as though he expected me to do something about it. I noticed the word "Zeitgeist" was embroidered on his jacket. I knew that meant something. Nobody in the Sweet Demons was allowed to have patches that weren't approved let alone having something embroidered into the coveted material that was the vest. I immediately wanted to know what it meant but before I could open my mouth, I decided to withhold all questioning.

"Uh, hi," I said as I cocked my head in his direction after noticing his eyes lingering with questions.

"Angel?" he verified.

"Yes?"

He simpered at me and dropped one square hip with attitude, "I guess we'll see about that."

The angles of his face shifted with his smile as mine must have in my surprised reaction.

"Alright, alright!" Dad piped up over the low crawl of the dozen people that had piled into the garage. "Between here and the clubhouse, you're all welcome to stay, come and go as you please but with respect. If I catch anyone touching my bikes, I'll break your fingers. Same goes for the daughter!"

They all hooted, clapped and cheered and just as quick as they came, they made short work of taking over the place. It was easy to get lost in the chaos and with more bikes pouring into town by the minute the more distractions there were. 

Down by the beach all manner of people were clogging up the streets, overfilling the storefronts and restaurants and spilling out over the sand and the pier. Street vendors had already erected their tents and the town was in full swing by noon. Friday the Thirteenth mode was activated. It was the only time of the year when anybody could walk down the street in front of a cop with a beer in hand so people liked to take full advantage of it. 

I was no stranger to the hurricane of noise and the sweltering heat created by hundreds of engines growling in the summer air. It was such a hot day that even the beach was no refuge from it. The arcing bar of sand was so jam-packed with towels that it looked like a bustling mosaic from the pier.

I didn't spend much time outside, merely walked the main strip of the town where the majority of the attractions were set up. Once I had had enough of it I went back to the house and found it empty of people. I grabbed my bottle of wine and made my way to the clubhouse, which was really just a space above the garage that my dad had turned I to the ultimate hang out spot.

The clubhouse was a highly stylized, dimly lit cave with three small rooms and a row of couches for lounging and crashing on. Dad had put a pool table and a bar inside it too, of course. No biker clubhouse would be complete without the key attraction of billiards and alcohol consumption. The decor was exactly what you would expect to see in a biker flophouse; vintage road signs, Harley Davidson memorabilia and a couple nudie posters from the eighties. I used to never be allowed in the clubhouse but since I was an adult now, I walked through it proudly, like I owned it. 

The later it got the more people came up to experience the splendor that was the original Motor City Sweet Demon meet spot. All the Sweet Demons were perched at the bar and acted as a leather-clad human barrier between other visitors and the alcohol stores. Most people brought their own alcohol and weed anyway. It was all people that knew my dad and the drunker I got the more I realized that I hardly knew a soul besides the guys who had been coming around for decades.

Braun came up to me in the clubhouse and flashed a meek smile before approaching. I had been sitting at one of the tall bar tables next to a couple playing pool. He shoved his hands into his pockets in that nervous way that made me think about school and how long it had been since I had been home. 

"Hey, Ange-... I mean-"

"It's fine. I don't really care. I know it's out of habit."

"Sorry. I know you probably hate it."

"Don't worry about it... Mister Sniffles," I tittered.

"Oh, come on! You can't bring that up."

"Sorry, I thought we were calling each other by nicknames that we had in high school."

"Fair enough," Braun took his hands out of his pockets and held them up in surrender.

He was skinny and his long, thin arms made it even worse. Braun had these monstrously large hands with fingers like an arachnid. The sad part about it was that he hadn't been too bad looking before he broke his nose. It never did heal right and I remember thinking how shitty it was to see him walking the halls at school and the streets with a busted, swollen, purple nose.

I knew that he still liked me by the way his eyes kept sinking down from my face to my chest and then, catching himself, would shoot back up to my face. I didn't want to draw attention to it either because I knew that it could have an effect on his work with my dad and that was something I couldn't throw a wrench into. Luckily, my attention was pulled away when I saw a pair of acid green boots clunking up the stairs of the clubhouse.

Axel had this pout that existed whenever he wasn't paying much attention and watching the way he smiled when he was greeted by friends made something inside of my stomach begin to stir. His smile was something else, his eyes, devastating. I could not look away from him. My gaze followed him as he passed, took notice of the bar and approached it with his arms stretched out to wrap around the shoulders of Max Sweet and Jimmy.

He was just as tall as Braun and even had a similar body structure except Axel had lean muscles, legs that walked with purpose and a face that was hard to forget. I watched him lean over the bar and before it became too obvious I forced myself to rip my eyes away, though the image of him in his mesh tank and green boots was burned into the back of my brain.

Braun quirked the corner of his mouth. "I can't believe Max let that guy join the Demons."

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know, look at the way he dresses. It's just... Weird."

"Have you seen half the people in this town right now? He fits right in."

"Not really. He kind of sticks out like a sore thumb."

"And the rest of them don't? I think you're just jealous that you don't get to ride with a crew... Yet."

"Big Al says he'll put in a good word for me with Max."

I hopped off the tall bar stool I had been sitting on for long enough to lose feeling in my legs and before I exited my conversation with Braun I looked him up and down and said, "if you want to get in with the Sweets you might want to start taking fashion advice from Axel then. Or better yet... Bradley Fox. He can fix you up with some nice face tattoos!"

"Yeah, right," Braun chortled as I walked away from him.

There was an opening at the end of the bar that I claimed and once I poked my head over I caught my dad's attention. He and I hadn't really seen much of each other that day as he was busy hosting and being revered for his legendary status and I was milling around town drinking red wine from a plastic cup, getting drunk on my drink of choice while almost everybody else did the exact same thing. I had stopped to talk to some folks that I knew from down the street and bumped into more old high school friends but I didn't have much of a chance to talk to any of the guys from Dad's old club.

When Dad saw me he cut his conversation with Jimmy off and approached, joking about needing to see an ID card before he opened me a beer that I didn't ask for. When he slid it over the bar top I took it in my hand and acted confused.

"This isn't the Jager I ordered."

"Quiet you and drink your beer!" Dad admonished. "I can't believe I'm saying that to my own daughter."

"Yeah, Angel," said Bradley Fox. "Last time I saw you, you had to have been four feet tall."

"Where does all the fucking time go?" Jimmy added.

Although everyone was talking to me, I couldn't help but stare at the opposite end of the bar where Axel was chugging a beer down, his larynx bobbing in his long throat, lips pursed around the neck. His hair was slick from the grease of having a helmet on but he still looked good and when he slammed the empty beer bottle down on the bar he said, "I agree with Angel. I think it's time for a shot of Jager."

"Listen here, newcomer, I'll decide when it's Jager time," Dad said, looking down at his watch and then back up again. "It's time."

Six shot glasses were lined up and filled with the thick, dark liquid that had been the culprit, or at the very least the accomplice of many booze-fueled shenanigans caused in town by the Motor City Sweet Demons. When we all raised our shots, Axel and I looked at each other but instead of looking away, we kept our eyes locked, threw back our shots and then put the glasses back down on the bar top.

I wanted to talk to him but I didn't know how to get him alone. Axel seemed to have made close friends with the rest of the Demons and was often enthralled in conversation with somebody else. I tried not to pine too much over him but every once in a while I would catch him staring and it would make me smile, causing him to smirk. 

It wasn't until they started singing karaoke that he and I solidified something, an intention for later.

The first person to start singing was Bradley Fox and he chose a Guns 'N Roses classic as he usually did. It was only amusing to me because I had watched him perform the same song nearly every year and each time it for worse and worse as his crowd grew bigger and bigger.

My dad got up on the little makeshift stage and sang Another Brick in the Wall by Pink Floyd. Mostly everybody joined in for the gang vocals, even me. 

The alcohol was really starting to get to me and I figured if I was going to get up on stage to blow everyone away I might have to chug a glass of water and have a cigarette to center myself. It wasn't that I was nervous, it was just that I wasn't sure if I could still pull off the song I wanted to do. I had an idea and popped up off my stoop to find Braun.

"Braun!" I exclaimed when I found him in line for the bathroom.

"Hey, Angel, what's up?"

"I wanted to ask you something... Do you remember back when Olivia Gardiner used to have karaoke parties?"

Braun laughed, "yeah, of course, I do."

"Remember the song we did together?"

"You mean the song we learned all the lyrics to and then you chickened out?"

"Yeah... Do you want to like... See if we can give it a go?"

Braun's sunken cheeks turned a little pink with the thought of going up on stage in front of all the guests and the members of the Sweet Demons but with a little more gentle begging I got him to agree to do the female part of the song What's Your Fantasy by Ludacris.

It was a long and fast rap that I requested especially because it was so overly sexual to the point of comedy and anyone willing to learn the words was obviously not fucking around. 

When it was our turn it took a bit of tugging to get Braun on stage with me but when the music started it was hard not to let loose and go for it. I saw my dad behind the bar with his thick arms crossed over his chest, shaking his head with a smirk. 

Some of the girls in the clubhouse started dancing to our song and when Axel emerged from the clusters of laughing people he had an undeniable smile on his face and that's when I zeroed in on and started singing the lyrics right at him, forgetting Braun behind me on stage and all of the other people surrounding us. Axel crossed his arms too and watched on as we performed our song to completion much to the joy of everybody in the clubhouse. 

His eyes were stuck on me like a beam as I got off the stage and treated myself to one more drink. I had a feeling that I wouldn't have to go looking for him and I was right. He came up from behind where I was sitting on the bar stool and blinked profusely in a cartoonishly disbelieving way.

"Did that really just happen? Did you just perform Ludacris' hit song from eighteen years ago front to back without even looking at the lyrics on the screen?"

I tried not to laugh with liquid in my mouth but it was hard not to, as my plan seemed to have worked perfectly and I had impressed him with one of my limited amount of party tricks. Luckily for me, that seemed to take me far enough as to really snatch his attention.

"Are you going to do a song?"

"Me?" He laughed. "Fuck no."

"Why not? Everyone else is doing it."

"I might throw up."

"Aw, stage fright?"

"Something like that." He said with a hint of unease.

"That's alright, we can just watch Fox do a dozen Aerosmith songs for the rest of the night. He's so good at them."

Axel shook his head as we both watched Bradley Fox do his second song of the night.

"The man can sing but fuck his dance moves are bad."

"Something tells me you're not much of a dancer either."

"What gave that away?" He asked with a laugh. "My pale snow-white skin?"

"I have never seen a white man over six feet tall that was able to dance well."

"Oh yeah? Well, guess what? You're absolutely fucking right. I dance like someone's uncle."

I laughed maybe a bit too hard at what he said but when I saw him pull a pack of cigarettes out I settled down, mentally berating myself for being too giggly.

"Care to join me?" Axel asked, offering his elbow for me to hook my arm through.

I felt my heart jump up and punch me in the throat but I quickly slunk off the stool to take him up on it.

I don't think anyone saw me leaving with Axel but I also wasn't paying much attention to anything but how tall he was and the novelty of linking arms with him was made even more amusing by the length of his limbs. He pulled me closer, encouraging me to keep up with his step as we made our way down the steps to the backyard.

"You know..  You can smoke in the clubhouse," I told him.

"It's fine. I like the fresh air."

I looked up at the darkened sky but the beauty of the starscape was lost by the sound of engines revving and rubber burning against the pavement in the distance.

"So you're the heir of the Motor City Bike Shop? You don't seem like much of a rider." He mused as he opened his pack of cigarettes to offer me one.

I scoffed at him as I plucked one out from the pack and stuck it between my lips. "That's because I'm not and I don't know who you've been talking to but I'm not inheriting shit."

"You don't want to own this?" He motioned toward the clubhouse and garage.

"I don't care that much about bikes."

"Yeah," Axel agreed as he lit his cigarette and then mine. "I can tell you're more of an artsy type, anyway."

"Oh, you have me pinned already, do you?" I blinked profusely.

"I saw some textbooks when I went poking around in your underwear drawer," he admitted, a dastardly smile on his face despite his joking tone.

"Those could be anyone's books."

"But they're yours."

"You're right."

"I know I'm right."

"What about you? How did you become a member of the Sweet Demons? Last time I checked it was a pretty exclusive club."

"I guess I just found myself in the right place at the right time."

"And that?" I pointed at the embroidered word on his vest. "What's that?"

"That's me."

"Zeitgeist?"

"It's just a nickname."

"It can't be just a nickname if it's on your jacket."

"You and Al have this weird thing about club rules, don't you?"

"I just want to know the meaning."

"Join the Demons then if you want to know so badly," he said with a wink. 

[estelofimladris]

My Longest Day Ever in Fandom

This has been one of the hardest 48 hours for me as a fan. Really they’ve been pretty bad in the scope of me being a person, but in my fandom experience, this shit takes the cake.

** WARNING: THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR The Magicians as well as some minor spoilers for Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Flash, and Supergirl. **

** ALSO: This shit gets super personal. Don’t read if it makes you uncomfortable. **

I get that I’m specifically interested in stories of struggle and triumph. I thrive with stories about how the things worth having aren’t easily obtained. And sometimes people fail and sometimes people lie. There are horrible obstacles and things to conquer.

A bit of my fandom-inflicted past:

Will Turner was my favorite Pirates character. We had tickets not only to the three-movie marathon on opening day, but then the midnight screening. I nearly didn’t go to the second screening.

Sirius Black is why I got into Harry Potter. I got into it at the weird middle place when the books were still coming out and the movies were being made. I had been forced to read the first book when it was first published and it had left a very bad taste for me so the fact that anything could draw me into the fandom was insane. I watched Prisoner of Azkaban entirely by chance while hanging with my cousins and had read all the books by the time Goblet of Fire was released. I lived in and loved a fandom where my favorite character was dead before I even got a chance to know him.

Grant Ward was one of my two my favorite Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. characters. I rushed a Ward cosplay for WonderCon, which happened to be scheduled about a week after the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and less than a week after the AoS episode “Turn, Turn, Turn” aired, revealing that Ward was a brainwashed and abused Hydra sleeper agent the whole time. I then nearly scrapped the entirely completed cosplay. Instead I wore it to WonderCon and had people whispering “Hail Hydra” to me all weekend.

I spent at least three years living with a TV curse. Every show that I watched before its renewal for a second season was cancelled. To this day, I struggle to watch new shows because I fear that I will fall in love with a show only for it to be cancelled.

In the past year, I have lost 5 of my favorite characters to sudden deaths/departures:

Bucky Barnes (Avengers: Infinity War)

Harry Wells (The Flash)

Leo Fitz (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.)

Winn Schott (Supergirl)

And this is about the most recent one, Quentin Coldwater (The Magicians)

I also know that there are more to come:

Avengers: Endgame comes out next week.

Arrow is ending at the end of this year.

There are more stories of woe and uncomfortable spaces in which we want to see our favorites succeed and they fail or lose or die. But this, this is more than just someone failing or losing or dying.

I survived all that other shit. I was a little off for a few days following or weeks or months or even years. But we always come back to Fandom. Maybe not the same fandom, but the big idea of Fandom. Being a fan isn’t something you can really just stop.

I got into The Magicians because of serendipity. Two of my closest friends got into the show at some point last year and had mentioned that I’d liked it, but it was one in a malaise of fandoms that I’d been told that about and I only have so many hours in the day and space in my heart. One of the people I was rooming with at SDCC this last year had freshly gotten into the show and was going to the panel. Another of my friends was going to the panel as well who had freshly gotten into the show. When I asked about it afterwards, the lovely human said they’d met a lovely other new fan. My friends had met entirely by chance at the panel and I got to hear all about how lovely the fandom was and that it was a really great panel with a lot of promise for the new season.

I got home from SDCC and, one day while curious, watched the pilot of The Magicians.

I finished the show in less than three weeks. I watched it again. I’ve probably watched this show more than any other media since August.

A bit of background about me and why this show struck a very deep chord with me:

I met my entire close group of friends, my found family, because of Lord of the Rings. I learned Sindarin (elvish) in high school. Every screen name I have is related to my love and foundation of loving Lord of the Rings. I have a tattoo in elvish.

I grew up around a lot of mental illness. I myself have been diagnosed and treated for adolescent/adult ADD, but members of my family as well as every best friend I’ve ever had, has been depressed and most were suicidal. I had to confront my best friend over suicide attempts at 13. My brother was treated for extremely aggressive childhood depression when I was a kid.

I’m also queer. Still working to unstick myself from some definitions I’ve given myself, but I’m definitely genderqueer and androphilic and exploring my romantic identity in part because of this show.

I’ve delt with death my whole life. My first grandparent (maternal grandfather) died when I was 5 or 6. My last grandparent (paternal grandmother) died when I was 22. I had a dear friend die in a motorcycle accident in 2015. I’ve been there for people who have lost loved ones suddenly and held people’s hands through the deaths of parents, loved ones, and children.

I also am about to complete my third and final year of an insanely rigorous graduate costume design program.

This show felt like it was made for me to love it. It made it so easy.

The fandom was a loving community that welcomed me immediately and I have thrived there. I would come home from a crazy day at school, put on an episode of the show, and get lost in the lovely fandom that I’d found myself in. I mean that both ways. Yes, I tripped and fell and found myself among excellent people. But more importantly, I found myself in ways I didn’t expect through The Magicians.

Through a series of very unfortunate events, I stopped reading Fan Fiction about 7 or 8 years ago. I would occasionally write something, but nothing that I cared about what anyone thought about it. It was only writing that had to be written not writing for an audience in any way.

The Magicians got me reading Fan Fiction again. I drew fan art. I participated in discussions on the meta. I joined in when I don’t really have the free time, but it felt so good.

In Quentin in particular, I found a part of myself that was seldom voiced. This melancholy nerd who was Doing His Very Best™ all the time tapped into the kid who loved something so much it transformed their life. It spoke to the parts of me that I don’t talk about that feel like a fraud and a floundering fool. The Magicians told me that I’m not some pathetic thing. That I’m part of my world and that I belong. That it’s ok to re-think about sexuality and romance as an adult. It spoke to my struggles with school and creating something from absolutely fucking nothing.

Something that I’ve not told many people: I’ve struggled with feeling worthy of love. I’ve had some really big relationships that ended poorly and ever since coming out as genderqueer and living my truth, I’ve been single. Watching Quentin be so worthy of love and struggle with that himself, he really shifted my views on relationships.

So, Wednesday was, needless to say, rough.

The fun twist though, I have a mandatory class on Thursday mornings. I had a lot of anxiety about this finale already because I had a notion that something horrible was going to happen because its a Magicians finale. I really struggled to work on homework for the past week. (I texted a friend on Wednesday “How am I supposed to work under these conditions!?” partway through the day.)

This anxiety resulted in not all of my homework being done by the time I had set aside to cook a delicious dinner and settle in to watch the episode with friends. So at the end, after I had cried, drank, nearly threw up from being upset, and was all-in-all a complete wreck, I then proceeded to work on homework until I couldn’t, then I put myself to bed with an alarm set to wake up early and finish, but woke up with a nearly-vomiting anxiety attack (which I don’t get ever) an hour before my alarm.

I finished my homework on my 1.5 hours of sleep, went to class, tried to be eloquent and not burst into tears. I sorta succeeded at both, thankfully. My work was... sub-par, but present, which was the only real requirement. Despite some close calls, I didn’t cry until I was in my car driving home.

I got home, cried a lot, tried to eat and sleep (and failed at both) and ended up having a second wake with another friend and drinking, which finally made me fall asleep.

Throughout the day, I seriously considered deleting every Magicians post from my queue and even my Tumblr as a whole. I thought about dropping out of fandom entirely, including conventions, cosplay - all of it. I thought about selling or donating all of the considerable amount of Magicians merch and related items (cosplay, decor, fan-made merch) that I’ve accumulated in the past few months. I thought about shaving off the hair that I grew out specifically for Quentin that helped me re-shape my queer identity over the past few months.

I woke up in the middle of the night again with more panic attacks. It took sitting with my best friend to make me really fall asleep and stay asleep.

Today, I’m looking back at this whole experience up to this point and I’m so exhausted. I’m tired of crying over something that just brought me so much deep joy. I miss my fandom. We’re all in mourning and its chilling.

I decided somewhere in my insanity yesterday that I need to reclaim The Magicians that I loved. I posted about how it will take time, but they can’t kill the love that transformed my life.

I’m still not sure how to get out of this horrible raw place, but I know time will help. And actually eating a real meal.

I’m sharing all of this because I’m not the only one in this place. If you’re struggling, you are not alone.

I see you. I feel you.

Thank you for being a part of this fandom that has so heavily enriched my life. You are loved. We will find ourselves again.

[inifitywar]

flower //kyle spencer

pairing: post-death kyle x reader

word count: 1537

warnings: mentions of kyles moms abuse but no detail whatsoever. and mention of the titanic idk if that even needs a warning ndnxjssh??? but i’d rather be safe than accidentally trigger someone so

a/n: lowercase intended. hope you enjoy x 

kyle’s accident and the aftermath of it all had changed your life in ways that someone could only imagine. but of course, that kind of thing would change anyone. the night of the accident itself had been absolute chaos. you hadn’t even caught news of the accident before franken-kyle was showing up on your doorstep with a girl you had never seen before, but you just assumed it was a friend of his. guessing kyle was just dressed up for another one of his crazy frat get-togethers, you ignored his weird appearance, writing it off as makeup for a costume, and opened the door a little wider like any other night and leaned in to kiss his cheek. he jerked back, eyes filled with bewilderment. you glanced at the girl once more, she looked pained, conflicted almost.

“we need to talk”, she declared before gently passing me and entering my house, kyle trailing behind her with his head held low.

she sat, staring at you with hesitant eyes and tapping her fingers against her knee while she waited for you to respond. and after a few moments, filled only with the noise of kyle scratching the carpet with his fingers, your eyes shifting back and forth between meeting her gaze and watching kyle mess with the fuzzy rug, you finally did. in fact, you had told her to “get the hell out of my house”. not exactly your nicest moment but honestly, who could blame you? you turned to kyle and yelled at him too, demanding that he stand up and leave, angry with him for attempting to play such a messed up prank on you. the moment you raised your voice at him his eyes filled with a fear that you’d only seen a few times before.

the fear in his eyes was as prominent as it had been during the nights you guys spent together when he hesitantly opened up to you about the hardships he faced with his mother.

recognizing this look, you knew something wasn’t right. you dropped to your knees and held his cheeks in your hands, softly shushing his cries and wiping his tears. he was hesitant to let you hold him, given that you’d just yelled at him, but he eventually let himself relax and lean into you. the girl, who you’d later learned was called zoe, gave you a knowing look and it hit you that this was all real.

the months following had been full of baby steps. children’s books, children’s ciriculum, random tantrums from kyle, scars from getting in the way when he lashed out and bags under your eyes from not only taking care of the giant toddler you called the love of your life, but from nights of laying awake wondering how everything could so wrong. but those months were also filled with significantly more ice cream dates, food fights, re-reading your favorite childhood books, and teaching kyle everything from how to comb his hair to how to tie his shoes.

to anyone else, it might sound fucked up. like really fucked up. from the outside, it just looks like a girl who’s in love with a man with the brain of a 4 year old. but it really wasn’t like that. obviously kyle had changed. he wasn’t the same kyle but he was still your kyle.

he was different in the way he walked and talked but he was the same in the way he liked 6 marshmallows in his hot choclate and in the way he loves the color orange. he was different in the shows and books he liked but he was the same in the way he gave big bear hugs and in the way he had to pet every single dog that we passed on the street. he was different, but he was also the same, even if it was only noticeable in the little things.

but there were certain days that reminded you so much of why you kept pushing for him. you really never worked long shifts anymore because you never wanted to stay gone for too long but luckily kyle had reached a point where he could stay home alone for small periods of time, so you could at least work.

on the days you had to leave the house and you couldn’t take kyle with you, you’d usually leave him at home with snacks layed out and turn on nick jr. or whatever other kids program he’s interested in that day.

today was one of those days. an hour had barely passed since you left for work when kyle had managed to accidentally turn the channel by knocking the remote when he sat on the floor. at first he was upset but that was soon forgotten when he got distracted by what was now playing on the tv.

kyle’s wide eyes stared at the screen while the titanic played. to say you were surprised when you entered the room to see your boyfriend watching the titanic would be an understatement. luckily you returned home before the movie had gone down hill. you changed the channel, saving him the inevitable emotional turmoil that is the death of leonardo dicaprio.

that evening, while eating your 5 star meal of kraft mac n cheese and apple juice in wine glasses, kyle kept staring at you. this wasn’t anything too unusual considering he’s easily intrigued but something about his gaze made you stare right back.

“you alright ky?” you questioned.

he slowly stood up and made his way to your side. you sat down your fork and stared at him with curious eyes, awaiting his next move. watching as he lifted his hand, you expected his fingertips to brush the ends of your eyelashes, as they often do. it always makes him laugh when your nose scrunches up when from this.

but your expectations were proved wrong when his hand moved past your eyes and his fingers brushed a small strand of hair behind your ear. you stared at kyle with wide eyes while he stared right back.

“flow..er. flower….”, he whispered.

“what ky?”

“flower. you..flower”

“ky i don’t understand what you’re-“

he started to get worked up, frustrated that you didn’t understand. he desperately looked around the kitchen for anything that could help him get his point across. suddenly he jumped up and ran away, leaving you sitting there in absolute confusion. but this didn’t last long because he was back in a matter of seconds with a book in hand while his eyes darted around the kitchen again, in search of something else. his eyes lit up when he saw the roses in the vase by the window. he quickly walked back over to me, now with a rose in one hand and a book in the other.

his chest rose and fell quickly with the adrenaline of running around the house so quickly. you continued to just stare at the determined blonde boy. your eyes flicked to the book he had retrieved, the little sailor. now that he had his book and rose, he went right back to trying to explain to what he meant.

“flower” he repeated.

you glanced at the rose again, assuming that’s what he was referring too.

“yeah ky, that’s right! you’re so smart, good job!”

“no!” kyle shouted.

you lifted your eyebrow at him, insinuating that you still didn’t understand. he then held up his book. you looked at the cover, seeing an illustration of a big ship in the water. kyle was getting desperate at this point. he held the book and rose right in front of your face, “g-girl, rrr, ro-se”. finally it clicked.

“you mean like rose, the girl from what you were watching on tv earlier?”. he broke out into a grin, glad that you were finally catching on. “yes!”, confirmed kyle. you..my. you. flower!”

it hit you. and it hit you hard. you finally understood. actually understood. he was calling you his rose. his flower. kyle’s grin immediately faded from his face when he saw your eyes getting watery, thinking he’d done something wrong. you caught saw this and immediately pulled him to you, wrapping your arms around him.

“no, ky babe. these are happy tears. i’m happy to be your flower. so so happy”

that night you layed in bed and thought. but this time, you weren’t thinking about the bad things. you were thinking about the best things.

kyle hadn’t said he loved you since the accident, but you knew that this was the next best thing. he literally called you his flower. in his mind, you were his rose and he was your jack. you could’ve laughed at how cheesy it sounded. but none of that mattered. it didn’t matter if it was cheesy. it didn’t matter if the only people that truly understood were kyle and you and it didn’t matter that still you had so far to go before he’d be back to being the same kyle as before the accident and that even then, he’d still be a changed man. the only thing that really mattered were you two. in the end, that’s the only that that would ever really matter.

[lindoig8]

Sunday-Thursday, 26-30 September

Sunday

I spent most of the day in the van working on my photos and blog: a pleasant enough task, but it always takes much longer than I ever anticipate. We went to the supermarket for a few things in the afternoon and then went out to the Beach Club for their Sunday Roast for dinner.

We missed our on the roast last time we tried because they ran out just ahead of us in the queue, so we got there just after 5 pm and ordered, imagining that they wouldn’t be serving it straight away. Sure enough, it arrived by 5.15 and we were finished dinner and twiddling our thumbs over the second half of our bottle of wine well before 6 o’clock. Needless to say, the restaurant was by no means full (although there were quite a few ‘reserved’ signs on the tables) so we could easily have arrived at 6 or 6.30 and still enjoyed a roast after that. Having said that, the roast was nothing to write home about (so I am writing about it here!). It was a big meal though with heaps of good veges and we needed a doggy box to take the remainders home again.

Monday

We had quite a productive morning once we got up and moving.

After breakfast, we did a little bit of hand washing (an almost daily task lately) and then we tackled replacing our broken door mechanism with the new one we purchased in Exmouth. It was a very fiddly job with quite poor instructions but we finally got the new piece in place and everything is now operating correctly. It is nice to be able the separate the fly screen from the main door and to lock the door securely again. A small but welcome achievement.

Next little job was to clean the flush water for our loo. It had started to grow some algae in the flush-tank so we emptied it and flushed some chemicals and disinfectant through it, then quite a few litres of clean water and it all looks sparklingly clean again.

That took all of the morning but we packed our lunch and set off to explore a little south of Onslow. When we had visited the Information Centre a week or two ago, the woman there recommended that we go to the Ashburton Port ‘to see what they are doing out there’. Onslow is in the Ashburton Shire and close to the mouth of the Ashburton River (and coincidentally, Heather and I both lived in the same little street in Ashburton, Victoria, albeit at quite separate times), so we took her advice and went to check it out. The Port is about 15 kilometres off the highway but when we got there, the entire area is closed to the public. There are two large gas processing plants there (Wheatstone and Macedon) and the whole area is well and truly off limits to mere mortals like us. (Wheatstone is interesting to the physicists among us due to the Wheatstone Bridge – a device used for determining where breaks in power lines have occurred – regrettably, nothing to do with Heather Wheat – even if she were stoned!)

Not ot be discouraged, we left the precinct and headed a few kilometres further to the turnoff to Old Onslow. We explored this area 4 years ago and I recall the scores of caravans free-parking along the banks of the Ashburton River. It is a surprisingly large river (but virtually dry upstream) and we found a place at its very edge to sit and enjoy our lunch. There were a few birds around and we relaxed for close to an hour before moving on to the site of the old town.

There were scads of caravans scattered right along the edge of the river with more coming and going as we drove in, but we eventually reached the site of the original Old Onslow. It seems to have been at least as big – certainly in area – as the current town and there are still a few remnants of the old structures and equipment there. We drove right around the area, out to where the old port had been, around where all the pubs, stores and public buildings had been, even out to the old cemetery. It is quite amazing: there are tens of kilometres (maybe hundreds) of track in and around the old town – all of which was simply picked up and moved to the current townsite more than a hundred years ago. There is not a lot to see – a single bollard where the pier used to be, several acres of broken bottles adjacent (and non-adjacent) to the old pub-sites, a more substantial ruin of the police station and courthouse, but not a lot else. We explored as much as we could and eventually found a beautifully-maintained gravel road that we followed for perhaps 15 kilometres until it simply stopped at the fence of the Macedon gas-plant. It intrigued me why such a wonderful road would be so meticulously-maintained if it led to nothing at all! Very strange indeed!

In due course, we got back to the main road and returned to the new Onslow where we explored a few more local roads, past the salt plant belching fresh salt into a gigantic stockpile, out to the marina and nearby industrial area, and eventually back to the safety and security of our own little cubbyhouse.

Tuesday

Heather started with a big load of washing – time to do the bedding again – while I went back to the industrial area to try to get our tyre fixed. That was a big disappointment because the guy out there found two big tears in the sidewall due to driving with the tyre being too flat.

We spent a fortune on tyre monitors a few years ago, but don’t use them because we have never had a single day without false warnings and failures of the system. We took them back to the suppliers numerous times and they replaced them and did some troubleshooting, but we have never had a day’s value out of them. Their only value is that the system beeps at you if there is a problem with any tyre – under- or over- pressure, rapidly changing pressure, overheating, etc., – and because at least one of the twelve sensors was always malfunctioning, we were subjected to beeping from the moment we started the car until it was turned off – and we never knew if it was a false alarm or a real problem. In this case, if we had the system installed and working, we would have known of the slow leak and saved ourselves the roughly $700 for a new tyre.

But that was not the end of the issue. The guy in Onslow didn’t have a tyre that would fit – and he said our tyres are very hard to get at present. He suggested we ring ahead in an attempt to have one waiting for us in Carnarvon. Alas, none in Carnarvon. Hamelin Pool? No! Denham? No, but he might be able to get one sent up from Geraldton – with a $45 freight charge. But if we are going to Geraldton anyway, he will ring his mate down there to ensure he has one available when we get there next week. Fnigres coresds – you try typing with your fingers crossed!

Wednesday

We fuelled up at the more expensive servo because all four of the bowsers at the cheaper one were out of order. The one we had to use is one of the automated ones so everything takes a bit longer and we had to join the queue of travellers trying to purchase their fuel before we got our turn. Eventually, we achieved our objective!

We then drove the 469 kilometres (by our odometer) to Carnarvon. The map indicates that the distance should be 493 kilometres but our caravan park is 6 kilometres out of the town centre. This is very consistent with all our measurements, with our speedometer and odometer both always being 2 or 3 percent out. This has always been an issue because we have oversized wheels and tyres on the car so all the readings we have are about 3% less than actual. What this means is that although our records show (according to our odometer) that we have just ticked over 17000 kilometres towing the van this trip, it is actually a tad over 17500 kilometres. We always have to over- or under- estimate our figures depending on what we are trying to do – it’s very marginal but if we were running very short of fuel, it could be critical.

We left the tropics behind us when we crossed the Tropic of Capricorn, but we haven’t encountered any temperate rain forests yet. It was an interesting drive though with very noticeable changes in terrain and importantly, vegetation as we moved slowly south. Then, just a few kilometres out of Carnarvon, a really big change occurred with lush banana plantations and other fruit and vegetable farms filling the landscape. Our caravan park sits right on the edge of a large pomegranate orchard, something I don’t recall seeing anywhere before. It is also right under the Space Museum that we enjoyed almost exactly 4 years ago. Maybe I won’t bore anyone with that, but it was one of the more important NASA stations during the lunar ventures as well as being the key OTC station that introduced Australia to international television. It is a great museum and anyone who gets close to Carnarvon should definitely give it a visit.

At night, we tried to watch more of the short series of DVDs we started last week, but it wouldn’t play as it should – long pauses and complete pixilation being the main problems. We tried to clean the lens, but maybe our cleaner is not in good nick. We were able to watch a film on DVD without a hitch, although when we tried the following night, nothing would play correctly. I will try to buy a new lens cleaner (we have been looking for one for at least 5000 kilometres) but maybe our old TV has reached its Use-by date.

Thursday

We had a fairly relaxed day today – a bit of shopping in the morning and then a drive out to the ocean. Almost by accident, we ended up driving around Babbage Island – an island on the map, but with a road out that indicated many years since it was an island, definitely a low-level causeway rather than anything like a bridge. We drove out on some 4WD tracks and I enjoyed photographing a few shorebirds out there, but we then drove to the end of the island and enjoyed watching a few fishermen and picnickers across the lagoon – but we chose not to tackle the very sandy track out to join them. We also explored the entrance to Oyster Creek – a few desolate clicks out of town in the opposite direction, but quite interesting due to the very shallow area of the ocean that it empties into. All mangrove areas.

We also explored an area shown on the map as a large area of water just north of the NASA telescope. There is not a lot of water there are present, but what there is has attracted hundreds of birds and I did a bit of bush-bashing trying to see what they all were. Most of them were relatively common for me, but I was pleased to see quite a few dozen Black-tailed Native Hens – that I last saw about 15-20000 kilometres ago.