#and a bag at an exhibition opening i went to later

[hiddenworldofmary]

so i somehow found myself at a yet another book event and got a book that inspired miyazaki to create kiki’s delivery service like WHAT i can’t believe i went so long without knowing that a book existed first so naturally it had to be mine as soon as i saw it

[flowerandblood]

The Pearl and the Sapphire (4)

[ modern! • Aemond x Baratheon! • female ]

[ warnings: sex content, oral sex, fingering, smut, angst, sexual tension, obsession ]

[ description: As a representative of a large family-owned gemstone business, Aemond is attending a major jewellery event where jewellery makers from all over the world are exhibiting. One of them is the Baratheon family. Aemond is tasked with focusing on attracting new customers, but his attention is diverted by the youngest daughter of the eminent maker Borros Baratheon. Slow burn, bitchy, possessive and obsessive Aemond, lots of dark angst and sexual tension. ]

A story which is an alternative universe of The Impossbile Choice taking place in modern times. The characters are all the same as in the main series, however, for obvious reasons they will behave differently and experience things differently from medieval times. You can read this without having to delve into the main series.

Series moodboard: Aemond & Miss Baratheon

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

Previous and next chapters: Masterlist

______

As soon as she entered his room she wondered in her slightly unsober mind what she was actually doing. She watched as he took two wine glasses out of the kitchen cupboard and walked towards the open living room, while she thought strenuously about whether he would add something to her drink if she just went to the toilet for a moment.

She knew nothing about him.

He was a stranger to her.

She was snapped out of her reverie by his low voice, the look in his healthy eye dark and expectant.

"What does he want from you?" He asked directly, without any warning, as if they had known each other forever, and he was her friend to whom she was about to tell her heartfelt dilemmas.

She swallowed quietly at the thought, moving slowly towards the couch and sat down on it. Targaryen immediately sat down next to her, but not too close, allowing her to keep her distance. He poured what was left in the bottle into their glasses, waiting patiently for her response.

With a trembling hand, she opened her clutch bag and took out her phone. She unlocked it and began to read the messages she had received from Cregan.

She swallowed loudly, struggling to hold back tears, locking the screen back, putting the phone again in her purse. She couldn't believe in what she just read, her heart pounding like crazy, her head humming from the wine and stress.

She had spent so many months getting herself together, to accept the fact that he didn't want her, and now he claimed he had changed his mind?

"Question for question." She said abruptly, looking at him tiredly. She recognised that if she was to externalise herself to him, he had to reciprocate.

They knew nothing about each other.

He looked at her intensely for a moment, indecision painted on his face. He was apparently considering all the pros and cons, but in the end he grunted and nodded. She looked down at her hands.

"My ex-boyfriend wanted to be my friend. Months later, when I finally got myself together, he decided he had made a mistake. That maybe we should get back together after all." She choked out with difficulty, reaching for her glass and taking a loud sip from it. She saw that he moved restlessly, playing with his fingers stretched out on his knee, tense. She felt he wanted to say something, but she didn't give him the chance.

"You and the woman you were with at the banquet. Are you two together?" She asked uncertainly, arranging herself comfortably on the sofa, taking a sip of wine, looking at him intently. She saw his whole body tense up, he wasn't looking at her but ahead.

"No." He replied coolly, immediately pressing his glass to his lips.

"Why did you break up?" He asked almost immediately, and she twisted in her seat feeling her heart pounding.

She felt shame.

Why did they break up?

Because she was insufficient?

Because he wasn't ready?

She lifted her legs and tucked them under her thighs, changing positions slightly and sighed quietly.

"He wanted to have some more fun." She said quietly, feeling him give her a sudden, surprised look and move as if he wanted to say something.

"Are you sleeping with her?" She asked suddenly, looking down at her glass, which she held in her hands.

She needed to know.

She needed to know who she was dealing with.

He was silent for too long for her to realise what his answer would be.

"Yes." He said, but there was a kind of withdrawal and uncertainty in his voice that surprised her, as if he really didn't want to admit it.

She looked at him thoughtfully recognising that he was a very insecure man hiding behind a mask of indifference and coldness. She concluded that there was no point in her trying to understand him or his relationship. She opened her mouth wanting to ask at last the question that had been pressing on her lips since she had entered his room.

"Why did you want us to come here?"

He looked at her horrified and went pale, swallowing loudly, twisting uncertainly in his seat, looking away. She pressed her lips together, feeling that they both subconsciously knew answer to this question.

She thought that there was nothing wrong with what they wanted. Since he claimed he wasn't in a relationship with his assistant, and she wasn't in a relationship with Cregan, they were free people.

She looked at him, at his scarred cheek, at his artificial eye. She looked at his jaw, at his nose, his mouth, his hair. He was handsome, he was dark, cold.

She thought he attracted her.

“You can say it. It’s okay.” She said quietly and softly, wanting him to know that she wasn't judging or condemning him, that she appreciated how honest he was with her. She knew what she could count on and what she couldn't and it gave her a kind of security.

She saw him lick his lips nervously and move his shoulders, swallowing hard without looking at her, playing with the glass in his hand.

“I want it.” He whispered almost silently, his lower lip trembling as he spoke the words.

She lowered her gaze at his words, embarrassed, feeling her insides pulsate involuntarily at the very thought of what could happen between them. She lifted her gaze to him and, seeing that he still couldn't look at her, she set her glass down, moving closer to him, sitting on her knees.

She saw him look at her surprised and horrified as she grasped his large hand gently, her thumb running gently over his soft skin. They were both warm from the alcohol and the tension. She saw him swallow quietly, then lean back and set his glass down on the table.

He looked at her as if hesitating, and after surprising her by grasping her face in his hands, he moved closer to her, looking at her with slightly parted lips.

Only now could she see his scar more clearly, his glassy, artificial eye and the healthy one looking at her with a hazy, dark gaze.

She thought she was not afraid of him.

That she wanted to touch him.

When he leaned towards her she moved closer to him, their lips brushed uncertainly, tentatively. They both sighed and kissed again, just as gently, unhurriedly, as if to see if they liked the feeling, his lips firm and warm, tasting of wine. She threw her arms around his neck and he purred into her mouth, emboldened by the gesture.

Only now did she feel that he was much bigger than her, taller even than Cregan, she had the feeling that he encircled her whole person and she felt safe with that thought.

"– I want to taste you –" He whispered and she felt a powerful shudder, her insides clenching helplessly around nothing. "– will you let me? –"

She felt shame at the thought of how much she wanted this.

She couldn't hide what was happening between her legs. As soon as he slipped her underwear off her thighs he could see what his words, his temper and his appearance were doing to her. He touched her leaking entrance gently, watching carefully for her reactions. She shuddered and moaned helplessly, delicate and hypersensitive.

He did what he wanted with her, teasing her clit with his thumb while sinking his finger into her hot entrance once in a while. She breathed loudly, trying to meet his expectations and answer his questions.

"− what made you so wet? − hm? − messages from your ex? −" He hissed, his finger sliding in and out of her with a perverted, sticky click of her own wetness. He tightened his lips as soon as she squirmed at his words, turning her head away, writhing beneath him.

"− answer me −"

"− no −" She mumbled with difficulty, and he hummed under his breath with the satisfaction, leaning between her thighs. She couldn't stand his subtle caresses, she hadn't expected him to be so gentle, the tip of his tongue teasing her entrance and clit, barely slipping in between her folds.

"− I fucking knew it − I knew you would taste wonderful −" He exhaled, pressing his nose against her warm womanhood. His tongue slided suddenly into her swollen, fleshy interior, licking her shamelessly, her hands tightened involuntarily on his hair pressing him closer, a quiet mewling came out of her mouth.

She was horrified at how close she had come to fulfilment, at how easily he had brought her body to such a state.

When she came on his face she lost touch with reality completely for a moment, panting loudly, clenching her eyes shut, the tickling heat spreading throughout her body, loosening her muscles.

She looked up at him sleepily when she heard the sound of fabric being unfastened and saw that his hands were at his zipper, his pupil dilated, his gaze thirsty and hot.

"You still want this?"

She nodded.

She let him carry her onto his bed, his arms holding her gently and tenderly. She hugged his neck and felt a pleasant buzz in her head as he laid her down on the sheets. She swallowed loudly as she watched him put a condom on his swollen, hard manhood and pressed her lips together at the thought of actually doing it.

She felt her insides pulsate again at the thought.

Her heart was pounding like crazy.

He leaned over her, his gaze full of something she couldn't name. It was dark, murky, but warm at the same time, full of affect, although she didn't know why. For some reason she sensed he would not be violent towards her and she felt a momentary relaxation.

"– already during the show I was wondering how to get you into my bed – how tight and hot you must be inside –" He exhaled, guiding the tip of his cock against her hypersensitive entrance. She opened her mouth, drawing in a deep breath at his words.

Already during the show I was wondering how to get you into my bed.

That's why he was looking at her like that.

She felt a strong shudder pass through her at the thought.

When she felt him inside her she closed her eyes, sighing with effort and relief at the same time. He was big and pulsating, pushing her tight walls to their limits, making it hard for her to catch her breath. He looked at her as if he couldn't believe they were really doing this, his lips parted in an accelerated breath.

They both moaned in surprise at as he began to move inside her, slowly at first, as if he wanted to savour this moment and the feeling of her throbbing, warm walls.

After a moment, his hips began to accelerate, stretching her insides to the limit, pulsing on him with desire. She had already forgotten how wonderfully pleasurable it was, her lips parted in accelerated gasps each time he rubbed the point inside her that made her hot.

"− oh, baby −" He exhaled, speeding up, entering her with a loud, wet slap of flesh against flesh, looking at her with an expression of delight on his face.

She wasn't sure if Cregan had ever looked at her like that.

She felt her insides tighten around his length at that thought, with every thrust he made, the slap of his thighs against her buttocks, it felt better and better, as if she realised that she really did want this.

She wanted him.

She touched his cheek with her palm as he leaned down and kissed her tenderly, deeply, devotedly, pressing his forehead against hers.

"− you like it when someone takes care of you, don't you? − when someone fucks you properly −" He gasped fucking her faster and faster, she felt the whole bed creak beneath them, his hands clenched tightly on her hips, his body focused only on pushing his cock into her again and again.

She felt the heat in her lower abdomen reach its zenith again, a mewling sound erupted from her mouth that was also meant to be a pathetic confirmation of his words, her lips parted wide.

"− I'm gonna cum now, okay? − I'm gonna cum inside my sweet little girl −" He exhaled and she nodded quickly, feeling his words between her thighs, sensing that her fulfilment was rapidly approaching, that just a few more of his movements and she would come again.

"− oh, yes, please −" She mumbled, feeling his hand begin to tease her clit again.

They both moaned loudly into each other's mouths, feeling each other's orgasms, she heard him sigh helplessly as he felt her core clench violently against him again and again, his cock twitching and pulsing inside her in fulfilment.

Looking misty-eyed at his face, at his clenched eyes, feeling his nose pressed against her cheek, his lips trailing over hers, his trembling hot breath enveloping her skin, some part of her regretted that he had to use a condom, that she couldn't feel his semen inside her. She blushed at the thought, panting loudly, embarrassed at the idea.

They stroked each other's faces with their palms, breathing fast and trembling all over, trying to calm each other down, when suddenly someone started pounding on his door with their fist.

"Aemond? What the fuck? Who the fuck are you in there with?" She heard a raised, distraught female voice and looked at him with big eyes, horror on his face, he shook his head quickly, his mouth formed the voiceless words 'be quiet'.

"Aemond!" The woman started pounding on the door and pawing at the handle, she felt her whole body start to quiver, she sobbed quietly. He laid on top of her and embraced her as if he wanted to comfort her and protect her from what was happening.

"You fucking bastard! Are you fucking this little girl? This little slut? God fucking damn you! How could you do this to me!" She heard her angry voice followed by sobs. She herself began to cry hearing it, in her head the words she had spoken.

Are you fucking this little girl?

This little slut?

Why did she feel like a whore if they weren't together?

"What have we done?" She asked in a terrified whisper, feeling his lips pressed against her temple.

"Shhh." He hushed her by stroking her head, she could feel his heart pounding hard.

He was as terrified as she was.

She cried out quietly in his arms hearing her for a moment longer, and then she heard someone in the distance open and close the door loudly.

Complete silence ensued.

She swallowed loudly, his hand steadily stroking her head snuggled into the hollow of his neck, only after a moment did she realise he was still deep inside her.

Seconds later he lifted himself up on his elbows, glancing down at her most likely to see what state she was in. She could see that he was also shaken, both of them looking at each other breathing unevenly.

"You can sleep here if you want. I'll give you my shirt." He said uncertainly and she blinked, her lips slightly parted in disbelief.

He was proposing that she stay with him for the night.

Probably through remorse.

She shook her head and saw that an expression of disappointment flashed across his face, his jaw clenched tightly, his nostrils moved anxiously.

"I can't. I'll be up all night dreading that she's coming here again. I won't sleep a wink." She explained in a trembling voice, wanting him to know that this wasn't about him. He swallowed loudly at her words and nodded, then slowly pulled himself out of her.

She gasped in discomfort and clenched her eyes shut, feeling a sudden chill and emptiness inside her, his hand stroking her cheek reassuringly.

"Shhh. Wait here a minute, okay? Don't go anywhere." He said pulling up his trousers and getting out of bed to disappear into the bathroom a moment later. She sat on his bed only now feeling that her whole body was shaking from stress, her eyes burning from crying.

A minute later he came out of the toilet, a wet towel and a glass of water in his hand. He handed it to her, his hand with the damp material slipped between her thighs. She clenched them, frightened, but he looked at her calmly.

"Let me. I don't want you to leave my room in this condition." He said lowly, and she felt a warmth spread over her heart that she didn't want to feel at all.

She relaxed her hips and felt the warm, wet towel wipe her clean of all her sticky juices, bringing her relief and comfort. She involuntarily took a few deep sips of water from the glass feeling her throat dry up after what had happened.

As soon as he finished he rose and she stood up with him, covering her thighs with her dress, moving on shaky legs towards the sofa to get her underwear, putting it on quickly. She felt him watching her alertly as she picked up her clutch bag and his briefcase of documents.

As she moved towards the entrance, putting on her shoes quickly, he followed her, doing the same as she did.

"What are you doing?" She asked surprised, fatigue, terror and alcohol mixing in her head.

"You don't think I'm going to let her catch you alone in a corridor somewhere after that scene, do you?" He asked coolly, and she swallowed loudly.

She saw him quietly grab the doorknob and open the door silently, leaning his head out, looking around. He nodded for her to follow him and they both started for the stairs, not wanting to wait in plain sight for the lift.

They climbed to her floor and only then did she feel relieved. However, they both froze and stopped in mid-step when they saw her father emerge suddenly from his room, apparently heading for her brother's apartment.

When he saw her, her tear-stained face his brow furrowed in a way she knew all too well, his accusing gaze falling on the Targaryen standing beside her.

"What happened?" He asked expectantly, she could feel her heart pounding hard, she thought she had to think of something quickly.

"Cregan has been nagging me all day and I felt bad during our conversation. Mr Aemond was kind enough to offer to walk me to my room to make sure I was okay." She mumbled being on the verge of crying again, looking at her father pleadingly.

He muttered under his breath and nodded at Targaryen, putting his arm around her and saying 'thank you for your concern'.

Before she entered her room she glanced at him apologetically over her shoulder, their tired gazes meeting for a moment before he turned and started down the corridor in the other direction.

Her father began to question her about what was going on and ordered her to show him what messages Cregan was sending his daughter. Feeling that she needed to somehow make her story credible she showed him textes she had been receiving from him throughout the day.

"Couldn't he finally decide on something? Why is he messing with your head like that? I'll talk to his father when we get back." He said angrily, ignoring her pleas for him not to do so and that they were no longer children in kindergarten. When her father left, angry and shaken, she called Royce quickly.

He was in her room after a few minutes.

He walked in smiling, but seeing her state and her red eyes he immediately furrowed his brow, looking at her anxiously.

"What's wrong? Cregan?" He asked walking up to her, putting his hands on her shoulders, as usual physically showing her his support. She pressed her lips together at his questions.

"Not only that." She whispered with a blush of embarrassment and shame not believing what she was about to say.

"I slept with someone." She mumbled, burying her face in her hands, shaking her head. Her brother threw her a confused yet amused look.

"Well… I told you to have fun. I just hope he didn't hurt you? Do you regret it?" He asked bending down to her level as if to see what the look in his eyes betrayed. She looked at him helplessly, lowering her hands.

"I slept with Aemond Targaryen…"

"WHAT?"

"…and when it was all over his assistant, who he is sleeping with but is not in a relationship with, started banging on our door when she heard us, screaming and crying." She mumbled out quickly on one exhale, wiping quickly the tears that were again flying down her cheeks, her brother looking at her in disbelief. He ran his hand through his hair, shaking his head.

"I, God, this is totally fucked up. If they're not together then why did she make him a scene?" He asked rhetorically.

"I have no idea! Maybe there's more to her than that though. She was already looking at me at breakfast after I exchanged a few words with him and I'm afraid she knows it's me. That she's going to say something to our father." She said in a trembling voice, Royce pressed his lips together.

"Has she seen you?" He asked uncertainly.

"No, but our father saw me and Aemond when he walked me to my room. He wanted to make sure this woman didn't catch me anywhere. I told him he only saw me off." She explained brokenly, seeing her brother's horrified gaze.

He let out a loud breath, burying his face in his hands as if he felt immense relief. He put his hands at his sides, looking at her with a mixture of awe and disbelief.

"Well, my little sister, I see that when you do have fun, you do it with pomp." He said amused and she burst into laughter at his words, somewhat relaxed by the fact that she had told him, that she didn't have to carry this burden alone.

Before bed she took a quick shower, wanting to refresh herself after what they had done. She realised to her surprise, standing under the drops of hot water falling on her body, that she didn't regret what she had done after all.

She couldn't erase his touch, tell herself that it hadn't been pleasant, that it hadn't given her pleasure.

She thought, sighing, that they were both adults, they had done what they wanted, and now their paths would part and everything would go back to normal. She thought she would call Cregan tomorrow and explain to him exactly how she felt, and if that didn't work, she would just block his number for a while.

She came out of the bathroom in her pyjamas and involuntarily reached for her phone wanting to see if Cregan had written anything else. She was surprised when she saw that she had received some direct message on Instagram from a strange account, but it didn't look like spam. She opened it and started reading.

She swallowed loudly feeling her heart pounding.

A.

Aemond.

She felt relieved and hot in her lower abdomen at the thought that he had found her, that he had made the effort just to write her that.

She knew that he must have seen that she had displayed the message and she didn't want him to feel that she was pretending that nothing had happened. She took a long time to respond and deleted and rephrased several times.

She felt a shudder when she saw that he had immediately displayed her message and wondered if he would write anything more. She felt a stab of disappointment when nothing appeared after a few minutes but decided it was still nice of him to write to her.

She shuddered when she heard the sound of a vibration, a notification displayed on her phone that she had received a new message on Instagram. She unlocked her phone with her heart pounding hard, wondering why it excited her so much.

She thought maybe it was because he seemed so withdrawn, dark, silent, and now he was talking to her of his own free will.

She pursed her lips as she read this and swallowed loudly.

He opened up to her.

He talked about his relationship.

She rolled over on her sheets, sitting up, thinking deeply about what she should answer to that. She didn't want to judge him or ask too in-depth questions, but she wanted to understand him.

She finally replied, her heart tightening.

Will this answer upset him? Was she too direct? She flinched as her phone vibrated again.

A short, cold answer. She swallowed loudly, sighing softly, not knowing whether she should write more or not.

She pursed her lips as she read this. Somehow their relationship was as complicated as hers and Cregan's. She wondered if she should advise him something.

She blinked, feeling her heart pounding hard.

Exchange of mutual benefits.

Objectification.

Had he done this to her today to make her go easy on his grandfather's deal and convince her father to sign it?

She swallowed hard at the thought.

He didn't answer her question for a very long time and she slowly started to fall asleep in her bed. She suddenly jumped up when her screen lit up after several minutes.

She pursed her lips as she read the messages that appeared quickly one after the other. She thought he had finished the rest of the wine that was left in his room.

She fell asleep almost immediately after sending the message, the alcohol numbed her completely and made her not wake up until the morning. She flinched when the alarm on her phone started ringing and she turned it off, glancing at the display. She saw then that she had received another message from him.

______

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[translatemunson]

thought of calling you, but you won’t pick up • ttfd

chapter four of the tortured firefighters department

previous chapter | masterlist | next chapter

cw: fem!reader, afab!reader, no descriptions of reader, banter (because i love it), reader is a math and science nerd, chris is here, mentions of food, hints of mental issues, proofread by my bye-lingual ass (let me know if i forgot anything)

You checked your phone again. Last night, Eddie texted that Carla would be joining you and Chris on your small field trip because he forgot he had booked her for the day. You never met the lady, but you were sure it was gonna be fine. With an extra adult ticket in your pocket, you waited.

Fifteen minutes and no sign of them. Maybe you should text Eddie and get Carla’s number? She was probably stuck in traffic, but that information would ease your worries — and you could help her avoid the even worse routes the apps were giving these days. At this pace, you’d wear off the soles of your white Nike Dunk and pull every single thread of your maroon sweater.

You were about to text Eddie when you saw the black Jeep Wrangler parking not a few spots down to your left. No fucking way, you thought as you marched into its direction.

“Let’s go, Chris, we’re gonna be late!” Buck helped the kid out of the car and picked up a small paper bag before closing the door.

“Hey, Chris! Are you excited?” You hugged him and kept your hands on his shoulder, finally looking at the one person you’ve been successfully avoiding. “Thanks for dropping him off, Buckley. Is Carla joining us later?”

“Actually, I’m on babysitting duty today.” He extended you the paper bag. “Peace offering?”

“What is this?”

“The reason why we were late.” He insisted you accept the bag. “C’mon, aren’t you curious?”

“He said you’d like it,” Chris added. 

You accepted the gift, peaking it before opening the bag and finding one of your favorite cupcakes from your favorite bakery. The one from the incident that set the whole “we could be friends” situation on fire.

“Can we call it a truce for today?” It was implied, but he was definitely saying this for Chris’ sake.

“Ok, just today. But this doesn’t make things magically disappear, Buckley.”

“Why do you call him Buckley?” Chris asked you, his head tilted in your direction. “I call him Buck!”

“She’s mad at me, little guy.” He took a step closer to you two, probably testing the waters. “Did you get the tickets?”

“Who do you think I am? But give me one second, I can’t enter the museum with food.”

“Take your time. Wanna see if we can get to the museum before Brains, Chris?” And off they went.

You were almost sure Eddie planned this out. Leaving you to babysit his son and his annoying friend, who everyone under the 118 roof knew you were avoiding. One hundred percent intentional, right? And of course he would be late because he drove all the way to Santa Monica to buy your favorite cupcake — someone gave him a tip.

You started to feel a bit sad for ignoring his calls and texts all week long. But you pushed it away while you ate the cupcake and watched the boys walking to the entrance. With your clean hand, you gave Buck the tickets and told them to go ahead and go all the way back after the main hall: it was smart to take advantage of the morning weather on the Nature Gardens outside and explore all the fossils and animals later on. 

You were just a few steps behind when you caught up with them in the outdoor gardens. As a newcomer to this whole Chris’ babysitter duty job, you left to Buck to finish the small walk around the main paths. It was a good opportunity to text Eddie and say that, even though you offered to take Chris to the Museum, you were only assigned to take care of one kid, not two. In his best single-father in the middle of a shift style, he texted you a ‘thumbs up’ back. Oh he was so hearing about it later.

The Natural History Museum in Los Angeles was definitely packed with exhibitions that could keep a child and adults entertained. You’d been there once, as soon as you moved to LA, almost a year ago now, and the featured exhibitions were different back then, but still a pretty good curating work after all.

However, the moment Chris saw the Dinosaur Hall and the Dino Lab, you knew it was over for any other exhibitions. And could you blame him? The dinos were pretty badass and Chris was a very curious kid, so he kept asking you all the questions you could’ve imagined — and a few more you weren’t prepared for. You acted like his own private tour guide, proud of spending some time researching and studying about dinosaurs the last few days.

You almost missed all the attention Buck was giving to you while you talked. To be honest, you couldn’t tell who was more focused on you: the kid or the annoying adult.

After all that talking, you for sure were starting to feel a little tired and overwhelmed. Even with short breaks for some water, you still felt like you needed a reset. You signaled to Buck that you’re going to the restroom for a second, he kept reading Chris the charts about butterflies and insects.

You washed your hands and used some of the water on your neck, trying to calm yourself down. How did you go from wanting Buckley’s head on a plate to babysitting with him? Life was fast and unpredictable by the Pacific shore. One lady entered the restroom and stopped by the sink to your right, trying to get rid of the chocolate and ketchup in her hands. You saw her a few minutes ago, when you stopped to grab some water.

“Can I just say you are an adorable couple? And your son is so sweet.” Her tone was sweet and definitely meant well. But she was so wrong about everything.

“Oh, he’s not our kid,” you rushed to explain the situation. “We’re just babysitting for a friend while he’s working.”

“Well, just like my grandparents told me once: sometimes you’ll have a taste of what your life could be with a special person at the moment you least expected.”

You smiled at her through the mirrors. “Did they give you any advice on how to know if it’s the right one?”

“No, but you look like someone who knows how to find that answer.” She threw the paper towels away. “Sorry for being so cryptic. Have fun!”

She left before you could even thank her for… well, the advice. Not that you asked for it, but it did show up in a nice time. Or maybe not. You weren’t sure. Did that truce mean you could let yourself feel everything you were repressing for the past few weeks? Not just regarding Evan Buckley and his lack of manners, but about everything in your life.

After all the dinosaurs and lectures about natural history, you decided to wrap up and move on to the next stop on your list. Buckley helped Chris get down the entry steps and you took the directions back to the parking lot close to the museum.

“Thanks for your services, Buckley. You can just,” you motioned your head to his car. “Ok, Chris. What do you wanna do now?” You opened your Uber app to get a ride to the next destination.

“Not necessary.” Buckley took the phone out of your hands and stored it into his jacket pocket. “I’m also the designated driver for the day.”

“What happened to you getting out of my hair?” You crossed your arms over your chest.

“I thought we were in this together.” He gave you the classic — and a little bit sassy — Buckley smile. He paid for the parking. “C’mon, Chris, we have places to go.”

The three of you walked to his car, but you were still not convinced. It was your idea to babysit Chris for the day, all your plans were picked towards your goal: having a nice and chill day with him. You didn’t need Evan Buckley and all his golden retriever energy to disturb your perfect equation.

While you were hating on him, he made sure Chris was comfortable and safe on the back seat. 

“Why are you ruining my plans?” You didn’t move from the driver’s door. Maybe, if you were warned beforehand you’d had to deal with him, you'd grow some patience. But not today, not this fast.

“I’m not. Still your plans with Chris. Tell me where to go next, I’ll drive us.”

“Give me my phone back.”

“Are you letting me be your driver today?” He leaned against the car.

“What choice do I have, Evan?” You rolled your eyes.

“Hey, I’ve told you I’m sorry.” You stepped aside, finally letting him grab the door handle. “Also, none of my friends call me Evan, by the way.”

“And since when am I your friend?”

“Since now. Hurry up, he’s gonna grow impatient and snap at us.”

“He would never do that.”

“Wanna test your theory, future doctor?”

“Not at all.”

He closed the door. You went around the vehicle, still pissed at him for taking your phone from you. You jumped into the car and checked Chris.

“Ok, are we hungry already or can we check out this cool place before that?”

“Pancakes!” Chris shouted from his seat. “Please?”

“Sure! Ok, let me just,” you instinctively reached out for your phone, but it was still being held hostage by Buck. “Phone, please.”

“Here,” he handed it to you, an aux cable attached to it. “Put the address in the GPS, and please play something kid friendly, ok?”

“Excuse me? What do you think I listen to while I’m driving to work?”

“With that sassy attitude of yours? I expect the worst.”

Just to prove him wrong, as soon as you entered the address on the GPS, you blasted one of your personal favorites. “I stay out too late, got nothing in my brain. That's what people say, mm-mm,” you sang.

“That's what people say, mm-mm,” and Chris, in the back seat, joined you.

You were definitely getting under Buck’s skin. The fact that you picked a song Chris knew the words too left him in disadvantage because you were sure he wanted the taste of saying “Told you so” as soon as he proved his point. But he should’ve known better than to provoke you.

“And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate. Baby, I’m just gonna shake, shake, shake. I shake it off!” You sang it right by Buck’s ear, dodging his hand because he was trying to get you out of his hair. Well, how does it feel now, Evan?

Your queue was really impressive: it looked like you were up-to-date with what the younger generation was listening to — not that you didn’t enjoy the same songs occasionally, but you never kept your options too narrow. There was just one scary moment where you thought you added an explicit song, but you deleted it in time. 

Buck was too busy following the GPS directions. You were stuck with him for the rest of the day, which was a nightmare by itself, and kinda stuck into the endless LA traffic. Chris didn’t notice the animosity between you because you both toned it down — for him, only for one day. Most of it sounded like some friendly banter.

Under the upbeat pop song you were playing, you could hear him singing another tune, barely familiar, but still unrecognizable.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, nothing.” He made a left turn, but kept on singing it. “If you could see it… been here all along… how could you not know baby.”

Without a warning, you typed the name of the song in your library and gave it priority in your queue. His fingers started tapping in the beat, and he started following the lyrics, saying the right words this time.

“If you could see that I'm the one who understands you, been here all along. So, why can't you see? You belong with me,” you two sang along together. But you really kept your poker face because you couldn’t give him any reasons to be even more annoying.

“Looks like we’ve arrived,” he announced, breaking the spell of one song.

Buck pointed to the restaurant you found a few months ago. It was located south of Santa Monica, a few blocks from the beach, but with the rooftop seats, you could definitely say you were eating by the beach. You parked not far from the entry, and you rushed upstairs to get one of those special tables, telling Buck to help Chris because you didn’t want to ruin the surprise.

On the very edge of the roof, your favorite table awaited you: closer to the corner, with a huge light blue umbrella over your head, the four seat table had the perfect view and vibes. You pulled a chair for your bag and greeted the waiter. She didn’t get why you were in a rush until she saw Chris on Buck’s back.

“Could you just pick a place with an elevator next time?”

“I thought you were the muscles, Buckley. Hey, Chris, let me help you.” You held him tight, removing him from Buck’s embrace and putting him on the floor. “I had to make sure we had the perfect table.”

Three stores of stairs, in a rush, were justified once you got to see the smile on Chris’ face. You could catch your breath later.

+++

Chris ate way too many pancakes. You’d have to do a lot of explaining to Eddie, but hey, if the kid was happy, how could that be a problem?

You had to cancel the last plan of the day — a trip to another museum — and settle down at an arcade close to the restaurant before ending your babysitting duty. Just buying you enough time to Eddie leave the firehouse and be home. So you were watching Buck and Chris playing some games while you tried to schedule some study breaks between classes and shifts.

“What’s wrong?” Buck sat down to your right. Chris was just in your sight, in case he needed more coins or any help.

“Nothing.” You turned off your phone screen, ignoring your packed schedule.

“It doesn’t look like nothing.” He gave you a little smudge on the shoulder. “C’mon, Brains, talk to me.”

“I’m just a bit tired, it’s fine.”

“You know, you can go home now, I’ll take him to Eddie’s. You look like you need a good night of sleep.”

“To be honest, I can’t go back home now because I’d feel guilty. My brain is all mushy,” you pointed to your head, “and I wouldn’t be able to study or relax. I would rather stay here, where my mind is focused on something else.”

“I know what you mean,” he leaned his body back, his eyes staring something beyond what you could see. “I support you distracting yourself, but this won’t go away just because you’re ignoring it, you know? Are you sure you’re ok?”

Being ok was a concept you weren’t sure about the past few days. You wanted to be ok, to look ok to everyone around you, but it was hard. You were just faking until you made it. The PhD program was starting to wear you off, and even though you loved it, the thoughts of giving up were taking every single inch of your notes and books.

But what would be your excuse to leave it unfinished when numbers, probabilities and hours of understanding the impossible things were half of your life at this point?

“Did I hit my head or something? Do you have a fever? Why are you being nice to me?” You swiftly tried to change subjects.

“We’re on a truce, remember?”

“Maybe we could be on good terms again,” you suggested. “I mean, if you ever eat my cupcakes again, Bobby will need to hire a new firefighter.”

“So we’re good?”

“We’re good.” Your screen lit up with a notification. “Eddie is gonna be stuck with an emergency, but Carla is on her way to the house. Should we just go?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll go get him and then we drop him off.”

“Great.”

Chris black out as soon as Buck started the drive back to the Diaz house. The radio volume was low, and the orange and pink tones of the sunset were being replaced by the dark blue of the night. You found it hard to keep your eyes open for too long, and only noticed you took a nap when Chris was calling for your name, wanting to say goodbye before going inside.

“Thank you for today, Brains!” He hugged you, and it made everything worth it. “Can we do this again soon?”

“We’re gonna chase all the dinosaurs in LA, I promise.” You gave him one last huge and walked back to the car, watching Carla and Buck talking by the front door.

And there you were, back in the car with Evan Buckley. If he wanted to make a comment about how he was right, he let it slide. You connected your phone and entered the address to your house on the GPS. He took your phone from your hands, declaring “Now that everyone in this car is over 18, we can play the good stuff.”

“Are you sure you are old enough? Give me that back, Evan!”

“Hey! I’m driving. And you challenged me. I’m gonna show you what I usually blast in my car.”

You expected anything from Evan Buckley, even the worst genre of music, but nothing prepared you for when you listened to the introduction of ‘You Give Love A Bad Name’ blasting through the speakers.

The playlist had completely changed and moved away from what you played when Chris was in the car. Bruce Springsteen, The Beatles, even a little of Led Zeppelin, just to enjoy some classics you never thought Buck appreciated. But he was more than just a firefighter with a sassy attitude, some wrongs and lots of muscle.

You look around, panicking a little when you notice you’re entering your building’s garage. You were definitely expecting to be dropped off at the front of the building. What the hell was going on?

“What… How did you get the access?”

“So, funny story. Maddie told you about the place, right?” He turned his head to check your reaction. “Well, I was the one that mentioned that a unit was available when I was complaining about my ex neighbor… So yeah, we are neighbors.”

“You’re annoying, you know that, right?”

“I thought Maddie told you.”

Well, she almost did, but she was interrupted by your neighbor himself that night. Shit.

“For how long did you know this?” You pointed to the garage and between you two.

“For a few weeks, when I saw your car after the cupcake incident.”

“I pledge the fifth.” You disconnected your phone from his car. Well, it would only get awkward if you walked to your apartment in complete silence, so you asked, “Wait, so you were texting and calling me from across the hall? You’re unbelievable.”

“What? If I knock on your door, you’ve got a restraining order against me.”

You left the car at the same time, and walked to the elevators.

“I bet I could convince Sergeant Grant to arrest you.”

“You’d make her dreams come true.”

Same elevator, same floor. You took opposite directions: his place was to the left, yours to the right, on the corners of the building, just one unit between you. You waved him goodbye and entered your home. To your right, your kitchen and dinner table. The glass doors to your balcony were opened — your mistake when you left in a hurry that morning — and it felt more like home than you expected.

Under the stairs, your notes and books were scattered. Sundays were for studying and writing the thesis. Your gray couch held the books you were searching the other day, too busy to put them back in the high and long bookshelves you had on the wall. Your television was the least used electronic in the place.

You walked upstairs and threw yourself in the bed. Maybe you should’ve picked up his calls before, but now it wasn’t a problem anymore.

author's note: are we watching the beginning of their friendship? I THINK SO! yes, i love a slow burn, but i swear it's gonna be worth it, ok? hope you're enjoying this series as much as i am. also: i published a blurb, so check the series masterlist bc i kinda loved it, not gonna lie. ALSO, my lovely friend, casey, made a playlist for the series. just check the masterlist! see yall next week!

[oneshlut]

Hey!! I absolutely ADORE your writing, it makes me so happy!!! I happen to be a sucker for our favorite nerd, and you write super good for him! May i ask for general datting headcanons? Like what its like to date him???? Thank you!!!<3

A/N: ohhh, i was WAITING for this one!! i loveee dating hcs. i'm assuming you mean dr. flug, in which i am always happy to write for him! thank you so much for the request! im so happy you enjoy my works!! c: (also flug may be just a teensy bit autism-coded...)

The Doctor Is Out (Dr. Flug x Reader) [Headcanons]

Rules For Requesting

Characters I Will Write For

Masterlist

Summary: General Dr. Flug dating headcanons/What is dating Dr. Flug like?

You thought he was a nervous wreck before? You've never seen him on a date. Before a date, for that matter.

After asking you out to a museum that recently opened outside the Hat Island, he dragged himself to his room and.. screamed into his pillow. Leaving 5.0.5. decently concerned.

He paced around his lab, wracked with anxiety. Oh god, oh god--what is he going to do?! Did he still look alright?? He paused his anxious strides to look at himself in his full-body mirror that he practically pulled out of nowhere. I guess he looked alright-? Or did he need to change his shirt again? Oh--crap he should probably take off his gloves.. or should he? He's always had normally sweaty hands, not including his nerves getting the best of him.. Yeah, the gloves are staying on.

Not to mention how Demencia is teasing him every minute she gets while Flug is writing out a plan. Yeah, you heard me right, this faceless man has an entire 24-step written plan for this date. He can't go without a plan, right? He doesn't want to mess up in front of you, either..

Some ridiculous, unreasonable, irrational part of him thinks maybe you won't show up. Obviously, he doesn't know any better to know how much you love him. Then again, if he knew, I don't think he'd last.

The museum went way better than he expected! There just happened to be a jet plane exhibit, and suddenly his 24-step plan has made its way to a nearby trash can. Don't get me wrong, his nerves were definitely still there, and not going anywhere anytime soon. He was just glad that he didn't draw you away with his possibly unending rambling about different types of aircraft.

The two of you stayed in the museum until it closed at 4 p.m. The time seemed to fly by, and at some point during the date you had held his hand. Poor Flug was too distracted, that he only noticed your interlocked hands when the both of you were leaving the building. He's blushing like a maniac now. As if the red tint on his face couldn't get any worse, before you left, you kissed him on his cheek. You kissed him on his cheek. His bones turned to ice, frozen in place. Later that night, he couldn't get his mind off of you. He's not washing his bag for a while. Not like he washed it in the first place.

So, you two are dating! In a relationship! Dr. Flug refuses to believe it, but every morning kinda forces him to. Though, sometimes he gets a bit overwhelmed with the attention, so when this happens, you give him the day to compose himself again.

He's happy with the attention, though! More than happy, he's honestly never received such affection before and.. he enjoys it.

Some days, you'll just have hang-out dates! For example, Dr. Flug is undergoing a heavy project and asks you to come over for comfort. He'll even ask you for help with his experiments from time to time! Don't worry, he wouldn't involve you in anything too dangerous, he's not cruel. Well, not to you..

If we're talking about Dr. Flug here, at least one date has to go wrong. Thankfully, it's almost never his fault. He's, unfortunately, slightly popular with heroes. Not that he, himself, as a villain is popular, but rather him being known under the Blackhat name has drawn in some unwanted attention from heroes.

What does this mean for the two of you? Well, worst case scenario, a hero has such a huge grudge against Flug that they are determined to ruin your date. According to Dr. Flug, there's only a 1.117% chance of this happening, so you shouldn't have to worry too much.

Afterwards, he feels horrible that your date went to crap. He apologizes profusely, even if you forgive him in the first place, he'll continue to feel bad. All he wants is for you to be happy, and it feels like he's failed you. But the fact that you're still here with him is more than enough proof that you're far from giving up on him, if ever.

On days where you would stay inside with him, whether it be a stormy night or just a long day for you, sometimes he'd turn around from whatever he was working on when you don't respond to him, and he'll find you resting peacefully next to 5.0.5. The sight warms his heart, as he moves to grab a blanket for you, and dims the lights in his lab slightly.

With you asleep, and now with him and nothing to work on, he now has time to think. And for some reason, no thoughts come to him. Surprising to his usually busy brain.

One thought came to him, eventually. Watching you rest soundly in the now dim-lighted room, your chest lifting up and down with your soft breaths, made him realize how lucky he truly is.

Then, he came up with an idea. He didn't want your dreaming to be disturbed, did he? He grabbed a piece of notepaper, tape, and a marker. Opening his door slightly, he taped up the scratch-made sign titled:

"The Doctor is Out"

[crowandmousewritingco]

The Aurelac Gallery Pt. 2

Pairing: Ezra x gn!reader

Words: 2k

Rating G: (will turn M in later chapters)

Summary: You arrive at Ezra's house after accepting his generous offer to be your muse.

Author: Mod Mouse

Notes: Here is the continuation of the series I created for Secret Springs. I definitely let my art history special interest seep into this one. Here is a link to one of the exhibitions mentioned in the story.

Part 3 (coming soon)

Before you knew it, the day had rolled around and you definitely didn’t spend the last couple of hours trying to figure out what to wear. It wasn’t a date so you didn’t want to be overdressed. You were only going over there to paint Ezra just like he had so graciously offered…and eating the dinner he was making. Ugh maybe it was a date. You shook your head as you went back to stressing over your wardrobe. Finally you decided on a simple pair of slacks that were still nice but had their own splatter of paint. You gathered your supplies and a smaller canvas since you weren’t sure how long he would be willing to sit for you. 

Just like Ezra had planned, there was a knock on your door promptly at 7:30. You had all your supplies in your canvas bag, and you took a deep breath as you opened up the door. The driver gave you a smile and gestured to the expensive looking car parked in front of the B&B. He really wasn’t kidding, You said to yourself as the driver opened the door for you, revealing a beautiful tan interior. You slid in and set your bag beside you. The driver closed the door and you buckled your seatbelt. And just like that, you were on your way to whatever Ezra had planned for you. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you thought the car was nice then you couldn’t believe how nice his house was. The house was modest sized, but the lawn spread out for acres and acres. The driveway itself was longer than the street you had come in on. You stared out the window as the car pulled into the drive. The driver helped you out of the back and escorted you to the front entrance. 

The foyer was decorated in a tasteful maximalism. Every little piece flowed into the next creating a harmony to the room that was unique to Ezra. You noticed the man of the hour standing there waiting for you. He turned when he heard the commotion. 

“My my you look wonderful tonight,” Ezra smiled as he took you in. 

“You look quite nice too.” You reply by taking him in as well. You couldn’t help but blush. What you were wearing was in no way similar to what Ezra was wearing. A dark green blazer paired well with his dark brown pants that you guess were more expensive than the cost of the trip. Shined black shoes made soft patterings against the tile floor as Ezra approached you in the foyer. 

“Why thank you. Thought something simple was appropriate for this evening's festivities,” You mention sheepishly.

Simple would not be the word I would use You thought to yourself. 

“Here let me take your bag. I have the studio already set up for us. Of course as the artist you have full reign of what is portrayed.” 

You stood there a moment. “That is very kind of you.” Ezra slips the bag off of your shoulder and hands it to the butler. He takes it with a bow and disappears down one of the corridors. 

“Now if you would like to follow me, dinner is served.” Ezra extended his arm out for you and you graciously laced your arm with his. Your curiosity for this man grew with each interaction you had with him. He was a mystery you were now determined to solve. 

“This is quite the entrance for someone like me,” You say. 

Ezra looks down at you with a soft frown. “What do you mean? It is fit for whomever decides to grace my house with their presence.” 

“Even though we are practically strangers?” You asked.

“I don’t believe strangers know that you have a love for Surrealism. That usually isn’t the first topic of conversation given at your first exchange,” He teases with a quirk of his mouth. 

“Well you’re not wrong,” You mummer, and Ezra smirked. You continued your walk in silence until the smell of dinner grew increasingly stronger. 

“Here we are,” Ezra guided you into the just as opulent dining room. 

The dining room was laid out with an assortment of foods. Ezra brought you to your chair and gently pulled it out for you. “I was unsure what foods tickled your fancy, so I made us a nice tapas spread.” He mentioned as he made his way around the table to the chair opposite of yours. He took the wine bottle from the table and gently unscrewed the cork with a pop. Carefully he poured the dark red liquid into each of your cups. You thanked him quietly as he set the bottle back on the table. 

“Still it’s quite thoughtful of you to put so much effort into this.” You thanked him as you picked up your wine glass passing it under your nose taking in the fragrant notes. 

“Please It’s my honor. I don’t meet people like you everyday. Consider it an honor to assist in such an auspicious occasion.” He smiled as he sat down in his chair. Ezra took his glass and raised it towards yours. “To art.” He toasts his glass towards you. 

“To art,” You repeat and you click your glass against his. You brought the wine to your lips and took a small sip. Whatever wine this was, it tasted of wealth and was smooth against your palette. 

“Speaking of art, I would like to know more about you,” Ezra said, setting his glass back on the table. 

“There really isn’t much more to me,” You chuckled as you served yourself a helping of each of the small dishes. The smell of the bacon wrapped dates drew you in first and you set a couple on your plate. “Just a kid from a small city who had big dreams.”

“I beg to differ,” Ezra countered as he took his own helpings. “I find you fascinating. A person with so much knowledge of art happens to show up at my gallery on an incidental day. That doesn’t happen often.” 

You paused as you were bringing your fork to your mouth. “Wait you own the Aurelac gallery?” Well that explains a lot actually. You curse yourself for not putting the pieces together sooner. 

He chuckled as he chewed his first bite. He swallowed before replying. “I know at first glance, I don’t appear to be a gentleman to own such a venture, but I have an appreciation for art.” 

“And did this,” You gesture around the room with your fork, “comes from the gallery?” 

He hummed “It has. I make a point that artists aren’t taken advantage of by greedy sellers, so I make my prices fair for both the creator and the admirer.” 

You blink as you were unprepared for his reply. “That’s wonderful. Don’t hear that everyday.” 

“Which should be commonplace, but alas the art world is full of people who only see price tags attached to a saint's hand.” He sighed.

You take a bite of your dinner savoring the sweet and salty mix. “Those are the same people who insist on staying in their Ivory Towers too,” You sighed. “Art is meant to be enjoyed by many people.” 

“I’ll drink to that,” He states, lifting his glass to his lips again, taking a longer sip.

After setting his glass down and enjoying a few bites of the various servings he stated, “Since you love the Surrealist, I had the idea to play a thought game,” Ezra proposed leaning back in his chair. 

“And what game is that?” You asked leaning your elbow on the arm rest. 

“Word association. I say a word and you say the first word that pops into your head,” Ezra explained, swirling the glass in his hand. “Very subconscious answers.” 

“That is very Surrealist,” You smirked. 

 “Very okay first word, hmmmm let see. Ah how about something simple. Art.” 

“Freedom,” You answer without thought. 

“Curious and why is that,” He asked, tilting his head. 

“Art was something I could use as an escape from my day to day life,” You chuckled. “You should see some of the characters I created as a child. One was a frog cowboy who traveled from town to town on his lizard.” 

Ezra smiled, “Oh that is quite the character. I honestly would love to meet such a creature.” 

“He frequented my notebooks many times. Okay now my turn. Hmmm,” You look around the room for inspiration. The crystal chandelier sparked an idea. “Alright then crystals.” 

“Aplomb,” He answered without a second thought. 

You couldn’t be more lost. “I’m sorry I don’t think I’ve ever heard that word before.” 

“My apologies. It means that one exhibits beauty and grace when put under pressure. Just like any beautiful gem, it takes pressure and time to become its stunning sparkly self.” He answered and leaned his head on his hand. “The same can be said for humanity.” 

“That actually fits really well,” You smile and you make eye contact with him. His gaze was full of intrigue and something else. A blush flushes your cheeks. 

“Alright my turn. The next word shall be renaissance?” He asked, keeping his dark eyes on you. 

“Honestly, overrated,” You admit with a sigh. 

“Oh this will be interesting. Do tell,” He leaned back in his chair searching your face for an answer. 

“I get that the masters were talented, that I completely understand. It’s just that there were so many other movements that deserve more love,” You explain clearly showing your passion for the subject. 

Ezra sat there amused. “That would be considered heresy in some circles.” 

You lean back and cross your arms. “Well my guess is that those same circles missed the meaning of the Sensations Exhibition in 1999.”

Ezra paused for a moment before nodding his head. “Perhaps you are right.” He swirled his glass around. “Did you ever consider becoming a historian? You have some fascinating takes on all sorts of art subjects with an abundance of knowledge on a wide range of movements.” 

You sighed and stared down at your plate. “I did at one point but I had an ex who talked me out of it. Said it would be better to focus on my own art rather than others.” 

“And was that something you wanted? To pursue your art as a profession.” Ezra asked softly, watching your facial expressions. 

“I think I did at one point, but now I’m not so sure. I miss just creating characters for the sake of creation.” You chuckle sadly. “Hell of a dinner conversation. I promise I’m not usually this depressing.” 

“On the contrary I think we might have discovered the cause of your creative slump,” Ezra says, kinder than you were expecting.

And maybe he was right. You really didn’t want to think about this but maybe this was the nudge you needed. But who were you kidding, you really didn’t have any other talents aside from painting. 

“Here might I offer a suggestion. Paint me tonight and if the spark is still not there, then I have a position at my gallery that I know you would excel at. Even if you find your passion again I will offer you a permanent spot on my walls.” 

You gaze shot up to his face searching for something that would explain his generous offer. “T-That’s quite the pitch,” You take another sip of your wine. “Though I wonder why me. I mean you just met me.” 

“You have an intelligence that is hard to find and yet you are very down to earth despite the worlds of knowledge in that head of yours. Let that be your motivation while you create a masterpiece.” 

You were quiet for a moment as you pushed around the remnants of your first serving. “Okay.” You finally said looking up at him. What did you have to lose?

Ezra smiled and served himself another serving. “Then it's settled. Eat your fill and then we shall congregate in the studio.” And that’s just what you did. The two of you kept the conversation going throughout the meal filling yourself with the delicious meal Ezra had made for you. Though in one way or another Ezra’s offer stood firm in the back of your mind. Truly what have you gotten yourself into.

```````

Pedro Character Taglist

@littlemisspascal @burntheedges @carusolikey @thebeldroramscal @morallyinept

[midnightstay-blog]

6+9 with svt dokyeom he/him please?

Sure ! 😊 I hope you like it. It's my first time writing for he/ him pronouns.

💫Muse💫 (Requested)

Au 🌕| Fluff 🌙 | Male Reader 💙 | Request💫 | Scenario ✨

TW: Mentions of Alcohol

Genre: Dokyeom x male reader

Theme: Friends x lovers, Photographer x muse, A little bit of jealousy.

Rating Pg13

Word count: 2,482

Summary: after being invited to Dk's showing at a gallery the night takes an unexpected turn for the better.

Click, Click, Click the camera went as you posed for what seemed like the 13th time that day. You were currently in the middle of a photoshoot for a prominent magazine. Though you loved being a model you’d be lying if you said that you weren’t tired. The only thing that made this time worth it though is that you were being photographed by Dokyeom. You guys had been friends since college, and he was an amazing talent to say the lease.

“Can you please hold still I swear I have one more shot then you can go change and we’ll be done for the day.” He said.

He smiled at you the same as when you first met, and your heart began to flutter a little. See you had always had a little crush on Dk since orientation when he walked into your school’s auditorium and accidentally tripped on the last two steps. You wanted to go and help him up, but some girl had already beat you two it. The two of them seemed pretty chummy so you shrugged and found a seat next to your friend. You didn’t see him again after that until you became roommates during your second semester. You grew close pretty quickly and had been friends ever since. Soon he was done and you thanked him along with the other staff members as you went to your dressing room and changed.  Moments later as you reemerge you notice dk putting away the last of his equipment. Place your duffle bag on a near by stool you help him as he begins to disassemble the last soft box light.

“Thanks.” He said while rubbing his hands together.

“No problem be sides it looked kind of heavy.” You pointed out. You go to your bag and pull out a pack of fruit snacks offering him one. Accepting it he opens it and begins to consume its contents. “Hey, you know Josh is gonna be in town today if you want to have dinner with us.” He offered.

“Really that’s great I didn’t know he was back already I figured he was still in Korea working with that one company.”

“He was but I guess they wrapped up early, so he booked an earlier flight back to see family.” Dk stated.

“He gets in later tonight, so I won’t see him until after my exhibition at the gallery.

You nod at his statement before popping the last fruit snack in your mouth.

“Oh, that reminds me.” He states while reaching into his bag and pulling out a flyer.

“I’m having an exhibit of some of my work later and I wanted to know if you could come?” He asks sheepishly.

You take the flyer from his hand and examine its contents as happiness begins to fill you.

“Dude I’m so proud of you.” You state hugging him.

“Thanks, but it’s no big deal.” He says waving his hand dismissively.

“No big deal dude your work is going to be shown at one of the biggest galleries in the city it’s a huge deal.” You speak.

Dokyeom begins to feel sheepish as you continue to praise him. Though he was used to being praised strangers it always felt different when it came from the people, he was closest too.

“And to answer your question I would be honored to come support you on your big night.”  You declared.

The two of you exchange a bit more details before saying your goodbyes.

Later on, that evening you arrive to the gallery dressed in your best suit. The building is full of different people from the industry from other models to ceo’s and even a few producers. Life just seemed to pour from the building as you made your way inside. Soon you were met by a member of the wait staff who offered you a glass of champagne along with one of the many assorted cheeses that they had in rotation for the night. Accepting you thank them and make your way over to the first photograph that hanged in the corner of the gallery. You recognized it as the coffee shop that the two of you used to frequent while in college. However, instead of it’s warmth interior being present it seemed colder. Maybe because it was in black and white or possible because the shadow that is present in the center seemed to all but stand still as the people around it moved back and forth in the form of blurs. Either way you found yourself emersed in the piece.

“Enjoying the show?” a voice states pulling you from your trance.

Turning you notice the presents of a young man no more than maybe 28 years old standing next to you. “Oh yes very much how about you?” you inquire.

“I think the works are gorgeous Just like you.” He states wrapping his hand around his silver wristwatch.

He was gorgeous to say the least probably one of those nepo babies that you hear about all of the time. His outfit certainly seemed like it cost a lot. For a moment he catches you staring at him, and he turns away blushing a bit. Not wanting him to get the wrong idea you clear your throat before continuing trying to cut through the awkwardness.

“You know he’s a personal friend of mine the artist. We’ve been friends since college.” You mention trying your best to make small talk. The woman grins as she takes a step forward. “Well then maybe you could introduce us sometime.” she inquires.  “I mean besides if he must be a pretty great to have a friend as handsome as you.” She states before lightly placing a hand on your chest. You begin to feel a bit uncomfortable with the way the conversation is going so you decide to let her down as gently as possible. However, before you can Dk makes his way over to the two of you and takes your hand.

“Babe there you are I’ve been looking for you all night where have you been.” He questions. You are taken off guard by the name but welcome it along with the warm feeling that has formed in your chest. Briefly you look between the two before adjusting your tie a little and speaking up. “Sorry Kyeomie I just really wanted to see this picture that you took it so captivatingly beautiful.” You tell him.  He gives mutters a small thanks before placing a small peck on your cheek and turning back to the woman.

“Who is this?” He inquires. Blinking a few times, you bring yourself back to reality before continuing.  “Oh, this is...” you trail off before remembering that you never got her name.”

“I’m Mason … Mason Evington” he says shaking dk’s hand.

“Oh, that’s right your dad owns two of the biggest art galleries in the world.” He nods in agreement.

“I didn’t know you two were together. “He states as red creeps onto her face showcasing her embarrassment.

“it’s relatively new “dk states grabbing your hand and interlacing your fingers.  “Apologies I didn’t introduce myself I’m Dokyeom but everyone calls me Dk.” He states smiling wide. Realization sets in as He begins to recognize him as the artist. Noticing her error, the redness in her face darkens slightly.

 “I love your work. I think you have a great eye for details.” he tells him. Dk nods understandingly before he mutters a small thank you.

“Well, it was lovely to meet you but if you don’t mind, I’d like to barrow him from you show him some more of my work.” Dk proposes before leading you towards the back of the gallery.  Mason nods before biding you both goodbye and making her way to a different section of the gallery. For a moment the two of you walk around and look at the different photographs as you continue to mingle with all kinds of people. After a while you get used to having his hand in yours and for a moment you even allow yourself to dream of what life would be like if this moment were a bit more permanent. However, after a while you let go of Dk’s hand as he is talking to another photographer about a job that he did in Paris last spring. You find yourself wandering for a bit until you stumble upon a particular photograph. It was a picture of you that he took once when you were at the beach. You, however, were too busy helping baby turtles into the water for to notice him taking it.

“Here you are.” He stated placing his hands into his pockets. “You must really like this one.” He inquires.

“I didn’t even know you took it.” you stated. “it’s beautiful.”

“It’s you” he stated.  You both sat there for a moment drinking in the sight before you. After a while you speak up breaking the silence. “Thanks for earlier by the way.” You state turning towards him.

 “Yeah, no problem.” “You just looked kind of uncomfortable so I figured you could use some saving.” He shrugs. “Plus, I didn’t like the way he was looking at you.”

Silence hangs there a little longer as dk’s words began to play over and over in your head.  However, your thoughts are interrupted as dk breaks the silence this time. “We should get going Joshua is supposed to be meeting us for dinner soon.” Nodding in agreement Dk thanks everyone for coming before the two of you make your way towards the exit.

For a while the two of you walk towards the restaurant as you recount many memories from college. After some time, the two of you make it to the restaurant just in time to be seated.  Through you had never been to this restaurant you found it quite fancy for a couple of friends just catching up.  The tables were draped in white floor length cloths while lights hanged from the ceiling.  On the table was a small tea light and a basket of bread. After being seated your waitress came back to take your drink orders. Deciding to wait for Joshua to order you both just end up ordering drinks from the bar before going back to your original topic of conversation. After while about 30 minutes had passed before Dk’s phone dinged.  Retrieving it from his pocket he unlocks it before examining the text message. Disappointment dresses his features briefly before he speaks.

“Looks like Josh’s plane got delayed by an hour, so he won’t make dinner, but he said that he’d call us tomorrow once he got settled.”  

Giving a small okay he puts his phone back in his pocket before calling the waitress back over and the two of you order. Sometime later you finish your meal and by this point you both are feeling a bit buzzed from your drinks. At this point You try to pay the check but dk objects stating that he should pay since dinner was initially his idea. However, you turn him down and take out your card stating that it’s his big night and to consider it a gift. Once the check is paid you both leave, and he begins to walk you home. As you are walking you somehow make it onto the topic of dating. He tells you how he only really had two serious relationships since college. Though you look at him in disbelief.

“You’re kidding right only two… Seriously?” you state in disbelief.

“Seriously.” he tells you as a rat makes its way through one of the many rain puddles on the ground.

“What about that girl from orientation or the one from that time we went to the beach?” You inquired.

“Okay first off that girl from orientation was gay and two the one from the beach wasn’t even my type.” He stated walking through another puddle.

“Oh, so mister man has a type I see.” You tease.

“What like you don’t?” he inquires.

“Oh, I have a type.” You state as the two of you make your way to your building.

Silence falls upon you for what seemed like the millionth time that evening.

“Well, this is me.” You state before making your way towards the door. However, before you make your way inside Dk mutters a small “Wait” Turing around you look at him while standing in your doorway. A frustrated sigh leaves his lips before he speaks again. “I haven’t been completely honest with you tonight.” He states shoving his hands in his pockets.

“What do you mean?” you questioned.

He takes a moment to compose his thoughts before taking a deep breath and continuing.

“I genuinely don’t know why my brain just goes blank when I look at you. I think I’m going a little crazy.” He admits.

You stare at him in confusion waiting for him to continue.

“Earlier tonight when we were at my showing, and I came over to you and that guy.”  You nod in response remembering the awkward interaction. “Well, I didn’t do it as a concerned friend I was actually kind of well… jealous a little.” He said truthfully.

You go to speak but he cuts you off.

“Admittedly if I’m being honest with myself, I’ve had feelings for you since that day at the beach.”

You take a moment letting his words soak in as you heart begins to pick up speed. Though this moment is all that you wanted for the past couple of years you never imagined it would happen like this.

“Why didn’t you say something then?”

“I figured you didn’t feel the same.” He shrugged.  “Plus, you were spending so much time with Mingyu I just assumed that-.”

“That I was into him.” You finished. He nods as his eyes become doughy.

For a moment you tilt your head toward the ground before a light chuckle escapes your lips.

“Mingyu was my partner but not in that way.” You tell him while meeting his gaze.

“He was assigned to be a model for my figure drawing class that’s why we spent so much time together that semester.”

Feeling a little embarrassed at his assumption Dk places his hand on his neck rubbing it slightly.

Placing your hand on his face his eyes meet yours. “And for the record I had feelings for you ever since I saw you trip at orientation.” You mention. A smile makes its way to Dokyeoms face as his hand met yours.

 “I only tripped because I was trying to capture a picture of you.”  He sheepishly admits.

The both of you chuckle a little before closing the gap between you. Shortly after you pull apart before dk takes the chance to speak up once again.

“I guess you could say you’ve always been my muse.”

Request are open

[yuriko-mukami]

Star-Crossed Canvas

Chapter 01 || Chapter 02 || Chapter 03 || Chapter 04

Inspiration for this story came from the art I commissioned and a conversation with @ruki-mukami-dl 's admin. After talking about the art piece with her, I simply had to write this. She has betaread the story. For the longest time, I have wanted to write a DL drama CD-like story, yet, it seems I'm unable to pull off the script-styled writing. I admire everyone who can do it, but personally, I feel like I can't express my visions properly with that. So, once again I went on with prose. Still, I would say that this story is also inspired by DL drama CDs. And I actually would love to see what kind of star-crossed canvases other DL OCs would run into with their lovers. So, if you find the theme inspiring enough, make your own version of it. And tag me. I want to see it too.

Art made by @dlyuiannii as a commission.

Chapter 01

“You have two hours.” The teacher gazed at the third-years she had brought to the special exhibition of the art museum of Kaminashi City. It was sponsored by Sakamaki Tougo and was only open during late hours. “I want you to walk through the museum, pick up a painting, and analyze it. Make notes on how the artist has used colors and how that relates to the artistic trends of the era. Later you will write an essay where you combine these facts with your personal experience of the painting.”

Yuriko listened closely to everything the teacher said and wrote down the instructions. So interesting! She peeked at the earlier notes she had made during the classes. Yosh! She could pull this off!

Suddenly, Yuriko felt how arms snaked around her waist and a jaw landed on her shoulder. A familiar musky scent greeted her nose, making the corners of her mouth instantly curl up.

“Did you get everything, my angel?” Ruki’s whisper sneaked into Yuriko’s ear, sending shivers down her spine.

Yuriko nodded and lifted her hand, showing her notes to Ruki. “Yes. I think so. I know what we are supposed to do.”

“Good girl.” Ruki chuckled. “Then let us go. We need to find our piece of art.”

Their piece of art. Yuriko’s heart skipped a beat. Ruki wanted to use the same painting as her which meant they could do everything together before writing their essays. And later they could compare their thoughts. So perfect!

“Yes, let’s hurry.” Yuriko pushed the notebook into her school bag and meandered around, meeting Ruki’s gaze. “You know… I’m happy that you decided to join me in the art history class.”

Leaning in, Ruki brushed Yuriko’s bottom lip with his thumb. The touch was brief, yet it sent an electric pulse through her body.

“I am not interested in wasting my time trying to draw or paint something. But this requires a different kind of skill set. One that suits me well.” Ruki let his hand slide along the column of Yuriko’s neck before laying it on her shoulder. “Since you insisted you wanted to participate in an art class, this seemed the best possible option.”

And off they went. Ruki captured Yuriko’s hand with his cold one and led her away from their classmates who were just about to start to look for the piece they wanted to analyze. Yuriko gazed around in the dim lighting of the museum. Only the paintings had lights above them but everything else was covered by shadows. 

It would be a hard task to pick up one painting only. Everything in the exhibition was extraordinary like it had been a collection of lost pieces of art. Yuriko had never seen them before, not even in books. They all had an aura of mystery around them – she could almost smell it – and they seemed to belong to different eras of human history around the world.

“Umh… Ruki?” Yuriko peeked at the Vampire as they proceeded further into the exhibition halls.

Ruki squeezed Yuriko’s hand as if telling her that he was by her side. “What is it?”

“The teacher… She said that this exhibition is sponsored by Sakamaki Tougo…” Yuriko took a breath. That was a family name she didn’t like to think about. Yet, the curiosity tingled through her. It was impossible to ignore. “I know he is a politician, a famous one. I never thought about it before… but… is he related to the Sakamaki family?”

It was an odd thing to ask for sure. Of course, it could be that the name was simply the same without any connections. More than that. It was likely. Yuriko had met the head of the Sakamaki family, the Vampire king Karlheinz himself. The Sakamakis were pureblood Vampires, so surely a politician had nothing to do with them…

“He is Karlheinz-sama.” Ruki’s voice was low as it caressed Yuriko’s ear. “I would not share that information just with anyone, but you should know. This is his exhibition. He has an eye for human art.”

“Oh… wow…” That was something Yuriko had never imagined about the king. The man with long white hair and golden eyes radiated intimidation like a true demon would, for he was one, of course. It was enticing how he was so interested in humans, simple mortal beings that didn’t compare to supernatural creatures.

Yuriko was still in awe of the thought, looking at the paintings through them. What could have Karlheinz seen in the one with bright flowers? What about that woman who stared into the void? There was no way to know what had gone through the man’s mind as he had picked up each piece.

The couple kept walking until Ruki stopped in front of a painting. A night sky spread in all its glory behind a huge steamship with four huge pipes on it. Yuriko found it oddly familiar even though she was sure she hadn’t seen this picture before.

“Many pieces of art were lost that day…” Ruki approached the painting. “This one has been painted later, of course. It is not very old if you ask me.” He chuckled as if he had told a joke. “Somehow, I still find it intriguing.”

Yuriko stepped closer, gazing at the name tag next to the painting. She didn’t recognize the artist but the ship's name she had heard before. “Oh, oh! I know! I know! I have seen a foreign movie about this. It was made ages ago!”

Ruki scoffed, turning to look at the Kitsune. “Ages ago? I do not have much interest in movies, yet I know it was not too many years since the one you talked about came out. Only…” He stopped talking, perhaps counting how many years exactly. A peal of tiny laughter escaped him. “Forgive me, my angel. It is indeed true that the movie is older than you. Though, I have noticed that you are lured in by things that many would consider not very modern.”

“Oh, you think so, Ruki~?” Yuriko closed the distance between them, pressing her palm on Ruki’s chest before rising on her toes. “I do see old-fashioned things… and people beautiful and captivating.” She allowed a smile to settle on her lips. “Very much so…”

Without permission, Yuriko pursed her mouth against Ruki’s, sucking his bottom lip between hers. He groaned, snatching her in his arms and pressing one hand on the back of her head as his tongue snaked into her wet cavern. Yuriko hadn’t expected such an intense kiss that made the museum around them shatter in her eyes and air swoosh in her ears. Ruki’s smooch was so strong that it filled the room with magic that spirited everything away for a moment.

A cold breeze hit Yuriko’s legs and made her skirt whirl. She gasped into the kiss, hanging onto Ruki. “Oh my gosh!” Her words drowned between them.

“Fuck!” Ruki broke the kiss and pressed Yuriko on his chest. “What did just happen?”

Peeking from Ruki’s embrace, Yuriko realized that they weren’t in the museum anymore but in the sea where an icy wind wiped around them while waves hit the sides of a ship that sailed through the night. Lights from the inside danced on the deck, sparkling from the windows.

“Oh my gosh… what… is this?”

[nuri148]

My Trip to Japan! ⛩️ Part 2

15.12.

🍃🍂Ghibli Park!!!🍂🍃

AKA the trigger for all this madness. It was when they announced that Ghibli was going to open a theme park that going to Japan went from dream to plan.

Getting tickets was an adventure on its own. I had to sit in front of the computer on the day and time they went on sale (a Sunday at 7 am, Spain time) and get in the virtual queue like it was a freaking Taylor Swift concert, to secure my spot. They had this perverse system where you have to get a ticket for each of the 3 areas of the park, and each has its allocated entry time. To complicate matters further, not all entry slots are available from abroad, only two for each area, which required significant research between blogs, reviews, and videos to figure out the most convenient order to see everything.

We headed to Aichi; at the end of the subway line (this one had elevators), we changed to the Linimo, Japan's only maglev (magnetic levitation train). It was built for Expo 2005, and Ghibli Park is now located on its premises. We arrived very early, bought lunch at the konbini for later, and went to the first gift shop. Consumerism is rewarded here: each shop within the park offered slightly different things, so we had to go through them all. I swear I did not actually buy in all of them.

We started in the Hill of Youth area. Around the Whisper of the Heart roundabout, you'll find the antique shop/house from the movie, the cat office from The Cat Returns, and the bus stop from My Neighbor Totoro. There's also a real mailbox, and letters dropped there carry a postmark from the park. I knew this already, so I sent myself a postcard.

The cat's office is beautiful, built to scale and all detail outside and in, with figures of the Baron and Muta chatting in the living room.

But the antique shop... That house is something else. Everything is recreated in the smallest detail, from the luthier workshop below, with woodchips scattered on the floor, worn-out tools, violins in different stages of construction, to the living area upstairs, featuring vintage furniture from the sixties, incredible. The drawers and cabinets are full of things, not recreations (except the food in the fridge lol), real things from bygone times, normal things you find in houses. And you can open them and peek. Matches, kitchen towels, a bag of cat food. Mismatched crockery and cutlery as it’s normal in houses where actual people live. Cleaning stuff. Old postcards and magazines.

The painstaking  work they must have undertaken of searching through antique shops and flea markets all over Japan to achieve such level of detail is absolutely mind-blowing. And the shop itself, omg... You have the Baron statuette, of course, with its mesmerizing eyes; the carrousel horse, the chimney... And the clock. Which we waited for because it activates every half hour. Yes, that clock, with the elves mining gemstones and the prince contemplating his princess before the day transforms her back into a sheep; all that is right there, live, for real. I’m not crying, you are crying.

From there, we went to the Grand Warehouse, the biggest area of the park. It is, as it says, a big warehouse with different exhibits and a clearly Gaudí-inspired main square (the Japanese love Gaudí). We took (read: Husband took of me) lots of photos in the different recreated props from the studio’s movies. We only missed two, consciously: No-Face from Spirited Away and the robot from Laputa: Castle in the Sky. In both cases, the line was so long that we wouldn't have made it to the next area on time. And in the case of the robot, we had the one at the museum. It was also my fault for not wanting to stand in line as soon as we arrived (in my defence, I didn’t know what was inside – it's not visible from outside the entrance), leaving that exhibit for the end, and by then the queue had become much longer. No-face is the first stop in the main exhibit, which features props from various movies where you can take photos. The main problem, IMHO, is that people take hundreds of photos, check if they liked them, repeat... I'm sorry, but if you have a hundred people behind you, take two or three, and whatever comes out is fine. The staff should speed up the people more, or even take the photos themselves.

In addition to this permanent exhibition, there was another temporary one about food in the different Ghibli movies. I was thrilled to see they’d included paintings from my beloved Heidi, produced by Isao Takahata before founding Ghibli with Miyazaki.

The warehouse, like the Museum, also has a cinema, done in an exquisitely art deco style. The short film we watched, however, (Hoshi wo Katta Hi) escaped us, as it had much more dialogue than our basic Japanese could process. Next to the cinema, there’s a warehouse with different props not currently used  in any of the exhibits.

Other highlights include Arriety’s house, the philosophy club closet from Up from Poppy Hill (also recreated in painstaking detail)  and a few non-gift shops. There is also a children’s area with a catbus to play in and a café on the backyard, which we didn’t go to as we hadn’t enough time.  

After a quick visit to the gift shop, crowded with people, we left for the last area, Dondoko Forest, where Satsuki and Mei's house from My Neighbor Totoro stands. Another masterpiece of recreation. Kitchen stuff, toys, clothes, everything you can find in a house. In the kitchen drawers, there were even antique mosquito coils (the movie takes place in the '50s). Sorry (not sorry) for repeating myself, but the fieldwork they must have done to obtain all those objects is colossal.

Unlike the Whisper of the Heart shop, here they did allow photos inside, so I would have stayed forever if it weren't for Husband eventually looking at me with his best are-we-leaving-yet face, plus daylight beginning to fade. The visit was completed with a climb to a hill where there's a giant Totoro for photos, and we got down with a kind of funicular (technically an inclined elevator), which looks like a toy it’s so smol and kawaii.

Before leaving, we passed by Mononoke Village. This area, included in the Grand Warehouse ticket but without an entry slot, hasjust opened. There was only has a couple of monsters for the photo and a pavilion were they do workshops that was already closed, so we only saw the outside of it. There is a new area in construction, the Valley of Witches, scheduled to open in March, which will feature scenery from Howl’s mving Castle and Kiki’s Delivery Service.

The park is fucking amazing, and a total must for any self-respecting Ghibli fan. I want to go back right away. The one downside, for me, is the fixed schedule ticket system they have (which they say they will eliminate soon), because we didn't have enough time to see all of the Grand Warehouse, but if we’d stayed, we would have missed the Dondoko Forest, and with Totor being my favourite Ghibli film, that would have been unforgivable.

We came back exhausted, and it was an adventure to find a place to have dinner. The word of the day was "kanseki": "full." Finally, we found an izakaya where we had a great meal and better service.

[kaiyves-backup]

I don’t want to bag on traveling exhibitions too much, because they don’t play the same way in every space and they can’t be designed with every possible exhibit space in mind, but Apollo: When We Went to the Moon at the Intrepid Museum felt like it could have been better.

It’s set up in the space shuttle pavilion, replacing most of the normal displays there, but Enterprise is still visible overhead and their Soyuz capsule is still in its usual spot, so we have two very post-Space-Race vehicles unavoidably in the middle of an exhibit about the Space Race.

Enterprise, I love you, but I’m trying to look at Explorer I right now.

The exhibit was put together by the US Space and Rocket Center, where I attended Space Camp in 2008 and 2009, and it is accordingly heavy on rocket-related material, as most US launch vehicles of the Space Race were designed and built there, in Huntsville, Alabama.

Unfortunately, the exhibit text here is as uncomfortably worshipful about Wernher von Braun as in the exhibits I saw at the USSRC fifteen years ago, even as other museums like the Smithsonian do now discuss his Nazi past.

There was information about Operation Paperclip and the Nazis accessible via QR code, one of several cases in the exhibit where this is done. This is a trend I really dislike, because I don’t come to a museum to just stare at my phone.

Or how about you actually tell me something about the Artemis Program on this sign? You know, since I’m looking at it already?

The limitations of display space mean the exhibits come off as a bit of a temporal mishmash, with the full-sized Mercury capsule coming after the newspapers about JFK’s assassination. Several major events, including the Apollo 1 fire and the entire Gemini Program, are only included in timeline videos rather than being represented by displays, despite the USS Intrepid’s role as a Gemini recovery ship— and Gus Grissom having been aboard! (The Intrepid actually had an Apollo 1 temporary exhibit, 27 Seconds, in 2010-11.)

You’ll find Grissom and Gemini 3 elsewhere on the Intrepid, but not in Apollo: WWttM.

A section presenting artifacts from the Vietnam War and the anti-war and Civil Rights Movements (complimenting the Intrepid’s own “On the Line” Vietnam War exhibit on the deck below) tries to offer something of the social context in which the Space Race took place. This atmosphere of “a moon landing program in a time of major national and global turmoil” of course feels very timely.

The actual Apollo 11 section similarly opens with us watching the landing on TVs in a mock-up 1969 storefront with images of people all around the world also watching.

These two sections together suggest an interesting interpretation of the title as being about “when we went to the moon”, the whole era of Apollo— what was the spirit of the age, what else was happening, and how did people experience and react to it? Unfortunately, while this sort of theme could have made for a stronger exhibit if woven into the other displays, it’s only really present in these two sections, with the rest being a straightforward technical presentation.

(For example, with how much Vietnam-War-era material from the Intrepid’s own collection is on display elsewhere, it seems like a missed opportunity that we don’t have the Intrepid’s own onboard newsletters and photos from July 1969 on display to learn where in the world the ship was—presumably the Gulf of Tonkin?— and how its sailors and aviators watched the landing.)

These artifacts were still amazing to see, though!

(That’s the Mstislav Keldysh, the namesake of the research ship!)

One thing I will absolutely praise here is that the later Apollo missions are all given their due, and there’s a LOT about Apollo 15, which as everyone knows, I have a soft spot for.

The subsequent shuttle, space station, and SLS models at the end do a good job of connecting Apollo to Artemis, but as the exhibit was put together before Artemis 1, it doesn’t have a display, just a QR code.

A fun day out, definitely, but I kept thinking about how much more it could have included with more space to work with.

[ghostussy]

Terzo x (afab) PMSing Reader Comfort

Requested by someone on AO3! 

TW: AFAB references, menstruation, cramps, etc. 

No nsfw! We don’t do that here :) 

     I will keep this as gender neutral as possible, but this is generally aimed towards an AFAB audience. Also as a heads up, I have a difficult cycle so that will be exhibited here! Nothing too drastic, just extremely late cycles and more painful than for most people. (Like, when they first started at age 12 kind of pain) 

. . .

Something was wrong, you could feel it.

There was something off within your body. You couldn’t quite place your finger on it; you wondered if maybe you were approaching a depressive episode now that winter was coming, or maybe you were coming down with a cold. Your nerves were constantly fried and your back constantly ached; but most of all, you felt so needy. Constantly longing to be held, wishing to be coddled with the utmost care.

In the back of your mind you wondered if maybe it was that time of the month- though you couldn’t be too sure, because they never came on time. It had been over two months since your last cycle, and you knew that your next one would be brutal. Just in case, you stocked up on Midol, pads and tampons.

After a few more days you discovered that you were right, to your dismay. After speaking with Sister Imperator, she granted you a few days off to recover, for which you were thankful.

The first day went alright. You hadn’t even need to take any pain medications, and you wondered if your cycles would finally return to normal. The second day, you realized that you were so very wrong.

You spent much of the day in bed, trying to ignore the constant pains shooting through your abdomen and back. You took Midol as often as the instructions would allow, counting down the time until your next dose. They helped immensely, but often wore off a couple of hours before you could take it again. You wished you’d purchased some heating pads; they always seemed to help the most.

Suddenly you were startled by a gentle knock at your door. “Just a second,” you called, moving to stand. You winced as you did so, placing a hand onto your nightstand to steady yourself. You walked steadily over to the door, grabbing your robe and wrapping it around yourself. You opened the door to reveal a concerned-looking Terzo.

“Ah, hello, y/n,” he greeted, “Sister tells me you are unwell. I came by to see if you needed anything?”

“Oh, I’m alright, papa. That is very kind of you, though.”

“Of course. Though, are you positive you don’t need anything? The ghouls tell me you have been, eh, hurting?”

“Oh! How... How did they know?”

“They have a very keen sense, those ghouls.”

“Ah, yes, I suppose that makes sense. Well, papa, please don’t worry yourself. It is only...” you paused for a second, thinking of how you wanted to phrase it. “I am on my monthly cycle, is all. I unfortunately have a condition that makes it worse for me than for others, so that must be what the ghouls are sensing. Please do not worry about me.”

“Oh, dear. I obviously cannot relate,” he chuckled, “but maybe I can offer some comfort, perhaps? I happen to know where I can find some heating pads, and where my fratello keeps his chocolate stash. He does have quite the sweet tooth, you know.” He winked at you.

You pondered his offer. On one hand, you didn’t want to burden him... But on the other, you really would like to have a heating pad or two. “Yeah, that would be great, actually. But only if you aren’t busy, of course!”

He let out a chuckle and reached for your hand, gently bringing it to his lips. “For you, I am never too busy. Now, why don’t you get back into bed, and I will be right back.”

. . .

He returned a few minutes later with two heating pads, a large bag of chocolate, his laptop, and two warm cups of tea.

“Oh papa, you didn’t have to do all of this,” you told him, feeling slightly guilty. You looked up at him from your position on the bed. You had removed your robe once more, leaving you in only a t-shirt and basketball shorts.

“Dear child, it is the least I can do,” he insisted, setting the many items down. After plugging in both heating pads, he gestured for you to sit forward; you obeyed, wincing as you did so. He positioned the heating pad on the small of your back, and you repositioned it so that it was exactly where you needed it. “And please, call me Terzo. Now tell me, does your front hurt as well? Would you like the second heating pad there?”

“Oh, yes please. Thank you, Terzo.”

“Of course.” He walked around to the other side of the bed, moving to climb in underneath the covers with you. “Now, while we wait for the heat to kick in, I have a special treatment for that nasty pain of yours. It has a one hundred percent success rate. Would you like to try it?” He shot you a smirk.

You eyed him suspiciously. “Like what...?”

“Come on now, dolcezza. Do you not trust me?”

“Augh, fine.” You crossed your arms, looking at him curiously. “But no funny business!”

“Ah, no funny business here!” He held up his right hand. “Scout’s honor!”

“You were never a scout, though.”

“Ah, well- papa’s honor, I suppose.”

“I guess that will have to do.”

“Perfect. Now, the first thing you’ll want to do is get comfortable. Yes, that’s it- go ahead and lie down for me.” You did so, readjusting the heating pad on your back. Terzo laid down with you, leaning his face in close to your stomach, removing the blankets and still-cold heating pad from your abdomen. “Next, we expose the pained area.” He lifted up your shirt, exposing your bare stomach to the cold air. “Then...” he pressed a gentle kiss above your navel, prompting a giggle from you. He glanced up at you, making eye contact just before releasing a onslaught of kisses across your belly.

Laughter bubbled up from the back of your throat, and you were powerless to stop it. “Terzo!” you managed in between laughter, “Terz-aHAha! Thahat tickles!”

“Good! That means it is working. It is healing all that pain inside there.” He continued his gentle swarm of love. Finally, after a few moments, the kisses slowed to a stop. He pressed one last kiss into your soft skin, sweeter and longer than the others. He ran a gloved hand over the sensitive area, prodding one last giggle out of you; then he replaced your shirt where it belonged, as well as the now-warm heating pad and your blanket. “Now, all better.”

“Was all that really necessary?” You chuckled, curling up closer to him.

“Of course, dear. Now all your pain will be healed,” He handed you a cup of tea. “Now, would you like to watch a movie with me?”

“I would love to.” You took a few sips of your tea as he opened his laptop, opening a streaming service. “I’ll let you pick.”

“Oke doke.” He readjusted his position so that he lay propped up slightly against the pillows, with you laying down on your side comfortably, curled up with your head on his lap. He set his laptop down in front of you, close enough that the two of you could see, yet far enough that it wouldn’t hurt your eyes. You realized that he had chosen the newest Buzz Lightyear movie. You smiled slightly, amused by the fact that he had chosen a kids movie.

Curled up, you left the heating pad for your back a good distance away. With your back stretched at a weird angle, you didn’t need it as much. Your abdomen, however, was throbbing painfully; as you pressed the other heating pad into it, the pain reduced drastically. You relaxed into the heat, sighing blissfully as the movie started.

Terzo ran a hand through your hair, mindlessly working through your locks. He focused on the movie as he did so, not paying you much attention. About halfway through the movie, he finally looked down; your eyes were half-lidded, glazed over with sleep; your fingers curled around the blanket loosely. You still held the heating pad against you, though not in nearly as tight of a grip as you’d had before. “Ah, dormiglione,” he purred, pulling his hand from your hair and pulling the blanket over your shoulders, “è passata l'ora di andare a letto. (Ah, sleepyhead. It is past your bedtime.)”

A sleepy whine left your lips, disappointed that his hand was no longer in your hair. You rolled over so that your face was towards him instead of the movie, pressing it into his stomach. You still loosely held the heating pad to your abdomen. He chuckled, closing his laptop and setting it off to the side, off of the bed. He carefully lowered himself further into the mattress so that he was laying down completely. Sleepily, you gravitated towards him, pulling yourself into his chest. He wrapped his arms securely around you, rubbing your back with one hand and caressing your hair with the other.

Barely awake, you let out a sleepy, content sigh. You looked at him, your eyes bound in a sleepy haze; each breath you took was even, chest rising and falling rhythmically. “Alright, cara. Rest your eyes. I will be right here. Just go to sleep.”

Between the heat emitting from him and the heating pad, as well as the soft motions he made on your back and in your hair, there was no chance of you staying awake. Steadily, you drifted off, face buried in his chest. You fought it to an extent, losing miserably as he massaged your scalp. A soft whimper left your mouth as he did so; the action made you unbearably sleepy, forcing you to lay completely relaxed against him. Still, you were slightly awake.

Quietly, with his mouth pressed against your ear, began to sing. He kept his voice low and gravelly, trying to lull you into sleep.

“In this, your time of need / you’re turning to the light / you had just begun to explore the dark / in the urban light,” he adjusted your blanket once more, which had fallen off when he’d shifted earlier, “ the world is on fire / and you are here to stay, and burn with me.” Your eyes finally slid shut, a light blush from sleep forming on your cheeks. He looked at you, eyes full of adoration as he finished out the verse. “A funeral pyre / and we are here to revel / forevermore.”

A yawn left his mouth as he finished singing. He laid there, watching your chest rise and fall evenly, before allowing his own eyes to slide shut as he drifted off as well.

[blorbologist]

maggie! my sister and I are planning a road trip to canada this summer so as a canadian, anything you recommend doing, any absolute must sees?

!!! Oooh, have fun!

I can only really give concrete recommendations for Quebec and southern Ontario, and the later with less than a year of experience - so if you're headed to the prairies or BC I'm not much help.

For Québec:

If you stick to Montreal and the touristy areas, you lively won't need all that much French! Usually people clock that you're a tourist and will switch to English if they can. Less likely the farther you get from Montreal and the Townships.

Goes without saying, try a good poutine (There’s an invisible S in there, we pronounce it more like.. poutsine lmao)! Don't get it from a big chain except maybe Belle Province or Poutineville, the very best I've had have usually been from lil cantines. If they’re not using fresh cheese curds don't trust em.

Also Beaver Tails (a fried pastry brand). Usually have lil kiosks near events and sinfully good. My brother and I go bonkers for them.

In Montreal proper, I'd recommend a walk on Mt.Royal! I forget if the inside skating rink at Atwater is still available this time of year, but might be worth looking into. Vieux Montréal is a nice place to romp around, especially around the canals and the Atwater market. Avoid driving in and around MTL it's a living hell, move around by bus or metro(subway) if you can, you can get day passes easy enough. St.Catherine and Mt.Royal streets usually have fun stores and restaurants to poke around in, and the gay village is great! I'm pretty sure most amusement parks in the USA are bigger than La Ronde, so don't waste your time with it.

Zoo de Granby is one I went to a lot as a child and they do great conservation work and have beautiful exhibits + a fun water park! Bromont is great for winter fun, but wrong time of year, and their water park can be hit or miss.

Both Bromont and Sutton are great for hiking (I have good memories of getting up to a lake on Mt.Sutton just as the mist revealed it, so cool). Apparently so is Owl's Head, but I've only skii'd there. Bromont is expensive and the cops are real sticklers, Sutton is a lot smaller and personally I think more cute and chill.

Lac Brome/Lake Brome is just about the most anglophone place in the province outside of Montreal! You can do a lot of kayaking, boating and even just driving around the lake is nice. It is a tourist town with its businesses catered towards Montrealers weekending there, so everything is closed Mon/Tues but open over weekends. Just a very cute and anglophone town.

Memphremagog / Magog is both an okay town and a really great lake, bigger than Lac Brome if you'd rather get on the water there. Also fun local myths of a lake monster >:3c

If you like murder mysteries, Louise Penny based many locations in her series off of areas in the Townships - such as Brome Lake Books('s old location) and Abbey St.Benoit (which has great cheese). There are maps to help her fans run around and see the locations irl!

Due to the dairy industry there's a lot of great cheese and icecream in general. Coaticook has great icecream and a cool gorge (my ex lived there), but it’s very French so you might have trouble.

A personal highlight: drive up the St.Lawrence. it's gorgeous, sometimes there are whales, and just. Amazingly beautiful. Fuckoff cold water tho.

There are a ton if beautiful national parks in Quebec; Bic is a highlight personally.

For southern Ontario:

Niagara Falls is a mixed bag: the falls themselves are incredible, absolutely awe inspiring (I remember getting to my hotel room after and writing in a frenzy - the MIST from them hits you SEVERAL HUNDRED METERS AWAY). BUT the area around them are a tourist trap, overpriced and iffy.

I haven't run around Toronto much beyond getting lost going to n from the airport, but I've heard decent enough things?

Iirc there might be more Freedom Convoy bullshit going on in Ottawa, so keep an eye on the news if it's on your bucket list.

Also have heard p good things about the national parks, almost went camping with the other grads before schedule conflicts popped up.

Haven't done much due to gradschool unfortunately :c

I also know that Alberta has an incredible dinosaur museum with some amazing specimens, and Dinosaur Provincial Park is teaming with big fossils (almost went on a dig there but Covid happened).

Hope some of this helped!

[missywritesfor7]

🌺 Promise Flower | PJM 🌺

Synopsis: Jimin is a popular dance student and the best one at his university. Mina is a photography student and has known Jimin since high school. An idea for a photo project finds Mina getting closer to him than she ever has before. She learns how big his heart is, but also learns how closely he guards it. Every time she thinks he'll let her in, he pulls away again. Is it even worth the trouble?

Pairing: college student!Jimin x fem!oc

Warnings: depression, anxiety, panic attacks, alcoholism

Next Chapter | Masterlist

|| Ch. 1: Let’s Dance ||

A new year has started and I’m excited to begin my junior year as a photography major. Soon I’ll be graduating and on my way to becoming a great photographer and hosting my own exhibits that even celebrities will want to go to.

Wishful thinking, but either way I’m excited to be that much closer to graduating and starting my career in photography.

“What are you going to do for your semester project, Mina?” My friend Taehyung asks. We met freshman year as photography majors and seem to have nearly every class together since then. He’s become my best friend at the school and my wine partner when I need to let off steam.

“I don’t know,” I respond taking a bite of my bagel as we sit in the cafe that’s conveniently located in the art building on campus. “Why would he put something so heavy on us like that and only give us a short time to decide on a subject?”

This semester our photography professor gave the class a project where we choose a subject and follow them throughout the semester. The final project is worth nearly half my grade so I know I have to do perfect on it.

“I don’t know,” Taehyung says. “But we have to figure something out.”

“Ugh,” I sigh struggling to think of an idea. “What about following one of the sports teams through their season?”

“That would be fine if we actually had any fall sports at this school,” Taehyung huffs.

Our university is one of many (but few) that don’t have a football team, or volleyball team, or any other Fall sport schools typically have. Sports are basically nonexistent until basketball season starts. Too bad we’re not taking this class in the spring.

“Well shit,” I sigh. “What about a series of self portraits where I document myself increasingly losing my shit as the semester goes on?”

“Let me know how that goes,” Taehyung laughs. “I’ve got class, I’ll see you later.” I wave as he grabs his bags and heads off down the hall.

My next class isn’t for another hour so I hang in the cafe a little longer before I decide to wander the halls to kill time. I always enjoy going through the halls of the art building and passing rooms where masterpieces are being created whether on canvas or through music. The music especially is my favorite.

As I’m strolling along I come to one of the dance rooms with the door open. There’s a soft classical track playing and inside a petite figure is moving across the floor with fluid motions. His body floats seamlessly on the waves of the music and I almost want to pull out my camera to capture how flexible his body is. It’s almost as if he’s made of rubber rather than skin and bones. He makes a turn and his eyes meet mine.

“Mina!” He says with a smile.

“Jimin?” I say finally realizing who I had been watching.

Jimin and I went to high school together, and while we weren’t incredibly close, we still had a few classes together and became friends. When we started college we would still run into each other from time to time since we both are majoring in the arts. I wouldn’t necessarily consider him my “bestie”, but he’s definitely a cool friend.

“What are you doing here?” He asks pausing the music and waving me into the room.

“I was just walking around until my next class. Are you already busting your ass on a routine when it’s just the second week of the semester?” I joke.

It’s no secret that he’s one of the best dancers at the school. He’s been dancing his entire life and has won many awards. I’m sure the school was excited when they saw he wanted to attend here of all places as a dance student. But it’s also no secret that he tends to be quite hard on himself. Pushing himself to his very limits for the sake of improvement. He doesn’t know how to take it easy, but I guess it’s hard to when he’s trying to maintain his position at the top of the class, which is constantly being threatened by another great dancer.

“There’s no resting for the best dancer at the school,” he smiles.

“Oh, is Hoseok practicing right now?” I tease looking around.

Jimin playfully huffs while scrunching his face at me. Hoseok is the other best dancer at the school and although he and Jimin have completely different dance styles, they both are constantly going back and forth in rankings for the top spot in the dance program.

Despite that, and everyone else constantly making this out to be some sort of heated rivalry between them, they’re actually best friends and roommates. They find it funny that people assume they would hate each other and tend to joke about it more than they take any of it seriously.

“Anyway!” He says playfully trying to move past my teasing. “I have a recital at the end of the semester and I’m trying to decide what dance I want to do.”

“You have to plan a recital already?”

“It’s basically our final exam so I want it to be perfect. I’m just having a hard time coming up with something that I think will be good enough.”

“Oh come on, anything you do will be more than good enough. Even the little I just saw you doing was amazing.”

“Really?” He asks as if he’s not the winner of numerous gold medals from a lifetime of dancing excellence.

“Jimin please,” I laugh. Just then the gears in my head start turning and I get hit with an idea. “You know what? I have to follow a subject through the semester for my photo project. What if I did a photo series of you?”

“Me? Why?”

“Jimin you’re a man with no bones. That would look incredible in pictures. I could follow you as you prepare for your recital. I’ll even let you have copies of all of the photos. It’s perfect!”

He takes a moment to think on it, definitely being hit with a wave of shyness and embarrassment from the sudden praise. I try to give my best puppy eyes to convince him.

“Fine,” he resolves with a smile. “As long as you make me look good.”

“You don’t need me for that,” I laugh. “I still have about 15 minutes before my next class, can I try some test shots while you keep practicing?”

“Now? I look terrible,” he says hiding behind his hands.

“Calm down,” I laugh. “They’re test shots, I just want to get a feel for the way you move and try to figure out how I want to approach this.”

“Ok ok.” He stands up and turns his music back on as I pull out my camera and get ready for him to begin.

The next 15 minutes I watch as he dances back and forth across the floor. I don’t know much about contemporary dance at all, but I know that he looks amazing doing it. I take lots of photos of him using different angles and camera settings. It’s hard to tell on the tiny camera screen if they’re any good, but hopefully when I pull them up on my computer I’ll have enough to help me decide on the focus of my project.

Before I leave for my next class he tells me he’ll let me know his practice schedule so we can do this again with much more time to spare. I’m just happy to have a subject for my project, and thankfully it’s someone I know to keep it from being totally awkward.

After my class I go home to my apartment and am surprised to see my roommate Jin sitting on the couch. He’s a theater major, and like the rest of us in the arts, he spends most of his time somewhere on or off campus perfecting his craft. To see him at home at a normal time is rare.

“Did you see me in the paper??” He asks enthusiastically holding up a copy of the school’s student run newspaper.

“Why were you in the paper?” I ask taking the paper and skimming through an article written right next to a large photo of his brightly smiling face.

“Because I’m so handsome,” he says with a cheesy grin.

“That can’t be it,” I tease.

The article actually talks about how he had been casted in his third leading role in the theater department so early in the semester. He transferred here from community college last year and has pretty much taken the school by storm since then. It also mentions how he’s always a sought after person to host campus events thanks to his natural ability to entertain an entire crowd, whether he’s hosting a charity game show for one of the school clubs, or a luncheon for professors, he can always get laughs out of people.

“Of course that’s why!” He playfully boasts. “The rest is just filler.”

“If you say so,” I laugh.

“That’s not the best part though!” He says in excitement. “My friend JK said he would take video of me and edit it into a highlight reel so I can use it to send to agencies. Before you know it I’ll be all over the tv! Should I give you my autograph now?”

“I’ll pass,” I joke handing him the paper back.

“Whatever,” he says playfully rolling his eyes. “I think Namjoon really captured my charm in this story.”

He smiles big and bright as he continues boasting about his first feature in the newspaper. I won’t mention that I know he most likely got the feature because the reporter, Namjoon, and Jin are good friends. Not that it makes a difference because Jin is still an amazing actor and has more charisma than I’ve ever seen in one single person. If he wasn’t friends with the newspaper’s art beat writer then he would still catch everyone’s attention one way or another. I’m just surprised it took this long for him to be featured in anything.

Later in the evening Jimin texts me his practice schedule. He mentions that he’s actually going to spend the week planning out his choreo, which he does on paper, and tells me that probably wouldn’t be interesting in photos, but I insist on capturing every step in the process. If I’m going to have a series from start to finish, then I want to get every little detail I can.

We set aside time for me to go by his apartment tomorrow while he works on it. It turns out that he lives in the complex next to mine so that works out perfectly. We live on a street of apartments that aren’t affiliated with the school but are mostly rented by students. I chose this over school sponsored housing just in case I wasn’t able to find anywhere else to live after graduation. I figured it would be much easier this way instead of scrambling for a new home once I’m done with school.

The next evening I go over to Jimin’s apartment once we’re both done with our classes for the day. He takes me to his room and I prep my camera to take shots of him drawing and scribbling in his notebook.

I don’t know anything about dance, but I’m learning that dancers don’t just go out on the floor and start moving, they actually draw everything out and make lots of notes.

Jimin plays a piano track over and over on his phone as he draws out every detail of his choreography in his notebook. As I’m taking pictures of him I can’t help but notice that this is a different song than the one he was dancing to yesterday.

“Did you change the song?” I ask when he takes a moment for a sip of water.

“Yeah, it’s a song Yoongi had been working on all summer. He let me listen to the final arrangement and it was perfect. We decided to make it a joint recital and he’ll play live as I dance. And he’ll make me look good! Do you know how many people I can get to see my performance if I say Yoongi will be playing live?”

Yoongi is another top student at the school. He’s one of the best pianists this school has ever seen, and he already has a few professional producing credits under his name. I’ve met him a few times before but he’s usually short of words. I can’t exactly tell if he’s terribly introverted and shy or if he thinks he’s too good to say much to anyone else, but I try to give him the benefit of the doubt since I don’t really know him that well.

“You really got Yoongi to agree to play for your recital?”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“I’m not,” I laugh. “It’s just that he doesn’t seem to even talk to anyone, I just don’t know how you got him to play your recital.”

“I know how he seems to everyone, but he’s actually really cool deep down. And really nice! I didn’t even have to beg him to do my recital, he agreed right away!” Jimin beams with his big smile that presses his eyes shut rendering him happily blind. I can’t help but smile back at his contagious enthusiasm.

He spends more time planning his choreography and taking brief moments every so often to talk to me. I tell him he can pretend I’m not there but he says it feels weird to not acknowledge me every once in a while. As we’re getting ready to wrap up Hoseok comes home with a large pizza in tow.

“Mina!” He shouts. “I didn’t know you would be here!” He sets the pizza down on the kitchen counter and gives me a big hug.

Hoseok and I have seen each other from time to time, and although we’re not close, he always greets me with a big smile and a hug as if we’re old buddies. He has a very bright personality which is almost the opposite of the dark dominating persona he has when he’s dancing. He’s like a different person on stage it’s a bit scary.

“Do you want some pizza?” He asks as Jimin is already grabbing a slice out of the box.

“Sure, I could eat.” I say making myself comfortable on one of their barstools.

I end up spending another two hours in their apartment enjoying pizza and chatting. Our discussions are mostly focused around our classes and semester projects. Jimin is stuck with one of the worst professors for art history and Hoseok and I offer him our condolences as we’ve both already suffered through that class in previous semesters.

Jimin and I plan to meet again next week in one of the practice rooms so I can begin getting shots of him in action. I’m excited about this project now. Jimin is a great dancer and it would give my portfolio a major boost to have photos of him in it. Knowing that he’ll also be working with Yoongi makes me even more ecstatic. The two of them are the greatest this school has probably ever seen, I just know their recital will be incredible!

[singingbun]

So when I found out about the show 'The Glory' everything about it, from premise to the nature of its bullying got me thinking back to another manga title: "LIFE"

Trigger Warning: Anecdotes of Bullying, mentions of assault, SA and SI.

How many people remembered this manga when Tokyopop was at its hayday?

Back when manga was still new to me at 14, I remembered borrowing Fruits Basket volumes and would sometimes see this image as a manga advertisement. All the while, it gave a clear warning it was rated r18+ due to its violence and heavily mature themes. It took me 3 years later to finally get access into reading it. and what I saw both horrified me, and opened up wounds I never thought I had until I read it.

This panel specifically. The moment I realised I was bullied was when the heroine Ayumu had bravely said to her bullies that she would rather be alone than to suffer under these girls' torments.

The story of LIFE contrary to The Glory, was about a girl Ayumu who was estranged from her friend in middle school and went through a point of her grief that led her to self-harming herself. After the estrangement, she had found herself starting anew in her high school, and found herself befriending another girl Manami and hoped to live through her high school years without failure. That was until Manami's crush assaulted Ayumu, creating a horrifying misunderstanding which led Manami brutally bullying Ayumu with every opportunity she gets. From drugs to assault, from self-harm to brutal violence; everything about this manga felt like a survivor's story of how someone who lived through it all.

Everything about this manga, from its beginning to end was one of the hardest stories I've ever read. down to the finish line, some plot threads presented didn't feel as conclusive as any reader may have hoped. But, that was the point of the manga. The title itself, 'LIFE' was intentional, as it felt like the author's cry to the readers to see life in its cruelty, just as she tries her best to aspire hope to those who fell victim to bullying.

I must confess, that now that I am older, the memories of my own psychological scars feels more painful now than it did almost an entire decade ago. Even just the first 20 minutes of the Glory's first episode was already reopening those wounds for me that I couldn't bring myself to even continue it. From the physical scars to the scars unseen, a part of me felt angry to hear the opinion that bullying depicted in these stories are an exaggeration.

Stories like 'the glory' and 'LIFE' are far from an exaggeration when it came to bullying in East Asia or even South East Asia. There was a reason I've come to hate the memories I had from my birth country. And much of the cultures that exhibit such violent behaviours are just the tip of the iceberg. I've seen my brother held down as he was getting kicked by boys who were twice his height. My sister was bullied by boys as a child to the point she hated men for almost all of her entire primary years. I've seen the girl whom I once 'idolized' as my friend corner another girl just because she didn't like her habit of apologising. Throw her bag to the ground and scatter her notes just to prove a point that the girl needed to 'fix' herself. And like an idiot that I was, I earnestly believed I was the one in the wrong for being rejected by my bullying friend just because I kept saying sorry. That girl was the start to my suicidal ideation and to this day, I could never forget the day she mocked my tears as she continued to torment me.

Everything about what is depicted in both the Glory and LIFE may be seen as an exaggeration. Now to be fair, I'll give these perspectives the benefit of the doubt, because all who make such light claims must've come from a place where they haven't experienced the same horrors that the characters depicted have gone through. But that's not to say their struggles are lesser. It's only that it does bite at me when people make this matter lighter than what it actually is.

After I had discovered the real-life counterpart that inspired 'the glory' in the first place, my heart breaks at the confirmation. And it is true that more times, life imitates art, its stories like LIFE and the Glory that proves that art truly does imitate life.

All of this now said, to those who had suffered under such scrutiny, harm and violence altogether. To those who had endured such cruel experiences of being bullied. Hold onto hope. As harsh and as cruel as it is, for as long as you live, you can still find it. You can still find the strength to hold on. Maybe these words come off as hollow, but as I write this, I'm telling myself the same words everyday. There is always a way to get back on your feet for as long as you live. It's just the matter of building up the courage to find strength to stem that tide.

[gaijinink]

Chapter 1:

An exhibition match live stream was showing on the Tele, the match was between A man with long purple hair, a baseball cap and a cap with him coaching a reddish orange draconic creature vs an unknown opponent with blonde spiky hair. The title on the screen showed the purple haired man was called Leon 

The Tv was watched by a man with upright brown hair, held together by his blue goggles, he wore a orange hoodie with a blue t-shirt and trousers 

The man watches the match at home. He seems to be out of it, rarely focusing on action. He had always been Leon’s biggest fan and his Charizard but ever since four years ago, he hasn't felt right looking at any reptilian creatures recently either like if they brought up painful memories. He looked at his childhood Charmander teddy bear at the corner of his bed. He looked into the corner of the room to see a box that is meant for storage, in it was a old barely wore child sized dragon costume.

He paused the stream to push the costume fully into the box, as it caused chaos in the box, a blue octagon devise was pushed up, he looked depressed after seeing it, he then shut the box, sealed it with paper tape, turned the TV off and then took the box with him out of the room.

As he walked through the door, he could here a voice 

Voice: Where are you going Tai?

Tai: Taking some stuff to storage Izzy, bye.

Tai left the house with the box and began to walk toward the city's local storage park and went to his family's shared container. He opened it and placed his box inside. 

Tai: See you later bud.

He said in a melancholic tone 

He closed the container and was about to leave until a girl jumped onto his shoulder, the girl had blonde wavy hair that reached her back with an even fringe. She wore a blue denim overalls with a white shirt, a blue sports cap, black work boots and tinted sunglasses. 

As she jumped onto Tai’s shoulders, she managed to weigh less as a feather as she jumped off onto the roof of the container. Tai saw her holding onto a chip in her left hand. 

She seemed to drop something. A small bag full of Xp Candies, Tai decide to follow the girl but before he could, a robot crush to the ground just before him

It was around 10 feet, covered in reflective silver armour, it's body was mostly human apart from the enlarged arms ending in blades fingers, it's face was just a purple visor and metal plate shaped into a set of angry clenched teeth.

Titan x-75: Where are they 

Tai: What?? 

Titan x-75: My Name is Titan x-75, you must comply 

Tai: Why should I!

Tai said in both frustration and confusion 

Titan x-75: As a unit of SBS industrial I'm authorised to extract any data from you. 

A rock was flung at the robot, Tai looked behind to see who it was, it was the girl from before. 

Unnamed Girl: Run 

Tai began to run from the machine but wasn't fast enough, the girl then grabbed his hand.

Unnamed Girl: hold on. 

Tai used his other hand to hold her hand as well, the girl jumped a bit, causing a small object to dislodge from her left shoe, the item promptly turned into a hoverboard, Tai moved his body to be fully on the board. 

Unnamed Girl: Like the Extreme Gear, it’s borrowed from a friend. 

Tai was embarrassed by being close to this girl, and a bit confused by how casual she was being around a murder robot

Tai(thoughts): Ok so I guess I'm in crazy vile!!! 

The robot tried to give chase but once past the storage area’s gate, it visor dulled in colour and it began to shut down

Unnamed Girl: Where do you want dropping

Tai: Huh, anywheres fine

Tai said awkwardly 

The girl drove the board towards Tai’s house And landed across the road, on this side was a series of apartments

Unnamed Girl: So where are you at?

Tai: I'm across the road. 

Tai points to his house

Unnamed Girl: Oh cool, see you around. 

Tai got off the board, and both him and the girl went their separate ways 

Tai entered his home and went straight to his bed. He dropped on to it as if all his energy leaked out of him 

Tai(thoughts): What a weird girl, like who acts that casually in front of that thing. God I thought shit like this would stop happening. Wait why does she remind me of someone. 

Tai’s mind flashes back to 15 years ago back when he was 11 years old. We see Tai with another child, this child had short black-dark green hair, on their face was two zigzags, they wore a white baseball hat and had a primary blue outfit. 

Tai: Hey aren't you that loser

The child didn't respond, next to them was a red-haired girl who was slightly older and a teenage boy with black spiky hair. 

Misty: Don't listen Ash 

Brock: Kid please just leave us alone 

Tai: Aren't you that stupid trainer who lost due to your stupid Charizard 

Tai said smugly 

Ash looks at Tai 

Ash: Can I just go now

Ash has tears running down their face

Misty: Ash 

Delia, Ash’s mum and Oak were walking towards Ash and the commotion. 

Delia: Ash you ok

Delia runs towards her son, puts her hand and stares at Tai

Tai: What you mum here to protect you 

A young girl walks up to Tai and begins to pull at her brother's shirt. Their mother followed shortly behind 

Kari: Tai can were go 

Tai: Why

Tai responded annoyed

Kari: Your being mean and mum looking for you

Behind Ash was a small yellow mouse with red cheeks and a tail shaped like a thunderbolt. It began to come forth 

Ash: Pikachu 

Pikachu proceeded to get in front of Ash and stared at Tai with an upset on their face. Kari looked at Pikachu and tried to pet the little creature. When she did Pikachu seemed to enjoy the attention

Ash: He's my starter Pokémon

Kari: Oh I want a mousy Pokémon, their awesome 

Kari smiled and so did Ash

Tai: Kari that enough!

Tai furiously said

Tai pulled her back, she began to fall until one of the pokeballs on Ash's belt burst open, a Charizard manifested behind Kari to catch her. After catching her, the Pokémon stared Tai down with intense anger and frustration. Tai stood back slowly in shock, he couldn't say a thing.

Yuuko: Tai what's going on!!!

Yuuko looks around to see her daughter in Charizard’s arms, she picks her up and put her on the ground

Yuuko: What are you doing up there?

She said playfully

Kari: Tai was bullying Charizard's trainer and I tried to stop him and then he pulled me over and Charizard catched me

Yuuko: What!!

Yuuko gave him an angry expression before grabbing him by shirt and dragging him with one hand and holding Kari’s hand in the other. Before leaving she turned her head towards the group behind her

Yuuko: Sorry about my son

She looked at her son with a crossed face, Tai in a moment know what was up

Tai: Sorry for mocking you, Ash

Tai said with little effort 

Ash: No worries, hopefully we meet again

Ash said in spontaneous happiness 

Everyone around Ash were shocked at their statement including his two Pokémon

Delia: That's our Ash 

Delia stated proudly 

Misty: Yeah, I guess 

Misty said with a smile 

Tai looked shocked at how he just let him off the hook for his half-assed apology. 

Tai stops remembering the past as looks around the room, that memory has played so much in his head over the years that he is not even sure it's real anymore.

Tai(thoughts): I wonder if she is his sister, it's possible that she is but why wasn't she there, did I forget?

Tai lay on their bed in a melancholy state. A knock on the door breaks the silence. A man with short spiky red hair and in a white shirt and black trousers appeared at the door, next to him was a red beetle creature around 3 feet tall. 

Tai: Yo Izzy 

Izzy: There's a delivery for you. 

Tai: Ok?

Tai looked confused. He began to walk toward the door down stairs, he was followed by the beetle creature. Tai opened the front door to see the girl from before. She now wore a red jacket with a peach polo shirt underneath, she wore a blue denim skirt and black knee length combat boot. Her lack of headwear exposed her dark roots, she also wasn't wearing sunglasses and you can see her brown eyes. She held a small dvd size box. 

Tai: Hey 

Tai said awkwardly

Unnamed Girl: Hey

Tai: Hey do you know Ash Ketchum

Unnamed Girl: Actually I need to come in to talk with you

Tai: I just wanted to ask if your his sister

Unnamed Girl: Please I need to come in 

Tai: If you are can you tell him I want to say sorry to him for real

Tai said in the most awkward way possible

Unnamed Girl: That's not necessarily

Tai: By the way do you want to go out

Tai said suddenly, he blushes heavily

Unnamed Girl: What?!

The girl blush awkwardly as well

Tai: Sorry if this is sudden, I'm a bit disorganised at the moment 

A grey helicopter can be seen in the distance, it drops down a robotic humanoid shape to the ground. It was the Titan x-75. The machine is connected to the helicopter by a thick tube. Izzy sees it landing from an upstairs window and rushes downstairs. Once downstairs he looks at the beetle creature

Izzy: Tentomon, let's go 

Tentomon: You got it

Both leave the house to face the metal beast

Izzy search his pocket for something but couldn't find it

Tentomon: what's wrong 

Izzy: I can't find my Digivice, Tai can you please find it 

Izzy shouted

Tai: Ok 

Tai looked shock but went into the house

Izzy: Tentomon can you fight as is 

Tentomon: Sure thing Izzy

The girl walks outside towards the battle, the machine begins to activate, Tai look back to see the girl walking towards danger

Tai: Wait what are doing!?

Tai shouted

Unnamed Girl: What does it look like I'm doing, I'm helping your friend fight. 

Tai: But it's dangerous

Unnamed Girl: actually what was this apology you wanted to say

Tai: What?! 

Unnamed Girl: Tell me!!!!!

Tai: Ash I'm sorry, I'm an arse and your a better trainer than I ever could be!

Tai began to cryt a bit

Izzy: Tai

Izzy said in a concerned manner

Unnamed Girl: Apology accepted

Tai: What?

Unnamed Girl: Also please stop using my dead name, I'm Ashley now, and yes going out does sound good 

Ashley said playfully, she rubbed her cheek to reveal that they were covered in foundation, when removed her zigzags were revealed. The robot slowly started up, Everyone prepared for battle.

Izzy: Tai the Digivice now 

Tai: Right!

Tai was still shocked but got moving anyway 

Tai dashed into the house to look

Tentomon: How are you going to defend yourself miss Ashley 

Ashley opens her box to reveal a small cylinder device, she presses a button on it causing the device to split in half

Device: PC Box Link activate, linking to Pallet Town

Inside the open device was a small portal appeared, Tai returns with the Digivice, a purple phone like device. 

Tai: Got it Izzy 

Tai looked at Ashley’s device, out of the portal jumped out a petit yellow mouse with a yellow bolt like tail, a set of thin pointed ears, red cheeks and black glossy eyes. They land in front of Ashley. 

Ashley: You ready Pikachu 

Pikachu: Pika Pika(Yes Ashley)

Ashley: Use Electro Ball

Pikachu: Pipika(Okie doke)

Pikachu used it's bolt like tail to conjurer a ball of thunder at the tip of its tail and used said tail to bash it like a basketball 

Izzy: Tentomon use Super Shocker as well

Tentomon: Will do 

Tentomon shoots two blue lightning bolts from its body that homes on to the machine. Both creatures make contact, causing a storm of electricity to swarm around the metallic creature’s exterior. The electricity moves away to reveal only moderate damage. The machine begins to full awake and charges Tentomon with its claws, Pikachu gets in the way between the two 

Ashley: Pikachu uses Protect

Pikachu summons a reflective barrier to protect himself and Tentomon behind him, the claw bounces off the barrier, the Titan begins to put both their hands together and strike down on all below them. Both mons were hurt. Ashley rush to their side

Ashley: Pikachu!!!

Ashley was now in a fluster. She shouted as she dash towards her best friend. The Titan continued it’s assault but before it could perform its second blow, Ashley blocked it with her back to protect both Pikachu and Tentomon. She pulled two blocky bottles from her jacket

Tentomon: what are you doing 

Pikachu: Pikapi(Ashley your going to hurt yourself)

Pikachu said tearfully 

Ashley: I'm fine just let my use this Max Potions

Titan continues to attack Ashley, however Ashley is able to use both potions on both her friends to heal their wounds. Before Titan could attack Ashley again, Tai bursts in from the side with a hoover and strikes the machine so hard, the machine's visor brakes, causing internal damage to its head unit. 

Titan x-75: You goddamn brat

Titan wildly swings at Tai's direction, with three claws slashes into Tai’s chest, Leaving three gouged lines across his chest. Izzy catches him 

Izzy: You fucking bastard, Tentomon, the new Digivolution program is ready 

Tentomon: Roger

Izzy: Tentomon Digivolve now!!!

Tentomon: Tentomon digivolve in Tyrantk….

Tentomon's body began to change into a ball of light but before he could finish, Titan attacked him with its fist, flinging him against the house. Titan stands still for a second as oil pours out of its broken visor. Tai stood up after being hit and proceeded to punch the machine, the machine barely seemed phased. Tai's chest was bleeding heavily, staining his clothes. The machine begins to move for a final hit on Tai. Ashley saw that the casing around its chest was broken. Ashley looked at Pikachu.

Ashley: Please use Volt Tackle on the crack

Pikachu: Pipi(Ok)

Pikachu body burst with yellow electricity, Pikachu then suddenly dashed into Titan, causing massive damage whilst causing it to fall over and destroy its cable. The helicopter tries to retreat but an orange spaceship with a green visor intercepts the vehicle by blocking it’s path and preventing it from escaping, Ashley looks up at the scene before blacking out, Tai slowly follows after. A group suddenly runs towards them.

[chloemarievaughan]

May 8

we left our tiny jail cell hotel room bright and early, to take the 7:45 train to Edinburgh, switching trains in Glasgow on the way. the line from Glasgow to Mallaig, which we did in pieces between the Harry Potter route to mallaig and today Fort William to Glasgow, is called the West Highland Line, and it is often voted the best train journey in the UK. Having taken it I can wholeheartedly agree! we had another gorgeous set of views winding back out of the highlands to Glasgow. The downside of the north to south direction of travel was that we got worse views toward the end when we were approaching Glasgow; it felt SO strange to see so many people, houses, roads, and infrastructure after all the relativel sparse populated areas we have been through in the past week. Our reservations for seats were once again facing backwards; grey decided to sit in our seats but I jumped around a bit to take pictures based on the views. However our train was very full so there weren’t too many options for switching sides, and eventually the only seat on the good side for the views was directly next to a heater so I understood why it was still open 😂 we changed trains in Glasgow, very painless as we got off one train and 5 minutes later were on the next train, and made it to Edinburgh about 1:00. It was a 5 hour train journey that covered only about 130 miles, so definitely our train was not going very fast. But that gave us more time to soak in the views. One of the highlights of the ride was the “Horseshoe Curve” where the train makes a very tight u shaped curve around a valley.

By the time we made it to Edinburgh, we were ravenous; no trolley lady selling snacks in this train, though there was a bathroom on board. we had a ~20 minute walk to our air bnb and if I thought the walk to our air bnb was hilly in Inverness, i was sorely mistaken. Edinburgh is Crazy hilly and it was unpleasant to lug our suitcases along, though I enjoyed the walk as we took in the sheer numbers of people out and about. Grey was feeling a bit claustrophobic- way too many people for an introvert haha.

I love traveling in Europe because each city has such a unique look; there is something so Edinburgh about the sort of dirty stone building with the castle looming overhead, and buskers playing the bagpipes as you walk along the street. Our air bnb has a direct view of the castle! It’s nice to have a lot of space again after our hotel in Fort William. This is Grey’s last day of the trip before he flies back to Denver tomorrow, so he has just one afternoon/evening to get a little taste of Edinburgh.

We tried to drop off our bags in the air bnb , but there was no key in the lockbox. So we headed to a pub across the way and Grey enjoyed his last fish and chips of the trip and I had a very good steak sandwich and a beer. Our airbnb host messaged back that the cleaning lady was still working on our flat but we could be buzzed into the locked door by the cleaning crew to drop our bags. So we did that and then had a walk around for about an hour, taking in the sights. We went into St Giles Cathedral, and another church that had been converted into an art store, and went in a few whisky stores. Grey found a bottle of the Talisker 18 year he loved but it was a bit out of his price range at £195 haha. We had 3:00 tickets to the castle and in retrospect should have bought the audio guide, but we made do with walking around and looking at the exhibits. There are great views of the city from the castle walls, we learned about the 1 o’clock gun; in the old days, time keeping was difficult and so every day at 1:00 a gun was fired to let everyone in Edinburgh and all the ships in the harbor know what time it was. It is still fired today, for more ceremonius purposes as I think we have more accurate time keeping methods now haha. there is a residence where the governor of the castle used to live, a great hall stuffed with armor and old swords, a war memorial where I obliviously took a photo and got a scolding from a security guard because it is forbidden to take photos in there, a museum about Scottish war history with tons of artifacts, and an extremely long line to view the Scottish Crown Jewels. grey was not down to wait in the line and I didn’t mind missing it, so we googled the photo of the jewels and read a little exhibit about it. They were gifts from the pope in about the year 1500, and were used to crown two literal babies, Mary Queen of Scots who was days old, and James the IV? James the Somethingth who was under a year when he became King. They put the crown on the baby and put the lscepter in their tiny hand. Reportedly Mary screamed through her whole coronation.

once we were done with the castle (it was okay, I don’t see how we could have NOT gone there with it being visible from our window haha) we relaxed for a bit in the apartment, Grey checked in for his flight, and we had dinner reservations at 6:45 at the Whiski Rooms . We finally had some DElLICIOUS Scottish food; Grey had venison, which he had been wanting for the past few days after all our tour guides kept talking about the game and hunting lodges in the Highlands. I had braised lamb shoulder which was excellent but did make me feel somewhat guilty later when looking at all the lamb photos we took this trip 😬 and we both did a whisky flight. Grey did a staff pick selection and I did a “whisky regions” selection with one whisky each from the Highlands, Islands, Lowlands, and Speyside. Unsurprisingly I didn’t like the peaty Islay one and I liked the Highlands one the best- it was more similar to the Oban 14 that I liked the best still of all the ones I’ve tasted or the Ben Nevis ones.

we enjoyed another sticky toffee pudding: grey was a fan of the hot salted caramel sauce that came on the side so you could perfectly drip the exact ratio of caramel sauce on each bite. We headed home for a nightcap of the Tomatin 18 we had bought a little airplane bottle of at the Tomatin tour (best Tomatin we tried) and enjoyed the view of the castle lit up at night. tomorrow Grey is flying home to Denver and I have two more days to fill near Edinburgh. I have some fun things planned but Will miss having someone who cares about reading restaurant reviews to find us the best places to eat- I’m more of a “let’s eat in the place next door” convenience traveler 😂 there’s no one I would rather ride trains, drink whisky, and explore the Highlands with than Grey!! love you! :)

[luciancityguard]

It was hours later when she pushed through the door of his apartment. Her work hours and his coinciding for once, meaning he was still awake despite it being the early hours of the morning. Dropping her bag to the floor, Selena made a beeline for Petra and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face against his t-shirt. "Thank you, for earlier. Thank you for believing me and thank you for being fair."

Today had been a complete and utter shit-show. A gaping monumental exhibition of just how biased and malfunctioning the policing system was in the Crown City. He couldn't speak for every sector of Insomnia, but if his sector was this backwards, then he could extrapolate that to most sectors.

He was Insomnian and he had been that biased, privileged and judgmental hypocrite too. Right up until a routine post on a royal motorcade had brought her to his attention, and Selena had turned his entire world upside down. And not just in a confused romantic way, but now Petra had a wider scope to look at happenings and see where things were going wrong. They'd always been going wrong; it just hadn't mattered to him all along.

But now it did and that was where the hypocrisy entered in. He felt like a complete hypocrite for seeing the corruption so blatantly now. But he couldn't change the past. He couldn't change every other sector of the Crown City, but he could change his actions going forward and change the way his district operated. And that was what he had spearheaded today.

He and a few close comrades had met with any refugees willing to speak to them, taking statements and gathering evidence around the earlier skirmish. The Insomnians had initiated the altercation and could be dealt with via public order legislation, usually a mere caution if they had no previous charges. But so many rich families had already contacted his office to make this disappear, that it'd had the opposite effect; he was bringing this to court. Eventually, when the file was compiled.

Not tonight. All he wanted right now was to sleep after long hours spent inside the barracks, liaising with the Crown City Police and witnesses.

The door of the apartment opened and he readied for a barrage of questions and queries that he wouldn't be able to answer; an ongoing investigation wasn't a topic to be discussed. But it never came; instead she bolted across the room and wrapped her arms around him, thanking him. That caught him off-guard and made him feel more like an asshole for his past actions.

"You don't need to thank me." His arms went around her, returning the hug and feeling like an utter hypocrite. "You shouldn't have to thank anyone for that. It should have been that way all along ... I can't change the city, but I can change the barracks I oversee."