#and a key to my work building and a keycard to my office and a keycard for my jiu jitsu studio

[despite-everything]

so i lost my keys today for the first time in my life and im totally fucked.

[clairedaring]

Week 8 - My Stand-In News from YYDS Entertainment

The police received complaints from villagers. Normally in a quiet alley there are never dogs. Well, many dogs are barking at the same time at yesterday late nightt. They tolerated for a while and finally couldn't stand it. They went out to see and found a young man age around mid-20 leading three dogs and ordering them to bark periodically. Creating distress for the people in that area. In the near distance, another male was found standing on the fence of the house. crying like he was in a drama. It is believed that it was a filming crew that filmed overtime without permission. The officer ordered a fine of 500 baht for the dog leash. The accused works as a secretary. The police kindly reminds them not to let it happen again.

Warning from official! Beware of high-interest informal loan gangs using force to collect debt illegally. Many people were damaged and injured. At this time there are no clues to the culprit. If seen, you can report it.

TONG-TINKARN IS APPRECIATIVE THAT THE PREMIERE OF 9 SWORDS THE MOVIE RECEIVED RESPONSES FROM FANCLUBS AND MEDIA. Tong-Tinkarn revealed that during filming, he worked hard in rehearsals. He played all the action sequences himself by not using a single stand-in. He got slightly injured during filming but worth it for this work. Thank you to the audience for the good response. He is confident that the second part will definitely receive higher income than the first part. And he is ready to become a billionaire movie star

Mike-Methiyut Akrahyothar, the new generation heirs of the Akrahyothar Group. He is glad that sales of light filter film for building continue to grow in the Thai market. There is also a large amount of exports to foreign markets. This helped him to win the election results from the most recent board meeting and sits on the podium as the new president of the Akaryothar Group. In an interview, he said that the company often produces products to solve problems in the daily life of consumers. Revealing company plans for the second half of the year, he is ready to enter the digital key market. The newest product can be used through the fingerprint and face scanning system. It solves problem for some users who like to forget their condo keycards. This digital key provides maximum security. The product is still under development.

So Ming had Secretary Jim make the dogs bark at him so he can dramatically cry and beg Joe to let him in. Meanwhile, his brother Mike is making yet another investment venture to prevent his brother from playing Romeo 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

[machapelady]

FANGS AND BULLETS

A very dissatisfied y/n leaves their army to join KorTac, with plenty of operators around to meet and connect, she finds herself dragged around with the battering ram of the group, König.

Check the end of the post for more information.

Stepping out of the damn office was just as hard as joining the KorTac forces. It wasn't like you were a weak operator, or that you had no value. It was the sheer pressure of being in those installations what made you shiver. Yet, you were accepted by them. Never knew how they found you, or why they reached. But you hated the army you served, and the deal was too good to let it slide. You just had to fake your death. And so you did, on a normal deployment on Iraq. Nothing too flashy, just another pawn with a name on it that fell in the hellfire of those lands. And now there you were, nervously rushing your steps towards what was supposed to be your new room. After years of sharing a bunk with your mates, you finally got four grey walls to give you privacy. The hallway was illuminated by long lights on the ceiling, it was unusually well kept, although a little sad in color, the walls seemed thick enough- Bump

"Oh, sorry!" Took you a little bit to realize that you had not bumped into one of those walls, but against a broad and geared chest. "N-no...it's my bad, I wasn't looking-" Oh The voice you had heard first did not fit the man that towered you like a Gulliver. And it did not fit the ragged and loose mask that covered his face, only blue-grey eyes piercing through it. He shook it off with a anxious laugh. "You must be the new operator! Heard a bit from my freund Horangi." Was he leaning away? You took a step to give both of you some space. "Yeah just got out of the main office... got the keys for the room... 023?" The man tilted his head. "023? That's close to Valeria's, I could take you there, if you wish." What kind of gentle giant was this? It didn't fit well with that hood and that build... yet you nodded. "I would really appreciate that, thank you." The walk was in utter silence. None of you talked, he seemed too closed to even try to start a conversation, and you were still too nervous and hyper-aware of your surroundings. Trying to take in as much as information as possible, memorizing the route back to the office. You spotted some signs that opened up to spaces such as a common room, some showers, and the meal hall. "This should be it, Valeria's 025, couple of doors to your right." You nodded in response, fidgeting with the keycard before swiping it on the pad that locked the door. "T-thanks..." When you turned around to thank him again, he had already vanished.

This is a TEASER, a prologue of some idea I had in the back of my mind. It will have some TW, to be specified in each chapter depending on the content (expect military inaccuracies and all of those tiny little mistakes we make teehee). It is female-focused, this means the MC, or y/n will mostly be represented by she/her pronouns. Many of the characters that will be named on this work are part of the actual KorTac group in the MW games.

Hope you all enjoy this little introductory bit (I know it's short), have some patience and I'll steadily update it 🫡

[xarrixii]

Chapter_02 : "Debt" ━━━━━━━━━━━━━

CW: smoking previous chapter | masterlist

━━━━━━━━━━━━ ▼

Alph pulled the truck into one of the two empty parking spaces reserved for their dad’s apartment, stepping out into the underground garage’s bleak darkness.

They clicked on their keys, locking the truck, before pivoting and heading over to the entrance into the main building above. Lobby’s lights as blinding as always as they made their way to the elevator and pressed button 34.

It lurched into motion, midnight traffic leaving the place practically empty. They stalked over to the apartment, taking the keycard off their keyring to open the door, it pushing open before the keycard was even in the slot. Their dad’s working a late shift, and the lot space was empty. Alph’s body tensed up, putting their keyring back and leaving one hand open as they pushed the door open farther.

The smell of cigarettes got them first.

“Jesus, Mum.” Alph quickly shut the door behind them as they entered, waving a hand in front of their face to get the smoke away. “There’s a reason they say no smoking in here.”

Alph’s mother was sat on a stool along the kitchen island, dressed as usual.

“Payment,” their mother said, coolly. She stomped the cigarette with her heel before flicking it out the wall-height window she had at the very least opened. She was scrolling on a tablet, barely paying Alph any mind. How the fuck did she even get in here?

“What?” Alph made sure the door was locked. “And where’s Ty?”

“Asleep, now where is it?” She continued scrolling, click of her nail resounding out into the silence each time. Alph frowned.

“What payment? The five bucks and Snickers bar in my pocket?” Alph dug through their jacket, retrieving a crumpled five and half-melted Snickers, throwing the chocolate at their mother.

“No, but I’ll take it anyway.” She catches the chocolate, finally setting the tablet down onto the counter beside her. Didn’t take long for her to start eating it. “The hundred thousand you owe me. That’s what it cost to get an identical truck and cover up your little incident. You don’t have it, then?”

Fuck. She’d remembered. Alph began tapping their foot anxiously on the floor. They couldn’t just cover it up themselves. “Could you just hold off on it for a while? I promise I can get it to you. Eventually.”

“You’re a horrible liar, Alph.”

Alph hadn’t had a choice.

“I was surprised when you called me. I thought you’d forgotten you’d already gotten your three favors, and then the desperation in your voice gave it away.” She let out a laugh. “Either way, you and your friend owe me a good deal now. You don’t exactly earn a ton of money, so,”

“We’ll pay it off,” Alph said tiredly. “Just give us a few months.”

“I don’t think so. You’re either delusional or fooling yourself into believing you and that other one could pull off anything good enough to get that money back to me. Which pretty much is the same thing. Lucky for you, I already came up with a compromise.”

“Okay, Urban has nothing to do with this. It was my favor.”

“If you had gotten busted, so would he, so it was a favor for both of you. You’ll both pay it back, even if he’s not all that useful.”

“He is⸺”

“From the pyrokinetic rehab cycle. Regardless, I’m taking control of your little duo… whatever you’re calling it. Flash Fire? I’m turning that hundred thousand into time, you and your little boyfriend will be on contract with my organization for a year.”

Alph, exasperated, dug a hand through their hair. “One, not my boyfriend. Two, I cannot do whatever the hell you want me to do and the apprenticeship with Dad at the same time.”

She shrugs. “Then choose, or find a way to make it work.”

“Between a, a what? An actual future or a prison cell?”

“Oh, you’re already tipping that line. Besides, you think you can just walk away from everything you’ve done already and walk the righteous path of law as a police officer? I’ve seen you on your apprenticeship, and you might just be the shittiest cop to ever come to be. The incident I had to cover up? You can’t just run around burning off the faces of everyone who hurts you. Your crimes don’t just vanish.”

“Are you done yet? I just got home after a long, long day of,”

“Taking a joyride on the racetrack and robbing petty corner store thieves of five bucks?”

“Can I just get some sleep? You need to leave before Dad comes home anyway.”

“You just don’t like it when people make valid points against you, darling.” She closes the window, turning back around to face Alph. “Now, meet me with whatever his name is in that garage of yours tomorrow, and we’ll start discussing this in some more detail. That should be plenty of time to inform him of the shit you just roped him into.”

She grabbed her tablet from the counter, passing Alph in the hallway to the door before stopping.

“One more thing. Before you begin to try plotting whatever run-down bullshit you call a plan, cross me, my organization, or this conversation just now, and I’m sending all of the shit you just admitted to the station before you can moan out ‘fuck.’ ”

The handle clicked open as she turned it, strutting out the door. She didn’t even bother to shut it behind her, leaving Alph to walk over and slam their fist into it. They rubbed their hands over their face, getting out their phone and hovering over the contact in their phone for Urban. Then they hit the power button, threw it onto the couch, and went to their room.

next chapter

━━━━━━━━━━━━ ▲ missing a content warning? let me know

i was trying to think of something to put here, and the first thing i ended up thinking of was "chicken noodle." not exactly the most relevant thing ever, but alas, here we are. these should get longer eventually i swear

[versaceeevixen]

Seven Stages of... Chaos

I remember, I remember it well, when everything first fell. It all came crashing down like Jenga pieces, getting hit brick by brick all the pieces I worked hard for... to build up in this moment.

All of it, drown in the mess of chaos.

I got a text saying that he was in the parking lot. I was trying to see if someone can hold the RA bag for me. When you're on duty as an RA you cannot leave your dorm. No Exceptions. You can't even go to the dining hall! Either you have to order in, get a friend who is willing to sneak food, OR cook whatever you got in your dorm. I texted in the group chat to see if anyone can hold the bag for me. Whenever I ask someone to hold the bag for a moment, my co-workers always say they can't.

Big Sis was the first to reply "I can't sorry" and everyone else followed. I groaned and grabbed my blue sports wagon with winter jackets in them, I wanted to take the bag with me just in case anything happened. I could spring up if there were any lockouts or fights just in case. It was only going to be a moment anyways... I was helping a friend with their project and in turn helping me with mine, killing two birds with one stone.

I had my wagon with me walking down the hill. The skies were moody and tired like me, as I have woken up from a nap prior to walking. It was the evening time, I was nervous walking. Thinking. What if someone saw me when I was supposed to be inside? I kept walking and trying to keep calm, I needed this for a big project. I cared about getting good grades, even though I didn't care for my major.

My friend was there, with his camera in his hand. He was wearing all black, with a windbreaker jacket, as it was the unpredictable spring season. He was saying apparently that the photos he needs weren't good enough. That the background needed to be better for his project. I knew he was going to say that as I offered to use my room, as it was all neon like. I wanted to be crafty like the Lazer Tag Boys, a group he was kinda apart of when they tolerated him.

I offered to use my wagon to sneak him in. I took my jackets out of the wagon and attempted to fit him in the wagon, it didn't work. As I forget not everyone is the size of a 5th grader like me. I was going to sneak him into the wagon and cover him with a bunch of jackets.

He was freaking out... over nothing. I had to assure him that literally nothing happened yet. I told him to forget it. I put back all of my jackets into the wagon with the RA bag and went our separate ways. Ironically enough, there was no one there to check in residents, so he could've easily snuck in. I shrugged it off, "It wasn't meant to be I guess." I finally got upstairs parked my wagon in my dorm foyer.

I woke up as it was time to go into the office to be an "Active RA". I grabbed my bag and went to the office. Sometimes, I'm too lazy to actually open my phone wallet to get my keycard so I use the master-key. But when I looked the master-key was gone...

I was full on panicking! I am terrible under pressure and if you cooked me enough, I will forget my name and my phone number. I paced in the office back and forth. I looked in my wagon it wasn't there, I looked in the pockets of all my coats, literally everywhere that was inside the building. I called multiple friends to see if they could possibly look in my car, as I didn't want to take another risk of leaving, and no one answered their phones.

The weirdest thing about the missing key thing is that the lanyard was still there but the card itself was gone! Like someone took it off the hook, which I didn't take it off the hook.

Maybe when I was shuffling jackets around it fell off. Finally someone replied to my "SOS" message. It was a Resident from another floor, who I was loosely friends with. He was the only one who responded, I told him everything and to look in my car. My stomach was doing barrel rolls as he shuffled through my stuff in my car, and couldn't find the key.

Finally, Big Sis came downstairs and I explained everything to her and she told me to tell my RD. I reluctantly called her and told her I lost the key, and this is where the chaos started...

I will update more tomorrow, I promise.

[starry-hughes]

I, for one, am ALWAYS down for the work drama

alright so

a couple of months ago. this guy who a misogynistic asshole and is a lawyer quit because of me and my coworkers after we were like yo bestie you fucked up. he took back his notice and they let him stay. a month ago, he turned in another notice and his contract says he has to give 30 days. so today is day like 25 or 26 (basically his last day was this friday)

well. the mf walks into work, is rude to the office supervisor, tells him he doesn’t want to do any work this week since they won’t pay him out for his three hours of PTO or whatever. so they just tell him “you can leave early and are fired.” which means he’s no longer allowed to be rehired by the office.

he also said something so alarming that it is causing our office to change security protocols. which is terrifying considering we are already behind keycard access doors and have an alarm system with individual codes. so we had to spend our afternoon signing a bunch of new paperwork and checking our key numbers (we have two different keys for the building) and all our swipe cards (we have two) and test out our individual access alarm codes.

[morealias]

True story. For a while our offices were open on the weekends, AEP (Oct 15-Dec 07) through OEP (Jan 01-Mar 31) season, and I closed. Now we didn't have enough management to actually have in office management to close the weekends, that was me, a Team Mentor (glorified regular agent who has done the job for so long I knew how to do everything). We had a single WFH manager who handled any backend stuff, like adding hours, fixing schedules, etc, but in the offices I handled any agents who needed assistance. And closed and locked the building after everyone left... As AEP transitioned into OEP and the work volume slowed to a trickle, less and less agents were needed and less and less wanted to work the weekends (less calls equals less enrollemnts equals less commissions). Eventually everyone would be gone on the weekends by 2pm. Leaving just me, in a sea of cubicles, with it growing dark outside and all the lights clicking off area by area. Including the one in my area because I didn't care, I can work in the dark.

One night I'm chilling, watching something spooky on Netflix on the big screen (I didn't mind working the weekends for this reason, popcorn, a big screen, and getting paid to basically catch up on my tv/movie backlog? Sure, why not) when the lights click on in an department on the other side of the building.

No one should be coming in, it's an hour till close, WTH? I get up, move as to avoid the light's motion sensors, I mean if it's thief or a vandal, I'd like to avoid confrontation while I dial 911. And if it isn't, well, still no need to advertise till I'm sure, right?

So I'm slipping along through the cubicles, staying low, and I come around the corner into the lit area. I'm standing, because, well lights are on, my fingers on the dial button. Don't see anyone.

Now I'm actually a bit spooked. Before, when the lights snapped on, it was a mild jump scare, since I was watching a spooky movie, but now? Whoever came in (it better a whoever) didn't leave this area, or if they did, they also avoided activating lights… and there is no one here.

So I'm cautiously moving along, checking down each cubicle lane for vagrants. We'd had issues when we first moved into the building with them getting in and sleeping under desks, but, that was back when people left outside doors open, and the building didn't bother with the alarms. A few break-ins later, building management having to replace expensive workstations for multiple building clients, and they started using the alarms.

So, here I am, figuring someone went and left on outside door open, or forgot to turn on the alarm, and some vagrant slipped in and bypassed our door keycard system (way easier than security wants to believe). So I'm moving along, paying 100% attention to the cubicle lanes and not the locked offices, because the locked offices have actual door locks and easily slipped card systems.

So, I'm standing right in front of a 'locked' office door, scoping the cubicles and I hear the door open behind me. I turn and all I see is a stick as I get a face full of broom handle.

The cleaning lady, who has a keycard and keys to all the offices, had come super late to clean up… and when all the lights were off she thought everyone had gone home. When she opened the office door and saw a huge guy, with a shaggy beard and vaguely unkempt hair with his back to her she thought some homeless bum had snuck in somehow.

So… yeah. Sometimes it's a horror story, and sometimes it's just a face full of broom handle. I was fine, my foreheads pretty solid and she recognized me after she hit me (so she only hit me once, even though she was super scared). Thankfully it was the broom and not La Chancla.

This'd be a fun setting for a horror game. I'm alone in an office that's a converted warehouse, and all the lights are on motion detectors.

Everyone else left hours ago, so naturally Ira very dark here. That's not super creepy, but the fact that the shop's light just turned itself on, yet there doesn't appear to be anyone in there? That's a tad creepy.

[silly-thinkings]

Hello!! I didn't think that my Batman/venom crossover would be well received. it means a lot to me :). this is pt.2! kinda long, my bad. I hope you enjoy it! Please do not repost my work. likes and reblogs are appreciated.

Y/N looked at herself in the mirror. she wore a black business dress and some matching heels. as she adjusted her hair to the style of her choice, she felt something slimy press against her face.

"V! what do you think you're doing! my makeup" She whined.

The Alien grinned, his sharp teeth in full display “You look Divine~ not as good as the Chocolate squares you made me though”

Y/N rolled her eyes and grabbed a towel to wipe her face “Venom. I expect you to be on your best behavior. No funny business”

Venom snickered as he retreated back into Y/N

Y/N took a deep breath “resume, purse, glasses, work folder, my keys… where are my keys?”

“Here”

A claw's hand reached to the other side of the apartment and took the keys that were hidden under a pile of clothes.

“Thank you.” She said taking the keys and leaving.

**

“W-wow. That’s a tall building”

“Your new boss is definitely overcompensating for something.”

“Oh hush”

Y/N put on a Bluetooth earpiece and walked into the building. She’d rather look like a businesswoman taking a heated call instead of a person talking to themselves.

“Wanna jump off it later?”

“No.”

“We’re jumping off this building later.”

“But I don't want to”

“I asked you to be polite, Y/N. We will be jumping off this building tonight.”

“Hello, welcome to Wayne Enterprises inc. Do you have an appointment with us?” The front desk lady asked with a smile.

“Yes. My name is Y/N L/N. It’s my first day as Mr.Wayne’s secretary.”

The woman behind the desk eyed Y/N up and down. Clearly unimpressed. “Mr.Wayne never mentioned anything about having a new secretary.” The woman did a motion with her hands. Two comically buff men approached Y/N

Y/N fumbled through her folder and handed her a page. “N-no wait. Look This is the confirmation email.”

The two men stopped moving. The woman took the pages and analyzed them carefully. Y/N felt something crawl up her back.

“If they touch us…”

Y/N saw a tendril make its way towards the desk. Y/N quickly slammed her folder down on top of it causing the woman to jump up from her seat.

“S-sorry. There was a bug. On the desk. Talk about creepy crawlers. Right” a nervous chuckle escaped her lips

One of the bodyguards grabbed her shoulder “listen, lady. You need to.”

Y/N felt something coil up her arm. She then involuntarily grabbed the guard and flipped him. The man landed on the ground with a thud. The other guard moved in reaching for her but a small tendril quickly wrapped around his foot. Making him fall over his colleague.

“I-I-I am so very sorry.”

“I’m not. How dare they touch us. Nibbles you’re too soft”

Many people stopped and stared at the commotion. Some even took pictures of the woman standing over two men twice her size. A teen with black hair and a business suit quickly walked over.

“Hey, you’re Y/N right?” He looked to the woman at the front desk “she’s with me. I hired her for Bruce.”

“Some hire” she commented under her breath.

“Watch it”

The two guards began to stand. Y/N reached out her hand to which the two men ignored and walked away. Y/N fiddled with her purse with a frown.

The woman handed back Y/N’s paper “your office with the accommodations you wanted is on floor 60.” She handed her a keycard to which Y/N gladly accepted.

“S-sorry… again.” Y/N said sheepishly. Quickly walking towards the elevator.

“Hey! Wait!”

Y/N prayed that the elevator door shut before he got in. But alas, he was just in time.

“Ill show you to your new office. The name is Tim by the way.”

“Y/N.” She looked away

Tim laughs “yea. We’ve been exchanging emails. Glad you took the job.”

The two stood in awkward silence.

“I don’t like him.”

“Oh you don’t like anyone.”

Tim raised an eyebrow at the woman.

“I was… on the phone with someone. Hanging up now.” Y/n said that last bit through grit teeth. “I’m surprised you get reception in here” Tim let out a nervous laugh “so, is flipping men twice your size a regular thing or?”

“Oh… that was just reflex. I lived in a tough spot back at home… my bad.”

Tim laughed “Well I can assure you that this building is the safest in Gotham.”

Tim’s phone chimed. As he checked his brows furrowed “Gahh sorry. I have to check something out at the tech department” he pressed the next floor.

The elevator doors opened “I’ll pass by your office in 30 minutes. Later Y/N. Don’t go flipping anybody now”

Y/N gave him a soft wave before the doors closed again.

Venom began to form from her shoulders making her squeak “what the hell are you doing!”

“Looking around. So far, this place is the worst.”

“Haven’t you done enough? At least let me get into my office before you start stressing me out.”

The chime of the elevator door caused Venom to quickly return to her body. Y/N’s body jerked with a sudden force that made her fall forward. She closed her eyes, ready to feel the impact of the floor. But it never came.

Slowly, Y/N opened her eyes to meet Beautiful blue ones. His face might as well have been handcrafted by the Gods themselves he was so handsome.

“Miss? Are you alright?” His deep voice made her melt.

Y/N opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water. The man pulled her up to her feet, lightly holding onto her waist “that would have been quite a fall huh?”

“Speak you idiot.”

“I-I umm yea. Yes. That fall would have been really bad… and embarrassing.”

Y/N wanted to crawl in a hole and never see the light of day. The man in front of her smiled which made her feel all warm and fuzzy.

He pulled his hand away and adjusted his tie “I haven’t seen you around. And you are?.”

“Y/N L/N. I-I’m Mr.Wayne’s new secretary.”

“Huh. Is that so. Who hired you?”

“Tim sir.”

“I see. Have a good first day.” He walked into the elevator behind her.

Y/N heard a low growl “I do not like this man Y/N. We must leave.”

Ignoring Venom's words she turned to face the man “Y-yes you have a good day as well Mr….”

The man smiled “Bruce Wayne.”

The door to the elevator closed. Y/N was pretty sure her jaw dropped to the floor.

“T-that was.. no- I did not just…”

Y/N felt lightheaded.

“Y/N. We must leave immediately.”

Y/N’s attention snapped back to reality “you’re right. Where’s my office?”

Y/N read the name tags of each room all the way towards the end of the hall.

“No. We need to leave this building as soon as possible.”

Y/N swiped her key card and opened the door. She walked into the room and smiled. The beautiful brown L-shaped desk with two monitors, cute little plant in the corner, And a marvelous window view of the city that made Y/N feel so alive “this is so much better than New York. “

Venom had enough of Her ignoring his warnings. He slammed the door shut and seeped out of her side.

“Listen to me!”

“keep your voice down.” Y/N whisper shouted "I’m at work. We agreed that I wouldn’t meddle in your nightlife. And you wouldn’t meddle in mine. I have bills to pay.”

“Fuck the bills Y/N! That Bruce is familiar. And not in a good way.”

Y/N pulled out some folders from her purse and placed them on the desk. “Ok… where did we meet him?”

Venom’s milky white eyes squinted while Y/N sat down on her chair “well?”

“I don’t know” He grumbled

“What was that?”

“I will break your nose Y/N L/N. You heard what I said.”

“We both know that’s an empty threat. So are you actually concerned, or are you just jealous that I was checking him out?”

Venom huffed, he looked out the window clearly annoyed with the current situation. Y/N walked over to him and scratched the underside of his neck

“Don’t treat me like a cat”

“I’m not. I’m simply providing comfort for my stressed companion.” She gently placed two hands on the sides of his face, making him look at her "If the threat becomes too much we'll leave. But this is really important to me V. this is the start of that new life we spoke about."

Venom's face softened. He leaned into her chest. Y/N smiled, the two returning to their new desk “what should be the first thing we put in this room?”

Venom hummed deep in thought.

“A bowl of chocolate.”

***

Bruce pulled up a file of venom on the bat computer and grumbled. It's been seven months since the alien arrived and he still hasn’t been able to find him. “Where does he hide during the day” ”Perhaps he too has a cave to brood in master Bruce” Alfred approached holding a tray with tea and cups. Bruce turned around “very funny Alfred” ”I’m glad to have made you laugh sir” Alfred’s tone didn’t change in the slightest. “Isn’t today supposed to be your day off? Why are you in here?” ”It’s Bruce’s day off. Not Batman’s” Alfred let out a very long sigh “Master Bruce. Crime has been at an all-time low this week. And even if something does happen, I’m sure Venom or one of the young masters can take care of it in your absence sir.” “We can't trust him.” The sound of the zeta tubes filled the cave, scaring some of the bats that reside inside. Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian all walked towards Bruce. “Jason? What are you doing here.” "This guy annoys the hell out of you. Of course I want to find out where he stays. Maybe shake his hand.” Tim stepped forward “Maybe it's time we ask for help. I mean, he’s not the first alien to show up. Right?”

Dick shook his head “Do we really need to do this. He… it isn’t harming anyone. Just leave it alone.”

Bruce grunted while Damian sucked his teeth. ”We do not need any help. And we can't possibly allow this thing to run around the streets. Father, if you let me go after him I can finish the job.” Tim stuffed a laugh “You sure? The last time you tried to fight him you wound up hanging upside down from the ceiling.” Damian crossed his arms “I never lose twice” Jason held onto his stomach as he laughed “Dude. Why didn’t you take a picture of that.” “Enough.” Bruce stood from his seat and turned to face all of them. He leaned onto the table “Alright, who do you suggest we ask?” “Have you tried asking Clark or J’onn? They might know what Venom is?” Tim suggested Bruce brushed his fingers through his hair “Let me suit up” Dick and Damian walked up to Alfred and grabbed a cup of tea. Bruce’s work phone began to buzz. Tim walked over “Hello? Tim speaking” “Hey, Timmy. How have you been.” Tim smiled “Doing alright Y/n. And yourself?” “Y/N! Yo, slide the phone.” Jason attempted to snatch the device but Tim ducked. “We’re doing great. Was that Jason?” “Yeaaaaaa” Tim eyed Jason annoyed. Jason finally snagged the phone “Yo Y/N think you can slide me more stuff. That shit was the best.”Jason put Y/N on speaker.

“Stop making it sound like we sell drugs.” Y/N giggled “but I do have some new books for you to read.”

“Sweet.”

“Sounds like I’m missing a family reunion. What’s the occasion?”

“Alfred made dinner for us tonight,” Dick interjected

“My roommate and I are trying to make dinner. But he can’t even boil water right without making a mess.”

Bruce finally returned. He raised an eyebrow seeing three of his sons surrounding the phone.

“It is the secretary…” Damian said approaching his father.

“I’m only calling cause I noticed Bruce forwarded me some emails earlier. Please remind him that he’s supposed to be resting. I’m talking a full 24 hours.”

The three boys looked at Bruce, now Batman, and smirked “I don’t know Y/N Bruce is practically walking around in his business suit.” Jason snickered.

Bruce finally had enough and walked over to Dick. He held out his hand to which his eldest gave him the phone.

“I’m a grown man Y/N no need to-“

“No, you listen to me, Mister Wayne. When I say stop working, I mean stop working. I know I’m just your secretary, but I’m also a friend. Please get some rest.”

Alfred noticed Bruce’s facial features soften. While the three boys all snickered.“Alright.”

“Thank you-“

Bruce heard the sound of metals clashing on the floor, a scream, then a growl. Everyone’s attention quickly went on high alert looking at the phone.

“Y/N! Are you alright?” Jason asked concern showing on his face.

“Yea yea, we’re fine. My roommate thought he could flip pancakes.”

“Pancakes at 10 pm?” Dick raised an eyebrow.

“Chocolate pancakes at 10 pm”

There was another sound of clutter falling on the floor

“Alright, gotta go. Be safe guys.”

Y/N hung up the phone. Bruce stared at the device with squinted eyes. It was Dick putting a hand on his shoulder that brought him back from his thoughts “you ok?”

“Yea, let’s go.”

*** "I didn’t think this would be a justice league meeting.” Flash, Wonder Woman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, cyborg, Aquaman, and green lantern all sat at the round table. "When I heard this was about that Venom guy, I had to stay.” The Flash bit into his donut without a care in the world.

Batman looked at all of them as stoic as ever. “Fine.”

Batman pressed some buttons on the table allowing a screen to project from the middle “this is venom. He appeared in Gotham seven months ago. So far, he hasn’t harmed anyone.”

Nightwing stepped forward “he’s been saving people. Albeit a bit rough… but catching the bad guys.”

Martian man Hunter stood from his seat “is this real?”

Batman nodded “do you know what he is?”

“A being from a different universe. Before my home was destroyed. A creature just like that fell from the sky.”

“What happened?”

J’onn created a telepathic link for everyone. He showed what look to be hieroglyphics.

Everyone’s eyes widened as the description of the beast became more violent. Biting the heads off of worriers and citizens.

“This was far before my time. But alas, it was pure Carnage.”

The room went silent. Redhood rose from his seat “ok. So that one ate brains and killed people. This one doesn’t.”

“If he’s capable of being this deadly then we should do something about it.” Wonder Woman also stood eyeing Redhood.

“Didn’t know this was a meeting full of Hypocrites.” Jason snapped back

“Calm down everyone. No need to be hostile.” Superman rose his hands slightly “Manhunter, is there anything else that you know about the creature?”

“It needs a host body to form, and he shares the same weakness as I.”

“Fire?” Tim questioned, to which he nodded.

“We’re hunting down an alien parasite… this job gets better every day” green lantern stood from his seat “where do we start?”

****

Bruce returned to the cave feeling unsatisfied. Sure he got more information, but he felt peeved. The answer was on the tip of his tongue.

He sat back in his chair and pulled up footage of the beast. I’m his Heist he accidentally pulled up security footage of seven months ago.

It was Y/N walking into the building. He heard about her flipping two of his men, but this is the first time he’d seen the act.

He saw her slam the folders, then it happened. Bruce sat forward and rewound the footage. He zoomed in on her and watched the scene play again, then again, then finally his eyes widened.

She wasn’t facing the second bodyguard when he tripped over. A black goo wrapped around his leg.

“Roommate…” he said looking at the screen.

“It needs a hoast body to form" Bruce's eyes widened. He remembered The very first night at the supermarket. all that food, her talking to herself. We's instead of I's. "Biting heads isn't a band..." That night, Bruce Wayne didn't sleep. He worked hard to find a way to separate Y/N and Venom. To protect his city and its people.

_________

Part 3

[bxcketbarnes]

Love in the Workplace

fPairing: Gardener!Bucky Barnes x Receptionist!Reader

Words: 4900+

Author's Note: I thought of this idea while staying at our hotel in California and it's the cutest fucking thing in the world. I love this. I hope you guys enjoy it as well! Let me know your thoughts!

"Sarah, I don't need this at seven in the morning," you tell your friend while adjusting your bag on your shoulder. You slam your car door shut, your eyes looking towards the entrance of the hotel.

Your breath hitches in your throat at the sight of the new gardener. "What is it?" Sarah asks you and you clear your throat before tearing your gaze from the man.

"Uh, nothing. I finally see the gardener that the hotel hired," you mention while walking closer to the place. "I gotta go."

Sarah bids you goodbye after telling you to let her know if something happens between the two of you. You shove your phone into your pocket and walk past him, your eyes glancing over his shirtless chest.

His blue eyes meet yours and you give him a shy smile with a wave. "G'Morning," he greets.

"Morning. First day?" You ask the man and a laugh leaves his lips.

"That noticeable?"

You bring your bottom lip between your teeth and shake your head. "Not at all. Just the first time I've seen you. I usually work every morning," you laugh and he smiles down at you.

"I'm Bucky," the brunette introduces and holds out his metal hand. You eye it carefully before smiling up at him. "Sorry, if my arm makes you uncomfortable."

"Oh, no, no. It's a real cool looking arm," you reassure him and Bucky lets out a chuckle.

His blue eyes look down at his vibranium arm after you let go, bringing your hand back down by your side. "Well, thank you. That's the first time I've heard that," Bucky mentions and you bite the inside of your cheek. "Hey, do these hydrangeas look alright?"

You adjust the bag on your shoulder and walk closer to him, inspecting the plants he planted. "They look really good. I love the colors," you tell him, and Bucky smiles while nodding his head.

"Good. Wanna make a good first impression," he explains and you chuckle, laying a hand on his metal arm.

"I'm pretty sure you've already made one if they hired you. The bosses are strict about hiring people."

Bucky runs a hand through his sweaty hair, your eyes raking down his shirtless body. God, he's attractive. You turn your head towards the front door of the hotel before glancing down at your watch, seeing it was almost eight in the morning.

"Well, I would love to stay and chat longer, Buck, but I've got to start my day," you mention and start to walk away from him. "I'll see you around."

The blue-eyed man nods his head and waves slightly. "See you around, doll."

Steve's head picks up when you step through the lobby doors and you smile softly at him. "Morning, Steve," you greet while stepping behind the receptionist desk. "Busy night?"

The blonde shakes his head and stands up from his chair, allowing you to sit down in it. "Not at all. It was extremely dead," Steve laughs and runs a hand through his hair.

You're about to say something when Bucky walks into the building, your eyes dancing over towards him. "Hey, Steve," he greets before his blue eyes meet yours. "Y/N."

A small blush covers your cheeks and you provide a small wave before sitting in the seat. Steve looks down at you, a smirk coming to his lips and you raise a finger before he can say anything.

"Hush!" You laugh and Steve joins in, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I didn't even say anything!" He laughs and you look up at him, narrowing your eyes playfully.

"No, but the smirk on your lips said everything."

Steve gathers his stuff while shaking his head as you sign into the computer. A customer walks up to the counter and you greet them happily as the blonde leans in towards your ear.

"Bucky's a great guy and single if you're interested," he informs you while you're looking up the woman's information, a blush covering your cheek.

You swat at him and another laugh leaves your lips. "Get out of here!" Steve chuckles and raises his hands in defense before leaving the hotel lobby. "I'm so sorry about that."

The woman in front of you waves her hand before mumbling, "it's alright."

"Gotta have fun on the job, am I right?" She grins and you nod your head in agreement, a smile coming to your lips.

-

Two Months Later...

"Tony, I really appreciate you allowing me to stay here until my gas leak gets fixed," you mention to your manager as the man fixes up a room key for you.

The older man smiles down at you and rests a hand on your shoulder. "Kid, I'd do anything for you. You've been with this hotel for years and you're so kind. I couldn't even bring myself to say no," he chuckles and you smile up at him.

"You guys are like my family and I appreciate everything you've done for me," you tell him while Tony hands you the key.

Tony ruffles your hair a bit before walking back towards his office. "Oh, I put you next to Barnes in case you have questions. Plus, I figured you enjoy a familiar face," he winks and you let out a groan.

Of course, he put me next to Bucky. Smug bastard. You gently bite your lip while heading towards the elevator, pressing the button to call it. "Way to be so obvious about your feelings, Y/N," you say to yourself with a sigh, running a hand through your hair.

"Are you talking about your crush on Bucky?" A familiar voice asks you and you jump, placing a hand on your chest before glancing to your left.

Steve and Natasha stand in the archway where the two elevators sit, smirks on both of their lips. "Jesus, you two," you groan as they walk over to you. "What are you doing here?"

Nat ruffles her hair a bit before glancing towards Steve. "Steve and I are going on a date. I'm picking him up," she mentions and a gasp leaves your lips.

"No fucking way?!" Your eyes dance between the two of them and Steve's cheeks blush a bit. "That's incredible. I've only been shipping it for almost six months."

The three of you let out a chuckle before Steve pipes up. "Yeah, well, when are you going to ask out Bucky?"

The laughter dies on your lips and you bring your lip between your teeth. "Shut up," you scoff while rolling your eyes. "I'm not going to ask him out because he doesn't feel that way about me."

Both Steve and Natasha give you a look before the redhead rubs her hands along her face. "Sweetheart, that boy is crushing on you just as hard as you are for him," she mentions and your cheeks flush.

"Go enjoy your date," you tell them before pressing the button to the elevator once more.

The door opens immediately and you step inside, giving your friends one last grin. You press the floor your room is on and watch the elevator doors close before letting out a deep breath.

You adjust your grip on your suitcase and pile out of the elevator when it opens back up. You run into someone, muttering out a quick apology before glancing up at the person. Your breath hitches in your throat as Bucky stands in front of you, his bare torso staring you in the face.

"Bucky," you breathe out and the blue-eyed man glances down at you, "h-hi."

"Hey, doll," Bucky smiles and the two of you stand in the middle of the elevator door.

You swallow thickly as your eyes flicker from his eyes to his chest. "S-Sorry, let me just-" you cut yourself off and move around him, your shoulder brushing against his arm.

"Are you staying here?" The man questions and you look down towards your luggage before nodding your head.

"I, uh, yeah. My apartment has a gas leak, so Tony's letting me stay here for a week or so."

Bucky wets his lips and adjusts the towel in his hands. "I'm going down to the pool for a little bit… would you- would you want to join me?" He asks and your heart beats quickly in your chest.

"Y-Yeah. Yeah, I'll be down in about five minutes," you stutter and give the man a shy smile.

He bites his lip for a few seconds before standing in the elevator, keeping his eyes on you. "Great. I'll see you in a few," Bucky says while the elevator doors shut.

"Yeah…" you trail off as your cheeks blush heavily.

You continue making your way to your hotel room, silently hyping yourself up with each step. You place the keycard into the slot before pushing your way into the room. You set your suitcase onto the bed and open it before grabbing your bikini.

After changing into your swimsuit, you grab a towel from the bathroom along with your keycard before making your way back downstairs. You chew on your bottom lip while walking towards the pool area, seeing Bucky sitting in the hot tub.

You insert your key and open the gate, giving the blue-eyed man a small wave. You set your stuff down beside his before heading towards him. You adjust your red top as Bucky's eyes look you up and down.

"Cute top," he mumbles while draping his arms across the edge of the spa.

"Thank you," you chuckle shyly and sits down across from him. "So, how come you're staying here?"

Bucky lets out a laugh and moves his hands through the bubbly water before rubbing his face. "Well, my ex broke up with me a week ago and I happened to be living in her apartment. Tony let me stay here until I can get my own place," he explains and you frown slightly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," you apologize and Bucky shakes his head, mumbling that it was alright. "But, it was nice of Tony to let you stay here until you're on your feet."

"Yeah, it was. Which room are you in?"

A blush dusts your cheeks and you tuck a strand of hair behind your ear. "I'm next door to you. Tony thought it'd be nice to have a familiar face beside me," you laugh awkwardly while looking away from him.

Bucky smirks at you while wiggling his eyebrows. "This'll be fun. We'll be great neighbors," he grins and you roll your eyes playfully while standing up from your seat.

"Shut up," you tell him with a laugh and Bucky watches you step out of the hot tub.

You feel his eyes on you as you walk closer to the steps of the pool, making eye contact with him as you descend into the cool water. Bucky suddenly gets up and makes his way into the pool, jumping in immediately and you release a quiet squeal.

Bucky swims up to you and you take a couple of steps back as he resurfaces. "Well, that was quite rude," you joke and the man suddenly shakes his head, rouge water droplets hitting you. "Bucky! That's cold!"

He hums in response and splashes you playfully. "Oh, come on, it's warm!"

"It's not!" You squeal some more and take a couple of more steps back. Bucky walks closer to you, reaching his hands out before capturing you in his grasp.

His arms wrap around your waist and Bucky holes you against his chest while carrying you into the deeper area of the pool. You wrap your arms around his neck, your chest pressed against the man's face.

"Well, I can die happy now," Bucky jokes and you smack the back of his head, rolling your eyes at him again.

"You're such a guy," you laugh, attempting to get out of his grasp. "Can you put me down now?"

The blue-eyed man looks up at you through his lashes, your breath hitching in his throat as the pool lights shine on his face. "I quite like you like this," he whispers, and your heart pounds against your chest, feeling your cheeks heat up.

Bucky brings a hand to your face and his fingers graze against your cheek. Your eyes flutter shut while resting your forehead against his. He moves his fingers into your hair, gripping softly while slowly reducing the distance between your lips.

Your lips brush against his when a loud voice calls out to both of you. "Hey! The pool's closed!"

The brunette sighs, feeling his breath fanning your lips before pulling away from you. "Sam, it's just us!" Bucky yells and you glance towards the gate to see the man standing on the other side of it.

"Oh, hey guys!" Sam greets with a smile before opening the gate to the pool. "What are you two doin' out here so late?"

"Just hanging out," you tell him while prying yourself out of Bucky’s grasp. "I need to get going anyway. G'Night, Buck."

"Goodnight, Y/N," he mumbles and watches you walk out of the pool. Sam bids you goodnight as you gather your things before heading into the hotel. "Dude, what the fuck!?"

Bucky moves to smack Sam, causing the younger guy to wince away from him. "What?! She said you guys were hanging out! You're too chickenshit to do anything anyway!"

A sigh leaves his lips and Bucky runs a hand over his face. "Well, I'll have you know that we were just about to kiss," he explains while pushing himself out of the water.

"Oh, shit. Sorry, dude," Sam apologizes and Bucky shakes his head. "Go get her! Don't let me stop you."

The brunette wets his lips before nodding his head, quickly gathering his things before running inside. Bucky finds himself standing outside of her door, bringing his hand up to the wooden structure before knocking loud enough for her to hear.

"Y/N? Y/N?" Bucky calls out and rests his forehead against the door. "Goddamn it."

The door in front of him suddenly opens and Bucky catches himself before falling into your room. "Bucky?" You laugh, placing a hand on his shoulder while your other hand keeps the towel wrapped around you. "What are you doing here?"

His blue eyes widen at the sight of you, feeling his cheeks flush. "I, uh-" he cuts himself off as Bucky begins to rub the back of his neck. "I just wanna say sorry… for uh, what happened in the pool."

You furrow your eyebrows in confusion while leaning against the doorframe. "For what?" You ask him and Bucky's Adam's apple bobs in his throat.

"Just… uh, just in case I made you uncomfortable," Bucky explains and you chuckle softly, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

"You didn't make me uncomfortable, Bucky," you giggle and the man lets out a small sigh, nodding his head in reply.

You bite your lip gently as you watch the man in front of you, tapping your fingers against the frame. "Good, good. I'll let you get back to whatever you're doing," he mentions and you nod once before Bucky walks away from you.

"Goodnight, Bucky!" You call out to him, seeing the man give you a small wave before he walks into his hotel room.

Bucky rests his head against the door, a sigh leaving his lips while he quietly curses. He runs his metal hand through his hair when his phone begins to vibrate. Sam's name is flashed across the screen and the man picks it up before answering immediately.

"So?! How'd it go?!" Sam asks and Bucky groans in response, moving to sit on the edge of the bed.

"I- I panicked," he mentions and Sam laughs loudly. "Shut up, Sam."

It takes a minute before Sam finally stops laughing. "I told you that you're too chickenshit, Buck," he reminds Bucky and the blue-eyed man rolls his eyes.

"You know… I hate you," Bucky says before hanging up the phone, tossing it beside him.

-

"So, how did last night go?" Steve suddenly asks you. Natasha smacks his chest and the man lets out a deep yelp. "What?! We were both wondering!"

You look from Steve to Natasha, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion as you step behind the reception desk. "It was good? I didn't do much so I don't know why you two are asking," you mention while stuffing your work bag in the little compartment.

"Well, we happen to have watched the camera footage of you and Buck in the pool," Natasha explains and your cheeks blush, a groan leaving your lips.

"Oh, fuck off. Of course, that's why y'all are nosy," you sigh while rolling your eyes. "Nothing happened."

Steve gives you a look and you cross your arms over your chest. "Come on. You have to be lying," he argues.

A laugh leaves your lips and you lean back in your chair before crossing your legs over one another. "It's the truth. If Sam didn't interrupt then something might've happened," you smirk and the two run a hand over their faces.

"Fucking Sam," Natasha mutters and leans down to press a kiss on Steve's cheek. "I have to go, but I'll see you later."

You smile at the two, finding them to be extremely adorable together. "I take it that the date went well?" You chuckle and Steve nods his head grazing his fingers along Natasha's hip.

"Very well, thank you," Nat grins and places a hand on your shoulder before walking around the desk. "Now it's your turn. Go after Barnes."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," you laugh while shooing the woman away. The phone on your desk begins to ring and you pick it up. "Hello, how can I help?"

You can hear a bunch of kids yelling in the background before a woman starts talking. "Hi, yes, I would like to file a complaint on your gardener," she says and your lips part slightly, allowing her to continue, "he's standing outside our window in nothing but a pair of shorts and we don't need our children seeing that."

"I totally understand, ma'am," you mumble while rolling your eyes at how ridiculous she sounds. "Here's what I'll do. I'll head out and politely ask him to put his shirt on, okay?"

"I would love that. Thank you so much," the woman states, not giving you a chance to say anything else before hanging up the phone.

You blink a few times, thinking about the interaction that just happened. "What in the fuck?" You ask yourself out loud, Steve humming in response to you. 

"What?"

"I- This woman called and was complaining that Bucky's not wearing a fucking shirt. It's like ninety-five degrees out," you sigh while pushing yourself off of the chair.

Steve lets out a laugh while resting his hand over his chest. You roll your eyes playfully as the blonde practically dies of laughter. "Oh my god, you're serious? What the hell," he breathes out.

"You're telling me. I'll be right back. Gotta tell him to put his shirt on," you inform him while starting to walk out the hotel doors.

You tuck a strand behind your ear as you make your way around the building, looking for Bucky. You round the corner and see him planting some flowers, the man is sitting on his knees while wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Hey, Buck," you greet him and he whips his head towards you, a smile coming to his lips.

"Hiya, doll. What do I owe the pleasure?" Bucky laughs and you glance up to see the woman who called the front desk staring at the two of you.

Bucky looks up at you again after not hearing anything, seeing your eyes looking above you. "Uhm, she called the front desk and complained about you working without a shirt on," you explain to him.

"You're joking?" He asks and you shake your head, crossing your arms over your chest. "It's fucking hot out here. Does she expect me to wear a shirt?"

"Well, I told her I would come out here and politely ask you to put it on," you sigh and Bucky cranes his neck, his own sigh leaving his lips. "Just keep it on until you leave this area, please? I really don't want to have to file a complaint about this. She's just being ridiculous."

"Okay, I will," Bucky mentions while grabbing the shirt that sits on the sidewalk, throwing it over his head. You give him a small smile and pat his chest before starting to walk back towards the entrance. "Hey, Y/N?"

You stop in your tracks and glance over your shoulder, seeing a smile on the man's lips. "Yeah?" You ask softly and Bucky walks over to you, his blue eyes casting down at you.

"Are… Do you want to do something tonight?" He asks and you can feel your cheeks heat up. "If you're up for it anyway."

A smile comes to your lips as you tangle your fingers, walking closer to him. "I can see if I can free up my schedule," you joke with a playful wink, causing the man to laugh in response.

Bucky wets his lips and rests his hands on his hips before shaking his head. "Well, if it does you know where to find me," he grins.

You hum while pressing your lips together, feeling your heart fluttering in your chest. "I'll see you around, Buck. Stay hydrated."

That night, you're swimming on your back while staring up at the stars, seeing an occasional plane coming in for a landing every so often. The sound of the gate opening captures your attention and you move your head in the direction of the noise.

"Hey, stranger," Bucky grins while setting his towel down beside yours.

A laugh escapes your lips as you swim towards the corner of the pool before leaning your arms on the warm concrete. "Hiya," you smile up at him, watching the blue-eyed God whisk his shirt off.

Bucky walks over to you before lowering himself into the water, splashing you slightly. "You weren't bothered by that woman anymore were you?" He asks you and you raise an eyebrow.

"Buck, I think I should be the one to ask you that," you laugh and the man wets his lips, shrugging his shoulders in response. "But, to answer your question, no."

"That's good. She was definitely a bitch," he mentions and you scoff, nodding your head in agreement.

You press your back against the curved wall, your body facing Bucky's as his large hands brush along your legs. "I don't get her problem. I totally wouldn't mind a very attractive man working outside my window," you tell him, causing Bucky to glance towards you.

"Oh?" He draws out and your cheeks heat up, realizing what you had just said. "So, you think I'm attractive?"

"I-" you cut yourself off as Bucky's hands grip your legs before swiftly pulling you closer to him. You let out a squeal and rest your hands on his shoulders, Bucky guiding your legs so they're wrapped around his waist.

You can feel your heart pounding against your chest as both of your faces are inches apart. You swallow thickly as Bucky looks up at you through his lashes. "Answer the question, doll," he whispers, feeling his fingers glide up the back of your thighs.

You lick your lips before biting it gently, your fingers moving to card through his hair. "I… I might think you're attractive," you tell him softly while adjusting your position on him.

Bucky grins widely and leans against the wall of the pool, fingers inching closer to your ass. "Good news is that I might find you attractive as well," he mutters and your heart flutters.

"You do?" You whisper and Bucky nods his head in response. The blue-eyed man brings his face closer to yours, your breath hitching when your noses brush against one another's.

Butterflies soar around your stomach when his lips connect with yours, your fingers gripping his hair gently. Your free hand rests on his cheek as you kiss him back. Bucky pulls away from you after a minute or so, resting his forehead on yours.

"You're so breathtaking," he whispers before pressing a few more kisses to your lips. You let out a few giggles while Bucky wraps his arms around your waist, twirling you around the pool. "Do you wanna get dinner tomorrow night?"

"Of course I do," you tell him and kiss the tip of his nose. "Do you want to go out or just have dinner in one of our rooms?"

Bucky brings one of his hands to your face, stroking your cheek before pulling you in again. A short moan escapes your lips as he kisses you passionately, your nails digging slightly into his shoulders.

"I want to take you out, doll," he mutters against your lips and your cheeks blush. Bucky trails his lips up your jaw, a shudder running down your spine when he whispers into your ear. "You can get all dressed up and I can bring you to your favorite restaurant."

Your grip on him tightens as he continues to play out your date. You swallow thickly when Bucky's lips move down your neck, nipping at your skin softly. "B-Bucky…" you trail off and the man pulls away from you before looking up at you. "If you keep going I'm not gonna want you to stop."

Bucky pokes his tongue out, wetting his lips before reducing the distance between your faces once again. A loud crash stops the two of you from kissing, both your heads snapping in the direction of the noise.

"Goddamn it, Steve," you hear Natasha scold the tall blonde and you roll your eyes.

Of course. You think to yourself while detaching yourself from Bucky. "Hey, assholes!" You call out with a chuckle and the two of them suddenly stand up, their heads poking over the top of the fence. "Enjoy the show?"

"We did until someone fell over," Nat mumbles as you make your way out of the pool, Bucky following closely behind you.

You wrap your towel around your body, shaking your head at the two of them. "Well, glad you enjoyed the show. If you'll excuse us," you laugh and grab Bucky's hand, leading him away from the pool area.

"Use protection!" Natasha calls out and your cheeks flush, feeling Bucky's fingers lace with yours.

"I'm sorry about them," you apologize while glancing back at the brunette, seeing a stupid grin on his lips.

Bucky shakes his head and catches up to you, dropping your hand before wrapping his arm around your shoulder. "It's alright, doll. I know how Steve can be," he chuckles while you wrap your arm around his waist.

-

A knock on your door wakes you up, a small groan leaving your lips as the sun shines directly into your room. You shield your eyes before looking around the room, seeing the television still on from last night.

"Y/N? Are you awake?" Sam's voice comes through the door and you rub your eyes while throwing the blankets off of you.

You quickly grab your sleep shorts off of the floor, pulling them up before making your way towards the door. "What's going on?" You ask in a groggy tone, looking up at the man in front of you.

Sam chuckles and notices the shirt you're wearing. "Do you know where Bucky is?" He asks and you furrow your brows, glancing towards his door and Sam speaks up before you have the chance to. "He's not in there. Already tried."

"I-" you cut yourself off and shake your head, not remembering if he works today or not. "I have no idea."

Your friend smirks down at you and reaches out towards your shirt. "Well, this is Bucky's shirt. Maybe he's in your room?" Sam assumes and your cheeks heat up while your eyes snap down towards your clothes.

You are indeed wearing Bucky's shirt and you desperately try to remember what happened after the two of you left the pool. Your fingers comb through your hair as you glance back into the room.

"Well, look, if you see him just tell him that I'm looking for him, okay?" Sam mentions and you nod your head.

You close the door after Sam walks away and steps back into the bedroom area. Your heart pounds against your chest as you see Bucky sleeping on the left side of your bed.

The blue-eyed man shifts his sleeping position as you crawl onto the bed, gently running your fingers up his spine. "Buck?" You whisper loud enough for him to hear and he lets out a groan in response.

A chuckle leaves your lips as he turns his head towards you, his eyes opening a bit. "Yeah?" He mutters huskily, causing your heart to flutter at the sound.

"What are you still doing here?" You wet your lips as Bucky turns onto his back, his metal hand resting on his stomach.

"I must've fallen asleep," Bucky mentions and runs his flesh hand through his hair. "Sorry about that."

You shake your head and grab his metal hand, playing with his fingers. "It's quite alright, actually," you grin and Bucky does as well, dropping his hand onto your thigh. "It's been a while since I've cuddled with a man."

Bucky hums and drags his thumb across your inner thigh. "Yeah, me too. Well, with a woman… not a man," he snorts and you let out a loud laugh, covering your mouth with your hand.

"You're fucking ridiculous," you giggle while shaking your head.

"Yeah, well, you love it," Bucky grins and you softly bite your bottom lip.

"That I do, Bucky, that I do."

-

Taglist: @jessalyn-jpeg​ @queen-of-mischief​ @bumblebet-20​ @thewxntersoldier​

[unabashed-lover-of-fictional-men]

Closed Starter with @tonystarkanon

Leslie was nervous, the first day with a new job always gave her anxiety but this job had an added extra level of anxiety.She was still surprised when she received a call from Stark Industries, of course like everyone else she knew about Tony Stark and the whole Avenger thing. What shocked her the most was that her qualifications got her an assistant job working with the famous Stark, not that her qualifications weren't good but honestly she had no real assistant work done yet. She glances at the clock "Shit not good to be late on my first day!" Rushing out the door she grabs her purse, keys and cellphone, and heads out the door. She sighed as she left her building, it was a gorgeous day and luckily she lived close to Stark towers so she saved money on travel.

Sighing she looked herself over and hoped that her outfit was deemed work acceptable,she didn't really own any office clothes so she made due with what she had, making sure to cover the majority of her tattoos. She wasn't embarrassed by them but she knew they might not make the best impression, considering the horror stories she had heard about Tony Stark she wanted to make sure she stayed on his good side. Not that any of the stories were bad; he was actually a very well liked boss but sometimes could be rather demanding of time. Walking quickly she managed to make it to Stark Tower in record time walking inside she heads to the front desk.

"Uh hello, I'm the new assistant to Mister Stark, today is my first day" The woman looks her over and makes a face, and she could tell she was being instantly judged, but the woman at the desk sighs "Go to floor 50, Mister Stark will meet you there and briefly take you to your office, here's your office keycard and name badge don't lose either." She nods "Alright thank you" She walks to the elevator and steps in getting off on floor 50, taking out her office keycard she opens the office and steps in looking around,before leaving and waiting outside.

[readerstories]

Tie Reveal - Aaron Hotchner x male!reader

What is it with me and turning short and sweet ideas into long one shots? Yeah so anyway, enjoy (AO3)

Warnings/tags: relationship rreveal, fluff and humor, light angst

Wordcount: 2837

Summary: You come into work wearing the wrong tie

You hate rushing in the morning, preferring to start your day in a calm and relaxed manner. That’s not on the table for today however, as you and Aaron both rush to get dressed.

“You’re going to be late.” You say as you button your shirt, glad you had had the forethought to grab on from your to go bag, as not wake any suspicion or teasing from the team. Aaron glances at the clock as he puts his shoes on.

“It’s still before the time you usually get in.”

“Yeah, but not for you.” You pick up your ties from the floor, giving Aaron’s to him. You’re quick to put yours on, Aaron mirroring you.

“I’ll just say that I got a flat tire.” You nod, stealing a quick kiss from him as you grab your jacket on the way out.

“Okay, see you at work!” You’re out the door before he can respond, making your way quickly down, not even bothering with the elevator in your haste to get to your car.

—-

You make it to work on time, only a few minutes later than usual, but that can be blamed on the fresh coffee in your hand from the coffee shop down the street.

As the elevator plings to announce your arrival on the right floor, you’re met by Garcia, Reid, and Morgan standing right outside, groaning as they spot you.

“Well, good morning to you guys too.” You say with a confused look at them all as you step out.

“It’s not you, we’re just just waiting for Hotch.” Garcia explains and you raise a brow, faking confusion.

“Hotch? Isn’t he here already?”

“No, so I got worried, so I checked his phone and it was pinging on the road just outside his apartment building, which is weird cause he’s normally the first one here-”

“Are you even supposed or allowed to do that outside of a case or emergency?” Garcia hesitates, and you huff and shake your head at them.

“Well, I’m going to go and start work, like you all should.” You leave the team as they go back to watching the elevator doors, quickly shooting off a text to Hotch to let him know that the flat tire excuse won’t work.

A few minutes later you hear a happy Garcia shout Hotch’s name and seconds later he comes in through the glass doors, followed by Garcia, Reid, and Morgan.

“Guys, I’m fine, I just slept trough my alarm this morning.”

“But you never do that.” Garcia responds, hot on his heels.

“So what’s her name?” Morgan quips, Hotch stops in his tracks to give him a withering glare before resuming his path to his office.

“Ohhh, lover boy!” Morgan teases at Hotch’s back.

“Remember we got a briefing in ten minutes sir!” Garcia yells after him before the door to his office is closed behind him. You hide your smile behind your coffee, trying not to bring much attention to yourself. Garcia leaves to prepare a few last things for the briefing, but Reid and Morgan linger next to your desk, still standing.

“Do you really think that’s what made him late?” Reid asks.

“Come on, that man never misses anything and sleeps light, and Jack is away for a week, so what else could it be?” Morgan glances at you. “What do you think?” You take a sip of your coffee, pretending to think.

“Maybe, or maybe he is telling the truth. The man is only human, and with the amount of hours he spends in the office he might actually just have slept trough his alarm.” Morgan nods, but doesn’t seem convinced.

You all make your way into the meeting room. You sit down in the chair next to a standing Garcia as you often do, Reid, Morgan, JJ, and Rossi joining you around the table, Hotch striding in as usual a few minutes later.

“Garcia, please begin.” He stays on his feet, ready to go as soon as he can.

“Look to the screen my mighty crime fighters, because today you’re goi-”

“You’ve switched ties.” Reid cuts Garcia off mid-sentence, making everyone look at Reid, wondering what in the world he is talking about. He points at you.

“You and Hotch, you’ve switched.” Both of you look down, then at each other as the team looks between the two of you. Shit, he’s right.

“When you came in I saw your tie was the same as Hotch wore yesterday, a grey tie with a Gucci pattern. I just thought you had bought the same one, since you both have a similar taste in ties, but Hotch got the same as you wore yesterday, a grey tie with stripes, which still has the small coffee stain from when you spilled some yesterday.” Hotch frowns as lifts up the tie to inspect it, and yes, there’s indeed a small, barely noticeable speck of coffee about halfway up the tie he is wearing. No one says anything for a few seconds, you yourself have turned into a statue, neutral expression on your face. Hotch is much the same, everyone else looking between you two. Garcia is the first one to break the silence, squealing with glee.

“Omg, omg, guys!” She yells as she hugs you from behind, the angle a little awkward with how she leaning over your sitting form. You’re not stone anymore, but you don’t return the hug before she lets you go. Morgan and JJ are both grinning, Rossi is looking at Hotch with smile, Reid is trying not to do the same at you while you glare daggers at him. Hotch sighs.

“Garcia...” His tone is chastising, reminding everyone that there is something else to focus on, which seems to snap her back to work mode. Sort of.

“Right, right, case, lets just brush past that revelation about two of my best friends, so, uhhh, where were we? Or right! Today you’re going to-” She begins to explain the case, both you and Hotch get a few more glances before everyone turns their focus on the case.

----

On the jet you think you’re in the clear, until Rossie settles in the seat next to you. Which is odd, because you’re the only two on the jet so far, and he usually doesn’t sit next to you.

“So you and Hotch huh?” You pretend to read over the case files in front of you, and Rossi chuckles.

“You know, none of us expected a thing. Well done on hiding it from a group of profilers I must say.”

“Rossi, there’s nothing-”

“There’s nothing?” He’s grinning, clearly teasing as he looks down to your tie and taps it with a finger. “Something tells me otherwise.” You sigh, but are saved from answering by the rest of the team joining you on the jet. Everybody buckles down for take off, and not long after you’re in the air, and then all the attention is on the case.

For a little while at least.

You can tell they want to talk about it, but the case keeps everyone occupied, so there’s nothing else before JJ comes back from the hotel with the room cards. Everyone is spread around doing different tasks, so she finds you alone in the conference room the team had been given. You’re reading trough the victims files for some more specifics on victimology when she places a keycard on the table in front of you. You look up, startled as you hadn’t even noticed her entering the room.

“You’ve seen Hotch?” She asks and you furrow a brow.

“I think he’s talking to the police chief in his office, why?”

“His key card, but you can just give it to him when you see him, since you’re sharing a room.”

“I thought we were past the budget cuts-”

“Oh we are, but Garcia made some changes to the booking after this mornings briefing sooo....” JJ grins and you sigh, rubbing your forehead. There’s silence and no movement for a few seconds, then there’s a hand on your shoulder.

“Hey, you know we will always support you guys right?” You sigh heavily, resting your own hand on top of JJ’s, looking up at her.

“I know, it’s just... It wasn’t revealed in the best way.” She grimaces.

“Yeah.” She looks uncertain how to respond, but seems to go for light, which you are grateful for. “But I’m surprised none of us caught on until then, it has been going on for at least a couple of months right?” You try to hide your grin as you pretend to go back to reading the files.

“Well, I’m not a ‘kiss and tell’ kinda guy, but it’s a bit more than a couple months.” JJ laughs and pats your shoulder before leaving the room.

You find Hotch not long after, and when you tell him the whole situation around the shared room, he sighs too, but mostly in a ‘oh what can you do’ kind of way, seemingly mostly resigned to everyone knowing now.

Even with sharing the same room and not needing to hide anything from the team, you go back to the hotel without him. The man is a workaholic, and you want a shower and some sleep, but he promises to join you soon. Instead you end up sharing a car with Reid and Morgan, neither of which say anything in the car, but while you’re waiting for the elevator, all bets seems to be off.

“So, you and the bossman huh?” Morgan teases with a grin as you do your best to ignore him, watching the numbers on the display tick down. The elevator door opens and you quickly step inside, hoping to leave them both behind. But alas, no such luck, as they step inside and Reid presses the button to the floor above yours.

“You know, work place relationships aren’t actually that uncommon. Did you know-” Here you tune him out, once again watching the numbers off the elevator. Normally you like when Reid goes on a tangent, but now, not so much.

“Reid, I will strangle you with my tie to shut you up if I have to.”

“Don’t you mean Hotch’s tie?” The grin on his face is shit-eating, which is rare from Spencer, and Morgan laughs loudly. The combination of it makes you curse under your breath as the doors finally open to your floor. You don’t bother saying goodbye, just going straight down the hall towards the door with your room number on it. Sliding the keycard in, it opens with a click. You drop your bag on the floor as soon as the door shuts behind you, and you switch on the lights.

You can’t help it.

You laugh as you take in the big room in front of you.

Or rather, the suite.

The honeymoon suite by the looks of it. Red and white decor, candles, big bed, nicely decorated with towels shaped like a heart, and some champagne in an ice-bucket on the desk in the room. There’s a small white card right next to the champagne, which you quickly read. ‘Have fun ;) -G’. You snort at it, that woman is a menace. (But also very nice, but you do shoot her text to warn her that she should sleep with one eye open. The only response you get is a winking emoji).

A surprisingly short time later you hear the door to the suite unlock, alerting you to Aaron’s arrival where you just stepped out of the shower. He calls your name in a questioning tone, you’re quick to respond as you wrap a towel around your mostly dry form.

“In here, one sec.” You step out of the bathroom, Aaron’s attention going straight to you before pointedly looking around the room. You lean on the door frame of the bathroom.

“Garcia.” You offer as an explanation.

“Ah.” He accepts, looking around once more. “This is going to be a fun expense report.” You snort at that, pushing yourself of the door frame and walking over to him. Putting your arms around his neck, you pull him close for a kiss.

“Certainly, but let us enjoy it for now, I’m sure Garcia has an explanation locked and ready for the report when we need it.” Aaron tries not to smile at that, but is halfway to failing when you catch his lips in a kiss.

----

The next time your relationship is brought up is on the jet back when the case ends well a few days later. Everyone have found their way to pass the time as usual. Reid and Rossi are playing chess in the one of two seaters, Morgan is half asleep, JJ is typing away on her phone next to him, across from them in the aisle seat is Hotch who has started on more paper work already, and you’re laying down on the couch across from them reading a book.

Everybody is in their own little bubble, that’s until Rossi is standing in the aisle and clearing his throat. Everyone looks at him, even Derek who JJ jostles awake with an elbow. Rossi got a bottle of expensive looking whiskey in one hand, several glasses in the other.

“I believe a little celebration is in order.” He starts handing out glasses, you sit up and close your book as you accept yours, just as Garcia pops up on the screen over the couch.

“What for?” You ask, genuinely curious, giving Garcia a look trough the screen, a very grinning and happy looking Garcia.

“Well, the case went well, we saved several people, and ah yes, your not so secret relationship anymore.”

“Rossi-” You and Hotch try to say something at the same time, but Rossi doesn’t let either of you speak another word.

“Oh no no no, neither of you get to Rossi me. Just shut up and listen okay?” He pours a hefty helping of whiskey in everyone’s glass as he speaks, even Garcia got a glass back home somehow, no doubt filled with something similar.

“We just want you both to know that we are very happy for you, both of you. And though the way us knowing came about wasn’t ideal, we will always support and be there for you.” You and Hotch look around at your team, noting the happy faces watching you before making brief eye contact.

“I want you all to know that nothing in this team changes with this, we’re still going to work together and remain professional while on the clock. There will be no preferential treatment here.”

“What he said.” You incline your head towards Hotch as you look around the jet once more.

“Aaron, we know that. Like I said, we just want you both to be happy.” Rossi says, soft smile on his face. You raise your glass, trying to pretend that the slight sting you can feel in your eyes is just tiredness.

“Cheers to that.” Everyone joins in, clinking their glasses together in loud celebration and happy voices, Garcia cheering with her glass against the camera lens back home. Everyone takes a sip of the whiskey, several mentioning the smooth burn of it.

“So, how long have you two love birds been together?” Morgan eyes flicker between you and Aaron.

“See, that right there Morgan is the million dollar question.” Rossi points between you both. “Come on, out with it.” You grin, trying and failing to hide your grin behind taking another sip of the whiskey, Aaron doing the same.

“Do you want to tell them or should I?” You ask, getting up to lean on the chair Aaron is sitting in. He looks up at you, taking your hand and placing it on his shoulder.

“I think you should.”

“Okay.” You say with a shrug, looking at all of the team before settling your gaze on Spencer. “Remember the strangulation serial killer we caught in LA earlier this year?”

“We caught him and finished that case 6 months, 11 days, and 9 hours ago.” Spencer helpfully supplies.

Then it dawns on them all what that means.

Yells of surprise from everyone, and this time neither you or Aaron try to hide your matching grins. Rossi is laughing loudly while slapping his knee, Reid seems to have lost his composure, mumbling that he should have seen something sooner, Garcia is speechless for perhaps the first time since you have known her, Morgan looks frozen in shock, and JJ is trying to hide her laughter behind her hand.

“6 months? How even?!” Morgan exclaims. You shrug, your grin shit-eating by now.

“What can I say, we’re good profilers and now how to hide our tells.” You glance at Aaron and squeezes his shoulder, who in return brings your hand to his lips for a brief kiss on your knuckles. Garcia squeals from her screen, gushing over how cute the two of you are as you smile and laugh in response.

[backtoyuta]

NCT 127: How they would be as coworkers in a shitty office

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

❁ [Taeil] King of the welcome wagon; If it was your first day working in a small dinky business, Taeil will make it his sole responsibility to make the environment as inviting as possible. After all, the business wasn't some glamorous well known company, nor was it an exciting new start up, so Taeil made it his mission to paint the office as pretty as he could before you could decide if the job was too boring to keep. If you ask any of his co-workers they'll tell you nobody put him in charge of welcoming the newbie, but it seemed everybody but you noticed him do a double take at the receptionist's desk where you waited to be shown around. Soft moments included him making you a coffee every time he left to make his own, making a point of clearing a little space in the communal fridge for your lunch and hanging around while trying to maintain a respectful distance in case you had any queries so he could be the first to answer them. If you were low-key dreading your first day, you kinda forget about the nerves quickly because of his kindness and tells you cheerfully "See, we don't bite." Will make sure you have everything you need, down to the last sticky note and ball point pen, and smiles bashfully at you when you go to thank him.

❁ [Johnny] cheesy office romance; It was quite impressive really, the fact that Johnny managed to unlock every single office romance cliche you could think of and he wasn't subtle about it either. Though there was no policy really about dating co-workers, the whole situation was a tiny bit embarrassing given the blatant flirting from the titan walking around in his shirt and tie, always throwing devilish smiles from over the photocopier. Even if his desk was miles away from yours, there would always be an excuse to stroll by your work space to drop off some paperwork personally, or remind you of the meeting happening in the afternoon despite the email reminder going around. Johnny really put his bladder through it since he now took too frequent trips to the water cooler that was so conveniently placed next to your desk. The whole office gagged when you finally agreed to go for drinks after work. The hours were spent buying each other pints and admiring him with his tie loosened and shirt sleeves rolled up, revealing the delicate tattoos that decorated the skin there before calling it a night and letting him kiss you on your porch after walking you home. You kind of became the height of office gossip, which Johnny thrived in, but you couldn't really be mad when you were dating that tall glass of water after all.

❁ [Taeyong] The receptionist with first aid training; Stapling your finger was embarrassing enough, imagine the heat flooding your cheeks when the receptionist appears at your desk clutching the first aid kit, big kind eyes glancing at your finger empathetically. Taeyong was the first face you saw when you walked through the door, that alone making a wonderful first impression, also he was a very diligent worker. He never made a fuss when you asked him to fax something, make a memo or photocopy, and when you had to ring the office because you left your keycard and needed to be let in, he laughed that off with you too while assuring that it happened all the time. On the blasted day you aimed the stapler at your paper but instead caught your finger, Taeyong was the first to perk from behind his desk at your exclamation of "Ow!" and was by your side before you knew it. He apologised profusely at the sting of an anti-bacterial wipe and wrapped your finger gingerly in a plaster, his chair scooted towards you and your knees bumping occasionally. You were pretty sure every female in the office was crushing on him and you were one of many, but you couldn't help the blush when you received a private IM chat asking if you wanted to get coffee after work: "Date? :)" he wrote at the end of the message. You wasted no time typing on your computer a reply, sneaking a glance at his face from behind the desk and exchanging a smile before looking busy once again.

❁ [Yuta] The guy that lowkey terrified you; Yuta was the co-worker that, whether it was on purpose or not, pushed you away with sheer intimidation and sinfully good looks. When you first encountered him in the office you were sure he was a model undercover, and when that was debunked you were sure he must have had a much higher level and higher paying job than you. His presence read corporate, the cologne you sometimes caught a whiff of smelt expensive and you could easily picture him in a big leather chair in a tall glass building barking orders at people. What surprised you was behind the intimidating aura, lay the humility of any of your other co-workers. All it took was one painfully awkward conversation in the break room and with the power of pointless small talk you learnt that his weekend plans didn't involve a modelling side hustle like you expected, but rather being a homebody, watching animated movies and cooking dinner for one instead. When you did finally enter an established relationship with him, expect impulsive moments like being tugged into the copier room so he can press his lips to yours and run his hands through your hair, or intense staring contests when other male co-workers demanded your attention. Overall, he was terrifying, but his redeemable qualities involved making dates after work so you had something to look forward to, buying your favourite cake during office parties and volunteering to do overtime with you so you would always be entertained.

❁ [Doyoung] The manager that scares you shitless; For the position of local branch manager, Doyoung exuded way more power and intimidation than what was probably warranted. Maybe that was why he managed to get the branch performing so well, everybody dreaded being called into his office for "friendly chitchat" after making a small mistake. When you first arrived, you steered as clear from him as possible, only venturing near his office when absolutely needed. What you didn't see was the way he would watch you intently in your little office nook, always appreciating how hard you worked and how cute you looked in your office get-up. You often squirmed at the amount of eye-contact he gave you when he ran meetings and you would glance around to see if anyone else was experiencing the same thing. Nope, just you. When he did call you into his office that one time you were quaking in your shoes. You had already convinced yourself you were fired before you had even reached his office door, but the feeling was replaced soon enough with confusion when he did eventually speak to you. "I just wanted to ask... would you be interested in.... this corporate training program?" He rushed. My god, your boss was just as awkward as the next bumbling guy. It would be a while before he asked you on an official date, dinner for two, also quite a bit of paperwork to fill out with HR, but you would come to realise his icy exterior wasn't all that icy when he wasn't in work-mode.

❁ [Jaehyun] The temp that never left; Jaehyun was fresh from university, now venturing into the world of work but still had the boyish aura that set him apart from the rest of the men in the office. From the way he spoke to you over lunch in the break room you could tell he was full of ambition, but also didn't seem to be in any rush to leave this job any time soon. Jaehyun was the guy who you initially tried not to get too close to, since you were under the impression that he would be leaving after completing the temporary placement and when he left it would hurt like a bitch. However, you could have sworn his placement ended like a month ago, but eventually you learnt that he somehow managed to talk himself into a full-time position. "Oh that, yeah, I guess I just realised I had more reasons to stay." He shrugged as casually as he could when you asked about it. You couldn't deny that you were happy, not when you saw his smiling face in the conference room saving you a seat, hearing his outrageous stories from uni and always being the two to get a little too drunk at corporate parties and being sent home in a taxi of shame. Romance blossomed when you remembered that one drunken kiss in the backseat and you both bonded when your boss gave you the cold shoulder after arriving to work a little more than dishevelled and with a hangover.

❁ [Jungwoo] Desk buddy; Honestly, who could hate their job when they had a sweet Jungwoo sitting at the desk adjacent to theirs. You kinda scored when your boss appointed you this specific desk because Jungwoo took to you almost embarrassingly quick. It made your heart swell looking at all the little knick knacks on his desk; toys to fiddle with and colourful sticky notes, this was just one part of his persona. You were a little shocked when he offered you a cigarette during the lunch break, kind of exposing a duality you didn't know existed, but nobody could be that wholesome of a person. Monday to Friday 9-5 was filled with Jungwoo ping-ponging back and forth between these traits, any off handed comments he would mutter to you when the boss was giving an announcement or the conversations you would overhear him having with a friend over the phone would remind you he wasn't a total puppy of a human being. However, the way he always offered to share a snack and would flick paper and notes at you playfully was also very much him being himself. You always fluttered a little at the smirk he would throw your way when your manager was talking something boring or ridiculous, it seemed those smirks were only reserved for you. It didn't take long before he became your best friend in the office, if he wasn't in that day you were in the right mind to just call it quits yourself (and vice versa), he was the guy that made the long hours that much more bearable.

❁ [Mark] The bumbling intern; When it came to responsibilities in the work place, you tried to delegate as little of that as possible to Mark the intern. It was cute really, the guy put in 110% effort into his tasks and yet when it came to coffee orders, photocopying or sending out a memo, something nearly always went wrong. You couldn't help but admire his enthusiasm, also that he made an effort to know everybody in the office, including the cleaners. Mark was one of the first people to greet you when you joined, waving around a little notebook of Starbucks orders and a company card to splurge, urging you to write down whatever you wanted. A simple task right? Rookie mistake. Bless him, you would never tell him how his mistake of getting full dairy rather than the soy you requested led to a night on and off the toilet, but that just scratched the surface of his office blunders. Somehow, he never cost the company too much, but there was a reason why the poor boy never got promoted beyond intern. He wasn't deterred though, he'd lean up against your desk while you made idle chit chat and he'd tell you that he liked his job and he didn't aspire to be the best in this business. Where he really proved himself was during company functions, you'll never forget during the annual employee bbq when he asked you your favourite song so he could sing it melodically accompanied skilfully with a guitar. Mark's contributions to the work place were always a little unpredictable, but he kept things interesting and people, including you, genuinely enjoyed having him around.

❁ [Haechan] Probably the reason you get fired; Even in the workplace, Haechan can't deny himself a bit of mischief. He made a stellar first impression by rocking up half an hour late, sending your boss a half arsed apology and plonking down at the desk across the room from yours. To be honest, he kind of annoyed you at first, his attitude came off immature and you didn't appreciate how distracting he was when you had work to do. However, things started to change at some point. Haechan was the guy that convinced you to ditch the office party and sit on the rooftop with him to watch the city lights, the guy that sent out ridiculous memos just to catch you smile and the guy eventually became the reason for you own demise after he started picking you up for breakfast most mornings. When the manager called you in his office after being late the third time in a row, you ducked your head and mumbled something about traffic while hiding a croissant wrapper in your pocket, Haechan covered a laugh with a cough and apologised on behalf of both of you. When you asked him about why he never seemed to give a shit about anything, you learnt that it was because he had a taste for adventure; "Don't tell me you wanna stay and work here forever? Don't you wanna do something more... exciting with your life?" He asked you incredulously, like the answer was obvious. He kinda got you, no, you didn't want to work in a dingy office for the rest of you life. To be honest, when he painted a picture of moving to a big city, or taking a road trip, or just fucking off to the suburbs you didn't hate the sound of that either. When you were both sat there in your manager's office, signing off on a severance package, you weren't even mad. You didn't have time to be, Haechan was already clasping your hand and leading you to his car and laughing about finally being free, tugging his tie from around his neck whilst driving no where in particular- the start of an adventure.

[moregaythanyourealized]

The Mayor

Part 3

“We start this evenings broadcast with shocking news from town hall. This morning at roughly 8:30 our dear Mayor was killed by none other than Doc Ock. Luckily for us though he is behind bars thanks to the efforts of Y/n L/n, who is now being sworn into office.” The camera showed the procedure and Y/n in a new outfit. A blue dress that fir her quite well. Otto couldn’t stand it. He had only been in prison for a few hours and he already hated his life more than before. He was drugged up and his machine felt much heavier than it used to, he had next to no control of his body. His only way to see the world was through a small grainy TV that was posted in the corner of his cell.

His cell was incomprehensibly unfitting for a man such as himself. An old bed that left a crick in his neck. A toilet which he thankfully hadn’t needed to use yet. And a small table in the corner with the even smaller TV. The walls of his cell were unbreakable. Some material he didn’t know the name of surrounded the outside of it. He could chip at the concrete but the outside wouldn’t budge. Somehow he was sure you had funded the building of this cell. Just to spite him. The TV showed you suddenly and his attention was drawn back,

“It was terrifying to be in the clutches of such a lunatic. I did what anyone would do, if only I could’ve done more to save our dear Mr Thomas. May he rest in peace.” What a load of shit, he thought. You had fooled the people just like you had fooled him,

“What will happen to Doc Ock?” Y/n brushed her hair out of her face and looked directly into the camera,

“After I visit him tomorrow, he’ll be getting what he deserves. I demand justice for the death of Mayor Thomas.” People clapped in the background and Otto shut off the TV trying to get some sleep. He dreamed of you and this morning. He dreamed of how he wished it went.

The rain pouring down over the both of you as he held you close. You’d look up at him and pull him in close kissing him softly and thanking him for saving the city. For saving you. His hands would wrap around your waist and he’d carry you back to your apartment and you two would dry off and have a romantic dinner together. Sharing your plans for the future of New York....

He awoke with a start. Some guard yelling at him to get up. Groaning he lifted himself from the bed and walked sluggishly towards the door. A series of clicks and other strange noises come from the other side of the wall before the door swung open. Being handcuffed yet again he was led to a glass enclosure. This is miserable, he thought. They’re treating me like an animal. He was sealed inside the glass and felt cool air conditioning by his feet. A large vent blowing freezing air and making the space breathable. It woke him up a bit. The effects of whatever they injected slowly wearing off. One of his claws knocked on the glass, no damage. He couldn’t just break out either, there were guards all over the entire prison. When the door opened again he scowled. You looked tiny compared to the metal door and waltzed in as if you were an old friend. You wore a long pale pink coat and black gloves finished off with a black ascot. You looked unbearably cute but knew what you really were,

“What do you want L/n?”

“I listen to the people, and they demanded I see you to know you’re reasoning for killing a public figure.” Slamming his fist against the glass he stared you down,

“I did it because you told me to, you crazy bitch.” You nodded in agreement pulling off your gloves gingerly and setting them in your pocket,

“And I did it because you made it easy, if you had been smarter I might’ve avoided you and picked someone else to help me.” His appendages moved like protective snakes behind him.

“Did you come here just to mock me?” You got closer to the glass tilting your head to see his expression he looked distant. It made you a little sad,

“I don’t want you to rot here in prison. Because despite all that I’ve said...” You cleared your throat,

“The greatest thrill and joy I’ve had so far was the short time I worked alongside you.” He met your eyes and did nothing for awhile. Then he just sighed and turned away from you,

“I can’t deal with this right now.” You frowned and stepped back,

“Fine. I understand you don’t exactly like or trust me. But if there’s anything I can do...just let me know.” God! You really were confusing. One minutes you’re kissing, then you have him thrown in jail and now you’re asking about doing him favors? What are you trying to do to this poor mans head?

“Tell the guards to give me some time before they take me back to my cell.”

—————POV CHANGE—————

He hears the door close and looks around before using one of his metal arms to pry the top off the air vent. He wasn’t going to fit through it but he could tear up the floor around it to make him fit. And that’s exactly what he did. While you told the guards to give him time and to treat him better than other prisoners the doctor was wondering through the giant vents. His brain felt sharp and alert again. So did his tentacles, a flicker of red warned him to stop but he wouldn’t, not when he’s gotten this far. Finally he found a vent to a control room. He burst through the ceiling and killed both the guards. He sat at the computer and began typing. Y/n was going to regret this. With a few clicks and the push of a button all cell doors, outside doors, and gates were unlocked. He’ll had been released and so had New York’s greatest super villains. The city would be chaos and with the record for shortest office time ever, Y/n would be kicked out and replaced. Maybe the new shmuck in charge would know how to handle the city. Leaving the room he flew down the halls. His tentacles taking him to the personal belongings room. Searching the drawers he found what he was looking for. Grabbing his jacket and glasses he exited the building (cue epic music). Walking over crowds of anyone from petty thefts to fellow evil doers he stepped into the freshly fallen snow. It was around noon, by nightfall this place would be a wreck. He saw your car leave the parking lot. His tentacles took over, the flashing red now bright and constant. One grabbed the car while another ripped the door off. He heard your screaming from inside and did nothing to hide the joy spreading across his face. Your face paled when you saw who had wrecked your car and you pushed yourself as far away as you could. He got closer to the car and looked in the gaping hole on the side. You were shaking against the door on the opposite side. A limb reached in and wrapped around her neck. She closed her eyes expecting the worst. But the machine only untied her ascot from her neck and tied it around her mouth. She tried to scream again but it was muffled by the gag. Then ripping leather from the interior of the car it was tied tightly around her wrists and ankles. Pulling her into the cold air she shook her head,

“I think it’s time Brooklyn sees the type of leader you really are. Let’s have some fun.” His voice was different now. Dark and clever. The wreckage of downtown broke your heart. Historical buildings destroyed or burned down. Hundreds of not thousands of criminals on the streets. Between the speed you were going at and the ice in your eyes they all looked like blurs. The wind stopped whipping at your face, you couldn’t see what was behind you but you could tell where you were. The bank, of course. It was hard to process everything. Eventually you stopped trying and just laid across his shoulder. Setting you down he demanded the bank teller open all the safes,

“If you don’t, I’ll break every bone in her body. One by one. When I’m done she’ll be so deformed her own mother won’t recognize her.” The teller scrambled with the keys and began unlocking everything. He laughed and began bagging what looked the most valuable,

“I hope you know this is very much your fault.” He smiled at you. The sinking in your stomach only went deeper. When he finished he picked you up once more like a rag doll and exited the building. Crushing the ceiling on the way out,

“Where shall we go? The city is ours.” He said nothing but got a devious glint in his eyes before taking you back through downtown. He stopped in front of your apartment. How did he know where you lived? When you entered the building it was like a ghost town. No employees or lobby boys. Only the distant sounds of chaos and the ding of the elevator as you ride it up to the top floor. Thankfully he didn’t know which exact apartment belonged to you. He set you down and you pointed to a door near the end of the hall. He didn’t bother to pick you back up or untie your feet so you could walk. He just dragged you behind him along the carpet while he talked about the design of the building. He stopped in front of your door. His human hands found their way to your waist. You tried to wiggle away from him but he reached down. You sighed when you realized he was only getting the keycard from your pocket.

You apartment was cold. He set you on the couch and began trying to light a fire in your fireplace,

“You have a lovely place, sure know how to use the tax payers money huh?” He let his jacket fall to the floor, revealing his bare chest. He must’ve been cold outside without a shirt on. He was out of sight and into your kitchen. He came back with a bottle of wine and a large glass. He left your hands tied but undid the restraints around your ankles and mouth. Taking a deep breath in you went to yell at him. Before you could you were pulled into his lap. Switching the TV on he shushed you and ran a hand down your back making you shiver,

“Is it the end times? Citizens of New York are wondering what is happening? Mere hours after Mayor L/n is elected the city falls into destruction. On her trip to visit Doc Ock it’s believed he escaped and freed the other prisoners. Riots, fires, building destroyed and collapsed in what’s possibly New York’s worst day yet.” The camera switched to different people getting interviewed,

“It’s terrible! I’m afraid to leave my home!”

“I knew we shouldn’t have elected a woman.”

“I heard she was working with the Doctor the entire time!” Tears burned at the corners of your eyes. You couldn’t reach the remote, and if you tried to get up he’d just pull you right back down. Guilt was the main emotion, but you felt some resentment as well. These people knew nothing! You were tricked... kinda, not really. But you never intended for this mess to happen. Karma had finally caught up with you. The people on the news kept taking and talking. You couldn’t take it anymore,

“Turn it off! Please!” Otto shrugged and changed the channel to a hockey game,

“Is all the pressure getting to you, Mayor?” His hand was resting on your thigh while the other held his wine glass. You wanted desperately to shower and go to bed. To wake up in a different dimension where nothing ever happened. The room became unbearably hot. You weren’t sure wether it was the fireplace or the guilt (or maybe something else),

“Could you untie my hands please? I’d like to get out of my coat.” You got off his lap and stuck your hands out for him to untie,

“Last time I trusted you, you and me thrown in jail. I’m not making that mistake again.”

“I’m not asking you to trust me, I’m asking you to untie my hands.” He stood up and began slowly uniting them. He watched you intensely as you took your coat off. Turning away from his gaze you walked into your bathroom and looked at yourself in the mirror. You were a strong powerful leader who was going to get out of this mess....somehow.

[whimsicalworldofme]

Saving Grace: Chapter Twenty-Five

With S.H.I.E.L.D. in disarray and Steve essentially out of work, he agrees to move to NYC to live in Stark Tower, but move-in day doesn't go as smoothly as Grace would've liked.

“You’re sure Tony is ok with this?”

Steve asked as Grace drove them into the city from the airport. It had been a couple weeks since she had told her father about the two of them dating and despite a little distrust over the lying, Tony insisted that his offer for Steve to come live in the tower still stood. When he had gotten back from his trip with Sam, which had proven unsuccessful in finding Bucky, Steve packed up his belongings, hired movers and booked a plane ticket for New York. Now, driving into city, he was getting nervous.

“He said he is,” Grace said. They were holding hands over the console and she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “Bruce and Nat both have apartments in the tower now, if he could get a hold of Thor, he’d give him an apartment too.” She glanced over to Steve nearly sweating in the passenger seat. “He’s coming around. It’ll be ok.”

“Mhmm,” he nodded, but didn’t seem convinced.

Grace couldn’t say she blamed him. They had known it would be a bumpy road, telling people about their relationship, specifically Tony, but knowing it would be tough hadn’t adequately prepared them for the reality of it.

“Well look at it this way,” she cast him another smiling glance, “he let the movers in with your stuff without joking about dumping it into the Hudson, so I’d consider that a good sign.”

“I guess I’ll take ambivalence over open hostility,” Steve huffed a laugh and turned his focus out the window.

When they got home, Grace introduced him to the valets and explained to him that he didn’t have to utilize their services but they were more than happy to park whatever he might drive, if he got a car or if he borrowed the Jeep.

“I think I’m going to get a motorcycle,” he told her as she led him by the hand into the residential entrance to the tower. “I swiped one from S.H.I.E.L.D. the day everything went to hell. I forgot how much I loved riding.”

“Oh, I remember seeing newsreels of you riding a motorcycle,” she said wistfully, memories of the images flashing in her mind, remembering how even in the old sepia-tone videos he’d always struck her as remarkably handsome.

“All right,” he snickered and Grace felt herself blush, realizing how obvious she’d been. “I’ll make sure I get one that you can sit on the back of comfortably. We can go for rides upstate.”

“Sounds perfect,” she grinned. “Hi Oscar,” she greeted the guard who came out of the security office to the desk. “Do you have Steve’s keys ready?”

“Yes, ma’am, Dr. Turner,” he nodded, sliding a keycard for the residential door to the building across the desk, and a traditional metal key for his apartment door on top of it. “If you ever lose either, just let us know.”

“Thanks,” Steve pulled his wallet out and tucked both keys into an empty slot, tucking the wallet back into his back pocket.

“All right, come on, I’m so excited to show you your new place.”

She bounced lightly on her feet as she tugged him towards the elevators. Laughing, he followed, allowing her to pull him along. The Stark family penthouse took up the top two floors of the building, and the six floors immediately below were all private residential apartments and facilities that Tony had kept just for the family, up until inviting his Avengers teammates to live there. Grace gave Steve the grand tour, showing him the rec center, which included a gym with every workout machine and weight known to man, a basketball court, and a ridiculously large swimming pool, along with a pair of in ground hot tubs. Then there was the private movie theater and the ice-skating rink.

“Why an ice-skating rink?” Steve asked as they stepped into the elevator to get back down to the floor his apartment was on.  

“Pepper loves it,” Grace smiled and shrugged. “She wanted to be a figure skater when she was a little girl and their first real date, my dad took her ice skating. When he bought this place, he had the rink put in just for her, so she could skate any time she wanted.”

“That’s sweet,” Steve admitted.

“Yeah, you’d never know it if you didn’t know him really well, but my dad’s a big ol’ softy,” she giggled. When she looked at her boyfriend’s face though, she realized he didn’t look surprised so much as upset. “I know it’s a way more lavish living arrangement than what you’re used to,” she suddenly felt a bit embarrassed over the excess in her life. Steve had grown up poor, and Grace hadn’t exactly grown up rich herself, but in the last few years, her life had been insanely privileged, more than she could’ve ever imagined. “I must seem like a spoiled brat right now,” her eyes fell to the floor.

“No, it’s not that, Grace, not at all,” Steve insisted. The elevator dinged and they stepped out into the hallway, an awkwardness between them that hadn’t been there before.

“There they are,” they were interrupted by Tony stepping out of the front door to Steve’s apartment, making them both jump. He looked between them, an odd glint in his eye, but he smiled. “I was just delivering the welcome basket,” he opened the door a little further, letting Steve and Grace into the apartment and pointing at a massive gift basket of gourmet snacks that he’d set on a stack of boxes with the words Living Room written on the sides in black marker. “Gracie, would you mind if I had a word with Rogers out in the hall for a sec?”

“Uh,” Grace looked to Steve who nodded. “Ok, but be nice please.”

“Always with the be nice,” Tony shook his head and clapped a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “C’mon Cap.”

This does not bode well, Grace mused as she watched them go. She waited a moment before creeping to the door and turning on the screen beside it that showed a live video feed of what was happening in the hallway. It was standard in all the apartments in the building. Turning the volume down to the lowest setting so she knew they wouldn’t hear her snooping, she watched, nervous.

“Look, I’m not going to yell at you for keeping your relationship with my daughter a secret,” Tony started and Steve nodded, still clearly guarded. “She’s a grown woman, she can date who she wants and I understand her reasons for keeping your relationship secret.”

“Ok,” Steve said, his tone implicating he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

Tony grabbed Steve by the shoulder again, his fingertips clearly digging painfully into his flesh. Steve didn’t flinch.

“If you ever hurt my daughter, Rogers,” Tony kept his tone friendly in an unnervingly level way that implied a serious threat, his lips set in a stern line, “there is not a single speck of land on this godforsaken earth where you can hide from me.”

“Isn’t the threat of killing your daughter’s boyfriend a little dated?” Steve countered with a smile of his own, not showing any fear, not being rude, trying to keep his mood light so as not to trigger the man opposite him.

“Oh, I won’t kill you.” Grace watched her father’s expression shift from stern to terrifyingly gleeful, a mischievous, evil genius spark in his eye. “No, that’s too easy for you. If you hurt her, I’ll devote every waking moment to creating an antidote to that magic potion my dad pumped you full of a hundred years ago and make sure you turn back into the tiny, insignificant twerp you were.”

“Dad!”

Grace flung the door open, glaring furiously at her father. Poor Steve had clenched his jaw so tight, she thought he might crack a tooth. It wasn’t from anger as much as it was pure pain, hurt from the threat of the one thing he feared most. She stepped between them, her back nearly pressed to Steve.

“Hey, we had this conversation, Grace” Tony said, not looking at her, choosing instead to keep his eyes locked on Steve’s. “It’s my job to protect you and Rogers needs to understand that I won’t tolerate him hurting you.”

“Threatening Steve is not the way to protect me,” she stated firmly. “Apologize. Now.”

Tony faltered under the brunt of his daughter’s commanding rage. It didn’t matter that height-wise she barely came up to their shoulders, she could and would make them cower when necessary.

“Dad,” she snapped and he jumped, having never seen the full extent of her protectiveness before.

“Grace, it’s ok,” Steve laid a hand gently on her shoulder. “He’s just being a dad. I understand. I don’t want to make a big thing out of it.”

“This isn’t making a big thing, this is an appropriate response to inappropriate behavior,” Grace wouldn’t waver. “Dad, you went too far and you know it. You need to apologize.”

Tony’s face fell, his doe eyes looking like they might be on the verge of tears. In the time Grace had been in his life, she’d never spoken to him that way, they had never had a real fight, so she knew this had to hurt him. It hurt her too, but she couldn’t allow him to hurt Steve like that. If they were all going to live in the same building, she couldn’t let her father threatening her boyfriend set the tone.

“I’m sorry,” he said, looking to Steve, his tone genuine and the proper level of chastised. His gaze fell to the floor before lifting back up to Grace. His expression shifted, trying to be joking and jovial while still clearly upset. “I’m sorry, Gracie,” he said. “Still figuring out this whole dad with a daughter who’s dating someone thing.” He shrugged.

“I’d be the same if I had a daughter,” Steve offered an olive branch.

“You have to talk to me about this stuff, ok Dad? We can work through it together. No more ambushing anybody.”

Grace could tell his remorse was real but there was something more there. Seeing her and Steve together, as a couple, had knocked loose some unresolved trauma from Howard’s constant obsession with the super soldier, the constant comparisons to him, the unspoken but often implied wish that Tony could’ve been more like him. Now, Grace realized that for Tony to see her choosing Steve as her romantic partner, he felt like he was losing by comparison again.

He's afraid of losing me to the man whose shadow he could never get out of. Grace felt her heart ache. How did I not realize that before?

Slipping out of Steve’s grasp, Grace walked up to her dad, wrapped her arms around his waist in a hug and laid her head on his chest, snuggling up to him. Tony froze in surprise but soon reciprocated, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the top of her head before resting his head on top of hers.

“It’s going to be ok, Dad,” she murmured. “I promise.”

“Make sure that’s a promise you can keep before you make it,” he said sadly.

“It is,” she gave him a squeeze before going up on her toes and kissing him on the cheek. Taking a step back she laid her hands on his shoulders. “Why don’t you go hit the workshop with Bruce?” She suggested gently. “I told Steve I’d help him unpack and organize.”

“Ok,” Tony nodded and cleared his throat, extending a hand to Steve, who graciously shook it. “Rogers.” He nodded curtly, turned on his heel and headed for the elevator. He paused for a moment, whirled back around and came back down the hall to stop them before they could go into Steve’s apartment. “Listen, Rogers, If you’re feeling up for it, you’re welcome to dinner with the family tonight. Pepper’s making vegan lasagna,” he made a disgusted face to Grace, which made her snort a laugh. “It’s not real cheese, doesn’t taste like it either, but I did order a massive chocolate and cherry cheesecake from a great place for dessert which should counteract it.”

“Sounds good,” Steve chuckled. “Thanks, Tony.”

Tony nodded and wandered back to the elevator as Grace took Steve by the hand, pulling him into his apartment and shutting the door behind them. Slinging her arms around his neck, she looked him in the eye.

“Are you ok?” She asked, seriously worried about the damage her father had done. How he had managed to pinpoint and prick her boyfriend’s deepest insecurity, she didn’t know, but she knew it hit the mark and it had to hurt like hell. “I had no idea he would do that.”

“I’ll be all right,” he assured her, smiling softly, still clearly upset but not wanting to show it. “He struck a nerve, but I’ll shake it off.”

“Do you still want to live here?” Grace winced and braced herself, afraid that his answer might be no. “Between the tour making me look like a spoiled brat and the welcome from my dad, I feel like this has been the least welcoming welcome wagon to ever exist.”

“The tour didn’t upset me,” Steve shook his head. “I don’t think you’re a spoiled brat either, I just…your dad has set this example for you with how he treats you and Pepper. He built her a mansion with an ice-skating rink in it. He bought you a custom Jeep, your dream car, on a whim.” He frowned, his brow furrowing. “I’m not poor, Grace, but I can’t drop thirty-five grand on a car for you. I can’t build you a skyscraper mansion with an ice-skating rink and swimming pool inside.”

“I don’t need you to do those things for me,” Grace cupped his face, running her thumb along his cheek. “I don’t even need those things from my dad. I definitely don’t ask for them. He just drops them on me. You know I grew up getting school supplies and clothes for birthdays and Christmas. How I had to get full ride scholarships to be able to go to college.” She stated and he nodded. “My life has always been a lot more like yours than all of this.”

She looked around at the luxe new apartment her dad had gifted him, the panel of windows along the far living room wall that gave a stunning view of the city. It was flashy, hardwood floors, an impressive chef’s kitchen with real marble counters and a hidden walk-in pantry. There were two bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms, all with the finest finishes a billionaire’s money could buy. All the apartments were equally impressive.

“The perks of being my dad’s kid, they’re nice, but they’re not necessary,” she insisted. “Comfort is fine, and excess is nice to indulge in for a while. But you know what I want from you?” His eyes flicked up to look at her, his cheeks turning pink.  “What I want is what we had in our little place in Brooklyn. Home cooked meals, sitting in the same room together while you draw and I read, evening walks, the simple, everyday stuff, not skating rinks, cars, not even jewelry.”

“You’re sure?” He asked, glancing around at the apartment for the first time. “This is…very comfortable.”

“I’m one hundred percent sure,” she smiled, drawing him down to kiss her. “All I need is you.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

Masterlist

Chapter Twenty-Six

[fettsvette]

Never Worn White (Part Two)

Cloud City, Bespin. Boba Fett is on the hunt for a casual fuck before he cashes in on Han Solo’s bounty. You’re a naïve virgin, saving yourself for an adolescent fantasy… and it just so happens that he’s in town. Upon encountering the object of your infatuation though, you didn’t expect he’d be so willing to help you out.

Pairing: Boba Fett x Reader Words: 6.8k Rating: Explicit Warnings: Loss of virginity and unprotected sex

Can be found on Archive of Our Own here.

Mando’a terminology

 vaar’ika - little runt

  nehutyc’ika - feisty one

 cyar’tomade - fans

   -

  “Your boyfriend’s at the Atrium.”

  The words were like a lightning strike through the very fiber of your being, your whole body vibrating, no matter how teasingly and sarcastically they were meant. Your head jerked up so fast from the holopad screen you’d been gazing at that you felt as if you had just given yourself whiplash, and your blood pressure instantly skyrocketed, leaving you feeling light-headed and dizzy. Your roommate grinned lecherously at you, their eyes glinting mischievously. They were one of the few people to know about your feelings for Boba Fett, and it was obvious now that they were torturing you, feeding you false information and getting your hopes up just to watch you fluster and squirm like a giddy schoolgirl. Of course, they didn’t know the extent of your infatuation, and what you were planning if you ever happened to cross paths with the infamous bounty hunter during his unprecedented stay in Cloud City. You didn’t intend to allow them to find out, either.

  “...What are you talking about? Stop it...” You replied faintly, gazing up at them dumbly from your perch on the couch, uncrossing your legs and attempting to knead the life back into the prickling muscles. Your gaze drifted to your hands as you did so, trying futilely to get them to stop shaking just so your flatmate didn’t have something else to rib you over, and then skirted over to the wide window looking out over the city. Neat rows of transports crisscrossing in every direction lined the nighttime sky, carrying Cloud City’s citizens and tourists alike to where they needed to go. You couldn’t help but direct your vision towards the vicinity of the entertainment district, its bright lights plainly visible from your apartment. The Paradise Atrium was only a short distance away from your apartment on Figg Avenue, even closer than the landing bay where the Slave I was still docked. There was no way. It was too good to be true, simply meant to be. He was coming closer and closer to you.

  “I’m not kidding. Boba Fett’s at the Paradise Atrium, right now . I had to stop there on my way home to drop off a couple containers of glitterstim my boss owed the slimeball that owns that place, y’know? I walked in and he was literally right there in the cantina, just sitting at one of the booths in the corner… the ones they always reserve for the really top-tier VIPs.” They explained seriously, and you envisioned the layout of the lounge in your mind, an establishment you had visited quite often. Your thoughts brought you to the very rear of the adjacent and aptly-named Paradise Cantina... into the recesses of a shadowy booth, where sat an imposing figure in a battle-worn suit of Mandalorian armor, reclined against the plush backing of the stall, legs spread almost obscenely wide. His codpiece was mysteriously absent, and you could see everything . He beckoned you closer with the twitch of a gloved finger ...and you shook yourself from your reverie, acutely aware that a cold sweat had started collecting on the back of your neck. You fought the urge to slap yourself across the face, the imagined mercenary still calling to you from your subconscious.

  “Okay, okay… crik. Are you absolutely sure it was him?” You pleaded desperately, and your roommate openly rolled their eyes in your direction, shaking their head incredulously. You needed to be sure . You’d heard of the Fett imposter Jodo Kast, and even though the presence of the Slave I on-world was an immediate indication that the visitor was the real deal himself, there was still a niggling disbelief in your mind. This just could not be happening right now.

 “Of course I’m sure! Kriff, how many Mandos do you think are just walking around Cloud City? Beefy-looking buckethead wearing green scrap metal, more weapons on him than stars in the sky. Poor kid they had serving him was terrified, the guy was shaking so bad he almost dropped a whole tray of brinebrew on the graysuits that were in the booth with him. And - okay, are we just going to ignore the fact that I called Boba kriffing Fett your boyfriend and you didn’t even blink? Honestly, I really can’t believe you sometimes…”

  You didn’t even wait for them to finish. The fact that there were apparently high-ranking Imperial officers meeting with this mystery man was all the information you needed for any seed of doubt in your mind to be crushed. The holopad fell from your hands to land screen-down on the floor, entirely forgotten. Leaping up from the couch and power-walking towards your bedroom on tremulous legs, you flung the door closed behind you and hurriedly began rooting through your closet, looking for something halfway presentable to change into. You stripped yourself of your sweatpants and ripped t-shirt, having instantly settled on a glittering shimmersilk dress that you’d impulsively bought as a present to yourself after your last pay raise. You paused as you pulled the thin material over your head, debating whether or not to put on a bra before you dressed any further. With a curt sigh at yourself, you continued to slip your arms through the straps, smoothing the bunched fabric over the swell of your breasts. There was no point in bothering with one of those itchy, lacy garments you owned, that only you had ever laid eyes on - if all went according to plan tonight, your bra would just be coming off sooner rather than later anyway. You bent to slip your bare feet into a pair of plain black flats - you’d considered heels for a brief moment, but decided against them on the off-chance you had to make a quick getaway - when you were interrupted by the bedroom door colliding with the wall as it was unceremoniously flung open.

  “...And just where the frozz do you think you’re going wearing that ?” A disbelieving voice intoned harshly from the doorway, and you looked up to see your roommate blocking the light flooding in from the living area, a panic-stricken expression written across their features. You paused, your arms hanging limply at your sides, staring determinedly back at your roommate, whose face was beginning to reflect a dawning sense of horror and understanding. 

  “ Out. ” You answered in a bland monotone, snatching your handbag off the bed and peeking inside of it, making sure that the keycard to your apartment door, as well as your credit chip and a healthy pouch of physical Imperial credit coins, were tucked away safely inside. Your roommate strode forward, grabbing your forearm and squeezing tightly, causing you to wince as they forced you to look them in the eye.

  “Out where ?”

  You didn’t reply, your plans already dangerously close to unraveling. Your roommate’s grip tightened to the point of pain, and you were stunned to see that their eyes had filled with tears of fright. You knew you should feel guilty for putting them through this sort of duress, for worrying them to the point of weeping over your safety, but the only thing you found yourself feeling was a sort of grim pleasure. The fact that someone you had grown so close to in your years of living in Cloud City, a creature you considered to be one of your closest friends, could be frightened to this level by the thought of you becoming somehow entangled with the notorious Boba Fett, did nothing but give you a sick sense of satisfaction deep in your gut. It heightened the swirling arousal that was already building deep in the pit of your belly, fantastical images of what this night’s adventure could possibly bring already brewing in your mind. Your roommate finally loosened their vice grip on your arm and shook their head unbelievingly, backing away from you as if you were tainted.

  “Oh, stars … I know what you’re thinking. Please don’t do this. This isn’t some game of Droids and Guards, you fool, he’s dangerous .” They begged, seeming nearer and nearer to tears with every word. 

  “Don’t worry about me. I know what I’m doing. I’m not going to get myself into a situation I can’t handle, I just… I just want to see him.” You adjusted the strap of your handbag on your shoulder and heard the childish, lovestruck pleading in your voice. You hated yourself for it, for letting yourself get this much in a tizzy over a mere man - but this truly wasn’t just a man, was it? You could very possibly wind up in bed with none other than Boba Fett by the end of the night, if the galaxy was kind to you. He was going to be the first to ever claim you - as you pushed past your roommate and headed for the door, you were certain of it. This was your darkest, deepest fantasy come true, something you had been pining for and secretly dreaming about since you were old enough to even fathom the concept of sex, of virginity. Boba Fett was the only man you’d ever thought about giving yourself to for years now, and this was quite possibly your only chance. There was no turning back now.

  “Didn’t you hear me say that he was surrounded by Imps?! High-ranking Imps ! He kills people for money! He’s here working for the Emperor, I know it, and that big brute Vader’s still lurking around -” You held up one hand to silence them, and to your surprise, they immediately stopped, wild-eyed and staring at you imploriously, hands raised above their head. You had never seen your friend this keyed up, this stricken by concern for your wellbeing. It felt strange to say, but other than mynocks in your stomach from thinking about how the rest of the night could go, you didn’t understand just what this panic was all about. You weren’t stupid enough to interrupt important Imperial business, and it wasn’t like Lord Vader himself was going to be sitting at the bar, nursing a drink - right?

  “Just… don’t wait up for me tonight. Okay?” You quietly begged your friend, your voice sweetly soft and as neutral as you could manage. A long moment passed between the two of you, no words spoken, just gazing into each other’s eyes. Several beats passed in silence, only the traffic outside interrupting the heavy tension that filled the room. Your roommate was the first to break, their shoulders sinking, defeated. You felt a new burst of energy and smug satisfaction, but couldn’t help but feel somewhat remorseful at your reaction towards their obvious distress. The feeling passed quickly, however, when your roommate bowed their head, the ghost of a smile on their lips as they clucked their tongue and shook their head at you.

 “Dank farrik… you’re a real pain in my ass, you know that? ...But okay. You win.” They sighed. You kept your expression even, although you were screaming with joy on the inside, and were about to reach out to embrace them, when they took a step back and pointed in your face. You felt yourself going slightly cross-eyed, following their finger down the bridge of your nose, and had to stifle an ill-timed giggle. “But if you’re not back by sunrise, I’m contacting the Wing Guard and reporting you missing, and I’m going to tell them who you were trying to meet up with. I’ll get Baron Calrissian and the Alliance involved. Don’t think I won’t.” They continued, and your heart skipped a beat. You certainly weren’t expecting that turn of events, but weren’t exactly surprised either. With how sympathetic your roommate was to the Rebel Alliance, especially concerning the events of the past week and the installation of what the locals were beginning to call the ‘Iron Blockade,’ it made sense that they would threaten you with action involving the Rebellion, even if it was just out of concern for your safe return. It wasn’t that you didn’t support the Rebels yourself - their crushing blow to the Empire in the form of the destruction of the Death Star had reinvigorated your hope in their cause, especially after the horrific obliteration of Alderaan - but the purely selfish, immature side of you wondered what would happen to Boba Fett if the Rebellion were to come out the victors of this current Galactic Civil War. He was one of Vader’s most loyal hunters, and you had a feeling that the Rebels wouldn’t smile kindly upon his transgressions against them. Especially since one of their most famous generals, Han Solo, currently had a bounty on his head large enough to buy an entire spice mine, and it had been speculated on the HoloNet that Fett was one of the many mercenaries attempting to cash in on this coveted prize.

  You walked past your roommate without another word, slipping past them in the doorway of your bedroom, and padded easily across the living area carpet, knowing now that they’d had put their last word in and would no longer attempt to stop you. Settling your hand upon the doorknob leading into the hall, you were about to let yourself out into the night when you heard the Aruzan softly call your name, and you turned. They stood in the center of the room, smiling sadly, arms folded across their chest, a look of intense worry upon their face as they watched you exit, hoping they would find you back home in the morning. Their last words to you rang in your ears as you made your way across the night sky in the space taxi that would deposit you right on the steps of the Atrium.

  “Good luck.”

  -

  You stepped into the main lounge of the Paradise Atrium and instantly felt incredibly out of place, and exorbitantly underdressed despite the expensive shimmersilk you had draped yourself in for this special occasion.

  The room was filled with regal-looking creatures from all over the galaxy - a large group of Twi’leks sat on a couch in the far corner, smoking from a hookah and emitting large columns of purple and green smoke through their nostrils in between bouts of gay laughter, and a company of important-looking Nothoiin congregated around the elaborate carbonite sculpture placed in the center of the room. You’d attended gatherings at the Atrium many times before, but you’d never been in the presence of so many upper-class individuals. You wouldn’t be surprised if just one of these creatures was currently carrying more credits in their pockets than you would ever see in your entire lifetime. Not to mention, there were several armored stormtroopers, their white plastoid suits gleaming in the artificial light, holding sentinel near the staff entrance at the rear of the room, a sight you’d never seen here before. Something was definitely going down in Cloud City, and you had walked right into it. That realization alone made you want to sink into the floor, and what made it even worse was the fact that there was no sign of Boba Fett.

  You had crept into the Atrium as discreetly as you could, almost on tiptoe, and in hindsight you weren’t exactly sure what you had been expecting. Had you thought that you’d walk in and Fett himself would have been standing there, awaiting your entrance like a prince from ancient myth, on call for his princess’s arrival at the ball? Heart hammering wildly, leaning against the wall for support, you had scanned the room twice, then thrice over, looking for a flash of green, a swirl of cape, any indication that he was present, only to come up empty. He simply wasn’t here; at least he wasn’t anymore, if he ever had been in the first place. As much as you loved your roommate, and despite their almost violent reaction they’d had to the knowledge that you were - at the very least - trying to meet Boba Fett, it wouldn’t terribly surprise you if they had been pulling your leg all along. You’d trudge back into your shared apartment, dejected, and your roommate would be there, grinning smugly, lecturing that the moral of this story was to never seek company with strange men.

  Gazing around the room once more and seeing no sign of Fett, or at the very least, the Imperial graysuits that he’d apparently been here meeting with, you found yourself almost embarrassingly heartbroken. You’d banked so much on tonight, only for it to wind up being a missed chance, if not a complete fake-out. You refused to give your roommate the satisfaction of heading straight back home, though, so you figured now was as good a time as any to drink your sorrows away at the bar. The Paradise Cantina was adjacent to the Atrium and contained a half-moon bar as well as several comfortable private booths, and you sidled onto one of the stools at the center of the console, directly in front of the bartender, a distinguished-looking Bothan who eyed you dubiously.

  “Anything I can get for you, kid?” He asked gruffly, polishing a glass and looking you up and down, feeling you out. Although you had lounged with friends at the Atrium, even attended a few workplace parties there, you’d never really been a patron of the bar, and you felt the clientele ogling you suspiciously. It obviously wasn’t an ordinary occurrence, to see a scantily clad young woman sitting alone at a high-class bar, and the various eyes on you made your skin crawl, although you did your best to ignore the unwanted attention.

  “Just a Jedi Mind Trick, please. Make it a double” You replied softly, keeping your eyes down, tracing your fingernail against the wood grain of the bar. You heard the Bothan snort, probably amused at your choice of such a strong drink right off the bat, doubting you could hold your liquor. The way you saw it, though, you’d rather spend the rest of the evening getting shit-faced here than simply slinking off home alone, to wallow in bed self-despairingly. 

  The bartender had just set the triangular container full of bright blue liquid on the counter in front of you when a door you hadn’t noticed on the far side of the room slid open, and a figure stepped out. A hush immediately fell over the room, which had previously been filled with glasses clinking, quiet conversation and laughter, and a holographic jizz band being broadcast. You didn’t bother to look over at first, too absorbed in your own self-pity to care, picking up the glass and knocking the entire drink back in one gulp, leaving the edges of your mind slightly blurred.

  That’s when you heard the spurs.

  Kshnk. Kshnk. Kshnk.

  At first you assumed it was solely a figment of your imagination, an effect of the alcohol being absorbed into your system, until you realized that the room had gone silent, that even the hologram of the band had ceased playing. You looked up at the bartender, but he was staring over the top of your head, paused in the act of refilling another guest’s stein. The jangling sound filled your ears until you could hear nothing else, not even the sound of your own breathing, and a chill went down your spine. You were clenching your empty cup so tight that you were surprised it didn’t shatter in your hand. Gingerly, you turned around to acknowledge the cantina’s newest arrival, your stomach rolling with anticipation, your blood singing in your veins, your heart pounding like a gigantic drum sitting in your chest cavity. You looked up.

  And there he was.

  Boba Fett.  

  He was shorter than you expected.

  You felt a near-hysterical giggle rise in your throat as the realization crossed your mind, that this was your very first thought upon seeing the man you’d envisioned fucking you time and time again - in person, finally. The laughter died in your throat as he turned to cross the room, only several meters away from you, and you got your first real look at him.

  Stars, he was beautiful .

  Boba Fett walked slowly, methodically, with more purpose than you had ever seen another creature move, even though it seemed his only motive at the moment was to find a place to sit down. The dented helmet that concealed his features didn’t break its steady gaze straight ahead even once as Fett crossed the room, even though every eye in the cantina was locked to him. There was no way the man didn’t know that he was currently the center of attention, the reason for the palatable silence in the air, and it was quite obvious that he didn’t care one parsec. The green armor he wore was littered with scrapes and scars and dents, but still shone in the low light of the bar, as if it had only just been waxed, and you shivered at the thought of getting to press your bare chest against the battle-flecked breastplate. A ragged cape was tossed over one shoulder, and your eyes were drawn to the string of inexplicable numbers glowing out from an interface on the right-hand side of his armor, and to the strange symbol mirroring its position, a stalk of grain framed by a bright red drop of blood and what looked to be lettering in a language you didn’t recognize, directly above his heart. There were several long braids of multi-colored and variously textured hair thrown over the opposite side of his shoulder plate, the sight of which sent another delicious chill up your spine. You knew you should be repulsed by the sight of those trophies of war alone, but it served as a confirmation of something you already knew - this man was dangerous . There was debate on the HoloNet as to the origin of those braids - some who’d been following Fett’s career, as you did, were adamant that they were made of the scalps of Wookiees he’d killed; yet others claimed they were the braids of Jedi Padawans he’d hunted down at the request of Lord Vader himself. Your eyes flitted downwards to below his waist, heat flushing through your system. The greenish codpiece was just as battered as the rest of the armor - even more so, upon a closer look. Judging by the craggy yet shallow indentation located almost in the dead-center of it, some unfortunate soul had made a last ditch effort to save themselves by taking a shot at what they must have thought was the most vulnerable area on Fett’s body. They had obviously been wrong, and you were grateful for it. 

  Almost seeming to move in slow motion, the bounty hunter passed directly by the bar, and you could have sworn you could sense his body heat even from several meters away, could smell blaster smoke and blood on him. As repulsive as those scents should have been, reminiscent of battlefields and death and suffering, you felt almost soothed by the thought of being able to press your face to the rough cloth that held the Mandalorian armor together, breathe in those aromas as deeply as you wished, a smell that was so distinctly him . You focused your gaze on Boba Fett once more just in time to see him settle himself at a raised table in the corner, reclining back casually. He seemed to finally notice that all other movement and conversation in the cantina had ceased upon his arrival, and his helmet swiveled first to the left, then to the right, making direct eye contact with several goggling patrons, who uneasily turned away under his gaze. Fett’s visor then turned in your direction and your heart walloped frantically in your chest - ‘ has he noticed me?’ - but it became obvious quite quickly that he was looking past you, straight at the Bothan behind the bar, who regarded Fett for a long moment before offering him a grudging nod. Almost as if this were some sort of cue, the holographic band started up again with a lively rendition of ‘Sugaan Essena,’ and the muttered discussions, tinkling of glasses, and laughter resumed. The clients of the Paradise Atrium and Cantina seemed eager to forget that the deadliest bounty hunter in the known galaxy was seated in their midst. Fett, however, had cast his gaze to the city outside, watching the rows of traffic track across the nighttime sky, gloved hands resting firmly on his knees, deep in thought. 

  You watched out of the corner of your eye as three young Zabrak women wearing matching skin-tight baffleweave bodysuits made a beeline for Fett’s table as soon as the atmosphere had settled down, obviously over-eager for their chance to flirt with danger. You sniggered when the armored figure sent them away with a wave of his hand before they even had a chance to close in on him, watched them turn tail with their heads down almost as quickly as they had first come. You tried to ignore the coiling pit of unease in your belly as you considered moving forward with your plan, despite the fact that it seemed for all intents and purposes that Fett did not want to be bothered. You continued to watch the man as his attention was drawn back to the outside world. ‘ Oh, hell. You only live once, right? What’s the worst that could happen, he tells you to kark off?’

  “Hey… would you send a drink over to that table in the corner? Whatever he usually orders when he comes here.” You waved the bartender over, pointing a thumb over your shoulder at Boba Fett, jerking your chin in his direction as well for emphasis. You were trying to play it cool, sending a drink to the table of one of the most bloodthirsty men in the galaxy, but you were sure that the bartender could see your hand shaking as you made the request. The tall Bothan looked at you as if you had asked him for a diamond-encrusted barrel of Coruscanti bitters, straight from the Emperor’s private reserve.

  “...You sure about that, kid? You do know who that is, right? Boba Fett’s one tough customer. You’d be better off not messing around with that barve.” He leaned down towards you, warning you off as if you were a child, trying to play with the older kids who would only include you in their games if it meant beating you within an inch of your life. You nodded, looking back with what you hoped was a steely determination.

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

  The Bothan looked at you for a moment with great pity, as if he were gazing upon a creature that had just consigned itself to its doom. Heaving a sigh that quivered the fur lining his muzzle, the bartender turned and started preparing another drink.

  You couldn’t even look as the liquor was brought across the room by one of the ornate serving droids that wandered the cantina. You kept your head low, jiggling one leg on the stool beneath you, digging your fingernails into the glossy wood that encompassed the top of the bar. The minutes seemed to tick by excruciatingly, and you were overcome by the notion that maybe you should leave, get up and bolt when you still could, escape before Fett was aware of what fool had sent him the drink, go home to bed and forget any of this had ever happened. But too late - just as you were beginning to shift in your seat, to lean in the direction of the doorway and gather up the momentum to run, the bartender cleared his throat, causing your head to pop up at the sudden noise. The Bothan looked you in the eyes and did nothing but give you a subtle bob of his head, watching a point across the room. You followed his eyes, and stopped dead in your tracks.

  Boba Fett was staring at you.

  Openly leering at you was a better term for it, his entire body turned in your direction, lazily slumped in his seat, his legs spread comfortably wide. Kriff, this was just like your daydream. As soon as he was sure that he had your attention, and as if he had read your mind, one hand rose from its spot resting against the ample meat of his thigh, and two deft fingers hidden under an off-white glove of bantha leather beckoned you closer with a quick curling motion. It was an action that whispered, ‘ Come hither, my dear. Let’s play.’

  Your stomach lurched and your vision suddenly filled with black spots, and you bit down hard on your lower lip, the quick pain bringing you back from the brink of passing out. Your eyes refocused, the dark points fading away, and there he still sat, his position unchanged. He was waiting for you to come over. You looked back at the bartender for guidance - by now you were sure he had seen this song and dance played out here many times before - and the Bothan gave you a roll of his deep-set dark eyes, and a noncommittal shrug. He’d already written you off as another casualty, the sad result of human naïveté in the face of the galaxy’s bloodthirstiness.

  You rose from your stool on legs that felt as if they were made of bacta, your feet seeming to glide across the floor of the Atrium, bringing you ever closer to Boba Fett. The cantina patrons seemed to part like a sea for you, and you didn’t give a womp rat’s ass if they were staring, whispering about you. Your eyes and thoughts belonged only to the helmeted man who had beckoned you closer, and whose parted legs you were standing almost directly between when your long walk ended. You were so close that you could see yourself reflected in his blackened visor, dumbfounded. You were visibly trembling, and you could feel Fett’s body heat rolling off him, soaking into your own legs as you stood before him. It took you a moment to comprehend that he was waiting for you to speak, for you to make the first move.

  “...You’re here for Han Solo, aren’t you? Everyone knows you two have a rivalry and that you’ve been after him for ages now, and he’s here, and you’re here, and that can’t be a coincidence, right? It’s like -” The words rushed from your mouth in an excited torrent, and you were fully aware that you were babbling at him, but you couldn’t stop yourself if you tried. Every nerve-ending in your body felt sparked with the fire of a planet’s core, you were absolutely thrumming, and you didn’t care whether you sounded like an idiot in front of this man who you’d lusted after for ages, just as long as you were talking to him, that you had his attention. Mercifully, Fett’s palm came up, the same move he had used on the Zabraks earlier in the night. You stopped mid-sentence, your mouth still hanging upon, your eyes wide.

  “I’m here on business. What exactly that pertains to is none of your concern.” The reply was smooth and unhurried, and he didn’t even look at you. Boba Fett seemed much more concerned with what was going on outside the Atrium’s walls, his line of sight falling past you, towards the lights of the Administrator's Palace. Where Han Solo probably was, if the rumors of him being Leia Organa’s consort were true. So you were right. Even if he wouldn’t admit it in words, it was almost like the bounty hunter was showing you. At least, that’s how you chose to take it.

  “...Oh. Okay. ...Fair enough, I guess.” You cautiously replied, unsure of how to proceed when he offered no further conversation, and cringed inwardly. Stars , you were truly awful at small talk, especially with handsome men. No wonder you’d never gotten laid. Fett’s helmet snapped towards you like a sharp cut with a blade, his restraint with your dallying almost nonexistent, and you felt yourself flush hotly as you realized you’d just been staring blankly at him the entire time, drinking him up just as greedily as any Hutt would look upon a dancer. There was no way he couldn’t tell your intentions, and your confidence and excitability wavered. 

  “So what exactly is it that you want from me, girl? I don’t have the time nor the patience to be followed around and gifted tokens at bars by starry-eyed brats. Say what you will, or I’ll have you removed from my sight. Now .”

  There was ice in his voice, and you found yourself slightly afraid for the first time. The idea of Boba Fett growing angry with you was not something you wanted to experience. You had to say your piece now, or risk losing what you wanted forever. You balled your fists so hard that you were sure your nails were cutting through the skin of your palms, but you stood your ground. You weren’t going to let Fett intimidate you away from what you wanted of him, not now. You were too close.

  So you told him, blunt and straight to the point.

  “I’ve never been fucked. I want you to be my first.”

  Fett’s form stiffened in his seat, the gloved hand that had been nonchalantly resting on his thigh almost imperceptibly gripping the hard muscle beneath. You didn’t notice, nor were you able to sense the fact that he was holding his breath. 

  Despite the extraordinary self-control Boba Fett had cultivated over every aspect of his functions during his decades of bounty hunting, he felt his cock twitch involuntarily within the confines of his flight pants. He’d encountered plenty of cyar’tomade across the galaxy over the years, desperate creatures of all types looking to spend a night in his company just for the later bragging rights, others looking to fulfill some sort of bizarre erotic fantasy - he’d taken up plenty of those offers, and turned down even more. Boba Fett was a man who enjoyed sex, and he made no secret of the fact that he had been scoping the lounge for a prospective bedpartner after the meeting with Lieutenant Sheckil and his graysuits. That wretched smuggler Solo had a date with a carbonite chamber tomorrow evening after he and Vader’s planned ambush at the Administrator’s Palace in the morning, and Fett fully intended to vent some excess energy tonight before finally collecting on the barve’s hefty bounty. It was back to Jabba’s afterwards, and more bounties to collect on, and even less downtime. Fett enjoyed his life of solitude, practically thrived on it, but still… he was only human, and he had his needs. 

 What he hadn’t expected was being cornered and propositioned by a willing and eager virgin. And such a pretty thing, too. This was a first, and he had to admit he was already getting hard at the thought of teaching this naïf how to please a man, to be the one to take her like nobody had before, to show her just who exactly she was dealing with.

  “ Well … aren’t you a bold one.” He finally exhaled, still avoiding any semblance of eye contact with you, his focus seeming to be on stirring the cubes around his drink. You swallowed thickly, watching Fett’s index finger push the straw back and forth. He hadn’t touched the drink at all, but you didn’t care. You wanted that finger in your mouth, down your throat, glove and all, but shook yourself from the daydream when it occurred to you that Fett was watching, waiting for a response. 

  “I’ve found that fortune favors the bold.” You pushed yourself into the chair opposite him, trying to conceal how badly your legs were wobbling. You had waded chest-deep into completely unknown territory, and you felt as if you were going to faint at any moment if you didn’t take a seat. To emphasize your point, you reached out and grasped the drink you had sent to his table just minutes ago, tipping your head back and draining half of it in one swig. Your head swimming from the sudden rush of hard liquor, you settled the container back on the polished wood and steadied your gaze on the bounty hunter. Fett cocked his helmet at you, an amused snort emanating from underneath, a static edge to it thanks to the vocoder that helped conceal his voice. He laid his forearms on the table, leaning his upper body forward towards you, the posture of a gossiping schoolboy, mocking and insolent.

  “And what makes you think I’d want to be the one to break you in, vaar’ika ?”

  He almost purred the question, sickly sweet. There was no outright malice there, no, but he was teasing you; you could hear the laughter in his voice. You could tell he thought you were nothing but a stupid little girl who didn’t know what she was getting herself into, and it shamed you into silence. You felt your throat tightening, your eyes starting to burn, and you begged yourself, ‘ Don’t you dare start crying and prove him right. You know what you came here for. Don’t you dare. ’ But it was much easier said than done, and your attempt to coax yourself out of this panic only seemed to deepen it. You came this close to fulfilling your fantasy, you could have practically reached out and touched it, but it all had to fall to pieces because you were really nothing but a blubbering baby. You weren’t worthy of being with Boba Fett, and it had been a pipedream to think so even for a moment. 

  “I… I-I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know what I was thinking , coming here. I’ve made an ass of myself and I’ve completely wasted your time, I’m so sorry -”

  Your eyes brimming with embarrassed tears, hot and heavy on your lashes and threatening to spill over at any moment, you ducked your head and pushed the chair out as quickly as you could, moving to brush past the still-seated bounty hunter and make a break for it out into the cool night air. With a harsh gasp, you felt yourself suddenly being jerked back by the elbow, almost stumbling with the force of the pull. Boba Fett’s gauntleted hand was gripping your arm in an iron hold, the black void of his visor locked onto your face. There was no way to tell, of course, and you couldn’t say how you knew, but you could have sworn he was smiling at you.

  “ I didn’t say no , little one . Tell me again what you want of me.” Fett intoned evenly, but not unkindly, releasing his hold on you. To your shock, he ran his hand down your arm as he let you go, and it almost felt - of all things - reassuring . Arousal pooled to your core so quickly at Fett’s surprisingly soft touch and tone that it took you a few extra moments to even register what he had said.

 ‘He didn’t say no. It wasn’t possible. Does he actually want to? ...And he called me ‘little one.’

  You could have died then and there, on the plush carpeted floor of the Paradise Atrium, but your words found you, every ounce of courage in your frame flooding through your veins at once.

  “Take me back to your ship. Let me give myself to you. I want to be yours tonight… only yours. Please .” You laid a trembling hand on his wrist, still expecting to be violently brushed away, told to back off and go home if you knew what was good for you, threatened with disintegration or a blaster shot to the chest or something . But the harsh gesture or violent threat never came. The scarred green helmet tilted downwards to regard your fingers clutching at the armor, and after a quiet beat, Boba Fett’s gaze returned yours. Although you couldn’t see the eyes hidden behind that dark, T-shaped visor, you could feel them burrowing into your very soul, sweeping over you greedily, like a prize to be taken. Shivers rippled up your arms and your stomach rolled, but you weren’t afraid. Not anymore. Silently, you withdrew your fingers, letting your hands fall limply to your sides, and Fett nodded, seemingly satisfied with your plea. 

  “As you wish, nehutyc’ika. Come, then.” With that, Boba Fett stood in one swift motion, and held one palm out for you to take, open and inviting.

  You felt as if you’d been kicked in the chest. You were instantly sober, any trace of alcohol from the night’s earlier wallowing fully flushed from your system by the influx of adrenaline currently screaming through your body. Your skin felt like it was on fire, and for a brief moment you wondered if he was playing with you, if this were some sort of sick joke, but you knew in the deepest recess of your heart that it wasn’t. He was serious. He’d made a career out of not backing down on deals. Boba Fett was a man of his word. 

  So you took his hand and let yourself be spirited away into the night by a figure from your best daydreams, and from other creatures’ worst nightmares.

[rjhpandapaws]

Strictly Professional Feelings

Ch 2: The Type of Guy this Place Needs

There were several things that Connor hadn’t expected when he and Silas had decided to start Arkait Medical Enterprises. The biggest of course, was becoming comparable to CyberLife within their first five years. He and Silas were fresh out of university; him with his business degree, and Silas with his first of many science and engineering degrees. They hadn’t been ready for the sudden rise to the top since prosthetics was such a closed business, and it had been a struggle to keep the employees they had while filling all of the sudden positions. The turnover had been brutal. As soon as things had settled Ben, one of the heads of the business office decided to quit and now he was having to look for someone to fill the place he had left. He and Markus looked internally first to see if there was someone they could simply move up. They didn’t have any luck with that and had to look at outside applicants. Markus narrowed it down to a few candidates. It took a couple more weeks after that to decide, but they both agreed that Hank Anderson was the one. He had the necessary experience and he was a retired Police Lieutenant so he was capable of handling high stress situations. He was the best fit for an office containing one Gavin Reed.

Markus handled the interviewing process as he always did so Connor didn’t know anything more about Hank than what had been on his application So when he came to work to find Hank’s file on his desk with the note ‘The type of guy this place needs. :)’ on it he smiled. He spent the morning getting Hank’s keys activated and making sure Silas could get his computer set up today. When he called down to the lab Silas tore into him before he could even get a greeting out. Gavin had apparently broken another computer terminal. “I swear to every god Connor. I am so close to just going to Walmart or some shit and getting him a goddamn laptop.” Silas snapped, “This is the third one this quarter. He is averaging almost one a month and my department’s financial report is going to be screwed, which means Richard is going to be pissed at me. Again.” Connor sighed as three firm but polite knocks came from his office door. That had to be Hank, anyone else would have just come in. It was a nice change. he opened the door and beckoned him inside. He was on autopilot and not paying attention as he tried to appease Silas. He did not want to be dealing with this right now, he had an interview to conduct.

“Look. Silas, I will try to talk to Gavin about not drinking coffee so close to his computer; but your issue really lies more with Richard. He’s the one that brings Gavin all that coffee.” He exhaled in an attempt to let out his frustration and switch gears, “Hank is here. If it’s really bothering you this much, you can come up when the meeting is finished and we can try and figure something out.” “I’ll be up when it’s done, and I’m bringing Richard.” Silas said dryly and Connor hung up the hone as his twin muttered something else under his breath. He turned his attention toward Hank and froze. He was going to kill Markus, that note was a bad joke. Hank was exactly his type and Connor had not been prepared for that. Blonde hair that was just starting to gray, he was built like an oak tree, and rough around the edges. Connor cleared his throat and brought himself back to the moment. He was not inclined to follow that train of thought; right now at least. “Sorry about that.” Connor said as he held his hand out toward hank, “My name is Connor, it’s a pleasure to meet you Lieutenant.” “Just Hank is fine.” He responded, and nope, Connor was not ready for this at all. Not the pleasantness of his smile or the rough timbre to his voice, “My Lieutenant days are long behind me now.”

Connor forced himself back into business mode and gestured to the chair opposite his desk. Once they were both seated he dug through the files on his desk until he found Hank’s. He took the keycard and nametag out then handed them over. “Alright, Just Hank.” He groaned internally, apparently he was going to flirt poorly with this probably straight man instead of being a professional. This was fine, definitely not creepy. “These will get you into the building at any tome. They both do the same things so just carry whichever one is easier.” “Thanks.” Hank said as he tucked them away. Connor moved onto the next thing on his mental list with a nod, he was determined not to make this anymore uncomfortable for either of them. “You’re in the business office which is on the eleventh floor. You’ll be in an office rather than the bullpen so hang a left once you leave the elevator. You’ll be the last door on the right.” He looked up from the file he’d been pretending to read and met Hank’s eyes for only a moment. He didn’t want to get distracted and stare. “They should have the nameplate up on your door by tomorrow. Silas should be down to help you with your computer in a half hour at most. Any questions?” Hank was quiet for a long moment and then shook his head, “I’m good, thanks.” “Alright.” Connor said, “I’m just a call, email, or elevator ride away if you need anything.” Hank gave another nod and made his way to the door, “Thanks for your time Connor.”

“No problem Just Hank.” He smiled as Hank left and he organized his desk again while he waited for his brothers. He was daydreaming badly enough that he didn’t even hear them come in. “So that was Hank huh?” Silas remarked with a smile Connor could hear though the sudden voice had made him jump. “I’m surprised you survived.” “Keep this up Six, and I will personally buy Gavin an extra large coffee.” Connor replied as he sat back. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry.” He said and put his hands up in a pacifying gesture. “Anyway,” He shot a sharp look at Richard, “Speaking of coffee.” “He likes coffee.” Richard said defensively, “I don’t know what else to do to get him to like me.” “Talk to him.” Connor suggested despite knowing his little brother’s lack of social skills, “Or take him out for coffee on his lunch. Just please keep it away from his computer. I’m pretty sure Silas is ready to kill him.” “Only if he stops stealing my only productive intern.” Richard replied. Connor groaned, “Both of you need to settle this please. Six stop stealing Daniel when he’s on the clock; and Nines stop giving Gavin coffee while he’s working.”

He got a begrudging “Fine.” from the both of them. “Great.” Connor replied with a shooing motion, “Now get out of my office. I need to go murder Markus and figure out how I’m supposed to survive the monthly staff meetings.” His brothers only laughed. “Good luck.” Silas remarked on his way out. Connor groaned and brought his head to his desk with more force than was strictly needed. If he knocked himself out he might be able to convince himself that this was all just a dream. He was not ready to deal with this. Not to mention the luck his brothers  had with their attempts at office romance; and whatever Nines was attempting to do to Gavin; didn’t exactly put the odds in his favor. Those staff meetings were going to kill him.