#and anyone that willingly checks my page for some reason

[spikeman133]

unpopular opinion

craig probably has the most personality in the whole band, just because he's silent doesn't mean he's emotionless or heartless (his wife literally said this), very bad things have happened to him too

there is quite literally proof that he can feel empathy and sympathy and he has soft spots for some people, he's a normal person like everyone else, i'll say it again, silent ≠ emotionless/heartless🗣️🗣️🗣️

[clayberesford-anakinskywalkerfan]

@lacebird //Here is a rough draft of a Clay fic that I am working on. The main plot is basically my OC Roselyn falling in love with Clay and she fixes him. Clay has been through so much and deserves a happy life so that is my goal for this story !!😭💔

Chapter 1

It had been a few days since Clay’s heart

transplant and Clay woke up in his bed in a

private room in the hospital after having

another rough night. It had been a long

recovery process so far after his heart

transplant surgery and also coping with the trauma he had gone through.

He still could not believe that his own wife

and his best friend Jack, also being his

surgeon at the time, had betrayed him.

On top of that he was also dealing with the

guilt of his mother Lilith Beresford, willingly

sacrificing herself to save him and donating

her healthy heart to him since they were

the same match.

He wished that he had listened to his

mother and could have prevented all of this

from happening, but he had been too

stubborn to listen and he had to accept his

hard consequences now. 

He had completely lost trust in anyone,

and the only people he trusted now were

the people his mother had sent to look

after him during his recovery,  Dr. Jonathan

Neyer and nurse Elizabeth.

His mother Lilith’s sister, Elizabeth had

been working with Jonathan for so many years.

It had been a long time since Clay had seen

Elizabeth because she and Jonathan had

never worked close to them. It was only

recently that they had moved to New York

because Jonathan’s team had a job lined

up there and also Lilith needed their help as well. 

Just before Lilith passed away, she asked

Elizabeth to watch over him and also keep

an eye on the Capital as well, leaving the business under name too.

Elizabeth was also under a lot of pressure

now because she felt she couldn’t keep up

with being a nurse and also going into the

office during the time Clay had to be

absent. She and Jonathan had been the

only two people Clay trusted completely,

but they knew they had to hire a new nurse

to come in and be Clay’s main nurse and assistant. 

Elizabeth entered the room checking up on Clay looking a bit sad as he was laying there. 

“Good morning Clay, how was your sleep?”

Elizabeth asked sweetly as she sat down

beside him and checked his vitals. 

“Fine I guess,” Clay said sadly.

He had been very quiet and not wanting to

talk very much after finding out the news

about his mother. He was so emotionally

broken about everything so the best thing

he believed he could do for himself was to

try and block everything out of his mind. 

Elizabeth sighed sadly as she understood

his reasonings for being the way he was right now.

She was also grieving the loss of her sister as well, but she tried to stay strong for Clay. 

“That’s good. Remember, I am here if you

need anything okay,” Elizabeth reminded him.

“I know, thanks. I would just like to be alone

right now if you don’t mind though,” Clay

said truthfully, closing his eyes a little.  

“Of course. I’ll be in the next room over, and

only a page away,” Elizabeth said sweetly.

She stepped out of the room, giving him some time alone. 

Tears started running down his cheeks as

he remembered when Dr. Jonathan had

told him about what happened to his

mother. He still couldn’t get over the

heartbreak of his wife betraying him and

now the loss of his mother. Everything was

his fault and he felt so damaged by this. 

In the next office over, Elizabeth was

talking with Dr. Jonathan about the next

steps of Clay’s recovery. She was really

concerned about his trauma and also

leaving the nurse profession in order to

take over Lilith’s role at the company

temporarily. Jonathan was sitting at his

desk looking over an envelope from Lilith

that he was supposed to give to Clay when

he would wake up and be well enough to read.

happened to Clay and being involved in

He and Lilith had been really close friends

so he was also heart broken after

witnessing everything that

completing his surgery. 

“Hi Jonathan. I need to talk to you about

something,” Elizabeth said nervously as

she sat down with him. 

“Yes I have some things to tell you as well,

but you go first,” Jonathan said politely.  

“So, when I talked to my sister before she

passed, she asked me to watch over the

Capital and work there until Clay’s

recovery. That being said, I can’t be

working full time in the office and also in

the hospital. I was wondering if I could take

a leave of absence from the hospital for a while?” Elizabeth asked him.

 Jonathan was also worried about his

considering she was his trusted nurse and

she did an amazing job working for his

team and one of the only few people Clay trusted. 

“Yeah, Lilith talked to me about this too

before she passed away and needs

someone there to protect his career. I was

going to talk to you about hiring another

nurse to come in here and work with. The

only issue with this is that he doesn’t trust

anyone so it’s going to be a difficult hiring

process. He has been coming a long way

with trusting us, but it’s going to be

another challenge gaining trust from  a new

nurse,” Jonathan explained to Elizabeth. 

“Yes, I agree. Well I will talk to Clay about

this later this afternoon and that we will

make sure we hire somebody trustworthy

and experienced enough to do the jobs,”

Elizabeth said truthfully  in a sad tone.  

“Alright yes, let’s start with that and see

how it goes and we will begin the hiring

process as soon as possible. We will also

make sure that particular rules are in place

for the new nurse who would be

responsible only for Clay,” Jonathan said,

agreeing with her. 

Elizabeth noticed the envelope that

Jonathan was looking at it and was curious

about it also.

“Is that for Clay?” Elizabeth asked.  

“Yes it is. Lilith asked me to give it to Clay

for him to read when he can,” Jonathan explained. 

“Oh that’s good. I hope it will help him a

little bit more as well,” Elizabeth said

truthfully. 

“Yeah for sure. Please take it to him when

you see him later. So I think that is all we

need to discuss for now. I’ll start getting

ready for the hiring process then,”

Jonathan said. 

“Alright,” Elizabeth said as she took the

letter and then left the room.

A few hours later, after giving Clay some

time to rest by himself, Elizabeth went

back to the room to check on Clay who was

feeling decent. She walked over to his

bedside again trying to comfort him a little

bit before talking to him about what was

going to happen. 

“Hi Clay.  How are you feeling?” Elizabeth

asked sweetly looking over at him

sympathetically. 

“I’m alright now,” Clay said sadly with a

small tear down his cheek.  His emotions

were taking over as he started

remembering his mother. The more looked

up at his aunt, he saw a lot of his mother’s

resemblance in her as her facial features

and mannerisms were very similar, just

more youthful. 

“What’s on your mind dear?” Elizabeth said

kindly in a calm tone as she stroked his hair

gently. 

“I just really miss my mother. I wish she was

here,” Clay winced sadly as he held her

hand tightly. 

“I know you do, dear and I’m really sorry. 

Remember she is still here with us.

She may not be physically here, but she is

watching over us from heaven and is in a

good place now,” Elizabeth said

reassuringly, also sobbing a little bit. 

“It’s just been really difficult. I feel so guilty

and weak for trusting the wrong people,”

Clay said sadly, opening up to her again a little bit. 

“I understand Clay, but you can’t blame

yourself entirely for this. Yes you might

have trusted the wrong people, but at the

end of the day, it was Jack and Sam who

were the cause of all this which you did not

deserve,” Elizabeth said sadly, still stroking his hair gently.

“I just don’t know how I’m going to be able

to live with myself now, especially with all

of these regrets that I’ve done.

I’m really scared,” Clay said truthfully. 

“It’s going to be okay, Clay. You are not

alone with this. I will be here to help you

with work and Jonathan is right by your

side here in the hospital. We love you Clay,”

Elizabeth said sweetly with a warm smile

as she placed her hand on his shoulder

gently. 

“Thank you Aunt Elizabeth, I am grateful

that you are here for me too, but I’m also

worried about what is going to happen for

the Capital. Nobody is there right now to

take charge and I’m worried that someone

is going to take advantage of that too. I

can’t trust anyone, Elizabeth what do I do!”

Clay said nervously trying to take deep

breaths in.

“Don't you worry about that right now.

I promise we will have something sorted

tone, trying to sooth him again. 

out in place, okay,” Elizabeth said in a calm

“Are you sure?” Clay asked worriedly. 

Elizabeth sighed and then just responded

sadly, “Yes, I am sure. Your mother has

made arrangements with me before she

passed away and she wants me to look

after the Capital until you recover. I would

be working with your business partner

James and we will make sure everything is up and running at work.

The only thing is that I will not be working

here at the hospital and will have to hire a

private nurse for you,” Elizabeth explained. 

Clay tensed up  a little bit realizing that he

had to deal with getting to know a new

person again which made him really

nervous. After what he had gone through

with Jack and Sam, what if he was going to

deal with another horrible nurse again. 

“I understand and I appreciate you

taking over the Capital for me for a while.

I don’t trust anyone else for that, but I am

a bit nervous about having new nurse,

especially if she or he will be working

privately with me,” Clay said, trying to stay

calm while explaining himself as he closed

his eyes a bit to rest them. 

“I know, but I promise that we will make

sure to hire someone who is kind,

trustworthy, patient and has a lot of

experience. I will not let anything happen

to you, okay. Once we hire somebody,

Jonathan will be here with you to monitor

how everything goes for the first few

weeks,” Elizabeth replied thoroughly with him. 

“Okay, thanks Elizabeth,” Clay said and also agreed with all of this. 

“Great. Also this is a letter from your

mother and it is important for you to read,”

Elizabeth reminded him. Clay took the

envelope sadly and gave himself a few minutes before opening. 

“I’m going to need some time alone to read

this if you don’t mind,” Clay said truthfully. 

“Alright dear, I’ll step out of the room for a

little bit,” Elizabeth said sweetly as she left

the room leaving Clay alone. 

Clay then opened the letter and began to read.

Dear Clay,                                    October 31st

I'm so sorry but by the time you are reading

this, unfortunately I will no longer be here.

This wasn't an easy decision to make,

but I didn't have much time. I had found out

the truth about Sam and what Dr. Harper

had done. I was so heartbroken and you

didn't deserve any of this. I had to do what

I needed in order to save your life.

Dr. Jonathan Neyer and Aunt Elizabeth are

here for you and to trust. You can always

feel safe talking to them about anything

you need and they love you so much.

As long as you stay close to them, you will be safe and protected. 

I am very sorry to you as well. I haven’t

been the best mother at times, but

I really want you to know why I became

very overbearing and intense. It was

because I love you and genuinely want the

best for you. 

I am so proud of the young man that  you

have become. You are so strong, kind and

caring to others. You believe so strongly in

people that they would do good in the

world. Continue to be who you are, but

remember, don't be afraid to stick up for

yourself and always keep your guard down

if you choose to try and let people in your

life again.

 I have also protected you so much from the

past and there are a few things you should

know about your father. He was very harsh

sometimes and put a lot of pressure on you

at such a young age which I believe is not

fair for a child to go through that. I am not

proud of the mistakes that I made and

being slightly the cause of your father's

death, but during that moment, I had to

protect you. You were so small and didn't

deserve to be treated like that. Your father

wasn't perfect and still had some good

qualities, and I was so heartbroken when he passed away because I still  loved him so

much  and felt  guilty for so long. However,

he  also made his own choices that he

wasn't proud of either. You don't need to be

like him in order for the Capital to stay

successful. You do what you feel would be

best for the company as you are just as

capable and intuitive like he was. 

Continue to show who you truly are, work

hard and never give up even if some days

are the worst. Also remember to take the

time for yourself and enjoy your personal hobbies too. 

I am so sorry about all the pain that both

your father and I had to cause you. I just

want you to know that I have always loved

you so much and had your back. That

would never change in any life time.   

It is time for you to begin your life again and

start new.  I know you are going to feel

heartbroken and feel alone during your

recovery period and everything might

seem out of control, but it's important to

stay strong. Continue to believe in yourself

and you will heal in time. My heart is

healthy and very strong. I promise you have

a full life ahead of you. 

You deserve to be treated so much better

than what Sam had done to you and I hope

you eventually find someone who loves and

cares for you unconditionally.

Most importantly, make sure you take care

of yourself first.  I hope you find true

happiness again. I love you so much and

part of me will always be there to guide

and watch over you. 

Love Mom,”  

Clay started crying silently after reading

this. He felt somewhat at peace with

himself after reading this. She had also left

another small envelope inside the letter,

leaving behind her fortune as well.  

However everything that had been said in

the letter was true. It was going to take

some time for him to adjust to his new life

but she knew he was ready and that it was

time for him to start a new chapter in his

life. The "old Clay" was dead, and the new

Clay was very much alive and stronger than he ever was before.

[nachobra]

random homestar runner + OG fanstuff wiki fandom whatever memory time

- edit the wiki in fall of 2005 as an IP address. a sysop tries helping me make an account (somehow I either just didn’t see the ‘create account/log in” button or didn’t know what that meant). he asks what browser I’m using & I say “windows”

- by the time I want to make an account there’s a lockdown because there’s a bot making 100s of accounts & posting slurs everywhere. before school one day in december I randomly check the wiki again & the ban was temporarily lifted! I only had time to make the account & then the rest of the day I was so excited thinking about all the fun I was going to have with my brand new account!

- so the website had this draconian, kafkaesque rule where only one person could write a character’s email show at one time. so like if someone was writing strong sad emails, nobody else could write those until the author willingly gave up the series. I have no clue why anyone put up with that back then, like it’s completely antithetical to the website’s purpose. itd be like if you went on ao3 & tried to write a harry/hermione fic & a mod told you “woah slow down bucko, somebody already did that pairing. you’re going to have to come up with something different” that’s insanity

- since all the good characters are taken, & all the moderately ok characters are taken, I pick Jaro, one of the enemies from stinkoman 20x6, to make an email show about. it barely counts as fan fiction & is universally beloved. look at this:

not exaggerating when I say winning this award felt like the greatest accomplishment of my life up to that point. this will be my tombstone.

- this was just before I found the website, but from my understanding there was some rp game called “homestar high”. it was about wiki users going to a high school. it has nothing to do with homestar. there was some big drama over e102-stinkoman & princess homestar pretending to be dating or something? like that sounds like something dril would make up about DigimonOtis & RodneyGamerfield, but that really was how names were back then. none of this “trashwitchbimbohell” crap

- one time I got in a talk page fight with a user named h*bad, & the adrenaline rush from using logic to crush his pitiful arguments was so intense that I went to my mom & bragged to her about how I was doing such a good job in this internet debate.

- in like 2006-7 a very prominent user quits the website & leaves behind a big rant on their userpage. for some reason this really bothered me & like a couple days later I just did the same thing for no reason. my guess is that it was the first bubblings of pre-teen angst that I didn’t know how to express. many such cases! less than a year later I unceremoniously returned.

- the sysops on the regular hrwiki did not like us. despite the wiki being dedicated to a cartoon that had a sizeable chunk of its audience who were 10 year olds, they just resented having to babysit all these dumb kids talking about trogdor’s uncle or whatever. they’re also like “why are we paying for server space for this garbage?”. so they tell the community they’re going to do a big purge because there’s too much bad content cluttering up the wiki, they’re going to close it for a bit to clean things up & then bring it back better than before. then they just ignored all our messages for a few years, then the wiki came back in like 2010, then a few months later they closed it for good

- http://fanstuff.hrwiki.org/wiki/The_Email_Intro_Medley this song was really really good but the link is long dead & I don’t think it’s on the wayback machine. noah & brandon, wherever you are, I still remember your song

lets look at this again for a while

[sukepami]

That wasn’t like him. All the things Thomas had been doing those last days, to anyone that truly knew him, were concerning; all that scheming, plotting and lurking, the nights awake for hours on end, the sugarcoating. As straightforward as he could be, the way he had been acting around Hana was definitely unconventional. But everything had a reason, and every person had a goal, and every action had its consequences. Once a careless, innocent curiosity, his circling around his student was starting to look like something else, something far more terrible.

Obsession was a common denominator in his life, but one he kept under wraps. His hyperfocus was a secret suppressed under lock and key, together with his grief, his everlasting doubt about his days and pretty much anything that ever got under his skin. He would’ve obsessed over Hana and let the idea of her go with time, but those last few weeks, everything seemed a thousand times more difficult than it already was. Thom’s breakup still stung considerably, especially because it was his fault. He had let Banner go because he didn’t know how to deal with himself, let alone with his consuming ex-girlfriend. He had turned down countless opportunities of exposing his work in a few up-and-coming new galleries, with the excuse that none of them were ready. They were ready; he was the one that wasn’t.

At the eye of the storm lay his undergraduate, the unassuming, elegant girl that always looked bored out of her mind and much more worried about her smoking break than her lecture. Nothing ever seemed enough for Hana, and that had probably been the reason why he felt so drawn to her; he wanted to snap her out of it, to see those imaginary gears turning, noticing something other than her surroundings. He loved the unbothered type way too much for his own good, but something about her was different. A good different, one that he needed desperately to find out about. Working his influence around in order to have her near him hadn’t been hard, but maintaining her trust was a whole other matter.

She had to be out of her mind in order to accept becoming his assistant gladly. He knew that, she knew that, virtually any student from the fine arts department knew that universal truth. It was mindless, monotonous work, and the way she had physically recoiled when told about her new task was simply humorous to Thomas. That, however, didn’t keep him from rounding up on her constantly, wasting her time with things he could do by himself, but that still gave him the opportunity to see her act, talk, breathe, and be in a smaller, more intimate environment. That afternoon had been the perfect chance to put his plan in action; he expected some struggle from her. But he definitely didn’t expect her to accept his invitation so willingly. There she was again, beautiful, puzzling Hana, always proving him wrong, always making him realize how mistaken he was.

After stopping home as usual, checking on his mother and making sure she was still breathing, he had picked up his father’s stuff and stopped by her frat house punctually, around 19:30pm. As he navigated the streets to get to the address Hana had given him, they made idle, small talk, even though he wanted to breach way more intimate matters right there, inside of his car. He figured that would be coming off too strong, so instead, he told her details about his life. About his supermodel mom, his photographer dad, without ever letting her realize just how much that pained him. That heartbreak was one that could never be truly countered. 

“And this was my mom’s first magazine cover.” He pointed at the glossy page, still perfectly preserved, a rare addition to his father’s collection. It pictured his mother, naked from the waist up, lost eyes staring into the camera. Thomas always wondered what she felt whenever his father did his magic. By then, they had already been waiting for the food to be served, and he felt comfortable to bend over the rich wood table, close enough that he could smell her delectable perfume and her breath. A feast for the senses; he would need no common nourishment at all. “She blew up after that.”

[kthynes]

the caller you have reached (chris evans x reader)

pairing: chris evans x fem!reader

summary: chris was trying to drunkenly call the woman he loved and wanted to get back with but instead he reaches you, a shrink.

warning: swearing (sailor level), brief mentions of mental health

**IMPORTANT disclaimer: I won't be dabbling into the hard hitting topics of mental health in this short only because I'm not a certified health professional and so I can't be providing a written, unbiased, often characterized diagnosis towards any sort of mental health disorder because really, those types of sensitivities need proper care and output. With that being said, I do want to emphasize the notions of seeking help and not being afraid to seek help when needed. It's hard, but we all fight a battle and no battle is big or small or better or worse.

If my followers or readers do feel the need to privately chat with me, I'm here and I can you lend you an ear. Otherwise let's be kind and uplift another while we can. No harm in doing good and being better, that's for sure!

-end rant-

This short is dedicated to the following lovelies:

@princess-evans-addict

@mrs-djokovic

@slut-for-chris-evans

@saltyflowermakertaco

@bitchyslut99

@patzammit

@itskikiyooo

@maximeevansblog

Being a working adult is dreadful but the work you do is the most fulfilling kind of anarchy. You are a therapist, you work to heal and you work together with people who willingly reach out to you and your facility of care. There is that balance, the altering nuances in between that allows you to do what you do best. You advocate for good prosperity of mental health and accolade of teachable moments that fosters a safe space for your clients, not patients, but the people who deserve to be heard and not be medically categorized.

Your salubrious passion keeps you grounded. In your lifetime, you've seen the imperial impacts of poor mental health and it has been a detrimental drive in how you retreat and give back to a small found community.

"Okay." You exhale to yourself while leafing through another client chart. You're working off the clock, stuck in the renaissance of your homey office space while the outside world turns pitch black.

In the appropriate fields you jot down important takeaways from your last sit in session with heavy concertation and reasoning, you try to congregate a treatment plan all before you cellphone cries for you in venturous fashion.

"Hello?" You answer without checking the caller ID, tucking the device between your ear and shoulder so that way you could work and talk.

"Jenny!" The man boisterously shouts. "Jenny baby please talk to me! Let me make it up to you, let's just do this right, please. I'm fucked up here."

"I'm sorry but you have the wrong number." You infringe sounding like the posh, automated answering machine lady.

"Oh what the fuck Jenny — oh cah'mon don't do that, don't be like that baby." You re-verify a local number and it doesn't belong to anyone you know of. So you wonder who this man is but choose not to press further instead you tell him what is right from the knowing wrong.

"I'm not Jenny."

"Seriously?" He yells, forcing you to hold the phone away from your ear. "That can't be... This is—" He recites the number that is similar to yours but the last two digits are off.

"You got 42, not 53." It's an easy mistake to recall, a swipe of a drunken thumb could've mixed that up, so this time around, you're forgiving. Not that it happens often.

"Oh no. That's—" The mystery man trails, something about his voice discerns you, it's familiar but in a hindbrain way that you can't put a finger on. "Fuuuuuuuck."

"Wait hold on, hold up, is this Jenny's assistant, Nina?" You exhale sharply sometimes it takes more than one try and a side of convincing to get your point across and your passiveness was certainly to blame.

"No I'm not her assistant either."

"Then who the hell are you?" He exasperates. You make the snide mistake of telling him your name and he buffers for a bit.

"Oh. So you really aren't anyone of my concern then?"

"No." You mildly retort. "I wouldn't want to be anyways."

"Okay well I'm not sorry then because I'm here trying to reach my girlfriend and I can't get to her because I have you on the line being a smartass." With that accent of his you can tell he's a patriotic Bostonian. One of your own kind and that furloughs your need to engage in this mindless drivel, it wouldn't get you or him anywhere. At least that's what you tell yourself before shutting him down.

"Well then maybe you should learn to listen first, how about that?" You snap, dropping your pen before you note down angry nonsense into your actual work.

"Hey nowwww!" He yells as if he's trying to be Hank Kinsley.

"It's clear that you're drunk."

He brushes you off on the other end, enigmatic in what he wants you to know. "This is Chris Evans, you're talking to Chris-motherfucking-Evans, you hear?"

"I do now." You say tersely.

"Good." He huffs. "Good... Cause you know I'm in the middle of bumfuck nowhere and this is what I get. This is what I seemingly deserve, god you women I swear..."

Your face changes. You don't agree to be a lending ear but somehow Chris forces you to hear him out.

"I told her Y/N. I TOLD her that I wasn't ready to take the next step but that doesn't mean that I don't want to be with her. And now she throws it back in my face by getting with some other guy she once dated back in high school. And somehow, I'm supposed to be ok with it and move on, as she tells me. How the hell am I supposed to do that, huh?"

"I, um, I don't know what to tell you." You sigh somberly.

"Of course you don't!" His Boston twang begins to nerve you as there some remitting frequency of it. Hearing him obnoxiously go off, reminds you of all your shrewd New England exes who were his exact counterpart when soused. A ludicrous memory that you relive again with time and perfect harmony.

"Listen lady all I'm saying is that I fucked up. I know I did alright? I mean it doesn't take much denominational math and the plot of Lost in Translation to get that. I get it!"

Jesus. You whisper the lords name in vain as you lean your forehead against the palm of your hand while your elbow rested on top of the desk.

"So, let me get this straight, you think yelling at a random woman will help get further?" You question a little acutely for his liking.

"I don't know but it sure as hell takes off the heat, sweetheart." Something about a man calling you sweetheart grinds your gears and now your molars.

"Okay, alright, let's talk." You begin, sitting up a bit and tearing out a blank page from your memo pad; you were doing a late night consultation, a small hash out.

"Schuwaaaaa." Chris enunciates the word sure and to much of his mayhem, he’s sprawled out on the curbside, somewhere in the nowhere land of L.A. He contented but also upset and you were simply crashing his little pity party.

"What is it that you want from Jenny?" You professionally prod. "How about we start there."

"Wooooah, what is that we're doing here?” Chris gets mildly defensive with you. “I dunno you like that. If we're gonna talk then you'll have to get through my publicist first because right now I plead the fifth.”

You exhale a deep and fulsome breath. No one troubles you like him. It's sanctimoniously unnerving.

"I'm a shrink, my job isn’t meant to incriminate my clients well-being, or anyone else’s for that matter.” You address calmly. “So, if you do require some solicited advice then we can keep this call under strict confidence. You have my word, Mr. Evans and the paperwork that will follow shortly after this call.”

Silence. There is some shocking silence which is brief before you're catapulted with disbelief and more cackles. "Holy mother fucking shit. You're kidding me?"

"I can run you by my credentials if you’d like?” You mention stiffly.

"God I’ve reached a cuckoo hotline!" Wrong. That's a horrible thing to say and you'd think a man like him would've been more sensitive about his choice of words, inebriated or not.

"Far from it."

"Tell me something, alright? How many grown, adult men come crying to you?" Chris is edging with curiosity even though his eyes are betrayingly reddened after crying into a bottle of Dewars 18. He doesn't make that known to you and you never cared to ask.

"Enough to know that they cry." You simply state.

"Huh. So this is just another Tuesday for you then.” Chris scoff, the bottle making it to his lips and then swishing back down again.

"Comes with the territory except I don't tolerate drunkenness." You motely add. "Can you keep the bottle aside for the time being? Just until we're done here."

"That's understandable and oh yeah sure, sure, I won't touch it." You can hear the glass bottle 'clink' when coming into contact with the pavement.

"Now tell me about Jenny." You softly inquire.

"What do you wanna know? How we fuck or how we met?" Chris giggles like a naughty school yard boy.

"How did you two meet?" You slam the words urgently, nearly spelling out the cause.

"Oh! Oh. We met on the job." Chris chuckles punitively.

"Okay and did you guys connect instantly or was there a slow build up?" You involuntarily took notes for any PR rep of his that wanted solid evidence that would preside this call, cover your bases and your poor ass along with it.

"Instantly. Our chemistry read was off the charts." He explains with a slight hiccup. "Sorry."

"Great. So it was more so a work relationship that later grew into something more correct?"

"Pretty much."

"So when did you start developing feelings for her?"

"Um I'd say..." Chris tucks his chin, burps and then excuses himself before continuing. "Just before we wrapped up filming. But then I think somewhere in between all that I realized that she was my kind of girl, my... better half."

"And what made you come to that realization?"

"Well for one she has this infectious laugh that would have you laughing with her, there's that sound of beauty and pureness to it. And then with that, there were all the little things she'd do for me that made me think, like damn she's the one, she's it for me and that for better or for worse, I'd need her more than she'd ever need me."

Chris gets sad and you feel for him. Your pen stops moving when you were about to prescribe him some mind memory exercises. He was human. Humans hurt. Humans make mistakes. Humans stray but they also love. That's all Chris did. He loved with all of his heart to not expect the same love in return.

"You know Chris, we don't always get the love we deserve and sometimes its sucks. Sometimes you wanna kick it back with a bottle of Dewars 18 and shake your fists in the air." Chris quietly perks up at your choice of alcohol that you didn't know he was forcefully downing. He fashions a small half smile that you don't see but hear faintly. "But there's also a time and a place and things happen, people come apart, people get together, people do people and there's that fine line of letting life run its uneven course."

"I mean you sometimes have to not be okay to be okay again and I know that from my many years of helpful healing. It gets okay, never fully better and I think that's just how it is. You acknowledge your pain, your trauma and then you go on while being mindful of that transition."

"Wow."

"Hey, um, look, I actually have to get going. But if you can, just down the rest of that bottle and get yourself home."

"Are you sure?" Chris gawks.

"I mean you were already halfway through and it's not like I can physically stop you, right? And besides this is what I'm prescribing to you. I want you to acknowledge your pain, drink away your sorrows and then smash that bottle so you can be relieved from that trauma and hurt. After that you need to fix up and start new, have a mature conversation with her, if you can and then have your feet hitting the ground again. Don't fall into the routine of heartbreak even if it becomes too hard, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear."

"Good." You sniff and start to put things away. "I know you're a good guy Chris, from how you are on TV and in interviews, I'm amazed by how articulate you are. You have the right mindset so I have no doubts that you'll fall back in any way. But if you do, please don't hesitate to reach out, I might have to hand you off to another cohort but nonetheless it can be worked out even if it does feel like you might be sparring on your own. You'll get the help you need."

"Great, thanks." Chris responds in his conscious state of thought. He feels pathetic with himself and that doesn't have you galling over the fact, instead you let him be.

"Do you need me to order you an Uber? Cab? Call a friend for ya?" You laugh easily and Chris hears it clearly, smiling in return.

"An Uber would be nice. I'll try to share you my location."

"Sure, on me and that'd be great."

"Thanks."

"No problem... And your ride should be here in two minutes, just look out for Raul in black Elantra." You inform him after checking your phone.

"Nice."

"You have a goodnight now Chris."

"You too." The line cuts and you're given a piece of your life back. You gather your belongings, flip off the light switch and make your way home. There's some truth and some brokenness in every situation. You knew Chris was going to be OK even if he didn't consult you afterwards. For you, there was no need. He's a smart man and he proves this over a prolonged period of time when he finally finds himself back on the market and then eventually in a relationship with a faceless and very loving woman from his own hometown.

He was finally happy, making you serendipitously glad that you were the caller he had reached.

[watchmegetobsessed]

Update - Harry Styles

i’ve been deep inmy harry feels and this thought just wouldn’t leave me alone so i had to write it. im thinking about starting a taglist for harry, i think i’ll write more about him in the future. let me know if you’d be interested in the taglist!

word count: ~5.9k

masterlist

Sequel: The best present

Harry is not that into YouTube videos, has never really been, which is kind of ironic seeing the number of videos on the internet that is about him. The man himself who makes everyone talk online feels weird seeing someone talking on his screen, looking into his soul as if they were right there with him. But today he felt the sudden urge to be like his peers and get lost in random rambling videos from strangers, who felt the need to put themselves out there.

He has made a mean cup of tea for himself, made himself comfortable on his couch with his laptop balancing on his thighs and now is opening up his browser to unwind in an unusual way. As YouTube opens in front of his tired eyes, he stops when he tries to type in the keywords he is searching for. What is he looking for really? He thinks to himself trying to remember what he heard from his friends when they talked about funny or interesting videos. One thing is for sure, he is trying to avoid watching videos of himself in any content. He has had enough of him for the day, it’s time to focus on someone else, even if he doesn’t know the person.

He scrolls through several pages of many different keywords until he settles for a video where a girl talks about how her latest moving day went. Starting off Harry feels weird listening to her talk about such personal things as where her bed went in her room, how she packed all her stuff to fit them in the boxes, but soon enough this feeling settles and he starts to realize it’s kind of relaxing.

It doesn’t take too long for him to fall down a rabbit hole and by the time his tea empties out from his cup he is intensely watching a guy rant about his boss at Subway while doing a mukbang. The latter is a new discovery for Harry, he has never heard of it before, but he can see why some people find it satisfying.

The video ends, Harry checks the time and sees that it’s already after midnight and he hasn’t even realized how fast time flew by.

“Alright, just one more,” he mumbles to himself scrolling down the column of the recommended videos until his eyes stop at one particular upload at the very bottom.

July update for my Sammy, ready the title and an eye-catchingly beautiful girl is smiling from the thumbnail. He finds her breathtaking, the lack of makeup, the worn out hoodie she is wearing and the many various plants in the background makes it appear she is sitting in the middle of the forest.

Harry finds himself clicking on the video before he could even decide consciously to watch it. The screen loads and the girl appears in front of him, this time in a much larger size.

“Hi Sammy, welcome back to our channel,” she starts with an angelic little laugh as she pulls her shoulders up to her ears as if the camera is making her shy. She has no reason to be shy, Harry thinks to himself. His second thought is about Sammy, he is one lucky guy to know this angel and have her think about him. “It’s Y/N here, your one and only sister,” she adds.

Sister. The word brings Harry relief and he is surprised to feel this way, but he has no time to think anything of it because she starts talking again.

“Here is my July update, I’m sorry I’m a little late, but we got back from Oregon yesterday. Aunt Ella is sending you kisses and hugs, she missed you at the barbeque, or maybe it was just your helping hand at the grill,” she chuckles to herself, probably recalling the memory.

Harry has no idea who Aunt Ella is or where she lives in Oregon, but the way she talks about it makes him feel like he is part of the family a little.

Y/N carries on and starts talking about everything that has happened in July. Painting the shed at her parents’ home, buying a new armchair, one her cat absolutely adores and refuses to sleep anywhere else now, she went to the hairdresser to get a trim, but not too much. She tells about her plans for August, how she is thinking about going to the farmers’ market more often, and she has been playing with the idea of adopting another cat.

“I think Henry has been feeling a little lonely lately. He could use a buddy,” she tells the camera, her eyes moving to the side from where a weak but moody meow can be heard as an answer. “Yeah, I think he agrees,” she chuckles and Harry finds himself smiling at the screen.

At the end of the video she asks a few questions from Sammy, how he has been doing, if his wrist feels any better, even asks about a friend called Matthew. Harry wonders if she has ever gotten the answers to her questions and where Sammy saw this video. What is he doing that made her want to do an update on YouTube?

When the video ends Harry clicks on her profile faster than he would willingly admit to anyone and it’s like he opened the gate to paradise. Tens and maybe hundreds of videos are queuing on her page, monthly updates, birthday wishes, short story times about family gatherings, news and happenings in her life.

Harry gets lost in her tales. He watches video after video, noticing the smallest details about her, almost mentally taking notes about her updates, finding anything and everything she talks about so interesting as if he knew those people and places she mentions. He comes to realization that Sammy is her older brother who is serving somewhere in the military. Y/N is making the videos to update him about her life even if she knows most of them doesn’t get to him until weeks later, but it doesn’t seem to bother her. He also learns that Sammy sends them back lengthy emails once a month and always ends them with a joke they made up with his mates at the army. Y/N loves them even when they're not even funny, she never fails to mention that she smiled reading them.

Hours pass by and the rising Sun peeks inside the window pulling Harry back to his own reality, shocked that he just spent the whole night watching her videos and didn’t even realize how deep he has gotten in her life. Lucky for him he has nothing planned until the afternoon, so shutting his laptop he sets it aside and heads straight to bed, but lying between his silky sheets he catches himself staring out the window, wondering what Y/N might be doing right now. From what he collected she lives somewhere in Spokane and has family in Seattle and Portland, which puts her quite a few time zones behind him. He finds the thought of them going to bed at the same time despite the distance a little funny. He lies in bed for quite some time before he finally drifts off to sleep with a particular girl on his mind, who doesn’t even know he is thinking about her.

 “Do you think you can fall for someone you have never met?”

Harry’s question catches Mitch a little off-guard, but he is kind of used to his random bits of thoughts. Pouring some sugar into his coffee he follows the wondering singer to a free table in the corner.

“Isn’t it what all your fans feel?” he answers with a question, earning a surprised look from Harry. He hasn’t thought about this side, now the situation is kind of ironic, he supposes.

“Y’re right,” he nods stirring his coffee around in the small cup.

“Want to let me in on your thoughts?”

Harry feels a little shy to admit how he has watched all of her videos in the past few days, 207 to be exact and now he feels an oddly deep connection to this girl he has never even seen outside of a screen. Last night he dug up her Instagam profile, and even though she is not posting as frequently as she does on her channel, it was a refreshing change to see her in different settings. Chilling at a lake, having drinks with her friends, playing with her parents’ puppy, it amazed him that she has a whole life outside that small portion she lets him see in her videos.

Hesitantly, but he tells his friend about his latest hobby, if it’s not too weird to call it that, while his friend patiently listens and nods along his words while sipping on his morning coffee.

“D’you think I’m crazy?” Harry sighs leaning back in his seat, looking at his friend and colleague for validation that he hasn’t lost his mind entirely.

“Definitely not,” he chuckles shaking his head. “It’s like falling for that girl in school you know so much about but never really met.”

“Only that I’m stalkin’ this poor girl.”

“This is not stalking. We both know it’s far from that.” Harry nods with slight relief that his situation doesn’t seem as bad as he has been feeling lately. “Have you gotten in touch with her?”

“And what am I supposed to do? Comment on her video that I think her cat’s a cutie and I watched all her videos in three days ‘cuz I think she’s beautiful and I find her voice soothing?”

Mitch lets out a soft chuckle at the oddly specific answer he just gave and finds it amusing how interested his friend has grown about someone in such a short time.

“Maybe phrase it a little different.”

“So you do think I should reach out?”

“I don’t see why you shouldn’t. Use your personal YouTube, leave her a nice comment. Maybe she’ll reply.”

“And then what?”

“I don’t know, Harry,” he chuckles. “Just go with it and you’ll see. You are obviously interested in her, it’s better than just sit and watch her videos.”

Harry agrees. It wouldn’t hurt to try to reach out to her, possibly in a not too creepy way. Maybe just a sweet comment on one of her videos and if she replies… Well, he doesn’t know what comes after, but he’ll figure it out.

 Y/N updates regularly. Usually once a week and mostly it’s Sunday when a new video gets uploaded. This next Sunday Harry finds himself checking her page occasionally through the day to see if there’s a new update, but it seems like she is missing today. Right until he is driving home and gets a notification from the app.

Y/N has just uploaded a new video! It reads and Harry’s heart beats a tad bit faster. He thinks about pulling over to see it right away, but he tells himself that would be a bit too much, so he is forced to wait until he is in the comfort of his home.

Finally sitting on his couch he opens up his laptop and clicks on the video that has the title: September update.

Y/N sits in her usual spot, Henry in her arms as she is gently stroking his head with a warm smile on her face.

“Hi Sammy! Welcome back to our channel,” she greets him with her usual words and Harry loves how she calls the channel theirs. “This is my September update, even though not much has happened,” she breathes out, eyes wandering to the window besides her and Harry wonders what she sees from her window every day. Does she live in the city? Is it an apartment or a house with a backyard? Are there any trees or does her room have a terrible view, maybe just another house next to hers?

She starts her talk about the month, which she spent mostly with working, a little shopping and meeting her friends. She tells him about her planned trip to the local shelter to see possible new kittens to add to her household and Harry feels himself growing excited about it. He even thinks about what kind of cat he can see get along well with Henry even though he has never even met him.

“Anyway, mom and dad miss you, I miss you too. I loved your joke about ducks in your latest email,” she chuckles sweetly, bringing a smile to Harry’s face as well. “Mom is excited to see you at Christmas, our cousins will come to Portland as well. Maya can’t wait to play Jenga with you, she said she’s been practicing.”

The video soon ends as Y/N tells Sammy how much she loves him and eventually turns the camera off.

He straight away moves the cursor to the beginning of the video and as she starts talking again he scrolls down to the comment section that’s entirely empty. There are only two views on her video, usually a hundred is the max, but she doesn’t seem to care about the views, it’s more about the message.

He clicks to type a comment, but his hands stop above the keyboard as he tries to think of what to write. Mitch was right about taking a chance at reaching out, but what is he supposed to write exactly? Everything that comes to his mind sounds so creepy and scary, and he knows it’s weird that he formed such a deep connection to an unknown girl online. At last he starts typing.

“Hi Y/N! I’ve stumbled across your videos the other day. Love how you keep your brother updated, it’s such a nice gesture. I hope life treats you and Sammy well, you truly deserve it. Good luck with finding a buddy for Henry! Love, an admirer of yours, H.”

He reads it back several times, deleting then retyping it again until he decides to just go with it. A rush of adrenaline washes over his body when he sends the comment and it’s officially out there. Secretly he wishes she would reply right away, but moments pass by, then moments turn into minutes and nothing happens. His comment stands there alone and he has to realize that maybe she will never even reply or even see it.

It doesn’t matter, he tells himself as he shuts the laptop down and goes on to do his things, but he finds his thoughts wander over to her from time to time.

He has a busy day ahead of him the next day, quite a few meetings and a fitting. He checks back for a reply in the morning, but it slips his mind the moment he leaves from home and his phone rings right away. Throughout the day he basically barely has time to check his emails, his other notifications are just sitting patiently on the bar, waiting for him to acknowledge them. It’s way past five in the afternoon when he finally have some time for himself after his fitting. He is sitting in his car, people walk past him without even realizing who is sitting behind the tinted windows. Scrolling down he gets rid of everything that doesn’t seem urgent until his eyes stop at one particular notification.

“Y/N replied to your comment,” he reads it out loud, just to make it real, as if he is seeing it wrong and saying it with his own mouth brings it to life. He quickly taps on it and the familiar video opens up and while Y/N starts talking again the screen jumps down to the comments where, in fact, there is a reply from her.

“Dear H! Thank you for your heartfelt comment! I always forget it’s not just my family who sees these videos, but I’m happy you found them interesting enough to watch a few of them.”

“A few?” Harry huffs to himself feeling a little ridiculous he has watched all of them.

“I hope I didn’t bore you too much. Thank you for the well wishes for me, my brother and Henry too. He is sending his love to you. Y/N xx”

The comment was posted three hours ago. The thought that she has acknowledged his existence with not only reading but also replying to his comment brings him extreme joy. He reads her words over and over again, looking for any clue that would give away that she found his comment weird, but it seems like she was more surprised and happy that someone else saw her video besides her brother. Harry starts to type his reply without hesitation.

“Bore me? You saved me from watching another “what’s in my bag” video the other day. It was a pleasant change. I love your plants, by the way. Your room always gives off the most relaxed vibes. It reminded me I should have more of them in my home. H”

Harry smiles to himself posting his comment, the fear of appearing like a stalker long gone from him, the interaction is making his inside blossom from joy. For his biggest surprise a reply appears just a few minutes away and Harry reads Y/N’s new lines with deep hunger.

“Those videos suck the life out of me every time! I might be having a problem with buying too many plants, but I can’t help myself. They truly bring peace to me just by looking at them. I’m glad you are planning on buying some more, you won’t regret it!”

Harry is dying to reply, but he doesn’t want to look too eager and needy, so he opts for just liking her comment to let her know he read it and agrees. He locks his phone and puts it aside with the widest smile on his face as he starts his car and leaves his parking spot.

Two weeks pass by. In those two weeks Y/N uploads two more videos, one about her time with her grandparents, for a change it was filmed at their home and they even said hello in it. Harry feels wholesome seeing her with her granny and grandpa, it’s clear she cares a lot about them. The other video is just a short one where she has met some of Sammy’s old high school friends and she had a check in from them, sending a sweet message to him through the video. Harry doesn’t doubt how much these little things mean to Sammy, even if he doesn’t get to see them right away. Seeing Y/N alone boosts his mood every time she uploads a new video, he can only imagine how they make Sammy feel.

He leaves comments on her videos without a second thought and she replies to all of them, a lot of the time almost immediately. These are the highlights of his days without exception. Knowing that she has anything to do with him just fascinates him and he is starting to realize what his fans feel towards him on a different level. Whenever he sees the notification that she has replied to what he wrote or that she uploaded a new video he flies right to her page to check it, no matter what he is doing. Some of their comment threads turn out pretty lengthy, almost like a chat conversation and it has Harry wonder how they could maybe move it to somewhere else from the comment section.

He wants to ask for her number, but figures it wouldn’t be the best idea. Regardless of how much he enjoys their short little conversations, the situation is still weird and complicated and he doesn’t want to forget that.

But he is pleasantly surprised when she brings it up herself, to move the conversation to somewhere else.

“Would love to discuss that more with you. Up for exchanging IG names?” her question reads and he blinks a few before he fully comprehends that she wants to talk to him more in private. However there’s no way he can send her his real Instagram profile and making a fake one would be way too suspicious. Opening up the private messages he sends her a short, but informative message.

“I don’t use Instagram, but feel free to text me,” and then his phone number.

He sits at the dinner table anxiously, waiting for his phone to light up from a new text, and just a few minutes later it finally comes.

“Hi! It’s Y/N,” he reads from the notification and he saves the number right away.

“Hello! Save me as Harry. I haven’t even told you my name yet, how rude of me!” he replies chuckling to himself.

“Will let it slip this time. Harry. What a nice name!”

“Is it what you thought about from the H?”

“It was one of my theories. The other one was Hayes, but Harry fits you better.”

“You haven’t even seen me, how do you know what name fits me?”

“I don’t know. You had a vibe. There are many great Harries in the world, you seemed to fit between them!”

Harry wonders if she is thinking about him without even knowing that… it is him. He wants to ask her, but decides not to. Instead, he is enjoying that he can now reach her immediately and not through a comment section. He never thought this would actually happen.

 The texts never stop. They have so much to talk about! Their entire life to share, millions of thoughts and so much to discuss! Harry is not proud of the time he has spent with his eyes glued to his phone, but he wouldn’t miss a chance to talk to her for anything. Their friends are not blind to the change in him, but Mitch is the only one with a guess about why he has gotten so addicted to his phone.

“Is it the girl from the videos?” he asks Harry one time when they are at the studio, having lunch break. Different food boxes are scattered around them, on the table and the couch. Harry’s phone just light up from a text and he immediately dropped his lunch to type a response.

He glances up at his friend with a shy smile nodding his head. He hasn’t talked about his newly funded friendship with Y/N yet, it feels like as if he tells it to anyone it might evaporate into just a dream.

“So you reached out, huh?”

“I did,” he nods returning to his food once his message is sent. “She’s great.”

“Does she know who she is talking to?” Harry’s lack of answer tells enough about the truth to Mitch. “You can’t hide forever, especially if you are planning on meeting her.”

“I know,” he answers shortly. “But I just don’t know how I could even bring it up to her without sounding like a mad man.”

“She’ll need proof.”

“M’not ready to show m’self to her. What if it changes everything?”

“Then it wasn’t worth it,” he simply tells him.

Deep down Harry knows it’s the truth, but he is not ready to be robbed from the joy she is bringing him. He has never felt such a deep connection to anyone before and they haven’t even met. It’s just a version of her he is seeing on the screen, not her real self. But it feels real to him and he wants to keep this reality to himself for just a little longer.

 “I wish I could hear your voice, Harry. You are one big mystery to me, you know that?”

He forgets to breathe for a moment as he reads her message, lying in bed one evening, getting ready to sleep, but he wanted to check in with her before ending the day.

“You know so much about me already,” he types back.

“Not enough, I feel like. Sometimes I’m afraid Nev and Max are about to show up at my door and tell me that I’ve been catfished.”

He chuckles at her words, though he completely understands her fear.

“What do you want from me then?”

“Send me a voice message so I know you are real. That would put my suspicion to sleep. For a while…”

Harry hesitates for a long time until he decides just one voice message couldn’t hurt. Just a short one where his voice is not that recognizable so his cover won’t be over immediately.

“Good night, Y/N,” he tells into his phone and then send the recording to her.

He watches the status change from delivered to read and a couple of minutes go by before she finally responds.

“Thank you. Now I know that you are real. I hope I’ll hear your voice in real life one day.”

“I hope that too.”

 His time spent undercover is coming to an end and he knows it’ll happen soon. It’s been weeks since they started chatting, almost an entire month and she’s been hinting her will to see his face and though he has been putting it off, he knows it has to happen.

Fate is playing under his hands, because he is traveling to Seattle for a few days, exactly when Y/N is traveling there to visit her parents.

“I hope you know you can’t leave without meeting finally,” she wrote when she found out they are going to be in the same city.

“It never even crossed my mind!” he wrote back chuckling to himself, however it brought him extreme anxiety that he is now going to be forced to come clean about who he really is.

He spends his whole flight to Seattle making up possible outcomes for their first official meeting. Not all of them end well and it’s just fueling his fear that he might lose her for not telling her the entire truth.

But she is a smart girl, she’ll see your reasoning, he tells himself, however he can’t entirely convince himself that it will be the case.

In hopes of squeezing in more than just one meeting into the weekend they agreed to meet almost first thing after he lands. So after checking into his hotel he heads into the city to finally meet her in real life in a local café she suggested for the occasion. Arriving to the place he is running a little late and she already texted him she’ll be waiting for him inside. Harry is wearing a beanie with shades to try to keep up his cover and it seems to be working, no one has approached him yet.

Stepping inside the cozy looking place his eyes roam around and immediately finds her sitting in the corner, pouring sugar into her coffee, not even paying attention to the door at the moment, but truth is she’s been intensely staring at it in the past ten minutes she has been there.

Harry takes a deep breath and nods to himself before heading in her way, hands shaking nervously as he stops at her table.

She glances up at him with innocent eyes, a smile spreads across her face as she sees that her mysterious Harry has arrived and she doesn’t recognize her until he finally takes his sunglasses off.

Harry watches her face turn from happiness to surprise then utter shock as she realizes who is standing in front of him.

“You are… my Harry?” she asks, confusion laced through her voice and Harry can’t ignore how she called him her Harry. He likes the ring of it.

“M’orry if it’s a little too much f’you, I really didn’t know how to tell ya.”

Keeping his eyes on her he pulls out the other chair at the table and takes a seat across her while she is still staring at him with a shocked and puzzled expression sitting on her face. Then she looks around in suspicion as he wiggles his coat off his arms, before her eyes settle on him once again.

“It’s not an episode of Catfish, right?” she asks making him chuckle.

“It is not, don’t worry.”

“I’m sorry if I’m being weird, but this was literally the last thing I was expecting,” she admits leaning back in her seat. “I believed things like this only happen in movies.”

“Not just there,” he smiles, slowly relieving that she is still sitting there and hasn’t ran out. It’s going way better than he expected.

She needs a little time to put the whole picture together and befriend the thought that she indeed just developed a friendship with Harry Styles through her videos for her brother. The absurdity is still shocking to her, but the more time passes by with him still sitting there, the more she finds peace with it.

Once the shock and surprise is gone they slowly realize they are seeing each other in real life finally. Harry feels overwhelmed, she is even more breathtaking than in her videos and through texts. He is mesmerized by her whole being and could listen to her talk in person forever, he wouldn’t get bored of her.

Time stops existing as they sit at the little café, talking for hours even though that’s all they’ve been doing through texts, but they just can’t get enough of hearing each other, seeing each other’s reaction and be able to see each other and not stare at a screen while talking.

Unfortunately, time never stopped just for the two of them and soon she realizes she needs to head back home. Harry doesn’t want to let go of her just yet so he offers to give her a ride, thanking himself for getting a rental for himself upon arriving. Y/N accepts the offer so the two of them head back to her parents’ home, soaking up the last minutes of their precious time spent together.

“Thank you for today, I really loved meeting you finally,” she smiles at him once they are parked on the driveway.

“I hope I didn’t shock you too much,” he chuckles scratching his chin.

“Just a little,” she admits before they both get out of the car and walking around it she stops in front of him, after a moment of hesitation she opts for a hug that he returns more than happily.

It feels as if her frame was perfectly sculpted to fit in his embrace and Harry can’t imagine how he could go this long without even seeing her in person. He knows it’s gonna be utter misery to be away from her after they leave the city.

“Will I see you before you take off?” she asks letting go of him. Harry looks down at her, the urge to kiss her growing bigger with each passing moment, but he is not sure if it would be appropriate to give it a try on their first time meeting.

“I’m free tomorrow for a lunch,” he tells her and she nods smiling.

“Then I’m free too,” she chuckles.

There’s an awkward moment where they are not sure what else should be done or said and the more they wait the weirder it’s getting so Harry clears his throat as he takes a step back, sad that he has to leave without feeling her lips on his, but he is not trying to be too greedy.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he smiles walking back to his car. Y/N waves after him and sitting back to behind the wheel he takes a moment to himself to collect himself after everything that has happened today. His hands curl around the wheel and he is about to start the car when someone knocks on the window. Y/N is smiling at him through the glass and he rolls it down curiously.

“I just…” she starts hesitantly, her eyes wander down to his lips and Harry knows what’s about to happen, but it still catches him by surprise.

Y/N leans in through the window and presses her lips to Harry’s, capturing them in a sweet, long awaited first kiss they both have been dreaming of for quite a while. Harry smiles into the kiss, bringing his right hand up to cup her cheeks as they stretch the moment for as long as possible. Whenever one pulls back the other brings them back for just one more kiss that turns into two more, then three… It takes a long time for them to finally let go of each other.

“See you later, H,” she smiles backing out of the car and running up to the front door, smiling wildly as she waves in his way one last time before disappearing in the house.

 Lying in bed that evening Harry is scrolling through his Instagram feed when he finally realizes he can now follow her without a worry. He is quick to find her profile again and hit that follow button. He is happy to see she was already following him.

He is just about to put his phone aside and go to bed after such a busy but exciting day when a notification pops up on the screen.

Y/N has just uploaded a new video!

He taps on it quickly and her smiling face greets him from his phone’s screen.

“Hi Sammy! It’s me again. Welcome back to our channel,” she starts with a shy smile. The setting is new this time, he supposes it’s her parents’ home this time. “This is going to be a short video, but I wanted to tell you about something. Or someone.”

Harry’s heart skips a beat when he thinks about where it’s heading. He listens to her voice holding his breath.

“I met someone today. We’ve been talking for a while, but I could finally hug him today. His name is Harry, and he is a wonderful man. I think you two would get along well,” she says with a soft chuckle. “I love spending time with him and I hope he feels the same way. Actually…” Her eyes move up straight to the camera, something she doesn’t do often. She usually stares out the window or plays with Henry while talking. “I think he is watching it right now. Hi Harry!”

“Hello, Beautiful,” he greets her back with a smile as if she could hear him.

“I wanted to tell you how amazing you are making me feel. I hope I didn’t disappoint. I was so nervous to meet you today, I hope I lived up to what you imagined me to be.”

“You were so much better than that,” he answers again.

“Anyway… I hope you feel the same way. You are the first guy I’m talking about in an update, so appreciate it!” she tells him and he chuckles lightly. “I’ll see you soon, H. But until then… Know that I’m thinking about you.”

“M’thinking about you too, Angel.”

“Sammy, I miss you as always. I hope everything is well, can’t wait for your next email. I love you,” she smiles before the video ends.

Harry heads straight to the comments. This time he doesn’t leave a lengthy one, just a short line, but it has everything he wanted to tell her.

“I feel the same way.” The comment reads. Just a few seconds later comes the notification and he smiles sweetly at his phone.

Y/N liked the comment.

[mandareeboo]

Raz showing Milla some of the tricks he's learned maybe? I think that'd be a fun prompt.

For the drabble prompts, Raz discuss with Sasha and Milla some of his adventures in thorney tower. (Seperate anon, but they were related enough to go together!)

They want to access his mindscape first. Raz thinks that’s fair- that if he was a full-time Psychonaut, and he was presented with an old man with newly resolved childhood trauma and a child who’d jumped into the minds of four people living in an asylum and a fish, only to then willingly subjugate himself to binding minds with Coach Oleander, he’d probably choose the child first too. 

But Raz is tired, and ten, and he decides to be a bit selfish about it and ask Ford to check out Oleander first. He didn’t mind housing the Coach. He didn’t mind jumping shark into other mindscapes. He does mind knowing his father has seen a complex (and, frankly, embarrassing) amount of his psyche now. He needs time to process. He needs to put up a few extra barriers around memories and dust some mental cobwebs before letting basically anyone in, let alone someone as important as Ford Cruller.

But the short-term safety of his mind is more a suggestion to Sasha, who decides to take the physical approach a little too seriously. By the third time he's pried Raz's mouth open and peered inside, he's pretty sure the man doesn't even know what he's looking for. 

"Darling," Milla hums, sensing Raz's dwindling patience. "You've studied him top to bottom. He's fine from a physical standpoint."

"You can never be too sure," Sasha replies, but takes his hands off him. Raz worked his jaw as the man wiped off his gloves and sighed, long and loud. His cigarette had burned out mostly untouched. "I'm sorry, Razputin."

Raz shakes his head. "I don't mind, really."

"I do," he growls. It takes Raz a second to realize they're on different pages of the same saga. "My brain tumblr blasted Olly's dreams into your mind. It twisted them together like red vines. That could very well be the reason you morphed together so easily." Sasha tuts and pushes his glasses up. "I've risked your mind today, Razputin."

"It could've been that," Raz agreed. "Or it could've been the vat of evildoer chemicals designed to keep brains contained in tanks that I threw my brain into. That's also an option."

"I think blame goes halfsies on this one," Milla says.

"Halfsies," Sasha agrees wearily. "But I'm still going to burn that damn tumblr."

Milla made an agreeing noise and descended upon him, grabbing each shoulder in a firm but gentle grip. Raz fought against his age-old hatred of meeting eyes to try and show he was paying attention as she spoke. "Now, Raz, darling, you've had a stressful couple of days. How are you faring emotionally?"

Raz felt himself grimace. There wasn't a good answer to that one. It was kind of a jumble of things. Excited. Nervous. A bit scared of talking to his dad after this. Really hungry. Really sleepy. Still pretty mind-blown about having a girlfriend.

"I think I'm doing about average for the situation," he answered truthfully. "I think I'll be taking a break from meat, though. Not really invested in ribs after using them like trapeze, you know?"

Milla frowned. "I'm so sorry you had to do that. If only Olly hadn't blown the asylum, maybe we-"

"Oh, no," Raz interrupted. "That was Boyd."

"Boyd?" Milla asked.

"Boyd?" muttered Sasha, pacing like the name itself was a mystery.

"Boyd," he agreed. "He was a security guard, sort of. He's also a milkman. Well, he was. Then he started throwing milk-laced molotov cocktails in the name of vigilante justice."

Sasha rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I am. So lost. Is this childhood imagination? Are we engaging in storytime?"

"What? No! I learned clairvoyance in his mind, see?" Raz focused, feeling his third eye open. Milla edged back a bit, surprised. "Agent Vodello... do you really see me as an infant?" he asked, hurt.

Milla made so-so noises and shrugged. "Don't take it personally, darling, I feel that way about everyone younger than me. Was this Boyd a psychic too? Did he teach you?"

"Nah. I figured it out so I could find out where the milkman was."

"You said he was the milkman, darling," Milla said, just as Sasha breathed; "Amazing. Using deductive reasoning to figure out such a complex power."

"He is. It's a little hard to explain. Wanna see what else I can do now?"

Milla snuck a look at Ford and Oleander. They were both clearly deep in their own assessments. And she was such a sucker for the excited gleam in Raz's eyes as he remembered he could brag about being psychic for once. "Of course, sweetie. We have all the time in the world."

[hualianff]

Thinking about a historical AU with prince XL and rogue merchant HC.

They’ve grown up knowing each other when XL would convince his caretaker to venture outside of the palace and HC was on the streets begging for or stealing food. XL was the only person who acknowledged HC’s pathetic existence during that time. He brought HC food from the palace and bought him trinkets from the vendors using XL’s own allowance money.

With HC’s survival and fighting skills, HC makes the decision to travel with a band of rogues to climb the social ranks and improve his quality of life wealth-wise. He’s only seventeen when he leaves for the first time.

He makes sure to tell XL before he goes.

While XL completes his duties as prince, HC is on the road making a name for himself. He loses his right eye early on due to an ambush where he was the only one to make it out alive. He’s very distinguishable with the eyepatch, but no less handsome, as XL claims.

Whenever they can, HC and XL meet up to share their stories and check in with each other. They fall in love during these times. HC promises to always come back for XL, and XL says he’ll always be waiting for HC to return home.

Except eight years later, when HC is on his way to the furthest kingdom he’s traveled to yet, equipped with a hefty amount of men and goods (XL’s letters kept in his pocket), HC catches wind of a siege on Xianle kingdom.

He immediately turns his caravan around to head back to his home—to XL.

HC is too late. Bodies litter the streets as well as the royal palace. Countless individuals are missing too, including the prince of Xianle. The queen, with her dying breaths, tells HC that they took her son, before falling against the king’s limp body, open wounds pooling blood on the plush carpet.

HC screams.

A split-second decision has HC hunting down the culprits who attacked the monarchy. It turns out to be a local group of rebels who had succeeded in gaining foreign aid, something HC was completely oblivious to; he hadn’t been around often to know of the trouble they caused, nor did XL mention anything in his letters.

The fortunate thing about working with the same people for the better half of the decade means HC has people he can trust and who can fight to fend for themselves.

Leaving his crew to deal with the remaining rebels, HC sprints to the prince’s chambers, where it looks like a tornado came by and wrecked everything in its sight. The bed, the drawers, the empty spaces where furniture should’ve been.

HC finds crumpled pieces of paper on the otherwise empty waste basket.

It’s a half-written letter addressed to “Beloved,” XL’s signature elegant penmanship stopping mid-character when he appears to have been interrupted.

HC clutches the piece of paper to his heart, tears gathering in his eyes, XL leaving nothing more than his jasmine scent.

HC ends up taking control of the palace, having enough men and connections within the kingdom to gain legitimate control, as none of the royal family members were present or alive to do so.

It takes months to clean up the aftermath of the attack, and another year to organize tasks for workers who have never set foot in the palace before and messengers to learn the routes around the town.

HC also has a team specifically assigned to search for the prince. There has been no report of XL’s body, so HC has reason to believe his beloved is still alive out there.

HC is determined to get him back.

Over the years, HC interrogated (tortured) all the rogue groups that contributed to the attack through the local rebels. He has task forces tracking those groups down, leaving few alive for further interrogation on the prince’s whereabouts.

Three years after taking control of Xianle kingdom, HC’s men locate the final rogue group, taking in three prisoners.

The first one has a noticeable limp and curses loudly regardless of who he talks to.

The second one has a cold face of steel, head held up in defiance as two men restrict his movements.

The third one wears an iron mask that appears to be bolted into the side of their temples, head bowed in submission.

All three of them have the rogue symbol burned into the backs of their necks.

The two maskless prisoners hold firm that they were not involved with the rogues during the attack of the kingdom. Their marks are proof, as the members of the group who join willingly may choose an area besides the backs of their necks to place the rogue symbol.

HC doesn’t like their tones one bit, too brash and disrespectful in his presence. Though they pose a logical argument, HC doesn’t really have time to deal with them.

As he’s about to signal his men to finish the job, the one with a limp suddenly speaks out.

“We would never bring any harm to His Highness or his family. We knew them personally...they quite enjoyed stopping by our vendor back in the day. If anything, we hope you can allow us to labor in the restoration of the kingdom Prince Xianle and the king and queen helped cultivate.”

Burning hot rage fills HC’s gut. For some reason, appealing to XL seemed to be this man’s last attempt to earn HC’s mercy.

“It will not do you any good to lie,” he says icily.

“It’s true,” the other stone-faced prisoner says. His mouth twists in bitterness. “His Highness had many dreams to fulfill when becoming king.”

HC’s lips curl in a snarl.

“A garden. In the front for anyone to enjoy,” the man continues. “Filled with roses, lotuses, and magnolias.”

“Jasmine,” HC mutters to himself. He rubs his temple tiredly.

The trial had gone longer than it should have. But a sliver of hope clutches at his heart. Perhaps he can take a chance on these fools.

“You, with the mask, do you have anything to say for yourself?” HC addresses the third prisoner, making sure they are on the same page as the other two.

The masked prisoner keeps their head bowed. Their hands make a flurry of gestures that make no sense to HC. Before HC can question it, the first prisoner says,

“Forgive this one, for he cannot speak. He’s had a terrible beating to the skull about a year ago by the leader of the rogue group we were captured by,” he explains. “But he is willing to cooperate under your rule, as we all are.”

HC slams his hand down on the arm of the throne.

“Very well.” He turns to the guards. “Take them to the dungeons. Await my orders about what to do with them.”

The guards comply, heaving the prisoners up and pulling them to side doors, the dungeons in a separate structure than the palace.

HC unconsciously touches the pocket of his robes where XL’s final letter resides.

“Soon, my love. Soon, I will find you and bring you home.”

[deathleadsarc]

Ten Q’S:

1. when are you usually online?  

I have a window of a few hours in the morning and afternoon! Then very late at night if I’m not streaming that day - which happens thursday-sunday!  I’ll lurk from time to time though, but I try hard not to be on here all the time, even though I work from home. It used to be very easy for me to get into the habit of scrolling and scrolling and refreshing every couple of minutes so now I’ve just, you know, learn to just not have the tabs open

2. what verses are you involved in outside of this page? 

o h a lot. I’ve mostly been in her MAIN verse now but before that I was liviiiiiiiiing in her FMA verse! I’d love to get more into her demon-queen verse and especially her JJK verse that I’ve been working on but the later doesn’t have really any connections just yet so there’s not a lot I can do. Though, I am piecing together something fun involving my Yuji over on @curseleads​ that I hope will be super fun to get into!

3. what is your biggest RP pet peeve? 

the lack of communication. the using, block evading when I have statcounter and can see you there  - a lot. I feel like being on here for so long has made me a bit jaded in some ways. I’m a little less trusting haha. There’s a lot of little things to be honest, so little that they aren’t really worth mentioning. OH OH people getting mad that asks or threads aren’t answered right away, or equating muse feelings for ooc feelings, you know? annoyiiiiiiiiiiiing 

4. are you drawn to specific types of muses? 

I would say so - looking at Qistina and Yuji I would say I’m drawn to very morally grey muses who stick to their beliefs and will do the most to get to where they want to be. Both she and Yuji are on opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to grey-ness, but it’s definitely something that I notice and like to latch on to. 

5. are there recurring themes in your writing that people might not notice? 

I wonder if anyone’s ever noticed it, but Qistina never refers to herself by her birth name. Very rarely, but not often enough. She’s always ‘This Alchemist’, and I do that for a few reasons. I feel like it not only suits a person like her, but I also feel like it looks better when I’m diving into her thoughts. Qistina isn’t a person who values her humanity at all, having willingly thrown it away, so why would she speak of herself by name? Her dehumanization is a pretty large part of her character, so I try to. include that. haha. I wonder, has anyone noticed?

6. what are your favorite RP trends? 

the dash games/dash commentary. It’s really cute and it brings us all together as pals :> Plus, it can give us some insight into these little muses we’ve come to love so much. 

7. what is your process for starting a new story with someone?  

Checking in to make sure they’re cool with everything ~ talking about the process of things just to be sure we’re all on the same page in terms of where we want the muses to go! Foreshadowing and all that. Though there have been times, even recently, where people have forgotten what our plot or muse relation was ... which was a bummer! But I’m doing my best over here! 

8. how do you feel about duplicates? 

:> She’s a unique woman so there’s no one else in media like her and that’s what makes her special! I couldn’t see anyone else trying to write her! This question isn’t applicable here haha

9. how long have you been involved in roleplaying? 

About 12 years! Very much.... a longass time. 

10. is there a muse or verse you wish you could write in, but haven’t?

I would probably write Maki if my muse for Yuji wasn’t so big. Maybe in the future when my work doesn’t own me, I can give her a fair shot!

stole it from @oathofpromises​ ~ ​

[ktheist]

muses. familiar!cat-shifter!yoongi x witch!reader

83.“My friends get so annoyed by how much I talk sometimes.”

x

“i thought witches don’t have friends.” yoongi scratches his arm, opening the fridge and checking out what little sustenance you have in it.

not much.

“and i thought familiars are supposed to indulge in their masters needs and wants,” hands on your hips you look at him with knitted brows and a pout.

but exactly five heartbeats later, you hear your phone buzzing and you’re hurrying to grab your bag, “i’ll be back!”

a second after the door closes shut, your head pops back in, the sulking pout now gone and in its place, the most brilliant smile and brightest twinkle in your eyes, “let’s have chicken for dinner! i left the money on the counter so you can order it and we can eat together.”

and then you’re gone.

min yoongi grumbles, eyes burning holes in the fifty dollar note lying on the white countertop.

‘did she think i’m broke or something?’

well, yoongi was quite literally homeless and living on tree branches in the deepest part of south korea’s reserves. but he was only living there because his last witch died from greed.

take over the world. become queen of every species on earth.

that sort of greed.

but you?

this 20-something year old pays - well, the humans like to call it tuition fee - to be a slave to an education that isn’t even beneficial to witches.

huh.

yoongi feels sorry for your bodiless ancestors who got burned at the stakes. if they had graves, they would be turning in them but they don’t because they took the risk to learn and practice witchcraft even if it was forbidden in their times.

now you’ve got all the reasons to learn - humans got so stupid that they stopped believing in anything besides logic - but you’re using him to predict what’s going to come out in your tests.

x

“ugh, my tailbone’s about to liquidize from having to sit in that exam hall for five freaking hours.” mina grumbles, stretching her arms over her head.

“okay, but why the fuck do we have to write a 10 page essay on why plato think our end goal is happiness?” soyeon’s scrunches her nose, as if physically cringing at the remembrance of it.

“isn’t that like, a statement? weren’t we supposed to talk about rousseau?” nayeon’s brows knit together in utter confusion.

“shit.” you’d expect soyeon to be cursing but it’s mina.

after a series of mina freaking out and the rest of you trying to calm her down by saying whatever possible answer they discussed could very well be wrong because nobody recalled hearing the professor mention who this rousseau scholar-guy.

except you.

and it wasn’t the professor who mentioned it.

it was the grumpy shapeshifting cat you’ve taken in who also happens to have futuristic premonitions.

almost as if they could hear your thoughts, soyeon turns to you, “we should’ve trusted ___’s instincts.”

technically, you were doing some reading on rousseau’s natural law theory when the girls sneaked up on you and scared your literal soul out of your body. they were surprised that you were even studying so you passingly mentioned having a strong, unquestionable feeling that he’s going to make an appearance in finals.

“you girls should’ve listened to me,” you cheekily proclaim, hands on your hips and chin tilted so high up, you can almost see the sun.

“oh great finals goddess, please tell us what you think will come out for criminal procedures,” mina gets on her knees without a care in the world and starts praying for you.

it wasn’t hard to stroke your ego and your friends know that better than anyone. so you tell them what they want to know on a pretense of ‘just predictions! don’t put all your eggs in one basket. i might be wrong!’

“yoongi, i’m home,” you singsong, swinging the door open only to have your shoulders sag at the lack of a certain black haired grump who would usually be sleeping on the couch and grumble for you to ‘shut up, i’m taking a nap.’

“huh, he’s not here.” you kick off your shoes and pad over to your room only to have your heart flutter at the sight of a cat snugly curled up in your bed.

“yoongi!” you squeal, dropping your bag and books on the floor before bounding over to the bed and gathering the slumbering feline in your arms.

the cat’s golden slits seem to appear on guard until they soften at the sight of you. he yawns widely as he stretches in your arms.

“i’m home, yoongi.” this time, your voice is barely above whisper, hand scratching his furry body as you lay on your bed, staring at the ceiling.

“you were right about rousseau and now my friends think i have some sixth sense,” you prattle on while the weight on your chest starts curling himself up - you have no strand of doubt that if you just looked down, the black feline will be snoring away as if he doesn’t have a single ounce of care for your story-telling.

not that yoongi’s ever showed an interest in your life besides the magic that you happen to bottle up and exploded the day he was walking around in seoul out of boredom.

you’re not sure when you fell asleep, but you wake up to the sound of ‘here’s your chicken’ and a ‘thanks’ before the door clicks shut.

“was that the chicken?” groggy but hungry, you march over the kitchen where yoongi - now in his human form - is taking out the boxes with your favorite swicy chicken restaurant symbol from the plastic bag.

“with the way you were snoring, i didn’t think i should order dinner at all,” he says nonchalantly.

“i-i don’t snore!” you almost scream, cheeks heating up.

“uh-huh,” there it is again, the nonchalant tone that almost drives you up the wall. then he turns to face you, index finger tapping the corner of his mouth, “you’ve got some drool there.”

almost as if possessed by a chaotic spirit, you trudge to the bathroom, slamming the door behind you in your haste. your reflection stares back at you with bed hair pointing everywhere and alarmed, round eyes as you wipe the corner of your mouth with the back of your hand only to notice nothing there. you repeat the motion once again and true enough, not a smidge of drool is present.

“that lying-!” you huff, marching back to the kitchen with one objective in mind.

“lying isn’t very nice, yoongi,” you say, barely putting a lid on the boiling anger.

“being too trustful isn’t very witch-like either.” he counters, a swicy chicken in hand and bright red sauce in the corner of his mouth.

“i curse you into a monkey!” you scream, index finger pointed in his direction.

but instead of the black haired familiar morphing and turning into the animal you cursed him into, he continues eating without even batting an eye.

“what- but-” you look at your hand and then back at him, “i cursed you!”

“you can’t curse your own familiar.” he finally says halfway into your quarter-ish life crisis, “now sit down and eat before your stomach starts grumbling too.”

you huff in bashful frustration. face too hot to even look at yoongi in eye but you’re too hungry to throw another fit.

believe it or not, this is just one of your routine in your daily life - him teasing you, completely nonchalantly and you getting worked up over it and end up making a fool out of yourself.

in a few hours, you’ll end up forgetting it ever happens and end up cuddling the cat that’s curled up on your pillow. you’ve just finished revising another topic of your next exam.

the next time you wake up, it’s to grown sized male snuggling into your chest, his arm slung over your back and your leg wedged between his. there’s not so much as a hair’s breadth between you.

“y-yoongi,” you stammer out, unable to think properly.

but when the aforementioned man simply groans and nuzzles his face in between your boobs, your cheeks hit up and your hand ends up swinging in the air before it hits its target.

his cheek.

now he sports a red handprint on his porcelain skin as he goes around, making coffee for himself while you diligently study at your desk. it’s some time in the afternoon that a furry ball leaps into your lap and kneads your thighs with his little paws before curling into a ball.

“aren’t you so cute?” your heart flutters at the adorable little fur ball, hand scratching the underside of his neck and giggling at how he’s purring in appreciation.

you end up dropping your apple pencil and shutting off your ipad. carrying the clingy furball in your arms, you plop down your bed.

“ugh, my back feels like it’s gonna crumble off like biscuit crumbs,” you lament, not caring if the sentence makes no sense.

but before you can think of any other sentence that makes no absolute sense, you feel the weight on your stomach shift, the furball you were caressing now turning into a lump of skull with actual human hair as it holds itself up and places its forehead on yours.

“how is it that you willingly take me to bed when i’m a cat and slap me in the face like i’m some pervert when i’m my human form?” this time, you know he’s teasing you because he’s smirking like he’s amused.

“it’s different because you were a cat!” you thank merlin that your voice comes out strong and certain.

“i’m still me no matter what form i take though,” his hand is warm on your thigh. his breath fans your skin, “still a man.”

“it’s different,” you know you sound meek compared to when you started out.

but your face is hot and your heart is palpitating inside your chest. all of a sudden you feel too shy to even look at him. so you cast your gaze to the side. relief floods your system when he lifts his head from yours. but it’s short-lived. teeth bite on the delicate skin of your neck. not enough to hurt but enough to incite a surprised yelp from you.

and a swing of your hand.

that’s how yoongi ends up with another red handprint on his other cheek. the first one is barely disappearing.

and you, with a hickey on your neck that you don’t know what to explain to your friends tomorrow when you meet them for the exam.

but one good thing comes out of it. after the slap, a rope materializes and wraps itself around yoongi. it’s pure magic and not even he can undo it.

“stop teasing me,” you start, sitting on the chair with your legs crossed.

“start treating me like i’m a man even in my cat form and i’ll consider that,” he counters.

at that, you lift an eyebrow, all of a sudden feeling a rush of confidence, “start acting like a man in your human form then.”

that’s when yoongi looks at you like you’ve challenged his essence. his existence.

“untie me and i’ll show you what a man is, master,” he challenges back.

it’s the word ‘master’ that gets your stomach fluttering with butterflies.

“you have two heads but you’re using the useless one to interpret what ‘a man’ means?” eyebrows rising to the ceiling, you pretend to be surprised.

“you’re a witch but you don’t even know how to use a spell,” he shrugs, reverted to his nonchalant self.

and that’s what irks you the most. how he acts like it has nothing to do with him but rubs your lacking in your face.

“lay down.” you order and his body is sent flying backwards, barely missing the wall in his abrupt descent.

yoongi groans, gathering himself once again.

“see, i know you can’t go against my words,” you say, triumphant.

“how did you find out?” he strains his neck, trying to look at you now that he’s laying down.

“the way you always did what i asked and last night, you ordered the chicken anyway even though i was sleeping and i could’ve slept through the entire night.” those were suspicions - you only confirmed it when you gave him the direct order.

“fine, you win,” he announces, barely caring about the argument.

“good.” you nod, mentally willing the rope to untie itself. but nothing happens.

you try again.

and again.

and again.

“can i please be released?” yoongi finally says after one too many mental tries.

“uh, wait,” you push yourself off the chair and tread over to manually undo the knot that keeps the rope tightly wrapped around yoongi.

“you can’t do it with magic?” comes the million dollar question.

you sigh, dejected, “i think i need to be angry - or feel strongly about something to get my magic to work.”

that’s what happened when yoongi met you. overstressed and barely focusing on your surroundings, you ended up getting run over someone who was on a bike. everything just kept going wrong. you ended up bawling your eyes out on the sidewalk - the man who ran over you started panicking thinking he broke a bone.

“i’m cool now though.” you shrug, easily dismissing the dejection and whatever that upset you before.

the rope comes undone and yoongi shimmies himself out. but before you can do anything, his hand shoots out, wrapping around your wrist and pulling you down until your knee digs into the mattress in between his legs, your faces too close. if he’d just tilt his head, his lips would easily brush yours.

“yoongi,” you warn but he shushes you.

“try getting the rope to move with magic,” he instructs, voice uncharacteristically soft and soothing.

you take a deep breath, eyes trained on the rope lying around him whilst trying to ignore the millimeter distance between your faces.

you move your index finger and the rope lifts itself up. you motion to the left with your finger and the rope gradually slithers through the air in the direction you’re pointing.

“it’s working,” you almost squeal, beaming.

and in your excitement, you seek yoongi’s gaze, only to see the rope crashing against the ground in your periphery.

“good,” a smile plays on his lips.

all of a sudden, you’re out of breath, the perpetrator also being the cause of the rush of blood to your face.

thanks.

the words doesn’t really get passed your lips because his feel feather-light but his fingertips on your cheek is calloused but grounding. that’s how you know this isn’t just some dream.

then he pulls all of you down. the sudden shift of motion illicit a gasp out of you. but the shock stricken state is short lived. you find yourself breathing in his musky woody scent.

he leans down, kissing the delicate spot on your neck that makes your heart wretch inside your chest.

“yoongi, maybe we should take it slow and practice some other time?” you suggest and he chuckles, the sound ringing in your ear like a blissful melody.

“i’m not doing this for a practice run,” he confesses ever so casually, “i took on the form of a cat because you told me about the one you have back home. but you got too familiar with it that you forgot about me.”

he licks your flesh like a cat would. it’s supposed to be an innocent, cat-like gesture but something about the way his male body is hovering over you makes the fibers in your system go on panic mode. you wish the bed would open up and swallow you whole but you’re not powerful enough for that.

yet.

“i’m upset,” he sulkily says and sinks his teeth into your skin.

x

the fading redness on his left cheek where you first slap him is rosier than ever after your third slap landing on that one.

“when are you gonna let me go?” his voice echoes in the silence.

you turn around to see the man sitting cross-legged on your bed with his hands on his sides, the rope tightly wrapped around him. after he bit you, the rope ended shooting up and around him, as if it had a mind of its own and sought to protect you by disabling your neck-biting familiar.

oh, you sport similar hickey on the other side of your neck now too.

“hmm,” you tilt your head in contemplation, “after my last exam?”

“that’s like, in a week,” he grunts, “how am i gonna bathe? and eat?”

“you have two heads, yoongi. figure it out.” you shrug and turn back to your books and ipad.

x

note. this was requested by an anonymous as part of my drabble game.

[andypantsx3]

in cinders | 7 | illuminations

pairing: Todoroki Shouto / Reader

length: 24,362 words / 9 chapters

summary: You’re just trying to fairy godmother your best friend into a happily ever after. If only the prince would stop hanging around and cooperate.

tags: cinderella AU, prince!Shouto, romance, misunderstandings, reader-insert

warnings: aged up characters, eventual smut

Lady Utsushimi had asked for you, but she did not look pleased to see you.

“Must you always be covered in soot?” she complained, but she let you into her chambers all the same.

You stood awkwardly in the middle of her sitting room, not daring to touch anything. You’d tried to wash up after your shift, scrubbing yourself down quickly with your rough bar of soap, but you’d not had much time, and on top of that, all your clothes were soot-stained and would require several more washes to get it all out.

Lady Utsushimi clicked her tongue and gestured to her ladies’ maid, who still looked bewildered at your presence.

“Hana, please call for tea,” she said. “After that, you are dismissed for the evening.”

Hana’s brow furrowed, but she nodded as she swept from the room.

Lady Utsushimi fixed you with a considering look. “Come with me. I won’t have you on my couches in that.”

You followed her as she turned on her heel and led the way deeper into her chambers. Like the prince’s, her apartments appeared to lead into her bedroom through a large set of double doors. Through her bedroom, another set of doors lead into a smaller room. The room was roughly the size of the storage space that doubled as your bedroom. Instead of bags of flour and spare mops, however, the space was absolutely stuffed full of dresses, bursting in jewel tones.

Lady Utsushimi picked through them with a discerning eye. “My plainest gown, I think, or questions will be asked.”

She pulled a pale blue dress from where it hung amongst the others and thrust it at you. “Wear this.”

You gaped at her. “Lady Utsushimi, I--!”

She smirked. “You clearly didn’t have a problem helping yourself to my things last time. Put it on and come out to the sitting room.”

She left, closing the door behind her and leaving you alone with the dress clutched in your hands. It was certainly plainer than anything else the Lady Utsushimi owned, barren of any decoration except for minor stitching at the sleeves, but it was still finer than anything you had ever worn, barring her dress you’d stolen for the ball.

You peeled out of your sooty dress and donned the gown, then made your way back to the sitting room.

The tea had arrived and Lady Utsushimi gestured you to her couch. After setting the leaves to steep, she spoke.

“I’d like you to tell him.”

You looked up at her sharply. “My lady?”

She clacked an elegant nail against her tea cup. “Shouto tells me he’s to teach a servant girl called Y/N to read. If you’re to continue to see him, I won’t have you doing so under false pretenses.”

You flinched. “Please, Lady Utsushimi. I do not think he intends to see me again.”

She scoffed. “When Shouto wants something, he is not so easily deterred.”

You blinked. “But he does not know I am the Lady Ito. What reason would he have to seek me out again?”

Her eyes went skyward. “The two of you are thicker than porridge.”

You did not know how to interpret this, so you said nothing.

Finally sighing, Lady Utsushimi moved to pour the tea. She passed you a cup.

“If he asks to see you again, I’d like you to tell him. It does not have to be now, but I hope that you will be honest with him.”

Slowly, you nodded. You could accept those terms, considering the likelihood.

She leaned back with her own cup, satisfied. “Now then. Are you looking forward to reading?”

You leaned forward. “Yes! I’ve always wanted to. I’ve wondered what could possibly be so interesting that a person could hold still for hours and never notice that time was passing.”

She smiled. “I have several tomes I think you would find interesting, once you’re ready.”

You thought of the thick bindings and crisp pages of Prince Shouto’s birthday books. “What sort of books does his highness find interesting?”

She laughed. “Shouto is boring. He likes political science, mostly. As the future king should, I suppose. He reads a fair bit on ethics, and history.”

You nodded as if those words carried any meaning to you.

“What do you like to read?” You asked her.

She grinned, something toothy and genial. “I much prefer novels. They’re fiction, so they’re specifically designed to be interesting. Shouto’s books are all droning passages about things that hardly anyone cares for.”

You laughed despite yourself. It seemed to suit him - he was so serious at times. And yet, you thought, for someone so serious, he did like to tease an awful lot. Was it something he’d learned from the Lady Utsushimi? She seemed to take every opportunity to poke fun at both you and the prince…

“You’ll have to tell me which you prefer, after you’re taught,” she said. “I think you’ll come to see it my way, of course.”

The thought of a noble being interested in anything you thought was certainly a novel concept. The last time you’d been asked your preference on anything, the housekeeper had asked you choose between peeling vegetables and scrubbing pots.

“I get the feeling people come to see most things your way,” you said, forgetting yourself.

Lady Utsushimi gawped at you, then let out a loud laugh. “You’re a quick study. Shouto will certainly have his hands full with you.”

You flushed as an unbidden image rose to your mind of the prince with his hands quite literally full of you. You stared awkwardly down at your cup.

Lady Utsushimi laughed again and gestured at your tea. “Now drink up. We wouldn’t want you to be late for your lessons.”

You nodded and finished your tea, leaping up to change back into your servants’ garb. You most certainly didn’t.

Prince Shouto was already in the library when you arrived, his broad shoulders hunched over what had to be the largest, dustiest tome you had ever seen. His outer jacket had been unbuttoned and thrown over the chair next to him, leaving him in his pristine white shirtsleeves. He looked as though he had been camped out a while.

“Your highness,” you said from behind him. “My apologies for keeping you waiting.”

He straightened, turning to you. His hair was adorably rumpled, like he’d been running his long fingers through it absently as he read.

“Y/N,” he said.

The sound of the simple word in his mouth did something strange to you. You felt your spine tingle, and it felt like every fiber in your body snapped to attention, straining towards him. Were you unwell? Carefully, you pressed your fingers to the inside of your opposite wrist to check your temperature.

“Please, come sit.” Prince Shouto gestured you over, pulling his jacket from the chair and pushing it out for you. You went to him slowly, perching awkwardly on the chair next to him.

He scrounged around on the desk, flipping the cover of the huge tome back up. From underneath, he unearthed paper and fresh ink and two pristine quills.

“I thought we might begin with your letters.” He said, and you nodded.

His mouth quirked at the corners. “I confess to having never taught anyone anything before. You’ll have to be patient with me.”

You laughed. “If you are with me.”

His smile deepened and he rolled up his shirtsleeves. The sight of his bare forearms and the roll of a powerful shoulder under the white fabric did something strange to you again. You felt too aware of him, like he was a candle and all the world around him was only dark.

He picked up a quill and, dipping it carefully in the ink, scratched out a series of symbols on the parchment before you.

“There are twenty-six letters. You will have to memorize their form and the associated sounds - some of them can have multiple. After that, we will move to combining them to form words.”

You nodded, craning over to see the letters better. He shifted to allow you access, and the movement had the effect of turning him more fully towards you. This close, you could again smell that combination of mint and something masculine like leather. You felt a little like your mind was melting, and you blinked, trying to refocus on the letters.

Prince Shouto pressed an elegant fingertip over the first. “This is a - it makes several sounds like ah and ey.”

You murmured the sounds and he nodded, leading you through the rest of the letters. He guided you through multiple rounds, eventually jumping back and forth between them to quiz you. You fumbled at first, but hit your stride soon enough, flushing when he complimented you.

Soon enough, he deemed you good enough to move on to simple words. In neat handwriting, he penned out a few short words. “Not all words are this straightforward, but this should do to start,” he said.

You shifted again to get a better look, leaning forward in your chair. You lifted a hand to brush your hair back behind your ear to get it out of your way, focusing hard on the combination of letters on the page.

All at once, you could feel Prince Shouto stiffen beside you, letting out a sharp breath.

You turned to look at him in concern, “Are you alright, your highness?”

He was staring back at you, full mouth parted in something like surprise. His grey and blue eyes were darting all over your face quickly, like they were cataloguing all your features anew, like he only had seconds to memorize you.

“You--oliv--” he said, then stopped, shaking himself a little. He closed his eyes for a moment. “It’s nothing, please continue.”

You eyed him suspiciously. “If you’re not well--”

He shook his head, then leaned forward to tap an impatient finger on the parchment. “The words are over here.”

You huffed but went along willingly enough, turning back to the paper. He shifted suddenly, propping an elbow on the table and resting his chin in his hand, bringing him much closer to you. He let out a long sigh, and then seemed to inhale deeply.

You looked at him in askance but he said nothing, gesturing again to the paper.

You looked the words over, sounding them out carefully. You could feel his eyes on your face as you read.

He scratched out several more and you read them out slowly, aware of him watching you closely the entire time. Finally, you’d have enough of the staring, whipping around to face him again.

“Have I done something to offend you?” You asked. You’d scrubbed down before tea, but you wondered if you’d missed a spot of soot on your face.

“Do you know how to dance?” he asked suddenly.

You stared at him, unsure of the line of question. “What?”

“Do you know how to dance?” he repeated. You felt like you could catch fire from the intensity of his focus.

You swallowed your questions. “Forgive me, but the kitchen staff does not have much use for dances.”

He considered your answer for a moment, before intoning softly, “You would have not had the opportunity to learn.”

Something like irritation boiled underneath your skin. You’d begun to think him alright for a noble, but if he wanted to rub it in…

“One of many faults,” you said, hotly. “I cannot read, I cannot dance, I cannot ride, I cannot--”

“Would you like to learn?”

You looked at him in surprise.

He shrugged a broad shoulder. “I’m teaching you to read. Perhaps I might also teach you to dance, and to ride…”

You stared at him and he fixed you with a blank look. “Well?”

The tips of your ears went red. “Well I, yes--”

“Good,” he said abruptly, leaning back in his chair. “Next Saturday then. On your afternoon of rest.”

You hesitated, then nodded. “Alright.”

He shifted forward again, waving back over the paper. A strong thigh pressed casually against your leg through your skirts, and you went still, waiting for him to move it. But he did not.

“Now read these,” he said, pointing to the words you’d abandoned. “I know you can.”

You looked at the page, and with great effort, set yourself once more to the task of reading. Over the course of the evening, he drew out several more words, eventually progressing to a trickier set. At one point, the librarian came over with an assortment of lit candles as the light from the high windows faded. You hardly noticed, though, engrossed in the task of learning your words.

“Last set,” Prince Shouto announced when the candles began to gutter in their holders. “Read these for me.”

You looked at the words he’d put to the page.

Nice to meet you.

You sounded them out slowly, tripping a little over the sound of “nice” and the silent e. Finally, you managed it.

“Nice to meet you!” you said happily.

He looked you over approvingly. “Good girl.”

All at once, your brain emptied. If anyone had asked you, you most certainly could not have told them your letters, or the words you just read, or even your name. Your mental capacity narrowed only to those two words, and the burn of Prince Shouto’s warm thigh against your own.

He leaned toward you, eyes moving over you in concern. “Are you alright?”

“Good g--” you gasped, then stopped yourself, flushing. “I mean, I’m alright. Yes, I think it’s time to stop for the evening.”

Something like amusement passed over the prince’s features briefly, but one blink and it was gone. He stood, gathering up the papers and ink.

“Yes. It’s getting late,” he said. “I’ll see you next Saturday?”

You nodded. “Thank you, for today. I’ve always wanted to learn.”

He smiled, then pressed the papers and ink into your arms. “You’ll have to practice. I’m going to quiz you when we next meet.”

You nodded seriously. “I will.”

He walked you out of the library, his left side a distracting heat at your shoulder. You bid your farewells, and you turned down the corridor to the servants’ halls.

The quiet, dark halls did little to distract you from your own thoughts, which you would have liked. The prince’s deep tone when he said your name, the silky caress of his voice when he said those two blasted words, played on a loop in your mind. You could still feel the heat of his leg against your own, see those long fingers pressing into the parchment.

With a sudden, heart-rending pang, it dawned on you. The reason why you felt like every particle in you was drawn to him, the reasons why you’d flushed at his teasing and even why you’d sat up in the dark after the ball, feeling his hands on you.

You had feelings for him.

Fuck, you thought, stifling a groan. When he was on the lookout for Ochako, your best friend. When your best friend had her own feelings for him.

You suddenly felt like a thief, stealing all his time away. He was looking for Ochako and here you were, sucking up all his extra hours with reading and whatever he thought he was going to teach you next Saturday. Here you held the answer to his search and you were hoarding it away like a dragon jealously guarding its treasure.

Now that you thought you knew him better, you thought it unlikely that he would look for the Lady Ito so ardently, to seek her out and punish her as you’d thought in Lady Utsushimi’s chambers. A man who taught a servant to read because he was sorry he'd offended her was not the sort of man who would spend weeks hunting down a woman who had stepped on his toes. No, he was looking for Ochako, and it could only be because he loved her.

You had to tell him.

Lost in your thoughts, you exited the doorway to the kitchens, almost colliding with someone on the stairs. You tripped, stumbling backwards.

“Careful!” A gentle pair of hands caught you, and you followed the line of a strong arm up into the kind face of Izuku Midoriya.

“Mr. Midoriya!” you said, apologizing. “What are you doing down here?”

He put an arm up behind his head, tousling his green curls awkwardly. “Oh! Just, um, errands.”

You regarded him carefully. The prince had certainly never sent him on errands down here before. What was he really doing down here, creeping around in the dark kitchens?

Whatever it was, he certainly didn’t seem keen to tell you. His body language was nervous, squirrelly. There was likely no sense in pressing him, when he so clearly had something to hide.

“Ah, well,” you said slowly. “Thank you for catching me. Um, have a good evening.”

He smiled. “You too!”

He hurried off, and you followed the stairs out of the hall, down to the corridor where your room lay. As you pressed open the door, Ochako shot up in her bed.

“Did you forget somethi--Oh! Y/N!”

You laughed, closing the door behind you. “Who else would it be?”

She fidgeted, the straw of her pallet rustling underneath her. “Oh, no one. I just thought you were - well, nevermind. Is that paper? And ink? How were your lessons?”

You smiled. She'd been so excited when you'd told her of the prince's offer, even though you knew she would prefer to be the one spending time with him. She was so good.

“I can read now! Well, some. I can teach you!” you said.

She grinned. “I’d love to. Then we can write mean notes about Kamiko and no one will know what we’re saying.”

You chuckled, climbing into bed. “Well worth the effort of learning to read.”

She laughed. “So it is.”

You snuggled down into your pallet, somewhat cheered. Ochako was so wonderful, no wonder she was your best friend. No matter what, you were going to do the right thing by her, and by Shouto. They'd been kept from each other for long enough, and it was time to make them both happy.

"I hope that you will be honest with him," Lady Utsushimi's voice repeated in your head.

Yes, it was time to be honest.

Come Saturday, you would tell him.

[percyjacksonfan3]

The Last Olympian Thoughts

So because I have absolutely 0 self-control or restraint when it comes to this series and its characters, and for The Last Olympian in particular, I could not put TLO down. Because of this I figured I couldn’t do the usual photo reaction posts I have been so far, because the spam would just be ridiculous, so I am stealing the idea from @yourstrulytaaay​ to do a masterpost instead. (Adding a Read More cause this got ridiculously long)

Fun fact, TLO came out right after i finished reading the series for the first time so it's the first PJO book i bought  and my only hard cover one for the og series. I checked the year and turns out it was published 2009, which means i was actually 9 when i read the series for the first time. I realize this is not really a fun fact but i thought i was older when I first read the series so it's blowing my mind a little ‘cause now I’m 21 and everything hits different and i still have so much love for this series and the characters Okay onto book thoughts: - i was right that this book is gonna destroy me, the first line alone made me so excited and nostalgic it's ridiculous - I love Rachel and Percy sm tbh. Her being a bit of peace and normalcy in his life without always reminding Percy of who and what he is is so good for him. Just a little escape

- of course by the end of the book that's not the case any more but by the end he's lived his prophecy so he doesn't need it as badly, plus he and Annabeth are solid again - Percy saying Annabeth has been hard to be around lately... Ouch my heart. Luke really is the last thing that keeps them from being together and Percy is so jealous and Annabeth so torn and in pain, i feel so bad for them both

- Beckendorf 🥺🥺 - the telkhine with the Lil Demon lunchbox!! I forgot about him. Percy: 'i left him alive, partly because his lunchbox was cool' is one of my absolute favourite lines tbh - Paul taking Percy crabbing and being imperative in helping Percy kill the giant crab 💖 Paul Blofis is important and deserves the world, okay? - aw Percy, you can't save every demigod bb

- 'i had to fight him eventually. Why not now?... What difference would a week make?' Oh Percy you have no idea - real talk tho, the fact Kronos possessed Luke's body would also mess me tf up. Percy keeps forgetting it's not Luke anymore and yeah, that would be so so hard and confusing af, like what another smart little mind game for Kronos to pull on top of everything else - the fact Percy fights Kronos before getting the Achilles Curse and actually doesn't die within seconds is... Astounding. He kicks him in the chest! And yeah Kronos is weaker and still adjusting to Luke's body, but Percy is having trouble fighting Luke cause they used to be friends - Percy breaks Kronos' time magic!! Like?! Boy is POWERFUL.

- OUCH - honestly Luke, Thalia and Annabeth's family breaking the way it did... Don't talk to me. Poor Annabeth, Luke betrayed them, Thalia joined the Hunters because of Luke's betrayal so she's pretty much AWOL all the time and then Luke dies. Like Rick wtf, my heart can't take it? -Percy and Tyson having each others backs when talking to Poseidon in the underwater palace is the brother-brother relationship we love to see - Percy trying to stick a sand dollar in the vending machines at school 🤦🏻‍♀🤦🏻‍♀ - the whole underwater interaction at Poseidon's palace? Perfection. Awkward family drama and all - Connor falling out of the tree when he sees Percy because he's so excited 😂😂

- 😭💖

- k, ik Clarisse isn't perfect but tbh if i was a child of Ares whose father was disrespected and hated by my fellow campers (ares deserves it but still) and that disrespect trickled down to how the other campers treated ME (which if Percy is reliable here, it obviously does) then i would also be irritated at being used for muscle and nothing else? And just expected to fight with the people who act as if they'd rather not have Ares kids around the rest of the time. Like Clarisse isn't totally wrong - Percy reading the prophecy, seeing he's meant to die and just being like 'i do not see it' and refusing to outright think about it makes me so sad for him - (but it taints every action after and he's super reckless afterwards bc of it- including finally breaking and accepting the Achilles Curse) - (also him taking this as the last straw and finally beginning to show Annabeth how he really feels, cause fuck it, he's dying anyway) - Give me more info about Rachel's backstory and family Rick!! -  how did i forget Percy willingly eats chocolates that taste like cardboard because 'i didnt have anything against cardboard' like sir? Ik Silena didn't want them but still? - 'she'd always been cute, but she was starting to be seriously beautiful' STOP, MY HEART CAN'T TAKE IT - Percy staring at Annabeth and forgetting what they're talking about cause hes so distracted 👌🏻

- hmm yeah... For some strange reason.... - i forgot how Percy totally bombs this convo bw them and now want to cry 😭 Annabeth is trying to talk about what's important and Percy, you sweet oblivious man, you're shooting her down without even realizing - love that they're both on the same wavelength tho. Percy two lines before, hmm it's cool to date ppl from other cabins, wonder why im thinking that around Annabeth, my best friend in the world, and then Annabeth a beat later, hmm, let me bring up Silena and Beckendorf and how it's important to be with the people you love when you have the chance, no way Percy will miss this huge hint right? - they're the best - k i honestly forgot Percy full on physically intimidates Leneus like that - luke telling his mom if he ran away the monsters wouldnt get her..i can just imagine luke crying when he says good bye before running away because he thinks it's his fault his mom is like that and he cant take care of and protect her anymore because it's too hard - uh oh now i have angsty pre-lightning thief luke fic inspo... Him, Thalia and Annabeth on the run... The ANGST -  Rick holds absolutely nothing back in this book and i am in pain - HESTIA!! 💖💖🥰 - actual loml - i love that Rick titled this book after her and that he wrote such a great series about the importance of family (biological, found or otherwise) and home, and that he said actually Hestia is the most important bc shes the most humble and keeps the peace and knows when to fight and when to yield and you protect what you love, which is your home - i just... Adore Hestia - Grover! Missed you babes - Hades is so so horrible to Nico, always comparing him to Bianca :/ - but i do love Hades, Persephone and Demeter together they make me laugh - oh god the River Styx - Achilles 🥺 - Annabeth being Percy's lifeline is, and continues to be, A Lot™ - 'my name was Percy Jackson. I reached up and took Annabeth's hand.' LOL Why am i crying? - Like the fact there is no Percy without Annabeth, and that remembering her literally reminded him of who he is in his very soul... It's fine im fine - i won't even get into the parallels of her being his lifeline now and then later when Hera takes his memories but leaves the memory of Annabeth for Percy to fight to get back to (anyone who wants to yell about it with me... Feel free to message) - badass Percy is my fav Percy tbh - him defeating Hades?? Like? Hades is arguably the most powerful god, okay - i feel bad for Nico but if i was Percy I'd do the exact same, Nico, sorry man but this is a high stakes time crunch deal and Nico is literally the only hope of persuading Hades and distracted by his own internal stuff - flashbacks to Luke, Thalia and Annabeth hurt, ow - George and Martha are the best - damn i forgot Hermes full on nearly kills Percy here, yikes - Luke stop cockblocking Percabeth challenge

- i love!! Percy's love for New York!! So much!! - Percy leaving to live in New Rome in HoO is a lie and this is all the proof i need for why - the fact the entire last half of the book is the battle and aftermath... Such great buildup and pacing. All the tricks and twists and battles in this War of Manhattan? I would not take out a thing, Rick, you legend - of course then the final battle in hoo with the gods is what? Two pages? Ugh, don’t talk to me about my hatred for BoO and HoO - 'no detours you two' is still the cutest thing!!! - THE HUNTERS!! Thalia i missed you - good job Percy, you finally spent your sand dollar - Minotaur!! - 'dont i get a kiss for luck? Its kind of a tradition right?' Percy finds out he's gonna die and is out of fucks to give and honestly I support him - also Michael just standing beside these two while they're flirting like umm 👀 👀 while a monster army marches towards them, nbd - Annabeth taking Ethan's knife meant for Percy!!! Cause she just knows his weak spot without him even telling her! They literally invented love - Feral Percy is so scary omg, i love how well Rick incorporates the Achilles Curse in this novel, with the whole heightened weaknesses and stuff ans the parallels to Achilles arrogance being what killed him and Percy's loyalty, fierceness and protective instinct being his own heightened weakness - the fact that Percy is the one who inadvertantly kills Michael Yew tho, I'll never recover from that - the fact Hades offers Maria di Angelo a golden palace by the Styx like how Poseidon offers Sally a palace under the sea tho. Let's talk about that parallel - the entire talk with Prometheus is so so good - not me picturing young Luke hiding in the closet to get away from his mom when she has an 'episode' -i love callbacks in stories and all of the callbacks to the rest of the series in this book make me very happy (medusa, minotaur, the underworld, Rainbow!! My baby!!, Daedalus and more) - Percy summoning a wholeass hurricane against Hyperion - the Party Ponies! They're so chaotic, i love it - Dionysus! 😁 I can't help it, i love him - Percy absolutely losing it when he sees Sally and Paul asleep in the car 🥺 - Rachel telling Percy he's not the hero screws with him so much :( poor bb - although i really really love how Rick wrote this, it's so refreshing to not have one chosen one save the world, but a combination of people - the drakon, Silena and Clarisse make me cry - the Patrochilles references, im not okay - Annabeth giving up on Luke after hearing what he did to Silena and Percy telling her that doesn't make him happy 😭 that whole interaction makes my heart ache - Percy giving Hestia Pandora's pithos 🥺 - and Hades, Nico and the others coming for a final attack is so badass, i love it - listen im glad the og trio were the ones to confront Luke on Olympus but the fact Thalia got so close and then pinned by a statue of HERA makes me so sad. Ik her and Luke were finished and she coped by cutting him off completely and giving up all hope but i would pay money to know what they would have said to each other to say goodbye - Ethan 🥺 - Poseidon joining the fight against Typhon is so cool, such a great scene - 'PEANUT BUTTER!' - Annabeth you brilliant badass you - RIP Luke, you werent great but you werent the worst either - the gods just rolling up seconds too late, wondering wtf happened in Olympus and who the dead body is - the chapter where the Olympians meet and give out rewards is one of my absolute favourites (again i am incensed we didn't get anything like this in HoO) - will Percy turning down immortality ever not make me scream in glee? No? Alright then - Annabeth being relieved like Percy was relieved at the end of Titan's Curse tho - oh Hermes :/ - its so hard reading all this and knowing what comes in HoO... Like it's such a cathartic, earned and mostly happy and peaceful ending and then HoO comes along and undermines it all - aww Rick let Paul see Olympus somehow pls, he deserves it, he killed a dracanae - (i would also love to see it) - Percy being more upset Rachel took his pegasus than her going to Camp and possibly dying, lol, priorities dude - i honestly think that Rick had other ideas for the second Great Prophecy and how things would go down in BoO, cause the prophecy like... Barely applies to BoO, Doors of Death are in book four, and explabations of it is all so unclear when Rick is usually pretty good with that stuff - PERCABETH - lol Percy complaining about privacy when he and Annabeth are caught kissing literally in the middle of the very open and public dining pavilion, okay - BEST UNDERWATER KISS OF ALL TIME - that's it and im a glass case of emotion - very happy to say that this series remains my favourite of all time 💖

 If anyone ever wants to come gush about anything Riordanverse related feel free, because as you can see I have a lot of thoughts about it all

[outrunningthedark]

Honestly I will never get why some people will fight tooth and nail to defend bad characters (in the sense of they aren’t great people not they’re poorly written) because they are female and didn’t do anything bad because they refuse to acknowledge why people have very valid reasons to dislike them. I’ll be the first to say when I first started watching 911 and interacting with people in the fandom I wasn’t against Shannon having a redemption arc (if she didn’t die) and even kind of liked Ana then I looked deeper into their characters and why people didn’t like them and yes some of it was because they were dating buck or Eddie but I also found people talking about the ableism and I took the time to rewatch and yeah that’s a huge issue that many of the people defending them brush over and refuse to acknowledge. This led to me finding your page and reading more about it which has been super helpful.

First off, thank you for stumbling upon my blog and choosing to check out what I have to say! I appreciate your willingness to become more educated on a topic people really don't want to discuss because it "ruins the fandom experience". <3 I wish everyone else was as open-minded as you, love! (And to those who are and have been - I see you. I thank you. You keep me sane.) Though I understand fandom viewing Shannon as a *victim* because she's (in their minds) yet another example of a female character who was not given the same level of "respect" as her male counterparts on the show (in this case, she was not allowed to learn and be the parent Christopher needed, whereas Eddie obviously realized Christopher had to be his first priority), I [apparently] cannot stress enough that Shannon is a TINY GLIMPSE at what it's like to be disabled and raised by/cared for by a MOTHER who never fully committed to her responsibilities. Nobody *likes* the idea of a mother neglecting a child that she WILLINGLY carried inside of her belly for months. Mothers are supposed to be inherently nurturing, aren't they? They are expected to give birth, take one look at their newborn baby, and say, "I will never let anyone hurt you." Here's the problem. Sometimes the mother is the one causing the most hurt. A television show should not gloss over this uncomfortable truth just because most viewers can't stomach it. You need to SEE that not ALL disabled kids (throwing that in there before I get yelled at because 'I actually had loving parents, thanks.') are born into families who treat them the way YOU think they should. You need to SEE what ableism and bad parenting looks like beyond calling someone like me a 'burden', 'exhausting', or telling me I'll 'never be able to make it on my own.' (aka things that are easy to point out as ableist). This show went easy on your girl, do you get that? All she did was LEAVE. She never said anything to her son's face about his disability. She never resorted to name-calling or complaining about how tough she had it while he was right there to hear it. She never told him he was letting her down by not "trying harder". She left. That's it. Yes, it sucks. Yes, it's going to leave a scar that Christopher will never heal from. Do you realize how much worse it could have been? In fact, it was SO sugarcoated that people have more sympathy for the able-bodied mother who was ALLOWED to leave than they do her disabled son who NEVER ASKED TO BE DISABLED. That's...disturbing, and perfectly illustrates why discussions like this need to be had. PSA: if you're able-bodied you're conditioned to be ableist. Question: What are you gonna do about it?

[oh-for-fic-sake]

Trophy Chapter Seven

Masterlist

Warnings: Adult situations +18, Smut ,Dub con, Coercive behavior, Daddy kink, Threats of violence, Masturbation, Swearing

A/n: So this has taken absolutely ages to write... there are many things that i wanted in the chapter that havent made it i was struggling about how much plot i added to this chapter and i can only apologize for how long it has taken m0but also wanted to covey the back story a little more. I'm happy with it and i hope you are to. As a head's up this story might end up being a fifteen to twenty chapters I hope. Any way I do hope this is worth the wait. p.s if you want the other chapters they are in order on my masterlist which is linked above as always.xx

Taglist: @havenoffandoms​ @aphrodites-punch​ @charlieferret​ @thatgirly81​ @two-unbeatable-beaters​ @viking-raider​ @iloveyouyen​ @black-ninja-blade

Trophy Chapter Seven

Henry sat behind his desk he was annoyed, you could tell by the way he sat shoulders, neck and jaw twitching every now and then, he was wound tight. The power radiating from him cast waves across the space leaving the air thick, yet behind it was something else, something that was echoing across the room each time he cast his gaze to you. He sent smirks to you when he caught you stealing glances at him. Feeling his glances linger you faltered scanning the same line of your book for what seemed the hundredth, willing yourself not to look at him not to give him a reason to approach you. You wanted to be left alone with your thoughts sighing you tucked your feet up on the sofa cringing you huffed as your bare ass pulled on the leather...You just knew you was leaving marks...The knowledge made you curl up tighter tucking your skirt under yourself shielding your center from His glances. You couldn't concentrate, to many things had happened already today and to many thoughts ran around inside your head. You could kick yourself ,was it right? You'd sold yourself to the devil...For what? You looked him over taking in the way his shoulders tensed as he moved pulling a slim tablet from his desk flicking open the stand connecting it to a wireless keyboard. Was this the plan all along...For him to back you into a corner like this, to make you hand yourself over willingly?  To resign yourself to staying with him. Trapping yourself in this house forever...To protect a fantasy of what could have been? A man who you started imagining a future with...An agent... A liar. You heaved a deep sigh moving a hand to swipe at your eyes then pinched the bridge of your nose dropping the book to your knees that were firmly tucked below your chin. Your emotions finally catching up with you. Tears were quickly forming in your eyes. It could have been a ruse, a cruel ploy to use as cover. Had it? It had felt so natural, so pure. Like you could have had it all but was it real?... Or did Stephan think you knew something was you just part of the job?.... You looked over to Henry he had said the day you got here that Stephan was using you... At the time you just thought it was the mans madness talking but now?...He could have been right...As far as things stood at the moment Henry had done many things to you...But he had not lied to you. Did he know all along? was he in some fucked up way trying to help you?. Could he possibly love you as he said he did?. Is he just acting now? Playing along? it was entirely possible Henry was a smart man. There was no doubt about that, you don't get to were he is being an idiot...And  it was convenient that everything was in  his favor that he was coming out on top again... You shook your head, they were some very dangerous thoughts. You felt him look at you again and he sighed at you watching tears fall landing on the pages open in front of you. He just rose out of his seat moving ,opening the door letting in Kal who had been waiting dutifully out side the door.

"Go see your mother" you blinked not quite understanding but soon realized he had been speaking to Kal as the dog jumped up on to the sofa beside you nudging the book from your hands to the floor. Henry moved collecting the hardback copy of Tolkien's Hobbit placing in on the small side table by you. He smiled as Kal stealthily made himself comfy on your lap, making you uncurl to accommodate him lathering you with kisses. Henry moved his hand ruffling the bears ears praising him"Good boy, you sit there and protect your mother hmm?...He is definetly taken with you, my fully trained gaurd dog becomes a soppy puppy around you" you smiled a little scratching Kals chin, Henry crouched down looking at you moving to pat your hip

"...Pet? try not to think to much...You have no need to be sad my love, now is a time for us to...move past everything to look forward to our future... I'm going to keep my word as long as you keep yours. Now try and cheer up for me" you forced a smile at him then let your face drop again. He sighed deciding to give you time to yourself then made his way across the office to his seat again. You whined digging your fingers into the dogs thick fur pressing your face into his neck as he rested his chin on your shoulder panting happily as you continued to cuddle the massive fluff ball. You closed your eyes it was pathetic that you'd throw away everything to protect the first man to ever show you attention. But what was done is done. There was no way Henry would ever let you back track, and if you did you knew for certain that you'd be wholey responsible for Stephan's demise. And to make matters worse in the middle of your confused despair you now had to face the man who had started all this, who had betrayed you. Fletcher who had set you up to be kidnapped. With no idea as to what would happen to you, or you'd like to think he had no idea but you doubted it. You turned your head resting the side of our face into the dog sniffling trying hard not to cry, this time with anger. You shook sitting silent,  you didn't want to attract the mobsters attention any more than you had. You could feel him getting worse feeling him seeth to himself as he tapped away at the tablet every few seconds cursing under his breath. You moved back leaning back as Kal followed your movements to lounge across you getting watching the door.

Finally after the longest hour of your life there was a timid knock on the door then a nasally voice you knew all to well.

"Oh he hasn't answerd must be busy-" you heard a thump as if someone had been slammed against the door.

"Get your ass in here fletcher!"  You jumped making Kal nudge your hand as if to say keep petting me. The good boy was helping with your anxiety over the whole situation. Your attention was brought back to Henry as he spoke his tone was dark, cool and calculated. He looked high and mighty, smug as he sat taller a lopsided grin upon his face he winked in your direction making you blink slowly this was business and he was most definitely the boss. Slowly the door opened and your ex-employer came in,the usually tall confident man was hunched forward trying to look as insignificant as possible. Nervous and flighty, he didn't want to be here and you couldn't blame him, hell you didn't want to be here. Henry raised a brow to the door left wide open making Fletcher turn sharply and close it you jumped closing your eyes tight as it slammed beside you prompting another nudge from Kal who was covering you leaning across you trying to be a wall between you ad the other male. The terrified man stood still then, took a few steps in the room as he quickly began stammering apologies to Henry which he rolled his eyes at and held a hand up .Stop. Fletcher moved forward with a forced smile and sat down in front of the desk twisting his hands.

"S-so Mr Cavill.....I erm wh-what did you need to talk to me about?"

"Get up"  Fletcher tilted his head as Henry leaned back in his chair placing his forearms on the arms of the chair taking a relaxed pose

"Wha-why?" Fletcher asked but soon moved when Henry's blues turned icey

"Did I stutter? Get. Up." Fletcher jumped leaping out of the chair as Henry's voice was sharp and foreboding. Fidgeting with his hands Fletcher took a a deep shaking breath and looked about ready to piss himself. Henry moved slowly closing the kickstand on the back of the tablet casually with a flick of his wrist, moving to place it and the keyboard in the drawer he had got it from. He looked up through his lashes at the man.

"You see Fletcher...This is the problem we have.....You make decisions....The wrong decisions and then you try to back track." Fletcher looked at Henry and swallowed.

"You are to do as your told and nothing more, things are going to change, your not going to make a move, decide anything talk to anyone your not even going to take a shit without my fucking say so is that fucking clear?" Fletcher moved forward wide eyed at the implications.

"But-Henr.....Mr Cavill I didn't say anything,  I just gave him the trail you .Gave me...That’s all!....I swear....I'd never betray you like that we're friends" Henry laughed loud at him then fixed  to coward before him with a stern look.

"Friends?...You think we are ...Friends?....Sure. I may have kept you out of prison which; you paid me for and I agreed to the loans... We drank together what once? Twice?...I may have even wiped your debt with our last little deal...." Henry's eyes swiped over you for a second his haze turning hungry for a moment then returned to the quivering man before him.

"But I am not your friend...I don't have friends...It was business....You are a pathetic little man who bit off more then he could chew. Now be a good boy and tell me What did he tell you? Was there anything that seemed strange about him? Anything at all think back.." Fletcher furrowed his brow confused and shook his head.

"I don't understand he was just an immigrant-"

"He used a false identity... Did you do a background check on him?" It was a test. Henry knew Fletcher didn't check him out, he couldn't have.For an agent the kid hadn't covered his tracks very well he practically popped up out of thin air. But Henry was more interested in whether Fletcher would lie to him, he needed to know how close of an eye to keep on him .Fletcher however went a deathly shade of pale, he hadn't known about Stephan.

"I-I don't... I don't know ...He seemed to check out when I hired him-" Henry slammed his fist down making you whimper into Kal’s fur closing your eyes.

"YOU GOT SOME FUCKING BALLS TO SIT IN MY HOME, IN MY FUCKING OFFICE AND LIE RIGHT TO MY FACE!! YOU DIDN'T EVEN CHECK HIM DID YOU?" Fletcher let out a little yelp taking a step back and shook as he nodded.

"Y-your right I'm s-sorry ple-please I rushed him through, I knew I-I didn't have long to replace Y/n...But I swear I didn't know, you have to believe me...He is just a boy...You said so yourself! A boy who doesn't know his place!.A silly little shit who thinks he is in love, or that's what I thought. That maybe he will give up after he realized Y/n wasn't the only place to get his dick wet....I mean she didn't look like she'd be the best fuck in the world you know?" Henry glowered at him the room got colder. Bad move. Henry was jumping down his throat before you even had the chance to be offended.

"Excuse me? What the fuck did you just say about MY woman? You wanna run that one past me again?...Well? come on don't hold back now tell me what you think of her... Oh you haven't got the balls now have you? Let me tell you something you sniveling little cunt you ever disrespect her again and I will personally cut that sorry excuse for a prick right from between your little chicken shit legs and choke you to death with it understand? you keep your fucking mouth shut if you know whats good for you!" stupidly enough you couldn't help the smile or small flutters in your chest as you heard this dangerous man defend you so quickly, even if it was murder...Something about it made you special? dare you say cared for? Fletcher shook realizing his mistake to late.

"Yo-Your woman?....I'm so-sorry Mr Cavill I didn't know you had taken her for yourself...Ple-Please forgive me I didn't mean-" Henry growled waving him off if he let the man continue to grovel then they would be here all fucking day. He sighed rolling his eyes before continuing.

"One check...One five minuet check and you could have avoided this fucking mess...There is no Stephan clermont...I’m pretty sure he was a fucking agent, we are not sure what branch.. You let an agent into your fucking cafe! Fuck knows what he has seen and heard because you didn't screen him properly..."

"H-he was a what? Oh fuck oh fuck! Mr Cavill? I'm sorry I am so sorry please..I-I didn't know! You have to believe me!" The poor man all but got on his hands and knees,pleading with the kingpin opposite him. He was trembling as the gravity of the situation dawned on him. Henry sat back keeping silent, he wanted to make the man squirm for a few moments, he thrived of the terror permeating the room.Finally he moved forward tilting his head sighing.

"However it has worked in my...Our favor....Hasn't it little one?" You shrunk into Kal as Fletcher looked at you shocked seeing you sitting by the door on the huge leather sofa,you scowled at him wanting desperately to launch the book in your hands at him, to scream and shout attack him even.

"Y/n? Yo-your okay? Thank god I was so worried- I was sure Henry wasn't going too hurt you...But there was still a doubt...But he hasn't and your here!" you stood up seeing red, Fletcher flinched as Kal strode past him looking at him warily. A part of you wanted Kal to take a bite but you didn't want to see him turn like that, he was the only one you trusted not to hurt you in this house. Tears blurred your eyes as you struggled to temper your anger.Worried?How dare he! How fucking dare he say that to you! Your stomach clenched as you finally registered his words. But before you had any time to think it over you was already screaming at him. Henry slowly pushed himself out from the desk waiting for the blow up about to happen.

"BULLSHIT! BULL-SHIT YOU WASN'T WORRIED AT ALL!  YOU CUNT YOU FUCKING SET ME UP, USED ME AS SOME FUCKING BARGAINING CHIP FOR WHAT?" You screamed at him moving across the small space towards him spitting out your words, you didn't notice Henry move to focused on the man in front of you as you gained on him as he shuffled back nearly tripping over the chair beside him.

"I TRUSTED YOU! WHAT DID YOU GET? WHAT DID HE FUCKING GIVE YOU HUH? TELL ME FLETCHER JUST WHAT WAS I WORTH?" He took another step back unprepared for your out burst he stumbled back. You cried as your anger overwhelmed you Henry bypassed him capturing your arms in his hands pressing you back with little effort. Standing between you and Fletcher, his massive frame concealed him, a huge wall of sculpted muscle. You frowned up at Henry for a second only to twist your head to the side around him and carried on screaming at the sleazeball cowering behind him.

"DID YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME?! TELL ME DAMNIT!" You cried as Henry quickly pulled you away from the man you struggle feebly as you was directed away from the man you wanted to claw at.

"I thought you were going to be safe! I was sure Henr-Mr Cavill wouldn't put you in the circuit in town-" You fumed crying torn between anger and despair. Henry finally moved sitting back down holding your heaving form flush against him making you lean his hand resting across your abdomen he moved kissing your hair. He rocked you slightly the caring gesture seemed to flip a switch as you immediately crumbled into his chest, your nerves were shot and you had just about enough. You gave in to the need for comfort, wanting someone to hold as the days rollacoaster finally caught up with you. You moved turning shifting on his lap tucking yourself into him sobbing, clutching and twisting at his shirt. Henry adjusted his hold on you, cupping your legs  and widening his own to support you more comfortably.

"I ha-hate you...Why?...Why did yo-you do this?....."  you brought a hand up to your face wiping away the tears looking up at Henry completely lost falling apart at the seams, you looked at him in that moment for answers. For reasons and reassurance.

"There is a fine line between love and hate, hasn't anyone ever told you that pet?" He smiled when you looked at him confused then sobbed he pulled your face to his chest again.

"What did I do to deserve this?" You whined against him ,loosing yourself into something you still didn't understand yet. Henry smirked feeling you give in. He just began shushing you and rubbing your back soothing you, his eyes on Fletcher the whole time. Fletcher watched in fear seeing first hand just what this man's cruelty truly was, how he had gotten under your skin and manipulated you, twisted you into doing exactly what he wanted. How he can redesign and remold anyone to suit his own ends. And that was his strength. That was the secret to his power Henry was a silver tongue and master at mind games. He made the game and everyone around him was playing it whether they knew it or not. Fletcher gulped he knew he wasn't going to walk away from this,  there was no escape you cannot outsmart this man. You cannot win against the devil himself.

To anyone in that moment Henry looked like the cat who'd caught the canary.A king sitting on his golden throne with his little sacrifice curled up in his lap. So pleased with himself and how things were playing out as he allowed you to wrap yourself around him willingly as you wept into his chest. Fletcher could see through the veneer for the first time and what he saw terrified him. Just what had he gotten himself into? And more importantly how was he going to get out of it?

Henry moved slowly whispering into your neck as he tilted his head down.

"Shh love thats enough....shh shh its okay your okay I'm here....Thats it good girl..... No need to get yourself so worked up...what's done is done and we can all put it behind us....." he finished with a chaste kiss to your neck , you could feel how Fletcher was uncomfortable as Henry worked on your neck slowly sucking making you gasp and wriggle as he dug his teeth in determined to make a show for the other male. He smirked against your neck as you whined, one of his hands had slid up under your skirt digging his fingers into the raised welts from yesterday,you flush as you jolted you hips to escape his hand. You felt ashamed as you  enjoyed the thick thighs below you rubbing across your ass even if it did sting, you have almost no control as his words relaxed you. Letting you melt into him closing your eyes giving yourself into his soothing tone.

Henry finally looked up at Fletcher through his lashes mouth still hovering at your neck he pulled back with a parting kiss, he moved his arms to wrap around you as he felt you settle into him completely relaxed , you had past the point of panic and simple stayed there soaking up what ever comfort he was willing to give you. Chuckling he grinned knowingly across the desk he knew the man across from him was panicking, that he had clicked that Henry was much more then he appeared and that letting him get away with this wasn't an option.

Well man? He was a little weasel- a little weasel that had owed him big time, tax avoidance wasn't the biggest thing Henry could help cover up usually he didn't bother but Fletcher was desperate when he came to him begging for his help. Two businesses and seventeen years worth of dodging the tax man ,national insurance pensions you name it he wasn't paying finding loopholes and then it had all caught up to him. It was enough to make anyone desperate when the tax man started asking too many questions, if he went down he wouldn't get out of prison at his age. So Henry decided to help, he needed to start somewhere in the new town and it was a piece of piss. He helped arranging everything, saving Fletcher's ass but it had come with a hefty price tag. Fletcher was getting brave after nearly a few months, out right refusing to pay him back. That is what prompted his visit to the crappy cafe, if he asked you probably wouldn't remember serving him or chatting to him but he did. He spent the days and weeks after obsessing over you, he was unsure how to go about seeing you he didn't want to leave anything to chance. He wanted you. He wanted to feel that peace that you caused in him, you were his refuge, his little piece of normality. It wasn't until the second visit to Fletcher that he had made a deal.It was simple, Fletcher had pleaded with him making promise after promise, first of money then assets, use of the cafe; which Henry had already been doing for smaller deals but then he finally offered something Henry actually wanted. You. He offered you as his payment saying that your were pretty enough and would make him a lot of money in the prostitution ring he had in town. He remembered that moment, he was filled with unadulterated rage and pure joy all at once. The mere thought of you being used in such a way made him want to step back and let his boys do their thing, yet he couldn't for the life of him let the opportunity pass.He was also frightened for you, the fact Fletcher was willing to sell you into that kind of life was to much of a risk, what if he sold you to someone else? And they did force you into that life?. No absolutely not he had to save you. Protect you. So he accepted.You for his debt. It was decided that you would keep working at the cafe for the time being.... With higher pay and better conditions, he couldn't have his woman struggling could he?.

He had got everything ready at that point he was going to become a regular customer and try to wrangle a date that way, yet when he visited you were never out front always in the kitchen. So he moved to his second plan the long game becoming your landlord and bumping into you as he visited the building...He would play himself of as a relative of one of the residents. It was the perfect plan he would have then have access to your building and apartment,have all security footage of you coming and going so he would know when to pop in he was going to up the security and such too. He could make it impossible for you to ignore him. Once you were going steady he would rocket the rent forcing you to move out....And in with him.That was the plan you'd have been content came to him willingly! thinking it was all meant to be just as much as him! You'd have fallen so in love with him all on your own!. All Fletcher had to do was keep you occupied for a few months as he bought your building. It wasn't a big ask really.Instead he had made you unknowingly train up your replacement. Stephen who he now knew had been posing as some danish pratt and HE had tricked you! quickly wooing you into a date.

"Fletcher...keep your eyes open for Stephan...I want him found...He gets in touch with you you tell me" he nodded quickly sensing this meeting was going to be wrapped up soon. You wriggled against Henry pulling yourself  out of your safe space still desperate for answers.

"No! Tell me what happened?" You struggled as Henry brought his arms around you tighter grunting in your ear.

"Enough my love!...That is enough...Like I have told you its in the past! Unless you are already backtracking on our little deal?" You froze twisting to look up at him, his voice was calm but firm and sliced past your ear in hot breaths. You shook.

"No!-no I'm not...I just want to know...I need to know why? Why he did this? Please...." Henry sighed looking at you for a few seconds then to Fletcher who was literally shaking on the spot.

"Leave...As far as we are concerned you now fucking owe me again...Same as before my boys will be there to collect on Thursdays as usual and I will be watching you, you fuck up again and its over for you we clear?" He took a step forward gasping motioning to you.

"B-BUT I PAID IT OFF...YO-YOU  GOT HER DIDN'T YOU!?" You froze as you got your answer. A debt. You were just a debt? Money... you thought he'd at least sell you of for something less common then  money. You sat shell shocked not really sure why you expected it to be over something else but hearing him say it so freely made you, you wasn't sure hurt? Insulted even. Your thoughts were cut short a Henry replied confirming what you'd just heard.

"Yes your right I do have her... And she has agreed to stay here with me of her own free will" he kissed your temple and chuckled but quickly snarled as Fletcher turned on you.

"YOU LITTLE USELESS CUNT! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE?" You jumped and cowered sliding back grasping Henry's hand for comfort as Fletcher moved forward arms raised as if you try and grab you. For a second you panicked that he would and held onto Henry tighter. It was then that Kal crept from beside the desk growling his heckles raising looking frightening as he stood tall staring at the frantic man. Henry moved you to one leg hushing you, he was pleased you wasn't facing him as he couldn't help the triumphant smile as he realized he was your safety net, it was a tiny move but in the right direction. You wanted him to protect you and he wouldn't disappoint. He turned from you and growled low you pushed in to his chest your breath picking up as he looped an arm stroking your hip in small circles as he leaned forward pulling open a drawer next you heard as a click of a gun being cocked.

Instantly Fletcher's new found confidence dwindled and he stood back.

"I'd advise you not to talk to my woman like that, you'll find I'm not very patient when it comes to things like that. You ever raise your voice to her again and it'll be the last thing you'll ever fucking do...Your useless do you understand?...Expendable...And remember its you who fucked up big time...You who caused all this....I don't know weather your worth all the fuss....and I have to ask myself weather you are worth the risk? I mean where does this leave you?.....Bar from finding Stephan your fucking useless now and to be honest I don't think he is going to contact you again...And you royally fucked up,  you let an agent in your business, he knows what you've been doing...or more importantly what you haven't been doing...He also knows that you have ties with me and my...Associates and also thinks that you helped aid me in kidnapping...And that brings us full circle really, now I'm going to have to watch you. Have my men protect your business have the police and judge on my payroll find ways to overlook your cock ups all over again...Its only fair that you compensate me for all my hard work...Or I could end it right here..." Henry moved the gun higher aiming it at the quivering man before him, he was making a show wanting you to see he would never ever let anyone disrespect you or frighten you. He wanted you to know he was the boss and was here for you, that you could run to him and he would always protect you. He wanted to convey so much here and now but as he looked down at you he saw terror...You wasn't ready to see this side of business...You shivered turning to face him noticing his pause, he tilted his head and shushed you kissing your lips softly you closed your eyes tight and moved your hands clutching at his shirt. He sighed looking back up.

"But...I don't want to frighten my little one here...shes had a trying day already so you'll just have to settle for the Vonnie brothers have a go they are back this afternoon." He moved  tilting his hand with the gun checking his watch smirking, as the man tried to move out of the way.

"Two hours? you know what they are like messy brutal but they do get things done...And they do enjoy squealers you definitely fit that bill...Or you can go back the how it was before, nice and simple...so what will it be?" Fletcher just looked between the two of you and nodded.

"I-I will pay... I will tell you if he contacts me or I notice anything" Henry chuckled darkly at that watching in amusement as the man before him slumped looking to the floor giving up the fight defeated. Henry was a snake, you were within his coils before you realized what was happening and then once you were trapped like a rat that is when he decided to strike.

"That’s what I thought. Now fuck off"

within seconds the door shut and you were left in the office with him alone. Still placed on his lap you let out a breath you didn't know you was holding. he shifted you you face him knees spread around his waist ad he pulled you flush against him running his heavy palms up and down your thighs making you tense.

"Apart from your little outburst I am very please with you, such a good girl for daddy aren't you?" You blinked at him then looked to the door again.

"Are you gonna hurt him? When all this is over I mean?" Henry sighed his breath moving your hair.

"That doesn't concern you little one..If you start becoming to nosy I will have no choice but to correct you... You may have agreed to stay but that does not mean your free to do as you please, daddy is still very much in charge and will still spank you when your misbehaving...do you understand little girl?..." You just sighed sniffling you was tired to tired to even try and argue knowing that it would be futile you wasn't going to get any answers from him.

"Do you understand?"

"Yes Daddy"

It had been a week since Fletcher had visited. One week since you’d made the deal and one week days since Stephan had disappeared. You hadn't really been around Henry to ,much over the past week he had lots of meetings and phone calls. From What you could gather he had began changing locations and combing through his empire searching for bugs and stuff. You wasn't sure on details he caught you at the door once and that had swiftly ended with you over his knee in the office being spanked into hysterics then being stood in the corner pinning a penny to the wall with your nose holding your skirt up so he could 'admire his handy work'. You cringed at the memory your bottom tensing at the thought. Apart from that you don't really see him which is a god send in a way he was also to preoccupied with other things to touch you to much. You mainly saw him in the morning and evenings. Hearing raised voices from the office just beyond the sitting room. Henry was shouting at Luke again. No one knew where Stephan was but from what you over heard they had wheedled out another undercover agent, you wasn't sure what happened but Henry seemed pleased with himself over it. Suddenly the door opened and Luke staggered past dead on his feet moving down into the garage. You tilted your head to Henry who stood by the door sighing. He looked relaxed very happy...Maybe this was the time to ask him about it...See if they had any idea of where Stephan was...Who he was? over the past week you couldn't shake your doubts about him and the relationship you'd begun to build. the more you thought about it the more questions you had. And the more you began to question your feelings especially about Henry. It was concerning, you found yourself justifying his actions. You was starting to truly Question if he had taken you to protect you from Fletcher...If Fletcher was willing to sell you for his debt things could have been much worse you if you hadn't gone to Henry... You dread to think where you could be now. He also seemed to want to protect you from Stephan who you decided was just using you for cover and would only end up breaking your heart in the end. You blinked at the screen. The other terrifying reality was you had missed him this past week, you were isolated in this house and without Henry around it was really getting to you. It was late in the afternoon and you had spent the day watching films on Netflix in the living room. Trying to ignore the many questionable men and women coming in and out of the office. You looked at him as nudged Kal away and he took a seat beside you on the sofa rolling his sleeves up his arms.

"Hey love...What are you doing?" You moved the tablet showing him the screen coseying up to him below his arm as it settled across your shoulders, you took a deep breath breathing him in then stopped yourself.

"Watching stuff....Can...Can I ask you something?" he raised a brow at you has hand cupping your shoulder and looked down at you taking a deep breath.

"You can but it just because you ask doesn't mean I’m going to answer.." he finished with a grin then looked down at your face noticing how it had dropped as you swiped your your new tablet back to the home screen.

"Come on little one whats on your mind?" you sighed taking a breath. then face him for a second your breath hitched in your throat sometimes his looks just hit you, making your heart begin to jump in your chest you looked down flushing shaking your head going to flick back on your tablet only for him to cover the screen with his huge hand prying it from you.

"Now now don't be like that love, you remember what does daddy say about pouting?" you flushed again knowing exactly what he wanted to hear, you sighed trying to look down and hide yourself only for him to pull your face up again.

"If I don't stop pouting you'll give me something to pout about.." he nodded giving you a gentle kiss on your head.

"Good girl now tell daddy whats going on in that mind of yours" you sighed and twisted facing him fully. and opened your mouth a few times trying to figure out the best way to bring this up, you didn't want to set him off again you steeled yourself swallowing down your anxiety.

"I-I erm...I just wanted to know if..well I was wondering if you knew just wh-who Stephan was yet is all.." his frame grew rigid he blinked then opened his mouth then decided against what he was going to say, his eyes closed and his jaw clenched trying to compose himself. Then his eyes snapped open harsh and burning trapping your own gaze.Oh shit.

"And why would you need to know that little lady? Are you planning something little one?! Tell me your not still hoping he will come and whisk you away from me?! is that what you want?! for him to come and try to rescue you? to fall in love with that lying little rat?! When you have me?! and I finally have you...You are not going anywhere princess your mine or have you forgotten that?!" you tensed gasping as his voice got deeper carrying more weight with each word. You quickly started shaking as he pulled away from you sitting up taller his eyes grew wild as they darted across your form. You swallowed seeing the frantic madness in him coming to the surface, you needed to pacify him and fast. You leaned forward grasping his knee.

"N-No nothing like that I promise...It's just Ive been thinking a lot over this week..." you grew more worried as your words did not have the desired effect. He growled gripping your bicep holding it tight, you didn't wince or pull away you knew he would read to much into it. instead you sat there before him trying desperately to close the can of worms you had just opened.

"NO! Not like that...Please-Please Daddy I don't mean...H-he lied to me and..and he was using me I know what we hav-HAD wasn't real I-I see that now I just wanted to know who he was, Who he worked for to bring it home...For closure...Then I can move on..I don't want to think of him anymore but I cant stop wondering" that seemed to have helped as he took a deep breath his hard eyes softened and he let his grip on your arms loosen making you sigh in relief.

"Yo-You don't want him to come get you? you know he doesn't love you? he doesn't! he can't no one can love you, not as much as i do you know that don't you? that I love you so so much you are my world,Mine the most important thing in my life" you took a slow breath at his desperate words, his views and words still frighten you and these dark turns are still a worry. But you find yourself able to navigate them easier each time he has one. You swear he is schizophrenic or something, tho not as violent as they had been in the beginning they still happen at the slightest of things. you forced what you hoped was a convincing smile ready to butter him up praying to god this next line helps rather then hinders.

"No...I don't want him to come get me...I'm yours Daddy, your little girl...I agreed to stay here..I'm sorry, I just don't want him to haunt me when I'm trying to move on...With you...Ive missed you." It works, you can see in his face how his eyes sparkle and his jaw hangs slack suddenly your pulled in tight his arms caging you to his massive frame.

"Oh baby girl...Daddy is sorry...I'm so sorry I snapped at you I should have known!.. My precious little one! of course your finding it hard to move on...That boy has really messed with your head huh? tricking you like he did, leading you on...Your okay now I promise I won't let him hurt you ever again" he moved back cupping your face in both hands then kissed your cheeks his gaze was calm full of understanding and wonder. you sighed nodding to him know full well that it was best to agree. he tugged you up onto his thighs with a soft grunt puling you forward, you put your weight on your knees either side of him hovering lightly thee skirt you wore offering no protection from him what so ever. if he noticed your hesitance he didn't comment on it to wrapped up in himself as he tugged you closer making you gasp as your center came into contact with his bulge. You hissed whining as he pressed you harder onto him chuckling making him smile.

"Oh Sweetheart I know...I've missed you two but daddy is doing everything he can so we can stay together...I love you little one and as much as it pains me to be apart from you I do still have an empire to run hmm?" you blushed as he groaned a little moving you by your hips making you rock onto him.

"But fuck baby girl your so hot...I can feel you through my trousers" You gasped clutching his arms trying to make him stop as he let his head fall back bucking up into you coming to life below you. He laughed moving your skirt up your thighs making it rest high and shuffled down leaning back on the soft cushions tugging you down onto his chest by your wrists. He spread his thighs wider the with the sole purpose to force your legs to part further your body slide down his erection now pressing into your lower tummy. Once he had you laid across him he hummed into your ear holding you close before slowly letting a hand slither down your back sliding over your ass and cup the apex of your spread thighs below you. You tensed as he did this trying to pull yourself up.

"Ah Ah shh shh that's it baby don't worry Daddies got you...I wont let you fall love...Oh I know I know princess." you whined as he moved his fingers slowly over you grazing the pads of his fingers across your lips teasing the delicate flesh making you look around the room making sure no one was going to walk in on you. He sighed watching you for a few seconds then tilted your head to him.

"Hey eyes here pet...that's it...I'm sorry I haven't been around but luckily everything is now sorted out and we can spend our days together again...No no look at me princess...that's it good girl" you arched up as his fingers wandered forward capturing your clit in two fingers pulling and rolling it until making your walls flutter to life rocking down and forward unsure if you was trying to dislodge him or move him into a different pattern. he smiled tilting his hand so his thumb ran across your slit as he continued to manipulate your little bud. You twitched trying in vain to close your legs. but your thighs were no match for his as he held firm using one hand to gather your hair tucking it behind your ears as you bit your lip rocking against his wicked hand feeling you coat his thumb as he smeared it across you.

"Ah-AAHH F-fucK! PLease..pleEASE DA-oh god" you closed your eyes as he worked you up into a frenzy your cried gasping choking on air. Pressing the side of your face to his chest panting as he tilted his hand quickly rewarding your weeping center with two thick fingers knuckle deep holding them still. Groaning as your heat swallowed him rippling around him smiling he just kissed the top of your head, you quivered over him panting out small breathy whines. He got to work bringing his other hand to one of your thighs rolling the soft flesh massaging you as he scissored his fingers back and forth inside you. Then he began dragging them in and out making sure to open you up as far as he could with the digits, changing his angle slightly each time pressing on different nerves. You jumped yelping as the pads of his finger tips skimmed the soft patch of nerves that he has become accustom to stroking. He grunted winding his free arm around your waist  then used as much strength as he could, pinning your torso to his own need then quickly started pounding his fingers into that tiny spot of nerves bouncing you faster and faster making your tummy rub him through his own clothes sighed and grunting he started bucking his hips up to you. He hissed closing his eyes concentrating on the sounds you made, from the smallest of gasps as your breath got stuck in your throat to the louder more erotic moans and cries that his fingers forced out of you. He groaned louder joining you making your own duet of lustful cries. he hissed as he tensed his arms your tummy trapping his head between your torsos he moved his wrist hearing the wet slaps of his hand against you in a furious rhythm, definitely ready for another. he added a third finger and began curling them making you arch almost painfully tensing your legs trying to wriggle away from him when they pressed harder and harder to your weak spot.

"AHH UGHFUH-FUCK NOnoOnoOO!...PLease not-NOT HERE PLEASE DADDY!"  he grunted in response a you sat back up only to curl back down into him mouth open over his shirt crying out trembling. Trying to hold your release not wanting to leave any evidence in such a public room in the house. he slowed a little but only for a few short seconds as he moved another finger extending it making every stroke torture as the digit rolled over your taught clit. You clenched trying to hold back but couldn't finally grunting louder than you meant to as you rocked desperately onto his hand tears streaming down your face as your climax made your body cramp , nerves burning and shuddering as he forced you to melt across his hand. panting you  fisted your hands in his shirt shivering whimpering into him trying to catch your breath. he moved his hand away wiping your own release on your back letting it seep through your blouse you blushed and sobbed feeling your own warmth heat your back in puddles.

"Such a good girl...so good for me my love...OH look at all of that hmm? you really have missed me haven't you?..I promise I wont leave you alone this long ever again.." he moved you to sit up with one hand you looked down seeing the clear puddle below you on the floor and sobbed harder shaking your head at him embarrassed.

So wrapped up in your own mortification you hadn't realized what he was doing. his hands crept to his trousers with a few quick tugs ha was free standing tall and proud was quick to guide your hands to his raging erection. you jumped gasping trying to pull away but his grip was tight.

"Shh shh that's it little one...It won't take long here...Just hold it gently like this" he moved your reluctant hand making you grip him at the base then looked at you nodding to your other hand expectantly. You swallowed looking down at him still panting every so often trying to hold your breath. you met his eyes again and he smiled nodding to you.

"Go on...The longer you wait the longer we will be here" you looked down.He was firm and hot in your hand, you could feel his pulse on your palm from the thick veins that climbed across the flesh from root to tip, he was thick your hand felt tiny holding him. Slowly you took a deep breath wanting to get this over with. You just knew he wasn't letting you anywhere with out finishing him off. Moved your other hand to hold him above the other. your reward as a beaming smile. you blinked at him then slowly gave an experimental squeeze making him groan and bring his legs up a little quivering. At first your movements were light, slow then he intervened making one hand grip him tighter moving you faster. Then through his head back praising you closing his eyes.

"Here like thii-OH FUCK!" he swore as you tightened your fist watching your hands as his thick head dripped precum over you hand. It was hard to pull your gaze away forgetting about him as he through his head back moaning loud and grunting into the room. Not willing to miss this he moved his head resting the side of his face on the back of the sofa watching you through half lidded eyes. you blushed when he watched you, not your hands. Your face as you moved faster with both hands. You licked your lip watching his lips form a perfect 'o' then biting his lip as he began moving again thrusting his cock into your palms. You shook your head and paid attention to your hands telling yourself you were watching him to try and see what would help get this over with quicker, but in all honesty you needed a distraction from his handsome fucking face. Watching the way the head of his cock was getting a deeper color going from pink to red and fading fast into purple as you stoked away at him. How his cum came through thicker creamier as you worked it up and down on him. You enjoyed the way he bucking into your hands and clawed at the sofa watching his length slid through your palms finally, just as you thought his crown was going to go blue he swore loud grunting and thrusting into your hands.

"UGH F-FUUUCK YESyesYESFUCK B-BABY DONT STOP! UH UHAAGGH!" his moments through you for a second but you was quick to, on reflex you squeezed him tighter so he wouldn't slip away from your hands making him growl at you as he released across himself. you squeaked as he shot his load drawing a line across your chest making you freeze and cringe. he panted looking to the ceiling in a daze a lazy grin across his lips. You blinked looking around for something to wipe his cum from your top. Before you could move he laughed forcing you to lay down on him again ignoring your protests making you lie flush against him dragging you up to his face as he panted. then moved his face to you neck kissing you.

"Thank you Little one...Daddy really needed that..." you whined against him wanting to run to the shower feeling dirty and sated all in one. he took a deep breath in then stood up slowly on shaking knees cupping your ass then nodded to you.

"Put daddy away and we can go upstairs and have a nice hot bath together...how does that sound baby?" you whined making him raise a brow at you grabbed him quickly but he hissed

"Fuck careful baby you've left daddy sensitive...Play nice...that's it slowly god girl.." slowly you moved his cock tucking it back into place and zipping him up choosing not to delay, the longer it was hanging out the worse you will feel about what just happened and you just wanted to forget the whole thing. he smiled kissing your cheek then moved around the sofa heading up the stairs.

Stephan growled out loud as he walked away from his handlers office. They still said they hadn't got enough evidence on Cavill even with everything he found out about you.or should he say the little he found out about you, you'd been kidnapped by him that much was clear but he couldn't prove it. The closest thing he had to proof was that you hadn't boarded a plane. Coincidentally all cctv of the police station around the time of you and Cavill’s arrival and departure was gone. The paperwork was all gone as he didn't press charges and no arrests were documented on your record , there was no record of his car being impounded either. Someone on the ground as covering for him. Someone high up was on his payroll. So he couldn't help you not only that but his handler was pissed at him, him going off on one had lost them a valuable spot in the investigation he was now benched for a week, stuck on desk duty as punishment for fucking up. He was now to risky to use in the operation and worst of all he couldn't do anything to save you for the time being. He was out unless he could find a rat, someone to double cross Cavill, finding someone that stupid was as rare as hens teeth. So here he was hands tied by bureaucrat bullshit and red tape all because he cared enough to try and find out something, to actually do something!.

He stomped out of the small house being used as the HQ for the sting. And made his way down the road to his new accommodation a cheap b and b on the outskirts of town. Cheap and cheerful and most important of all out of the way.  Threes days....It had been a whole week since he saw you with Henry. The image of you burned into his head. Terrified crying he could see you wanted help and now with how his own investigation had gone down the drain he was afraid that no one not even the collaboration of FBI, CIA and MI5 could save you now, this man. Monster. Was just to cunning, to clean he was ahead of the curve on every aspect and as an agent all he can do for the time being is watch and pray Henry slips up or god only knows what was going to happen to you in the mean time.  

[rivenchu]

Detective Observations  1

Well @mintyfrosty​ did it again and now we have 1920s Detective AU and just.. *grabby hands* I didn’t even know I wanted this til it showed up on my dash!

Anyway way, here’s Scene 1 of 3 that sprung up out. Hope you like~

The sun hadn't been up for more than a few hours and already he was being called into the captain's office. He'd turned his last several cases in a timely manner, hadn't rocked the boat, so what reason could there be? Probably not a good one, and he lived by his gut's feeling.

But directly disobeying would be worse, it was never a good idea to willingly throw yourself on Terrance's bad side.

Right braced himself as he pushed open the door. He noted someone was to his left, ignored them and walked right up to the desk to stare at the chief.

"Good, Right. Was wonderin' when ya'd stroll in." The chief grinned and pushed his hat back as he looked up. Oh, the good detective looked like he was in snit, he must've already guessed what was about to happen.

One terse nod from Right and Terrance leaned back in his chair. Keeping things moving was his job and he wanted to see this play out.

"I know you've been working alone for awhile, and I've allowed it out of respect." The chief started, "But it's gone on long enough."

Right narrowed his eyes and growled. No, he'd chased off any partner they assigned to him. He didn't </i>want</i> another after... after... what happened. He was fine alone.

"Reginald is one of the best in the business. He'll be your partner." Leaning back Terrance wiggled a pen in his hand as he smiled. If he could solve two minor problems with this one move he'd treat himself to lunch for being so gosh darn brilliant.

The chief smiled serenely up at the detective when he slammed both hands down on the desk and swore. Spiraling off into a rant about he didn't need a partner, was doing good work on his own, surely he could leave him be to keep working well like he had been.

Reginald fidgeted in the back of the office. He thought he had been doing good lately. Sure he spent most of the time at his desk, but many of the detectives used him to consult on their tough cases. He helped so many get solved by pointing his thoughts or what should get investigated on.

Why the chief felt he needed to team up and get his 'short scrawny self outta the office' was beyond him. He'd given up at trying to understand how Terrance worked, the man veered between idiot and genius in the same day. Sometimes he managed both at the same time, especially if he was leading a raid.

Right glanced over his shoulder at his supposed partner and narrowed is eyes further. No. He hadn't bothered to look at the time he walked in and he didn't want that one. He knew of rumors around the office as much as he wished they didn't try to pull him in for gossip. Honestly there were a few officers that were worse then the gaggle of gossiping grandmas in his neighborhood.

Reginald sighed and hoped this would be over soon, he was swamped. The day had started off plesatly enough, and now he was stuck in a loud awkward situation that no one wanted except the chief. He was about to ask if he could leave to get a drink when the unthinkable happened.

How dare. How dare his mustache was insulted, it had taken him years to get it to it's current magnificence. Marching forward Reginald glared up at the taller man. Curse Terrance for only seeming to pick the tallest and the strongest. Reginald knew he wasn't short but he felt like it some days.

"What makes you think that <i>I</i> want to be stuck with <i>you</i> ?" Jabbing his finger up at the detective Reginald jutted his chin forward, "You're a loose cannon who disappears for days at time without a word to anyone."

"Well you both seem to know enough about each other already." Tucking the pen behind his ear Terrance clapped his hands once for attention. When both fell silent he picked up a toothpick and stuck it in his mouth jovially. This was a good start to his day.

"Right, you can't keep having a double office to yourself, Reginald I expect you to move in by the end of the day." The chief slammed his hand down as the arguments started up and he raised an eyebrow at the officers as he dropped his smile. "Boys my decision is final, now leave."

Wiggling the toothpick around Terrance watched the pair sullenly leave.

He'd finally say Right wasn't alone so the higher ups would stop bothering him about it. He'd get to plan more things his way with Reginald out of the office. Hopefully Right, their best fighter, would manage to keep Reginald, thier worst fighter alive. Yes, he would be treating himself to a great lunch.

<center>~*~*~</center>

Right had made a point to leave soon after the... partnering. Reginald wad skulked into the room with a box of his things and he wasn't going to watch the string bean unpack his things onto a desk that wasn't <i>his</i>.

He had things he could do to take him out of the office. Leads to question, perps to track, diners to eat at.

He managed to go two days without touching foot back to the office. It was early enough the sun wasn't up and the place was empty. Perfect, he could drop off the two cases he solved, grab a couple more and disappear for a few more days.

Why was his office light on?

Opening the door quietly he shot a flat look the the occupied desk. The box was only half unpacked, but the desk was covered in folders and papers. The interloper was fast asleep and drooling over the cover of a folder.

Rolling his eyes Right walked over ad picked up a folder. There must have been ten cases worth of work on the lieutenant's desk, no one could do that much.

Except it wasn't his case.

Eyebrows raising he recognized the name of a colleague. The guy had a good habit of solving things but... it was obvious from this he should go question the family more.

Flipping a page he saw a note scrawled with that very suggestion, and then another to check alley across the street. The darkest place, easiest to ambush with a dumpster for disposal. Better hurry because trash was coming up in two days.

Come to think of it when asked to look over something he did see this particular handwriting often but didn't read them since he was asked pointed questions. Honestly he thought it was a low ranked officer taking notes or doing simple checks.

Curious now Right leaned against the desk and began to flip through more. Lot of familiar detective names he was seeing, some missing obvious leads they should be following up on. Thoroughly feeling unimpressed with his fellow detectives right now he put the stack back down.

The other side of the desk held a few more folders, ones the other hadn't gotten to yet. He shouldn't let himself get sidetracked, he still had to drop off his own work to the chief. Walking over to his desk he began to gather his cases.

The door slammed open, "Up and attem boys! Early bird gets the work ad you're the earliest we got today!" Terrance dropped his foot back down to the ground and surveyed the room. He'd startled both but... oh not again.

"Damn it Reggie, I told you to go home last night. You're going to burn out at this rate." Pinching his nose he glared at the embarrassed lietenant as he peeled a paper off his face. Fishing around his pocket he pulled out a few dollars and dropped them on the desk. "Get breakfast before you visit the scene kid, I know you didn't eat dinner."

Ducking his head Reginald nodded. He had meant to go, but the other detectives had come to visit, commiserate with him about losing his own office, and asked for help with a few cases. Some had been more involved than he thought and time had slipped away from him.

"Right, make sure he doesn't stay tonight." Terrance sighed and questioned his decision to pair them up. He was going to give it two weeks minimum to see how things shake out.

"Oh, and take him with you when you go Right, have a coffee, then head to 31st and 45th. Police will be expecting you both."  The chief absently waved off the two idiots and walked out of the room.

The room fell silent as the door swung shut.

Gathering his cases Right sighed before he turned around to face the... other his was going to be stuck with all day.

"You were going to leave me here after getting more work, weren't' you?" Reginald had swiveled his chair to watch the detective with the most peeved he could manage.

"Mmmhmm." That had been the plan and Right knew there was no point to lying.

The blunt agreement seemed to take the wind out of the lieutenant's sails as he deflated and rubbed a hand over his face.

"Fine, let's get this over with." Swiping the money from his desk Reginald stood up and threw his coat on. Technically he was the higher ranked one and should lead, but it was early, he was tired and still muzzy from the abrupt awakening. Gesturing to the door in the traditional 'after you' he raised his eyebrows at the detective, they had places to go after all.

Right merely blinked. He had expected the other to pull rank immediately and take charge.

Marching out the detective dropped the completed cases in Terrance's bin outside his office and walked towards the stairs after they both grabbed some supplies. Out in the parking lot he made a beeline to his car to claim the driver side. Again he was surprised when the other just... let him.

"Something on the way okay?" Right finally spoke up. He'd already danced the line with the chief but he wasn't going to push more than he already had. He liked his job to stay even if... it was hard sometimes.

He got a curt nod in return.

Most places weren't open yet, when he pulled to the side of the road in front of one of the few places that did look open the parking lot was full. Someone had to stay in the car.

"Got a thermos?" Reginald finally spoke up as he cracked open the car door and stepped outside.

Right had meant to fill it at the station before he left. He knew the coffee bit wasn't a serious order but he liked his morning beverage. The thermos he handed over was a simple silver and green, but it served him well.

"Let me guess, black as midnight?" Leaning against the doorframe Reginald reached out to take it. A ghost of a smirk flashed over his face when the other nodded. Yes, many of the manly men at the office drank it that way. He'd rather not touch the stuff, but sometimes in a pinch he had to.

Ghastly stuff, not even milk and sugar could save it.

Watching the lieutenant walk away Right sighed and leaned back in his chair. Tapping a finger against the wheel he watched the traffic, checked the gas level, and saw the horizon starting to brighten finally. The sun hadn't even come up yet.

It was going to be a long day.

When Reginald emerged he handed the green thermos over before climbing into the car. He tucked his own flask (thank god they had tea even if it was oversteeped) between his feet and started on breakfast.

Right raised an eyebrow at just an egg on toast. No wonder the other got called scrawny if he thought that was a meal.

Unscrewing the top the detective took a hesitant sniff. Smelled like a standard dark roast...

"No I didn't spit in it." Reginald snorted. "I've got to get to know you before I can decide not to like you properly." He took another bite and looked out the window at the even busier diner.

Right shook his head and screwed it back on. Yeah, he could understand that. He just didn't want a partner right now, nothing against the lieutenant as a person.

Checking his mirrors and then turning his head to look the detective pulled back out on the road. He waited til the breakfast was almost done, "Might want to check your mustache before we get there."

Reginald choked down the last  bite and shot the other a look. Reaching into his jacket he pulled out a small mirror and gasped. The left side was fraying and uneven from the right. No doubt the result of falling asleep on it, why hadn't that thought crossed his mind to check this morning.

Swearing Reginald fished out his emergency wax for the dire repair. "You let me walk into the diner like that?!" He shot a incredulous look over at the detective. Really. How could you?

Right found himself snickering despite himself.

[stones-x-bones]

Dreamwalker || Hina and Bex

TIMING: About a week ago PARTIES: @born-to-be-wildes​ and @inbextween​ SUMMARY: Hina’s dream is interrupted by Bex when she’s drawn to her energy. Some things aren’t meant to be seen by outsiders. CONTENT: Domestic abuse mentions, Family death mentions (cousin)

It was the first time Bex had fallen asleep willingly in a while. She hadn’t really put much thought into it, instead choosing to focus on getting through each day of her life while wondering when her parents would finally give in and just call the police on her. Or worse. The looming threat of their presence was always around, even if she hadn’t heard from them in weeks-- which might have actually been worse. Not knowing what they were thinking or what they were doing made her stomach churn. Either way, most nights were spent laying awake until she physically couldn’t anymore, and only then did she let her body fall asleep, though sometimes it felt easier with Mina around. Several dozen alarms were set, waking her at least every hour, and to make sure she was really, truly awake, she would prod herself in different fashions. She’d been doing it less and less lately, though, and that was all that mattered.

But today, after so long, Bex was so tired, and all she wanted to do was sleep. And while she’d been having strange, extremely vivid dreams, the one tonight somehow seemed even more so. She was in a classroom. It wasn’t very large, which meant it wasn’t a lecture hall, and the large, wooden tables meant it probably wasn’t an elementary school classroom. Someone was talking and it echoed around and Bex turned in a circle, eyes landing on a woman at the front, discussing some plans with someone else. She looked so happy, eyes alight, a smile on her face. Short brown hair framed her face perfectly and she had on a dress not unlike the one Bex wore. A door opened and someone else came in, and the two seemed to know each other. It was strange, though, because Bex did not recognize either one of them. She made her way towards the front of the classroom, looking around at all the pictures hung on the wall-- art done by previous students, before a voice caught her attention. “Do you go here?” Bex turned, looking over at the two women. She pointed at herself. “Me? I, um--” Okay, this was weird. People didn’t usually talk back to her in her dreams, not like this. “I’m-- not sure, actually. Um...where is here?”

Hina felt delighted : her cousin and mentor had stopped by to see her new classroom. Obviously, it was far from what the young witch wanted, but it would take a while before she could finally see the final product. She hoped that she could create a place fit for inspiring teenagers. The place was a bit dull with its eggshell old paint on the walls, it's aged linoleum and it felt lifeless. A bit of elbow grease, a bit of thrifting and just a bit of magic had helped her turn things around. Yet, the room lacked something for everything to fall into place. Hina was unable to put her finger on what it might have been. She had hoped that perhaps Gillian would have insight on what to transform, add or remove, but it did not seem likely now. 

It was then that she caught sight of a stranger standing by the white board. They looked young, and she suspected them to be either a student who had taken a wrong turn or an alumni looking for their former art teacher. Hina knew that if it were the case, she would disappoint, especially as she had no idea of where her predecessor had gone. According to the staff, they had just vanished one day.

It was her cousin who spoke up. The voice felt foreign, for a reason she couldn't really identify. It filled the woman with unexplainable melancholy. The stranger's reply was too strange not to push away those états d'âmes. Hina put her hands in her painter's apron and glanced at Gillian. Seeing that she was no longer speaking, she chose to reply : "This is my classroom, I'm Ms. Wildes the new art teacher," she had doubts that this would be a suitable answer. Her identity didn't help identify the place at all, if you weren't familiar with the high school.

“Art teacher?” Bex glanced between the two women. She wasn’t sure what she was going there, or what they were, but she supposed it made sense that the art teacher was in the art classroom. But Bex wasn’t taking art class-- seh hadn’t since high school. And since when did the university have an art classroom? Wasn’t the art school divided up by major? She blinked again and felt the world go fuzzy for a moment, shaking her head to regain herself. “Is this the high school, then? What’s, um--” she took another look around but the room was empty. Where were all the students? “Where is everybody? Is class starting?” There was something so strange going on, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She didn’t remember coming here, and she’d never been inside the public high school in White Crest-- she’d gone to a private boarding school. Her legs began to shake as an anxiety filled her. Something was wrong here, but she had no idea what. “I’m sorry, maybe I should just go. I’m sorry.”

Hina looked briefly at her cousin. It seemed clear to her that the young woman was a bit lost, and she wondered if perhaps she was not simply dealing with an exchange student, or someone who had just arrived in the US with their parents. “Yes, it is. White Crest High? Home of the…” She grimaced. Truth be told, she had not quite memorized which animal was the mascot. : a moose perhaps, or a lobster. It must have been either of the two options. At the next question, Hina tried to remember what day it was, when she had arrived, or anything that could have given her a hint of what time of the week it was, but nothing really came to her mind. She approached her laptop to have a look at the date on the screen, but instead, an old typewriter that belonged to her grandparents stood there. That should be in the attic, she thought to herself. She had moved it upstairs two days ago. “That’s weird,” pushing herself away from her desk, she headed in the hallway, to check for herself. There was no one there. Not one soul. 

With a familiar void in her chest, Hina turned back to check on her cousin. She couldn’t quite tell why, but there was this overwhelming urge to make sure that Gillian was still present. And the relief she felt seemed disproportionate, all things considered. Something was going on. 

“Where are you going to go?” As she spoke, Hina had gone to stand by Gillian. “What are you doing here?” If the question had been directed at Bex, the witch froze as her cousin replied, speaking with a dimmed out voice: “You know why I’m here, she’s gone now.” The young woman felt as if the temperature had dropped with the comment, and she could have sworn that so had any trace of warmth that she had tried to insufflate into the plain classroom that had been given to her. Something was going on. This much was sure now. “Who are you?” This time, there was no questioning as to who was meant to reply to her question.

Whatever was going on between these two women, they clearly weren’t on the same page. And whatever pages they were on, respectively, was not the same one as Bex. She glanced between the two of them but listening to them talk and try to explain didn’t answer any questions. She recoiled a little when the questions turned on her, not ready to answer-- but then the other woman answered, as if it were plain known it had been stated to her. Apparently, the original one who had spoken was unsure as well. “I--” Bex tried to interject, still holding herself a little away from the other two. She didn’t know what was going on, and she had no reason to believe that either of these women would hurt her or were out to get her, but something was very not right about this place, and Bex wasn’t about to jump in and find out for herself. Finally, they addressed her again and Bex jumped. “I-- I’m sorry! I really didn’t mean to butt in! I can go! I’m just-- my name is Bexley. I’m a student a-at the university. I’m not really sure why I--” her eyes fell to the woman in the smock. “You teach here?”

Clearly there was something wrong going on here, and while Hina could not put her finger on it, a feeling of unease was growing, seeping its way in. She had never seen this girl before. And neither woman seemed to know why Bexley was here. If this was rather suspicious , she could not simply force the truth out of the other woman. Or, could she. Her eyes narrowed, and heading toward the door, she put her palm against it as she pushed it close, sealing the door shut with the melted handle. This felt wrong. She could not just do things like that in front of her students. Hina was in control of her emotions (at least she tried), and that girl was not a threat to her, was she? If the witch started to notice that perhaps she was not keeping things under control, the thought was shoved away as a benign anomaly. What did it matter? Sure she would have never done that, but the thing was, she had just done that. So clearly everything was normal. “What are you doing here?” She repeated, taking her smock out, as if to completely brush away that question about her job. 

The door shutting made too much noise. Why did it make so much noise? Bex flinched and backed up as the woman came towards her. She was a lot shorter than Bex, but it was years of conditioning that made her feel small. “I-I don’t know,” she admitted, hoping the woman could sense the truth from her. She wasn’t here to hurt anyone or threaten anyone, she didn’t even know why she was here or what was going on. “Please, I just, I’m confused, too,” she added on, swallowing. The white board flickered behind the woman’s head and Bex was sure she saw a window, instead, as if she were in a bedroom, not a classroom. She...she remembered that from somewhere. That feeling. What was this feeling again? Her attention turned back to the other woman. “If you could just let me--” she pointed towards the door-- “I won’t bother you anymore. I can just go.”

“You don’t know?” Hina’s brow furrowed. Perplexed, she came to ask herself : what am I doing here ? Focused, she tried to make sense of what was happening, but her mind just wouldn’t let her get those information. Impenetrable, it gave her not one single clue. She couldn’t know why she was here, what she had done before, where she had been before, or remember that her cousin was missing and that whoever was in the room with her and Bex could not be Gillian. She looked over her shoulder, to see what was so interesting behind her, but there was just her whiteboard. She took the time to look up and glance at the clock. Where are my students, the teacher thought. The school should not have been so silent, a school never was silent. The sense of uneasiness that she had felt just a moment ago came back. She knew that something was not right, and yet her mind did its best to assure her that everything going on was normal. She approached the door to open it, but despite her effort to restore it and let Bex out, it just would not budge. She pulled several times again on the handle. It did not budge. “I don’t understand, this should work,” she despaired, stepping back to let the other try.

Bex was relieved to see that the woman wasn’t pressing her on anything. SHe ignored the weird shapes floating around the whiteboard-- those weren't natural were they?-- and went back to focusing on the art teacher. “What um-- what’s your name?” she asked, trying to figure out what was going on, or why this was happening. Leading questions. She inched closer to the woman when she tried the bolted door again, but found it wouldn’t budge. They were stuck. Bex felt her nerves growing in her stomach. The world around her began to worble and she bit the inside of her cheek, trying to remain calm. Bad things happened when she wasn’t calm. “Here, um-- let me try,” she said, coming over to the woman. “I-- I don’t wanna make any trouble or anything, I swear. I just want to help.” She gave her as genuine a look as she could, eyes pleading with her. “Please.”

“I told you I’m Ms.Wi- It’s Hina,” she had let go of the door handle reluctantly. The door should have moved as easily as it did just a minute ago. Frustrated, she pushed herself to the side and motioned toward it with just a bit of aggressivity in her gesture. This feeling of losing control, of being just a pawn. She never wanted to be just a pawn that one could move around. She wanted to make each and everything a choice. Her choice. Though, if that girl was able to open the door, then she supposed she was willing to accept that alternative. She headed to the window. The sun was still up high in the sky. She glanced down at the floor. If they left through the window, they wouldn’t get hurt too badly, would they? Perhaps if she made the floor turn into rubber for a moment, it would be fine ? Or summon a set of stairs from the side of the building ? Those sounded good, but she’d never get away with this. Yet, she’d done just that with that door handle. “How’s the door doing now?”

“It’s nice to meet you, Hina,” Bex said with a gentle smile,trying to keep the situation calm. She had a hunch about what was going on, and she wanted to test it, but she didn’t want to freak out the other woman first. She needed to pull herself together, to concentrate. She paid no attention to the other woman, then, as she came up to the door and looked at the handle. In Nell’s dream, she’d been able to shift the world, so maybe here, now, shifting something smaller would be much easier. She wished Nell was here, or at least that little Nell-bird that had told her what to do last time. Her hand settled on the handle of the door and she willed it with as much thought as she could to unglue itself. Instead, it turned into a bird and fluttered away and Bex yelped, stepping back. “I-- it-- um--” she looked from HIna to the door. “Not well. I--” she swallowed, “I need to tell you something and it might sound crazy, but please, please, just can you trust me?”

“Likewise,” Hina returned the smile, although hers felt more tense, as if she had decided that now wasn’t the time for being pleasant. They had to get out of here, quickly. “Not well. Of cou-”A bird flew past her and out the window. She covered her mouth with her hand, swallowing her scream into a mostly silent gasp. The scare had been enough to bring some Québéquois out of her. And so, she exclaimed herself : “Batince, what was he doing here?” 

Spells that she could not undo, birds showing up from nowhere, this feeling that she had been having for a little while now that something just was not right… Had they both been cursed? Had this girl cursed her? Hina felt lost, and while the temptation to get out of here through the window was big, it was stopped for the time being. She wanted to know what the other woman had to say. It was quite mysterious, but the word crazy had picked her interest as she knew that crazy was the word people used when they couldn’t understand a notion. Either that or witchcraft or an act of God. The options were limited. “I think I can handle crazy. Try me, then I’ll tell you my -I believe-  just as bad option.” 

Bex bit her lip. She was beginning to get used to the feeling-- of magic. It was here, present, and she knew it wasn’t just her. It was this place. “I think you’re dreaming,” she finally said, inhaling sharply, waiting for the angry denial. “I think we’re in your dream. And um-- I, well, you see, I have this um-- ability, I-I guess. To, um-- manipulate dreams. Change them, m-make them better! I--” but when she glanced around, she’d realized that this woman’s dream wasn’t bad. It wasn’t like Nell’s nightmare. There were no shadows, no looming threats, just another woman standing in the corner, smiling pleasantly, and then the woman whose dream it was, staring at her with expectant eyes. “I-- I don’t entirely know how I got here, but I-- I think I can get us out. Or, um, wake you up. If that’s...what you want.”

“I’m asleep,” confused, she glanced at her cousin, who seemed oddly silent, and far too distant. She wanted the woman to stay close to her and not leave her, and didn't understand why she stayed so far from her. You weren’t meant to realize that you were dreaming. She didn’t remember where she had read or heard that, but as she started to feel dizzy, that piece of information had easily come back to her head, as did the fact that her cousin shouldn’t have been here. “I’m dreaming,” just as she began to sit, a chair appeared right under her, allowing for the woman to rest and regain control of her balance. An ability, Hina knew better. There was something supernatural at stake here, some sort of magic that focused on the mind, while it was at its weakest. Clever. “Can’t I just jump out the window? That should wake me up, right?” She raised her eyebrows, taken aback, but also worried: "You're not going to get stuck here, if I do this?" She really didn't want to do it. She might not have been in a dream but the victim of a hallucination. Hina just couldn’t allow herself to believe all that she was told. Her eyes narrowed. She was curious to hear Bex’s solution. “I’m listening, what do we do?” It was not what she wanted, no. She looked over at her cousin. Her lips trembled. Overwhelmed with sorrow, she tried to tell herself that she preferred not to share those moments, even if they weren’t real, with someone she had just met. 

“I-- I’m sorry,” Bex stuttered. She kind of wanted to stay here, too. Her chest didn’t hurt here, she wasn’t exhausted and weighed down by the guilt of her actions. She looked at the woman, watched her sink into a chair that appeared from nowhere. Conscious of her dream, the woman could now control it almost as much as Bex. Probably more, considering Bex barely knew her own power. She needed to stop doing these things by accident. She needed to get better control of herself. Maybe she could start by taking control of this dream. She looked at the woman in the corner, then back to the woman whose dream it was. “I can change the dream,” she said softly, chewing on her lip. “If you want. I-- I know this probably isn’t something you want someone like me to see. Someone you...don’t know.” She rubbed her head. Last time she’d done it, she had gotten stuck somewhere, but that was a completely different situation, wasn’t it? It had to be. She didn’t want to go back to that place. A sudden fear gripped her and the world began to turn dark around them. No, she needed to calm down. She inhaled and held it for a moment. “No, I-I don’t think I will. I think we’ll both just...wake up.” A pause. “Hopefully.” She couldn’t really ask this woman to just trust her, but they had no other choice. Bex had no other choice.

“I -” She shook her head in dismissal. What good could it do her to see her family again? She’d wake up crying and wondering why she was so stupid. “No. I’d rather not. This is fine,” she looked over where her cousin stood. The woman stared at Hina with an emptiness in her eyes now, as if she had gone somewhere. 

The witch took her eyes off of her and approached the younger woman. There was nothing to worry about, right? They would both wake up, and everything would be okay. All she had to do was to wake up now. Hina might have not been sure of what to expect Bex to do, she was beginning to tell herself that maybe this was part of the dream. It must have been what made the most sense to her brain. “I..Okay, wake us up.” 

Bex looked between the two women and wondered what could have happened to create such a palpable sadness. She felt like an intruder. And she was. And wasn’t the dream trying to push her out? Like white cells attacking a disease inside someone’s veins? She swallowed and held her hands out to Hina. “Okay, just-- think about your room. About your bed.” This time, Bex didn’t have any place to think of except her own room, her own bed. She closed her eyes as she tried to picture it, and as she tried to picture where she wanted them to go, how she wanted them to wake up. Just like she’d done with Nell, in her dream. A hiccup of fear grappled inside of her-- what if she ended up in the wakeless dream world again? Her grip tightened for a moment. The world flickered around them. Faces began to melt away. The room unfolded itself as if it were a gift box and they drifted into a void, before an energy snapped between them-- HIna’s energy hadn’t been warm like Nell’s, it felt like sand, almost. Hot sand on a warm beach, and ocean, and salt, and rocks. Right before Bex’s eyes snapped open, she understood something about the woman’s energy-- it was familiar, but it wasn’t. 

Her head shot up on the bed and she inhaled sharply. She was alone, in her room. Hina’s face was etched into the back of her eyes. She needed to find Hina now.