#and my mind just goes completely blank trying to figure out what to say next

[spark1edog]

i think i may be somewhere on the aplatonic spectrum

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

I’m so sorry for this guys but

AITA for telling someone their horse was masturbating?

Basically does what it says on the tin. For those of you who don’t know horses can masturbate. It’s most common in male horses under the age of three who have not had their testicles removed and who are confined to a stall or small pen and get really bored. They typically grow out of the behaviour once they’re older or given more freedom. Some owners try to train them to stop it from happening but most just ignore it because it’s better than other boredom behaviours like cribbing and wind-sucking (both are SFW to Google btw).

Anyway, I’m a groom and stable hand, mid-twenties now but been working at my job since I was fifteen (part-time then, now full-time). The stable I work at boards horses and gives lessons but also offers training for young horses, so we get a lot of OTTB here – that is “off-the-track Thoroughbreds”, so ex-racing horses that people typically buy cheap and then retrain to be show jumpers or dressage horses or whatever. One such horse is Bert, who is the horse in question in this situation.

Bert has excellent bloodlines but he sucked as a racing horse so he was sold OTT. The man who bought him, I’ll just call him John, knows nothing about horses – he’s a total beginner in every way, has never ridden and pays other people (including me) to take care of Bert, but claims to be an expert in everything equine because Bert cost him so much money (I don’t know the actual amount but he’s in the section of the stable where the $20,000 Warmbloods are boarded so I’m assuming around that amount which is a lot yes but also not the most expensive horse we’ve had here).

Anyway the actual story – I’m at work cleaning out stalls when John walks past, he completely ignores me as he always does so I do the same and get back to work. A few minutes later he goes sprinting back in the opposite direction which I thought was weird but whatever, I kept mucking, until I heard him shouting for help. I went out into the aisle and he’s there shouting at another groom and demanding to know the emergency vets number (it was a weekday morning btw, so he didn’t need the emergency vet, he just needed the regular vet but that’s meaningless anyway). I went over to see what was happening and he tells me his horse (Bert) is ‘acting weird’ and needs a vet immediately, so I offer to go see Bert for myself and then call the vet if necessary.

So basically yeah Bert was masturbating. Had an erection, was rocking about rubbing it on his tummy, and did NOT want anyone going in his stall or touching him. John points at Bert and says something like “see, he’s sick!” and then tells me Bert tried to attack him when he entered the stall and I just, I dunno, I cough and say that Bert is fine and just wants some privacy right now, figuring that the obvious erection might be a giveaway as to what’s happening? But John turned to me and blurts out word for word “are you an actual retard” and then starts cursing at me and telling me I know nothing and Bert needs a vet etc and so on. I kind of blanked on everything else he said after he called me a retard to be honest because WTF? I don’t really know what went on in my brain in the next few seconds but I ended up shouting – yes, shouting, extremely loudly, it fucking echoed in the stable – “he doesn’t need a vet because HE’S JUST MASTURBATING” in John’s face and then walking back to the stall I’d been mucking.

As I got back to the stall I heard laughter from a couple of aisles over. Apparently my co-workers and some riders who were there had all heard me shout and found it hilarious, and that made me laugh too because it was so freaking ridiculous. I honestly kind of forgot the entire encounter afterwards because we had a horse who actually needed a vet a little while later and yeah, John and Bert just slipped my mind.

I didn’t remember until that afternoon when my boss came to see me and said he’d had a complaint from John who wanted me fired. I did not get fired but I did get ‘warned’ (just a formality, my boss didn’t actually punish me but wanted me to act like I had been if John questioned me later, which he never did). John complained that I’d treated him like an idiot, spoken down to him, and “acted above my position” (those were the exact words he used) causing people to laugh at him. I explained the entire situation to my boss, who also laughed, and that was that, nothing else ever came of it aside from my co-workers telling the story of me shouting HE’S MASTURBATING so loudly it scared a pony into jumping so suddenly that it farted to everyone they possibly could.

Since then John has ignored me even more than before which I honestly consider a blessing, and I would leave this situation thinking I’m NTA except that one of my co-workers brought their boyfriend to the stable recently and when they introduced us the boyfriend said something like ‘oh right, you’re the asshole who talks down to people who don’t know everything about horses’ and yeah. My co-worker was blindsided by that as well and we basically both said you don’t have to know everything about horses to know what an erection means, but since then I’ve been wondering if I am TA in this situation? Like, clearly there were better ways to tell John what his horse was doing, but he called me a retard and also I get paid to take care of horses not to teach the birds and the bees to fifty year olds so I don’t know. I’ll let Tumblr decide.

So, AITA for telling John his horse was masturbating?

Additional info: I'm on a rota with other stable hands so I sometimes groom Bert, muck his stall, attend to his vet/farrier appointments, give him worming paste, etc and so on. I am not his trainer and have no input into when he gets to leave his stall. I've mentioned to my boss a couple of times that he boredom stims and should be in a paddock with other young horses, but John refuses to agree to that for reasons I don't know. My boss has since spoken to Bert's trainer who is now trying to convince John to let Bert have more time outdoors.

What are these acronyms?

[trances-and-tentacles]

Hi, it's the rat girl. Wasn't letting me ask from that blog so I had to use Anon. Basically for ADHD I've found that working with the stray thoughts and lack of focus rather than working against it can prove really useful. For me if I have a 'tist/file/scene where I'm suggested to feel blank, empty, or where a lack of thoughts is focused on, it won't work as well for me. Instead, 'tists that encourage those thoughts and lack of focus can be really helpful. IDK if you're working more from files or with an actual 'tist, but when I drop people who have ADHD I tend to use phrases like "you don't need to concern yourself with any thoughts that might drift through that pretty head of yours. Your mind can drift from thought to thought, but here beneath that all I need you to do is listen to the sound of my voice." A lack of focus doesn't actually really cause problems when it comes to getting dropped I've found, since your ears and brain are still processing whatever the tist/file is saying. What does tend to cause problems, at least for me, is *thinking* that my stray thoughts are causing me to not drop enough. It usually goes something like "I'm enjoying this drop, this is nice!" > "Hmm, I'm kinda hungry, I wonder what I'll eat after this." > "Oh god I'm thinking too much and not listening" > "Fuck I'm fucking this up, aren't I? My brain won't shut off" Etc. and then that anxiety keeps me from being able to enjoy the calm droppy feelings that I was experiencing at the start. However if the tist preempts that and states that it's *okay* for my brain to wander and that my subconscious can still listen and obey, I end up having a great scene and session! Realistically because of how my brain works I'm never gonna hit that completely blank slate state that some people talk about, but I can get the same effects if I'm really deep and my brain is slowly going from one thought to the next, especially if the tist or file has already stated that this is normal and natural and shouldn't impact the quality of the drop. It is completely 100% possible for someone with even extreme levels of ADHD to drop and have really good hypnotic sessions, it just requires a little extra specific work on the part of the tist, or files that work well with ADHD. I don't want this to get too long, but I could genuinely talk about this for hours. Basically it comes down to: 1: Believing that you can drop regardless of your lack of focus or other ADHD related symptoms. Believing you *can* drop and being willing are half the battle. 2: Having a tist who will work with you and preempt anxieties you might face. 3: don't fight against your ADHD, work with it. Your brain is more active and hyperactive, so trying to shut down those thoughts is fighting against the tide. Instead try to focus more on working alongside those thoughts, or more effectively, beneath them. 4: Trying and re-trying to figure out how things work with your brain. It took me a while to learn how to drop properly, and what worked for me might not work for you. Hypnotism is deeply intimate and personal to each individual and that's what makes it so fun and special! 5: Have fun with it. Even if you don't get as deep or blank as you'd like, learning to appreciate and lean into the good feelings you *do* get will help you get to that deep state of acceptance, in a roundabout way. Idk if any of this was helpful or sensical, but I really hope you're able to get where you want to be and enjoy trance! It's such a special thing, and everyone deserves to feel safe and blank and happy. You got this!

thank you!!! The stray thought anxiety chain is EXACTLY what i experience and it's one of the main things that makes it hard for me to trance. I really crave the blankness/emptiness feeling but haven't gotten that close to it and i find that i pull myself out really easily.

I will definitely keep these in mind next time I try hypnosis with my partners, we all have ADHD and I've been under for them before once. I'll probably show this to them if that's ok :3

anyways, this is really reassuring and i can't wait to get back into hypno more, as I'm gonna have more free time soon

[nimphontheshore]

Like breathing,

There is some stuff that I’ve kept, that I find again, that I discover ; stuff about you, about how I felt and how I’m feeling. Sometimes, I think, they should come to you. Here’s one.

“There are nights where I feel empty but also full. Empty because you’re asleep and my eyes cannot shut yet, full because I know you’re next to me, cause’ I know your heart is beating at the same pace as mine; even when the room is empty from your smile or your laugh, it’s still full of you, your perfume and your breathing. But there’s a small contradiction of the senses : the silence is so loud, I hear your thoughts and mine ; but it’s also… So empty, I miss your voice, even though I will meet her again as I will open my eyes in the morning; and see your face as first thing. You know, I remember couple of nights, back in February, where I was trying to avoid — or crave — this silence ; I would say to be tired, faked falling asleep so I could stare at you, feel closer, pretend. I would just stand there and think about it, think about how I just wanted us to say “fuck it” and kiss, as stupid and cheesy as it sounds. I would have folded anyway, at the end, I have always been just a weak little boy. It’s so calm, when you are sleeping. Nights are rare when you’re falling before I do; usually, I’m the one who’s always tired, always sleepy before our time. But when you’re not here anymore — here, as in… awake — everything stops. The world does. The time goes by so slow, it’s like minutes are hours and hours are days. I stare outside and all I see is blank, black, nothing; even the moon is in hiding. Doll, what would I have done without you? How would I be, if i wasn’t laying next to you. Those questions are irrelevant, but still scratch my mind… I feel like, with you, i took this path that has been written already; but if had chosen another, it would have been the end for me; I mean, there’s no good if it isn’t by your side. I believe in this, it’s my religion. These days I can’t help but recall our first night together, the meeting, the first evening/night face to face exchanging texts, this special night. So many things happen, so many. And yet, it was so obvious I had fallen for you already; immediately. How could I have known… when even my conscience was still trying to welcome this new and overwhelming feeling ; it’s like I had this internal feelings scanner, completely breaking down, trying to figure it out : What is she doing to us ? I wish you could hear those thoughts, I wish you could see what my love looks like, what it sounds like, how I love you like I’m breathing. Do you see it? Well, I guess tonight I will make this wish. I wish to never disappoint you; and if I do, to try and make it better; I wish to always try, to always listen, to always be patient. I wish that your heart stays on the same path as mine, ever; I wish that you keep me in your thoughts and my name, on your lips. I wish that, when you look at me, you see a home, or a happy thought; anything to remember, and more than a memory, a feeling. Finally I wish that you have the best sleep for the night. And I wish you could hear me — even if my words are typed — I wish you could see, that I’m always and all about you, even when you can’t possibly see.”

[lymechallenged]

It seems that every article, blog, and post that I read talks about the scientific aspect of Lyme disease and how it got its name. Yes, I believe all that is very important to know, especially if you or someone you love is battling it. You need to know about spirochetes and what they can do to your body. And if you ever have any questions, you can just jump on Facebook and search for a Lyme disease group. I am not putting them down in ANY way. I am a member of a couple of them myself. But I am here to tell you that for someone who is Lyme challenged, it can get real confusing very fast! Lyme disease has so many of the same symptoms for people yet each person that gets it is affected by it differently. A treatment or protocol that works to heal or ease symptoms for one person may not work for the next. And because there are very few Lyme Literate doctors and insurance will not cover treatment for Post Treatment Lyme Disease (PTLD), aka chronic Lyme disease, most people either have to suffer for the rest of their lives or try a million different protocols that they have read about or researched before they MIGHT find one that works for them. By then they have spent thousands of dollars in herbals, vitamins, special machines (more about those later) that really haven't helped. The thing that really bunches my bloomers are the people, and I will not name names here because you will figure it out on your own soon enough, are the ones that have fought Lyme disease, swore on their dying breath that if they ever got better they would do everything they could to help others get better. So then they find a protocol that works for them, only they have tweaked it a little to better suit them and their specific bodies and symptoms. And they DID get better and went into remission, or even better, are completely cured. I will be the first to tell you that I am so very happy for them!! I truly am! But then they remembered they swore they would help others with Lyme disease. So they tweaked a protocol some and made it their own and now they want you to get better...so they will sell you their protocol, they will sell you all of the vitamins, herbals, etc. They will email or snail mail you their protocol for a set amount of money. And hang on to your own bloomers because they aren't cheap! Nor are they guaranteed to work for YOU. In MY opinion, that is not helping the cause. It is only making things more difficult and confusing for everyone, including scientists and doctors that are truly trying to find a cure or at least something that will actually help. All of these different protocols---well folks---here is a great example of having a Lyme Challenged brain. You are typing, writing, or talking and MID sentence your mind just suddenly goes completely BLANK! And no matter how hard you try, you cannot get that thought back. Not at that moment. It might come back to you next week, next month, three months from now, or never. And I just realized that despite the fact that I had every intention of telling you a bit about the non-scientific side of Lyme disease when I set down to write this blog, my train derailed right out of the station. So I am just going to go with it, try to think of a different title for this one, and maybe next time my train will stay on the track!

Because I KNOW my brain has so much more to say about the subject in this post and that particular train is desperately trying to find its way back to the station, I don't think it is going to make it back tonight. So, I will leave you for tonight with much hope, love, and prayers.

Kelly 💚

[fanficsat12am]

how the brothers react to you wiping their kiss off prank I Leviathan, Satan & Asmodeus

Lucifer & Mammon Beelzebub & Belphegor

Leviathan

This poor boy is super insecure, often calling himself “ a yucky otaku”. He’s surprised you even find anything redeeming in him and thinks that he’s not deserving of the love you give him.

Levi tried to be the best boyfriend for you. He’s terrified that you’ll realize how pathetic he is and leave.

He thought he was doing pretty good at his little IRL dating sim. So it was completely out of nowhere when you decided to wipe his kiss off after winning a round in his new game.

His mind just went blank, thinking of where he went wrong. Did he say something to offend you? Were you tired of just watching him play all day? Did you want him to spend more time with you? Or was it just him? Did you finally get tired of him?

He doesn’t even notice himself crying until you wipe the tears quickly running down his face. He immediately clings to you, laying his head on your shoulder, and starts begging you to stay.

“I know I’m just a yuckie otaku, but please give me another chance. I swear I'll try even harder just p-please don't give up on me”

A deep pit or guilt starts to form in your stomach. You underestimated how low Levi thinks of himself. His tears start to seep into your shirt, a wet patch quickly forming.

You start to pet his head, reassuring him that you weren’t going to leave him. After a few minutes, his breathing starts to steady and he lifts his head up–bloodshot eyes staring back at you.

You didn’t have the heart to tell him it was a prank. So you made an excuse instead, telling him that your lips just felt a little wet afterwards.

After that, you made sure to earn his trust back by waking him up everyday with a text message on one of the many things you love about him. Because of this, he always goes down to breakfast with a tinge of pink on his cheeks.

Satan

For as long as he can remember, reading had always been his favorite hobby. He’s never really been the type to demon to look at words at its surface value. He reads between the lines and finds that a great book is built with the attention to the smallest of details.

Because of this, Satan has always treasured the smallest gestures you do for him. He finds that these small doings are what makes a relationship special.

You wiped his kiss while you were reading a book with him one morning. He’ll notice of course and instead of asking you about it shrugged it off and thought nothing of it. Maybe he had some coffee on his lips or something, trying to convince himself rationalize why you’d do that.

The cycle continues the rest of the day, with him kissing you and you wiping it away. He starts to pout after the third time you wipe it. On top of all the books he’s read, romance novels were no stranger to him. He learned that it was best to give the other party some time to themself and not to push anything out of them. But that didn’t make the situation better.

He finally snaps the next day and just outright asks you in the privacy of your room. He starts to bang on your door and enters when he hears your approval. You smile at him, asking him if he needed something.

“My Kitten, did I do something to cross you? I tried giving you some space but I still can’t figure out what you need. If you’re falling out of love with me, please tell me so. I don’t want to see you up and leave without an explanation at least”

Through Satan’s little ramble, he started to pace back and forth in your room. He looked like he was trying to solve one of the greatest mysteries to ever unfold, connecting clues left and right.

You finally got tired after 30 minutes of him asking if you got drugged by an anti-love potion. You gently took his hands in yours and told him it was a prank. His brain just froze at that moment. You pranked a prankster like him? Oh he’s so gonna get you back for that.

Watch out for your back for the next few weeks. This man will be planning the greatest prank on you with Belphie. Either that or he’ll get revenge by placing a “24 hours no cuddles'' rule on you and will stay in his room all day. Eventually his ban crumbles on him, Satan missing you after a few hours and goes looking for you.

Asmodeus

Even though he’s the Avatar of Lust, he finds short and sweet kisses just as loving as those he’s given in times of passion. He’s a very clingy person and makes sure to give you as much affection as he can whenever you’re together.

The brothers usually find a trace of Asmo’s lipstick somewhere on you– a symbol that no matter where you are, he’s there with you.

At first he didn’t really see you wiping it away, only noticing once he saw that his makeup was nowhere to be seen on you. He immediately leapt from his seat and gave you a big kiss on your cheek, the blemish dark enough for anyone to see. He was about to go lay back down on the couch but he sees you grab a tissue and start wiping away the mark.

Who do you think you are to wipe his kiss away? This is definitely not gonna fly with him. Without a word, he stands up and makes a beeline towards his room. He comes back, the darkest shade of lipstick in hand accompanied by a suspicious grin on his face.

He takes the cap off, places a generous amount on his lips, and pulls you to him by your waist. Before you can even comprehend what’s happening, your face is littered by his kisses.

“Go ahead and try wiping them off, Dearie. If I see even one of them missing, trust me when I say that your face won't be the only thing I’m marking with my lips”

Knowing him, you know that he wasn’t afraid to come through with his little threat. So you just dropped the prank and told him everything.

Before you can even finish explaining everything, he picks you up and carries you back to his room. He places you on his bed and whispers “I’ll make sure to leave marks that’ll last for weeks, Darlin”

[cafedanslanuit]

♡   —   pairing: kazutora x reader

♡   —   summary: after a long day at work, you want nothing but to spend a calm night with your boyfriend. however, you have no idea this is the night were all his demons finally get the best of him.

♡   —   tags/warnings: female reader, angst, breakups, hurt feelings everywhere, mention on mental illnesses and nightmares, based on ben platt’s song ‘carefully’, mention of tora’s job in one of the future timelines.

♡   —   a/n: i enjoyed writing kazutora so. damn. much. also, i’m quite proud of this one and the small details i added~ thank you @ofoceansandtombstones​​ for being my lovely beta <3

♡   —  masterlist

And all this time you've had a gentle way of holding me

So could you please release me that way too?

— “carefully” by Ben Platt

“It’s open, come in!”

The first thing Kazutora sees when he opens the door of your apartment is you, kneeling on the kitchen floor and picking up pieces of a broken baking dish. Red sauce has splattered everywhere and his mind betrays him for a second, imagining an accident far worse than what has truly happened. He blinks twice and starts to notice the small details that finally slow down the fast beating of his heart. There are pieces of chicken breasts next to the open oven door and what he thinks are sliced carrots next to your right knee.

You hiss when you pick up a piece of the shattered glass, the sharp end pinching your finger. Kazutora comes back to his senses, widening his eyes as he realizes he’s just been standing there.

“Hey, let me. You’ll cut yourself,” he warns, walking up to you. Grabbing both your hands, he eases you into your feet and then guides you to the living room. “I’ll take care of it,” he promises as he goes back to the kitchen and starts cleaning up the mess.

You let yourself fall on the sofa with a loud thud and let out an exasperated sigh.

“I just had the most awful day,” you whine, taking off your apron and leaving it on the arm of the sofa.  “Work was hell, I got scolded by something that I didn’t do— like always, only this time my boss was all like: ‘You gotta be more careful, we wouldn’t want to lose such a valuable employee’. Like he was going to fire me over someone else’s mistake?!”

Your voice is getting louder by the minute and you take advantage of the fact Kazutora is in another room to keep the volume. You have been waiting the entire day to see him and vent about what a trainwreck you day had been. Just as always, he listens intently, the only noise coming from the kitchen being a soft scraping sound as he picks up everything and throws it to the trash. 

“Then, I went to the store and of course they had run out of basil. Tell me, how does a store that big run out of basil?” you ask. There’s no answer from the kitchen so you continue. “I mean, yeah, I could have gone to another store but my feet were killing me. I’m just not meant to work in heels the entire day,” you sigh tiredly, swinging your feet.

You reposition yourself, now sitting cross-legged on the sofa. Putting your right hand on your left shoulder, you stretch your neck, feeling your sore muscles releasing a bit of tension with a small ‘pop’.

“I ended up preparing something entirely different than I had planned for dinner. I tried to let it go but just as I was going to put it in the oven, it slipped my hands and—”

“I think we should break up.”

Words die in your lips the moment you listen to your boyfriend speak. The silence becomes loud and abrasive as you struggle to understand what was happening. Why was Kazutora breaking up with you with such a small voice? What had triggered him to come to that conclusion? Why had he decided to bring it up now? You turn your head to the kitchen door and watch him slowly make his way towards you, doubtful steps as he takes a seat on the other side of the sofa, avoiding your eyes at all costs.

“What?” you ask, your voice hoarse. His lips form a tight line and you see him swallowing nervously.

“I’m not doing okay— haven’t been for a while. I— it’s been two years since I left prison and I still haven’t— I don’t— I don’t know what I’m doing,” he explains, looking down at his hands.

You nod slowly, trying to comprehend where he’s coming from. Turning your body towards him, you take a deep breath before speaking.

“It’s okay not to know,” you assure him in a soft voice. “Just… take it slow. One day at a time and then I’m sure you’ll—”

“I haven’t been sleeping well,” Kazutora confesses and you notice his voice wavering a little. “I— I keep having nightmares about— about that day and— and also about the motorcycle shop. Those two mix up and…” he takes one of his hands to the side of his head, his fingers grazing his temple. “And I’m hitting Baji in the head. And there’s so much blood— so, so much blood and—”

Leaning forward, you take his hands. They’re shaking and extremely cold and you rub your thumb over his knuckles, trying your best to soothe him.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re safe now, Tora, you’re—”

Kazutora pulls his hands away hastily, leaving a tingling sensation on your palms.

“I can’t!” he says as he shakes his head. You spend a moment looking at your empty hands, never before having felt your boyfriend’s rejection. “I feel like I’m drowning and— You know what? I think relationships just aren’t for me,” he shrugs, his hands moving in exaggerated gestures. “That’s why I never cared for dating, never got myself involved in that kind of shit, not until—”

He finally looks at you and, fuck, you wish he didn’t. You’re not sure if you have the strength to deal with such hurtful discourse. You lick your lips and take yet another deep breath, deciding to ignore his hurtful remark.

“I’m… so sorry you’re feeling this way,” you say, slowing down your words, trying your best not to show how hurt you were. This isn’t him, you tell yourself. So no need for that tightness in your throat. “But you have to understand it’s not because of me. It’s because of everything that you’ve gone through and how hard it’s to deal with them. I don’t blame you, it is hard. But this… us,” you gesture to the both of you. “This is a good thing. Despite all the pain and hurt we’ve both been through, we—”

“Please, stop,” he says, raising his hand and pressing his eyelids together. “I can’t be with you anymore. That’s it, that’s all—”

“So you don’t love me anymore?” you counter. You scoff in disbelief, shaking your head. Kazutora’s eyes shoot open and you notice his pupils shaking in fear, like a deer caught in headlights.

“I love you,” he breathes out, and for a moment you see the boy you fell in love with in his amber eyes that are quickly filling with tears. “I do love you but it’s killing me. I feel like I’m dying,” he chokes out. He looks away from you once more and starts tugging at his fingers. “I’m rotting inside and I don’t know what to do to make it better. I just want it to stop. I want it to stop and— I don’t want you around when I’m like this. I want to figure out what the hell is happening and—”

“But if you love me and I love you then why—”

“I’m not happy with you!”

Kazutora widens his eyes, scared by his loud outburst. He parts his lips, silently muttering nonsense as he tries to come up with words that can make it better. You lower your head and he wants to punch himself over it. He doesn’t want to make you cry, not after everything you’ve done for him. Is he really going to be the person that hurt the one that made a home for him in her embrace? Is he going to hurt the only person that was brave enough to pick up the pieces of his shattered soul?

“I’m…” he babbles, in a soft voice. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.”

You snort. “No, you really did mean it, Tora.”

He can sense the hurt and sadness in your voice, even if now you’re the one that won’t look at him. He watches helplessly as you stand up and walk towards the living room window in complete silence. The apron you took off is still on the couch and the vast memories of all the times he embraced you while you were wearing it quickly fill his mind.

He wishes there was a way he could keep you. But no matter how much he wants to, he knows there really is no other way. He’s thought about this countless times. He has gone to work without getting proper sleep, stared at his blank tv screen for hours on end, trying to come up with a plan where he could keep you. Was staying with the person he loved the most too much to ask?

No matter in how many shades of light or with how much care he handled the memory of you, the only way he could spare you the greatest amount of pain was to leave you— even if he knew he’d end up shattering your heart as well.

Kazutora notices the way your fingers tightly close around the edge of the window, your knuckles turning white. He had come to terms that he’d lose you today, yet he never expected for it to be this way. It doesn’t matter, he tells himself. If hating him would mend your wounds faster, then he’d take it. Anything that would make the heartache he was causing you a little bit lighter. He knew you were the last person on Earth that deserved to go to bed carrying that much pain in her soul.

Looking out the window, you focus on a small girl walking her dog on the street. It’s a brown labrador and by the size of it, it’s barely a puppy. Rather than walk, it jumps on its four legs, his little head looking back at the girl every chance he has as he happily wags his tail. The pet shop Kazutora and Chifuyu work at immediately comes to mind. Would it be like this from now on? Small things eliciting memories of your days together without your consent and leaving a sour taste in your mouth?

You will need to find a new commute, you think, as you had been stopping by the pet shop on your way home for the past year. Is there another bus that you could take? As you try to remember the lines and their respective routes, you’re engulfed by the memory of the first time Kazutora dozed off with his head resting on your shoulder as you rode the bus together. You close your eyes and you can clearly see his peaceful expression and slightly parted lips as he slept, his fingers tightly intertwined with yours. His breathing is slow and his hands are cold and you wish you could go back, even for a minute and place a kiss on top of his head, since you wouldn’t be able to do so from now on.

Where exactly had you failed? You had just been complaining about your day when he dropped the bomb. Did you complain too much? Did you talk too much? Or was it you the one that was too much? You tried your best and supported him as much as you could but as it turns out, it hadn’t been enough. Good intentions were nothing but useless as you were now saying goodbye to the man you had loved the most.

You didn’t realize you were crying until you felt Kazutora’s cold knuckles against your cheek, wiping your tears. You gasp, startled by his touch and take a couple steps back until your back hits the wall. It takes a few seconds for him to bring his hand now, unsure on what to do next.

He looks so scared and small— it fills your heart with frustration. Your whole body is screaming to take a step forward and comfort him, cradle him in your arms like so many times before, assure him he’s safe with you and that he doesn’t have to worry anymore. That, if you can still go home to each other at the end of a bad day, you can take anything life throws at you.

But that’s the thing. You’re not each other’s home anymore. You don’t get to bury your face in his neck and hum happily when his perfume reaches your nose. You don’t get to have him take a nap on your lap as you watch a series or feel his lips ghost against yours seconds before colliding in a kiss.

You hate it. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking down at his feet. “Please, don’t cry.”

“You know what, Kazutora?” you say, wiping your tears with the back of your hand. You taste venom in your words, yet that doesn’t stop you. “If you’re not happy with me, then what are you doing here?”

He flinches at your words. Biting his inner cheek, he nods, still incapable of holding your gaze.

“Yeah, okay,” he mutters. “I’ll go. I really am sorry.”

Kazutora turns on his heel, walking towards the door. Maybe it’s the way you know he’s not coming back this time that makes your desperation afloat. You don’t want him to go and you also know you can’t make him stay. And even if somehow you could find a way to keep him by your side, it would be worthless.

He’s just not happy with you.

“Are you happy somewhere else, though?” you ask, your words leaving your mouth before your head has time to process them. He stumbles on his feet and stops. “Because if you just can’t manage to be happy, then it’s not on me.”

Kazutora doesn’t have to turn for you to know he’s second guessing himself. The next seconds feel like years as he just stands there, mid-way to the front door, thoughts so messy and loud you can almost hear them.

“That doesn’t matter,” he finally says with his back to you. He closes his fists and you see his shoulders rising and falling as he takes a deep breath. “This way you don’t have to deal with... with the mess I am and—”

“Oh, please, I knew what I was getting into when I started dating an ex-convict.”

The weight of your words fall onto you the moment they leave your mouth. You squeeze your eyes shut, muttering a curse. It takes no time for you to walk towards Kazutora, standing between him and the door.

“Shit, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Tora, I didn’t— you know I didn’t mean it that way. Fuck, I’m so sorry,” you whimper, tears flowing free down your cheeks. Your wave your shaky hands, desperate to make your point across. “I just wanted to say I knew things would be difficult but I loved you— I love you and I—”

Kazutora shakes his head, a gentle yet sad smile on his face as he takes your hands in his. He holds them in front of his chest, squeezing them gently as they don’t stop trembling.

“Stop, it’s okay,” he assures you. “That’s what I am.”

“It’s not,” you protest. “I mean— yeah, but you’re more than that. You’re so much more than that. You’re caring, you’re noble— you’re so tender with the animals at your shop. You’re so sweet with me, always checking if I’ve eaten and offering to help me out if I have chores I need to do. You always come pick me up if I’m working late. You— you’re so fucking special to me.”

Kazutora’s lips form a tight line. “I wish I could see that,” he whispers.

“Then just— let me try. Let me try until you can look at yourself the way I do,” you almost beg. You let go of the hold he has on your hands to gently cradle his face. “I’ll do anything, but... don’t patronize me. I’m not a little girl. Whatever life throws at me, I’ve always been able to handle it. No— we’ll handle it. Together. Like it’s always been, you and me, I just— please, I don’t want you to go,” you cry. “We were going to be happy together, you were going to live with me and I’d give you half my drawers and half my closet and half… half everything. Please, don’t go. Don’t go, Tora.”

The sadness in his amber eyes only confirms what you’ve been fearing this whole time. You sob, your thumbs softly stroking his cheeks as you feel the world crumbling around you. This time, he doesn’t stop you, letting you cry as you hold his face, coming to terms with the fact he’s really leaving after all.

Your hands move to his hair, gently threading your fingers across his long, dark locks. Tracing the outline of his face, you push one of the dyed streaks away, only for it to fall back right where it was before. You can’t help the small smile that forms on your lips. He’s so pretty, you think, as the pads of your fingers gently caress his face. Your thumb grazes the space between his bottom lip and his chin and you dream of a world when he’s not saying goodbye, but rather falling asleep under your touch on your shared bed. You never knew loving someone as much as you loved him was possible-- yet the way your heart was crumbling in pieces was evidence of how much your soul was aching by being separated from the person it belonged to.

Sniffling, you rub your cheek against your shoulder to wipe your tears. You swallow before raising another question.

“Is this a… temporary thing? Or for good?” Your voice comes out in a whisper as you place down your hands on his shoulders.

“I don’t know,” he answers. He wants nothing more than to put his arms around your body like so many times before, but he’s aware that it will only make things more difficult. “But I don’t want to keep you waiting in vain. You should move on.”

Kazutora realizes how much he hates the idea as it leaves his lips. The idea of you starting over with someone else rots in his tongue. He doesn’t want you to hold anyone’s face the way you were just holding his. He wants to keep you all to himself, to go to endless visits to the grocery shop, to watch you fall asleep during movie night and then pretend you didn’t, to massage your hands as you tell him about his day.

But you don’t deserve the guck that’s forming inside his mind. He knows it’s only a matter of time before it comes out pouring and reaches you. And he’ll be damned if he lets himself ruin the one good thing he’s had in his life for many years. He promised to himself he wouldn’t let his ill state of mind touch his loved ones. Never again.

He watches you nod and feels his heart shattering, even if everything is going just the way he intended. You rub his shoulders and look into his eyes, a sad smile on the pretty lips he would never get to kiss again.

“Okay,” you sigh. “We’ll end this but… when you leave, never doubt how loved you were. No— how loved you are. I don’t know what is coming for either of us but… I do know a part of my heart will always belong to you, no matter who I hold hands with. I will always love you, Tora.”

Your words are enough to finally break him. Kazutora clutches your body tightly against him as he loudly sobs against your shoulder. You hold him, tears flowing free once again as you try and soothe the man you love, leaving small kisses on the side of his head and whispering soft reassurances that it’s okay. It’s not, you tell yourself. It’s never going to be okay. But it has to be.

Carefully, you move him back to the sofa, helping him sit down while he refuses to let go of his hold on your body. You lean on the back pillows, both your arms cradling him while he whimpers like a small child. Kazutora clutches the fabric of your sweater with desperation, wishing there was a way he could stay with you.

Why does he have to give up the person that had put a smile back on his face? He can’t quite remember a time when his stomach had hurt out of laughter before he ever met you. Or when he’d experienced such peace as the night he stayed at your apartment and got to see your sleeping face first thing in the morning. He’s never loved anyone as much as he loves you and, for all he knows, he may never love like this again. 

But he could never risk tainting you. He would never be able to forgive himself.

Kazutora softly pulls away from your embrace. His eyes are blotchy and red and you’re sure yours look the same or even worse. His nose is red, like it always does when he cries. It’s endearing, you think. Everything about him, from his hair, to his eyes, his hands— you’ve come to love every part of Kazutora. And that’s exactly why it’s so hard to let him go.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he says in a whisper, resting the side of his head on the back pillows of the sofa.

“Like what?” you ask, gently pushing his hair away from his face and behind his ear.

“Like I matter to you. Like I’m making a huge mistake.”

You take a deep breath. Imitating him, you rest your head on the back pillows as well, so you’re both facing each other.

“I don’t— I don’t fully understand what you’re going through,” you admit, your eyes locked on his. “But if you need to… get away, then you should. You’ve been nothing but loving to me. All I’ve ever wanted was for you to be happy, whether it’s with me or not. You deserve to fully experience all the beautiful things life has to offer.”

Silent tears fall from both your cheeks and his.

“I should be thankful I got to love you for this whole year. Because even if it ends this way… God, I loved you so much,” you sniffle, letting out a small laugh. “And I felt so loved. Isn’t that magical in itself? That we got to love each other at the same time?” you wonder with a sad smile.

Kazutora parts his lips, yet the doorbell interrupts him before he can even speak. You look at the front door, your eyebrows furrowing for a moment before you realize who’s probably there.

“Food’s here,” you say, wiping the tears from your face.

“Food?” Kazutora asks, confused.

“Yeah,” you sigh. “Didn’t I tell you? The baking dish broke so I called that restaurant, the one with the burgers we like.”

“Sorry. I wasn’t really listening back then,” he admits with a pang of guilt. He sits up on the couch and turns his head at you. “I’ll leave you to it, then.”

You sit up as well. “I ordered for the two of us. C’mon, stay for dinner. Let’s… remember us this way, okay? Without so many tears and sadness,” you offer, tilting your head towards him. “I even ordered your favourite one.”

Kazutora rubs his face with his sleeve, erasing the trail of the tears he just shed. Looking at you, he nods, drawing a small smile on his lips.

“Okay. I’ll get it.”

He only walks a few steps towards the door before he feels you tugging at the back of his shirt. Turning around, he notices you’re standing right behind him. Your eyes look up to him, biting your bottom lip and not even a ghost of the smile you previously offered him.

“Before that, uh— I want you to know I… I mean it,” you firmly say, taking in all his facial features, loving how they soften every time he looks at you. “I’ll always love you. No matter how many years go by or if I ever stop being in love with you— I’ll still love you.”

“I’ll always love you too,” he replies, taking your hand and squeezing it softly. “I don’t think I could stop even if I wanted to.”

You finally let out a soft chuckle and squeeze his hand back. The doorbell rings again and you walk around Kazutora to get to it. This time, he’s the one that stops you, not letting go of the hold of your hand. Looking back at him, you notice the soft pout in his lips and how they softly tremble, looming more tears.

“It’s okay,” you assure him, and you know you’re saying it to yourself as well. “Who knows, we might get together again someday. Have our own Casablanca moment. We’ll always have the pet shop,” you joke, trying to fight back to tears that threaten to fill your eyes as well.

It’s Kazutora’s turn to chuckle, only this time he does it along with you. You let go of his hand only to hold his face tenderly, a soft smile as you look at the man you love. Standing on your tiptoes, you press your lips against the beauty mark under his right eye. You feel his hands setting on the small of your back and watch his smile widen when you fall back on your heels.

Locking your fingers with him once more, you open the door.

[recurring-polynya]

Do I mind if I ask how you approach writing longer fic? I've always struggled to write anything more than maybe two chapters long and I'm curious if you have a particular method to how you approach such stories.

Thank you so much for this ask! I absolutely love it when people ask me for writing advice because it makes me feel like a Smart Person Who Knows Things.

Before we start, here is one grain of salt to take all of this with: I have a naturally long-form brain. It is very hard for me to write something less than 1k. Short fiction is great, and there is nothing wrong with sticking to short things if that's what your brain likes to do.

So. You have decided to write a story. This is going to focus on "stories". Some people write fic that's more freeform or whatever, I am not going to cover that. What I mean by a story is this:

It starts

Some stuff happens

It ends

It is highly probable that your story contains a change of state, which could be that a villain is defeated, or a goal is reached, but it could also be that character falls in love with another, or someone learns to like broccoli.

I like to start out by completing the sentence, "This is a story where _______". This is basically like coming up with a summary for an ao3 post, except that it doesn't need to be catchy. Lots of different kinds of things could go in that blank! It could literally be what happens: This is a story where Ichigo goes back in time and punches young Aizen in the nose. It could be about what you want to explore: This is a story where Hitsugaya gets a better understanding of his zanpakutou. It could be about the vibe you want to achieve: This is an AU where everyone is in a punk rock band and has cool hair and outfits. The idea of this is to clearly define what you, the author, is interested in writing. Make sure it feels right! Maybe you pick the first one, but when you say it out loud, you say, "You know, I really just want Ichigo to go back in time so he can horse around with young Renji and Rukia and punching Aizen in the nose is just an excuse for that." That may sound dumb, but it's fine, actually! Most people don't read stories strictly for the plot, they read stories for the implications of those plots! Will my favorite two characters kiss? Will there be funny interactions between these two groups of characters? Will there be sick fights? Stories are excuses to have scenes. Sometimes, you will have a story where the interesting sequence of events is the draw, but the point is to know what you're about.

Once you feel happy with your "mission statement", you need to decide the bounds of your story: where it starts and where it ends. It may be easier to start with the end. In some cases, it may be obvious from your mission statement: everyone gets home, a villain is defeated, Kenpachi realizes the meaning of friendship. On the other hand, let's look at that punk rock AU. You've picked a vibe, but you don't really have a natural story arc. It has to have a destination, though, otherwise, it's not really a story, it's a recipe for 3 chapters of an abandoned fanfic. So brainstorm a little: Maybe they get a record deal? Maybe they win a Battle of the Bands? Maybe Byakuya accepts that the band is actually good and tells Rukia he is proud of her. Do not settle for a plot just because it works. Pick something that makes you excited! You're the one who is gonna have to write it!

I said that we needed to pick a beginning point, too, but I'm actually going to skip that for now. The next thing I do is think of all the Big Scenes I want to write, the ones you are hype to write, the ones that pop in your head as you think about the premise. Make a bullet list. They don't need to be in order. The descriptions don't need to be super detailed, but write down anything about it that is important to you. If there's a mood or a snippet of dialogue or a joke you want to make, go ahead and jot that down so you don't forget it later. What you're doing now is putting broad blotches of color on a canvas, filling in space and leaving the detail for later.

Once you are pretty happy with what you have down, try to arrange it in chronological order. Put your end at the end (if it wasn't one of your big scenes, add it now). The next task is figuring out how to traverse your scenes. You've already picked out where you want to spend the majority of your energy. The rest, I regret to tell you, is your slog writing. Now, it often happens that you will find joy in some of these scenes and your best writing may occur there, but that's serendipity. These are the scenes that you are gonna have to make yourself sit down and write, so you honestly want to limit them to just the ones you need.

So how do we do this? Look at the first thing on the list. Can you start there? If so, congrats, that's your beginning. If you can't, what needs to happen to get to there? Where can you start so that you can get to your first fun scene as soon as possible? There. That’s it. You’ve picked your beginning, good job! Now, go through the rest of your list, and add in things that must happen, even if you don’t particularly look forward to writing them. The characters need to travel from geographic point A to point B. Shuuhei needs to say something that Izuru hears and misinterprets. The Central 46 makes a new law. If you have a good idea of how these things happen, go ahead and write them down, but it’s okay if you don’t know yet. Fill in all the blanks so that if you think of each bullet list as a scene, you could read it as a story, start to end. Once you get writing, you might add more scenes, or move things around or whatever, but you should have a thing that functions as a story.

If you struggle with this, an alternative is a story with a very strong structure that is going to guide you though what you have to write.Here are two examples from my own stories Hold On, Hold On (which is only one chapter, but the principle is the same) is structured around the 5 stages of grief. Not Broken, Just Bent takes place over roughly a week, and I just decided what happened every day of the week. See You on the Other Side takes place in the middle of a bunch of canon events, which worked at mile markers.

Congratulations. You’ve just made a rough outline!

Special note for avoiding burnout!: I am a slogger. I will drag myself through the broken glass of an interminable plot to get to a single thirsty scene. That's why, at this stage, I try to look at the ratio of what I want to write to what I must write. It's gonna vary for everyone, but this is a hobby, and if looking at this proto-outline makes you feel deeply tired, maybe this isn't a good story to be devoting your time to! Can you carve it down? Can you chuck two scenes you really want to write and get rid of 80% of the slog? Or maybe you can't! In that case, just write that thirsty scene as a standalone drabble! Or just go work on something else! Maybe in the future, this one will come back to you and you’ll have a fresh idea or a renewed enthusiasm for it.

Another thing I sometimes like to do at this point is to write out some notes about my characters and their motivations and moods. Character A is homesick. Character B is so determined to defeat the enemy that they are having a hard time being sympathetic to Character A. Character C cares for both A and B and is trying to support them both. This is sort of background info that you want to keep in your head as you are writing. Depending on the type of story you are writing, this might actually be the main plot, or it might be happening subtly, but adding to the emotional impact of the story. It’s very easy for me to write these sorts of emotional arcs, but if you struggle with that, you may wish to go ahead and made a more detailed outline for that, too.

Now, it’s time to start writing! I am great at beginnings-- it is very often the case for me that the opening scene was one of my Big Tentpole Scenes. (Before you hate me too much, I make up for this by being double horrible at endings; just let me have this) Usually, I will start at the beginning and write linearly for as long as I can until I get stuck. Then, I will look forward on my outline and do the next chronological scene that I feel like writing. In general, if I sit down to write and there is something I have an urge to write, that trumps everything else. Inspiration is a precious commodity, and you should embrace it when it hits! You can slog any day. I will occasionally hold off writing a scene that I really want to, because I am saving it, like a prize for myself for getting that far. This is a very personal process of figuring out what motivates your brain and then giving your brain what it needs to be its most productive.

Eventually, you will run out of things you are excited to write, but the good news is, you’ve got a bunch of story now! Odds are that what’s left is going to be a lot of those connective tissue scenes, and you’re just going to have to do them, except that now, because you’re connecting two concrete points instead of two abstract points, it will be a lot easier. You can continue running jokes you’ve started. Maybe you invented a cafe in an earlier scene where your characters hang out and you can have them return there. Try to think of ways to make these scenes more fun, both for yourself to write and for your reader to read. 

Around this time, I like to start refining that rough strokes outline into what I will call an “as-built” outline. (This is an engineering term where you update your plans or models for something to reflect any changes that had to be made along the way). This is a great activity to do at times when you feel like you have writers block. I write down every scene I have written as a 2-3 word blurb, in order. I break the scenes into what I think makes logical chapters, and I will do a word count on those prospective chapters and write it down. As you do this, you will realize that maybe you can move a scene from here to there, which will make it 1000% easier to write. Things may be happening too much, or you’ve got the characters eating three times in the same chapter. If you have subplots and dangling threads, this is where you make sure they get closure. I know this sounds very headache-y, but you are so far along in the story at this point that it’s really not-- it’s a way to look at the problems you have left. Use some sort of formatting (I like to bold things I haven’t done and sometimes I put them in red) and it gives you a very visual to-do list.

You specifically mentioned multi-chapter fanfics and I admit that I don’t tend to think in chapters, I tend to think of the story as a whole and just break it up where it feels natural. The as-built outlining I described is very helpful in making sure that my chapters feel balanced. They don’t necessarily need to be the same length, but I like them to have the same amount of stuff in them. One chapter may basically contain one long scene, and other may contain many short ones. I don’t tend to, but you can certainly have a fanfic that varies between short and long chapters, that can actually be an interesting effect. But like I said, I always like to know what I am doing, and so having it mapped out, you can say “welp, this is what I’ve done, how do I feel about that?”

Polynya, you may be saying at this point, do you write the whole fanfic before you post any of it? and I regret to inform you, the answer is yes. A lot of people write as they go, and I have made one attempt at this and I didn’t like it. I don’t like locking myself in, I just need to be able write out of order and go back and change things. Here is the story of a little in love: someone gave me an AU prompt and I got mildly obsessed with it, and wrote 5 snapshots drabbles in that universe, ending with a slight cliffhanger ending. I probably should have stopped there, but I decided to keep going. I wrote out an outline of 5 acts where the first act was detailed to the degree of each chapter being specified. The chapters here were much smaller than I usually make chapters: 1-2k. I wrote act i and ii and it was actually great, and then I hit act iii which required a lot of set up for misunderstandings and a mini romance arc. I couldn’t wing it, but nor could I figure it all out with outlining. I write dialogue in almost sort of an improv “Yes, and...?” style, so until I do it, I don’t know what’s going to happen. So, what I did was treat the second half of act iii as a complete story in the process I describe above, wrote the entire rest of it, and then posted it. One might notice that the chapter lengths grew to 3-5k each. I have two more acts to go, and I haven’t decided how I am going to do them yet, but I suspect I will treat each of them as their own mini-stories.

(I will admit that in Heart is a Muscle, I tend toward chapters that are about 10k long, and this is honestly too long, someone should smack me. If you like punchy chapters, 1-2k is good. I think 3-6k is probably an ideal chapter length. Is this how long the chapters are in my latest fanfic? Absolutely not.)

Okay, so there’s one more step, which is quality control. I am habitual re-reader-- I read my fanfics-in-progress over and over and over while I am working on them. I understand that not everyone does this, but I am usually the primary audience for my own writing, and this is the actual fun part for me. Nevertheless, you should re-read your work at least once, to make sure it hangs together.

This is purely optional, but I recommend it: get a writing friend (if you don’t like re-reading your work, I recommend this even more strongly). If you can get a full-service beta reader, that’s great, but if you can’t find someone, or if receiving that level of critique stresses you out, it’s perfectly valid to just find a friend who will read your stuff and a) shower you with compliments, b) reassure you about parts you aren’t sure about (or suggest ways to help) and c) point out any huge problems you missed. When I am writing a long fanfic, it is a huge motivational factor for me to be able to send my beta chapters as I finish them. If you are already an established writer, and you have people who consistently comment on your fic, they might be overjoyed to get a sneak peak at your work.

And that’s it! That’s the way I do it, anyway! Some people are able to sit down and write a very detailed outline and the write it start-to-finish. Good for them, I say! I have tried this and it doesn’t work great for me. I will admit that some of my fics (especially my early ones) I just sat down and banged out whole-cloth like an insane person and they are generally better than the ones I actually plan out, but that’s not a reproducible process.

As one final mechanical note, I usually write in Google Docs, which I can access on multiple devices (I used to write a lot on my phone), has convenient sharing functionality, and I use the ao3 html formatting script add-in. I generally have two documents for a single story-- one is the outline, and any other notes I want to have handy. I’ll usually put a trashcan space at the bottom for scenes that got cut but I don’t want to lose. The other is the fanfic itself.

I hope this is helpful! Please feel free to follow up with other questions and good luck with your writing!

[ssahoodrathotchner]

Pictures of You

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Fem!Reader

Summary: you lose your memories of the last few years, including the ones of your relationship with Aaron. The rest of the team thinks it’s hilarious.

Word Count: 5.3k

Warnings: memory loss, swearing, some angst, hospital, talk of injuries, team shenanigans and fluff

A/N: okay this was a lot of fun to write bc soft!Hotch rights !! also really wanted to make the team play a larger role in a fic so here we go :)

Masterlist

---

You wake in a hospital bed, Morgan by your side, and a godawful pounding in your cloudy head. With a groan, you try to raise one of your hands to cover your eyes as Morgan’s head shoots up to stare at you with a relieved smile.

“Hey,” he says, catching your hand before you can lift it higher, “Don’t do that. You had a nasty fall, Princess.”

Satisfied that you won’t make any more moves towards your head, he sits back down at your side.

“Should I even ask how you’re doing or…” he trails off when you glare at him. “I’ll go let the team know you’re okay. Boss Man will be happy to hear you finally woke up,” and with that, Morgan is up and out of the room before you can even open your mouth because what.

Shifting around in the bed, you try to gauge just how injured you are, but the soreness in literally your entire body coupled with the haziness in your mind from the constant pain makes you conclude that you’ll leave it to the doctors to tell you what’s wrong. Sighing, you gently tilt your head to the side and observe the various beeping monitors.

The door opens and as you turn to see who it is, your mouth opens in disbelief. There’s no way. There’s absolutely no fucking way. This is fake. This is a dream. Your stomach simultaneously drops and fills with dread. How is this possible?

“You’re dead. You’re dead. We buried you,” you say in a rush, as none other than Emily fucking Prentiss stops by the side of your bed, looking at you confusedly. “Does this mean I’m dead? Are you a ghost?” you wonder out loud, and Emily looks behind her as the rest of the team, except Hotch, file in behind her, seemingly fine with her sudden appearance.

“How are you here, why are you here, what happened? You died. You’re supposed to be dead which means I’m probably dead,” you continue to ramble, frantically looking from at each member of your team and then back to Emily.

“What? Y/N, you aren’t dead. Just like I’m not dead,” she says like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“But you are,” you say shakily, chest tightening as your breaths become shorter and shorter.

“Y/N…” she says slowly, softly, “I faked my death four years ago.”

And with that, your ears rush and your mind goes blank. No no no no no no we buried her six months ago, she’s dead. You don’t notice the rest of the team trading glances around you as the world you thought you knew shatters and reforms in your mind.

“No,” you croak, throat suddenly constricting, but Emily only looks at you worriedly, Reid slipping out the door behind her.

“Y/N, can you take some deep breaths for me?” and your head turns to find JJ at your other side, hand on your shoulder. “Let’s breathe, you can do this,” she says, taking exaggerated breaths to demonstrate, smiling gently as you cooperate.

Reid enters, now, followed by a doctor who, immediately upon reaching your side, proceeds to shine a light in your eyes and asks you to complete all sorts of short tests while the team looks on.

“Now, Agent Y/L/N, Dr. Reid informed me that you seem to be having some memory issues, which is normal,” the doctor assures you, “especially with the head trauma you endured. So, tell me what you can remember and we’ll go from there,” he says with a helpful smile.

Fuck. What do you remember?

“Well…” you trail off, trying to pin-point an exact moment. “I remember Emily—Agent Prentiss’—funeral because it was six months ago, but apparently—” your eyes slide over the rest of the team, “—apparently, it was more like four years ago,” you finish slowly.

“And that’s as recent as you can remember?” the doctor pushes. You nod your head. “Well, Agent Y/L/N, it seems that you have post-traumatic retrograde amnesia, which isn’t a surprise, as I said before. My guess is that it’s temporary, and that you’ll recover your memories in time.”

“Any ideas how long?” Emily speaks up, carefully looking at your face.

“With cases such as these, there isn’t a definite timeline or standard procedure for memory recovery,” the doctor explains. “It may help to look at photos or videos and tell stories to try and help Agent Y/L/N heal quicker, but the brain is tricky,” and with that wonderful statement, the doctor turns and exits, leaving you and your team staring at each other, processing the fact that you don’t know when you’ll get your memories of the last four freakin’ years back.

“So, from the research I’ve done, it seems that—” Reid is cut off by the door flying open and Aaron Hotchner, your Unit Chief, bursting into the room with a concerned look on his face wearing a hoodie and jeans.

Morgan tries to grab his shoulder, but Hotch shakes him off as he walks right up to your bedside and grabs your hand. Holy shit. Heat rises to your cheeks instantly and you think your heart might have actually skipped a beat but, you can’t help it, you’ve had a crush on Hotch for ages and he’s holding your hand. But you don’t remember a time when Hotch was so forward in showing concern for one of his agents.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up, Sweetheart—” you’re pretty sure you’re dreaming because Hotch has never called you Sweetheart. Ever. You’ve also never seen him in anything other than a suit. “—Jessica called because Jack has the flu and then he wanted to talk to me and—”

“Hotch!” Morgan all but yells, interrupting Hotch’s update on Jack, as you stare pointedly at his hand, still holding yours, trying to control the redness growing steadily stronger in your cheeks. What the hell.

“Hotch,” Morgan states, softer this time, “The last thing Y/L/N remembers clearly is Prentiss’ funeral.”

You look up with a weak approximation of a smile, and watch Hotch’s face shift as he comprehends what Morgan said.

“That was years ago,” he says slowly, face hardening into a look you’ve seen too many times when he tries to separate himself from the information he’s received.

Looking down at you, you can’t tell what he’s thinking, so you divert your eyes to his hand in yours. Once he notices this, he gently lets go and you know it’s silly, but you almost reach out for it again. Who knows the next time Hotch will want to hold your hand?

“So you don’t…” he doesn’t finish his question, which leaves you even more confused. Don’t what…?

“Umm. If it’s happened in the last four-ish years, then umm… Then I probably don’t remember it,” you say quietly, apologetically. “Sir,” you add on quickly, not wanting to forgo formalities even if your memory isn’t what it’s supposed to be.

However, instead of nodding, like you thought he would, Aaron Hotchner looks sad which confuses you even more.

“Aaron,” Rossi begins slowly, “the doctor said that talking about what’s happened since then may help Y/N’s memory come back.” Hotch looks up, almost relieved. “So why don’t you tell her something that’s happened since Prentiss’ funeral.”

And with that, Hotch takes a breath before reaching across your body to your other hand and holding it up. Not quite sure what’s happening, you allow him to hold your left hand up in your line of vision and that’s when you notice a fucking wedding ring. On your hand. Which Hotch is holding.

“I’m married?” you screech, looking at the team, who are now all trying not to laugh for some reason. “Who am I married to? Holy shit, what?” you continue looking around. Morgan and Prentiss look like they’ll break into outright laughter any minute. What’s going on?

Looking helplessly to Hotch, who is suspiciously quiet, you don’t have to repeat your question before he is carefully letting go of your left hand to hold his own up next to it and since when did Hotch wear a wedding band? Until you notice the striking similarities between the ring on your hand, and the one on your boss. What the actual fuck.

“We’re married?” you say, whipping your head to the side—ouch—to stare at Hotch, who is looking a little more amused than worried. “What? When? I just…” you can’t even finish your train of thought because your head is spinning so fast.

“Is it really that much of a surprise, Princess?” Derek chimes in. “I mean, you guys have been in love with each other forever,” and with that, he and Prentiss dissolve into a fit of laughter, which they try to smother, but you’re too busy taking in this very new and very interesting life development.

At some point in the last couple years, you married Hotch. Which means he knows you like him. And he likes you. You dated Hotch and now you’re fucking married. And you can’t remember any of it.

“…I don’t remember it…” you say sadly, softly and the laughter ceases.

Running a hand through his hair, Hotch takes a step back and shrugs, a small, reassuring smile on his face.

“We’ll figure it out, Sweetheart—” your stomach erupts into butterflies, “—we always do.”

With a sigh, you sink back into the pillows on your bed and stare at the ceiling, head throbbing worse than before thanks to all the new information.

“I just…” you pause to think about your current dilemma. “I just don’t know where to start with all this…Getting my memory back,” you look to Hotch and then the team, unsure of what to do.

“Well, the doctor did say that photos and videos might help. I’d be willing to recount every conversation we’ve had since Emily’s funeral, if you want, including the ones that you weren’t a part of, but were about you or a case,” Reid offers with a grin, and your heart melts.

Slowly shaking your head, you answer, “Thanks but maybe later, Spence. I’m still stuck on the whole I’m-married-to-my-boss thing right now.”

“Trust me Princess,” Derek laughs “I’m pretty sure all of us could tell you about how everything went down like a damn movie.”

“Yeah…” JJ continues with a fond shake of her head, “You guys weren’t very subtle about it.”

Sneaking a look out of the corner of your eye, you catch Hotch blushing and staring down at his shoes before he also sneaks a look at you, meeting your eyes.

“See?” Derek’s voice breaks your gaze. “This is exactly what I was talking about. You guys weren’t subtle and still aren’t,” rolling his eyes, he laughs a little and you can’t help but smile.

“At least they’re married this time around,” Rossi supplies. “No more ‘secret’ glances and yearning,” he says with such contempt you can’t help but laugh as Hotch—Aaron? — lets out a small chuckle of his own.

“Now I just need to remember how we got here,” you say, feeling a little more at ease. Slowly, you reach for Hotch’s left hand, studying the ring the matches your own. “Remember us,” you continue, just to him, and the smile that overtakes his face is the best thing you’ve seen since waking up.

“You weren’t wrong, Morgan,” comes Emily’s voice from the end of your bed. “This is just like a movie. Ugh. But don’t worry, Y/N, we’ll help you sort this out.”

“And I know just the woman for the job,” Morgan adds with a mischievous smirk which immediately makes you wonder about whatever it is he has planned.

“Now as much as I’d love to watch the two lovebirds gaze into each other’s eyes, I actually have plans,” Rossi states, looking down at his watch. “So, I’ll be back tomorrow. Have a good night, Y/N,” he says before waving to the rest of the team and leaving.

The rest of the team makes their own excuses to leave, and you can’t help but feel like Morgan and Prentiss have concocted some sort of scheme to “help” you get your memories back.

Running a hand over your face, you sigh. What now? The sound of someone clearing their throat makes you look up and realize that Hotch hadn’t left with the others, but was instead standing near the foot of your bed, looking somewhat anxious.

“I ummm… I was planning on spending the night here to make sure you were okay, but umm…” he trails off, unsure.

“But since I have no memory of us being together you think it’s weird…?” you ask gently.

“Yeah,” he answers in a sigh. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable by being here, especially because I know how frustrating and confusing this must be for you…”

“Hotch,” you start, but he can’t hide his wince when you call him that. “Aaron,” you try again. “Yes, this is incredibly confusing and frustrating because Emily should be dead and I didn’t think you had feelings for me at all,” you pause and see him smile, just a bit, “But I’d really like it if you stayed here. With me. Because—” you take a deep breath. “—Because you make me feel safe, Aaron, and I need that right now,” you say gently, not quite sure where the confidence came from, but Aaron’s eyes soften and his smile grows bigger as his shoulders drop in relief. Worth it.

“Then I’ll stay,” he says, and you can’t help the heat that once again rises in your cheeks as he continues to look at you.

You guys are married, dammit. Pull it together.

Averting your gaze, you turn your attention to getting more comfortable in your bed and decide to fuss with the placement of your pillows because damn was your back starting to hurt, but Aaron beats you to it. Within ten seconds of arranging the pillows behind you, he has them perfect.

“How…?” you start to question, but he just raises his eyebrows. “Right. Married,” you say with a shake of your head.

Aaron finally sits in the chair next to your bed and reaches, almost absentmindedly, for your hand before catching himself and stilling. You can see the fight in his mind—he wants to comfort you and himself, but with your memory, he doesn’t quite know where your boundaries are. Taking pity on him, you grab his hand yourself, weaving your fingers together so he knows it was on purpose. Okay so you really just wanted to hold his hand again, but you’re married! You’re allowed. He takes a deep breath and leans back in the chair, turning his head to really look at you.

“How’s your head?” he asks, brow furrowed in what you’ve come to understand is genuine concern.

You pause and consider for a moment.

“Not terrible, but not great,” you say slowly. “It’s like there’s a fog in my mind that I can’t see through. I know I’m missing stuff, but I just don’t know what.”

Aaron gently squeezes your hand, but doesn’t speak yet.

“I want to know what brought Emily back, how we happened, what it was that gave me this fucking injury, I just…” with an exasperated huff, you collect yourself. “I just want to know.”

“Well, Emily should be the one to tell you her part of the story, and as for us,” he gives you a smile “it’s a longer answer, at least for me, so that will have to wait—Sorry, Sweetheart,” he says when you pout. “However, I can tell you about what landed you in the hospital. How does that sound?”

“It’s a start,” you tease, and yes Aaron smiles wider and rolls his eyes.

“We were chasing an unsub, and Garcia had tracked him to a warehouse not too far from Quantico. We went there and—” his voice wavers. You squeeze his hand. “—and the unsub had set explosives around the perimeter of the building. I guess you got too close to him when trying to talk him down and he triggered the whole set.” Aaron sighs, and his eyes are glazed over like he’s reliving this—which he probably is—and there’s nothing you can really do besides let him take his time.

“You weren’t right by any of them, but you were thrown back and had hit the ground before I could even yell at you to stop—not that you would have listened,” he says pointedly with a watery laugh. “You just laid there, Morgan and I carried you over to the medics as soon as the dust settled and they took you away as we cleared the rest of the scene.”

“And the unsub?”

“He didn’t survive the explosion. As soon as we figured that out, we left it to the local PD and crime scene techs.” He looks at you softly. “We came straight here after that.”

“How long was I out before today,” you ask lightly, curiously.

“Three days. Dave had to convince me to go home and shower on the second day.” He looks down before sneaking a sideways glance at you.

“Well I’m glad he did,” you tease, scrunching your nose.

“And I’m glad you’re awake, Sweetheart,” he replies, squeezing your hand.

You laugh and look away before mumbling, “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”

“Get used to what?” he waits a second. “Sweetheart?” Motherfucker. He knows what he’s doing.

“That! I woke up convinced you didn’t have feelings for me at all,” you say with a glare, “and now I know we’re married and you keep being so nice and understanding and calling me Sweetheart and I just don’t know how to deal with all of this!” you finish in a huff.

“I just feel bad that I can’t remember this, us” you add, gesturing between the two of you. “I’m trying and there’s just—” you make a frustrated noise and flop back to stare at the ceiling. “And my head still kind of hurts,” you add softly, almost pouting.

“Oh, Sweetheart,” Aaron whispers. He clears his throat before continuing. “You’ll get your memories back,” he leans forward to stroke some hair off your forehead. “And until then, you know the team and I will do what we can to catch you up and help you remember.”

You push your head further into his hand with a sigh. He runs his hand through your hair a few times before pulling back and you almost whine. You yawn instead. Settling down, you tug the blanket up higher across your chest and turn to face Aaron as he also gets comfortable. He turns on the small television in your room and at some point, you fall asleep holding his hand.

---

You wake to the sound of the door opening, followed by the unmistakable click-clack of heels worn by none other than Penelope Garcia.  

“Rise and shine! Time to regain your memory, lovely Y/N,” she sings, coming to a stop by the side of your bed as you roll over with a yawn.

“Pen—” you groan. “Let me sleep. Please.”

“Oh no, my little profiler. Do you have your memory back?” You shake your head. “Then we need to work on that! And don’t you dare tell me no; my wonderful Derek Morgan and I were up all night making this for you,”

You raise your eyebrows.

“Sadly, not like that. But, we compiled a presentation-slash-video montage for you about what you’ve missed!”

That catches your attention.

“Wha--? How? Penelope where did the footage come from?” you ask, more awake now.

“Well, I may or may not have used security cam footage for a lot of it, but that’s neither here nor there, so, without further ado, I present to you: your life for the past four-ish years!” and with that, she somehow connects her tablet to the TV and you see a picture of the whole team; Penelope then produces a remote from the depths of her purse and then proceeds to the next slide.

Which is a photo of you. And Aaron. Standing by the coffee machine in the office and smiling at each other, clearly unaware that the moment was being documented. The image is embellished with what must be close to fifty moving, sparkly hearts, obviously done by Garcia.

“First thing’s first,” she starts with a flourish. “Your husband!” and as if on cue, Aaron walks into the room, cup of coffee in hand. Much to your surprise, Aaron just rounds your bed to sit in the same chair you assume he fell asleep in, watching the screen.

“What is happening,” you say softly to yourself, looking from Aaron to Garcia and back.

“The doctor said photos and videos might help restore your memory, so who better to put something together than Garcia?” Hotch answers dryly, a small smile flashing across his face. “The rest of the team should be here shortly,” he says directly to Garcia.

“Oh good. I always work better with an audience,” she replies as you continue to process just what the hell is happening since you woke up approximately five minutes ago.

Within a few minutes, your hospital room is overrun with the rest of the team. Sitting, standing, leaning wherever they can find the space to view Penelope’s presentation with you in the middle of it all.

“Don’t you people have jobs?” you grumble.

“C’mon, Princess. Who better to help you remember the last few years than us?” Derek says with a cheeky grin that makes you roll your eyes.

You turn your gaze to Aaron and find that he’s already looking at you in concern.

“If you really don’t want all of us here we can leave,” he says just loud enough for you to hear.

“I just…” you take a moment to try and collect your thoughts. “I guess I just don’t know how to feel about all of this, but you’re all here so— “

“So here we go!” Penelope cheerfully finishes your sentence before turning back to the screen. “As I was saying before, part one of Operation Get Y/N’s Memories Back is all about—drumroll please—our very own Unit Chief, a.k.a. Hotch, a.k.a. loving husband to our very own Agent Y/L/N.”

With a shake of your head, purposefully ignoring the way Derek and Emily are whooping and whistling, you settle in and gesture for Penelope to continue. God, let’s hope this works.

---

It doesn’t work.

Fuck.

Three almost four hours later and nothing has changed for you. However, it’s a lovely opportunity for some team bonding and creating new memories, but you’re still disappointed. It’s not for lack of trying, though. Penelope did a wonderful job of pulling together a presentation-slash-video montage of your life, complete with titles such as ‘Your lovely husband,’ ‘The Miraculous Life, Death, and Subsequent Resurrection of Emily Prentiss,’ and even ‘Badass BAU Babies,’ which was a collection of team photos and news clips of cases you guys had closed in the past few years.

The whole team had gotten a kick out of each section, especially the last one, as Penelope had spared no one in her quest to help your memory; ugly selfies sent in the BAU group chat, embarrassing footage of you tripping up (and down) the stairs to the bullpen—courtesy of the security cameras, Reid doing physics magic and narrowly missing Rossi’s coffee cup, it was all there. But nothing worked, there was no magical ah ha moment where everything came rushing back. If anything, it really was like watching a movie; it didn’t feel like you were the one is all of these clips and photos. Not even Reid’s commentary made you feel any closer than before to recovering your memories.

It wasn’t all bad, though. Penelope had a veritable stockpile of photos of you and Aaron, ranging from the office, to cases, to the occasional night out with the team. Your engagement announcement, wedding photos, freakin’ everything on the two of you and yet, nothing seemed to make a difference to your brain.

The photo on the screen was one of you and Aaron on a case. You were tucked under his arm, snowflakes visible in your hair and his as you look up and laugh at something he said while he just smiles gently down at you. Penelope had put hearts over both your eyes.

“Actual heart eyes! I had to! You guys are so cute!” she basically squealed when the photo came up.

“What did I tell you,” Rossi said teasingly, “Yearning.”

Prentiss and Morgan hadn’t stopped laughing for this entire segment, with JJ and Reid occasionally joining in if there was something exceptionally ridiculous Penelope had included, like fucking heart eyes.

A hand covering your own makes you realize you had spaced out, and you look down to see that it’s Aaron’s hand, wedding band catching the light.

“Anything, Sweetheart?” he asks in a low voice, carefully watching your face.

You shake your head. “It’s like it’s someone else’s life, but I know it’s mine; you’ve told me it’s mine, there’s photographic evidence that it’s mine!” you say in a huff. “It just doesn’t feel like it’s mine,” you whisper, voice breaking at the end. Tears gather in your eyes and you bite your lip to stop it from shaking as you desperately try and control your overwhelming emotions. You can hear the team in the background, strategizing new ways to help you, but Aaron’s face hovers in front of your own, drawing your attention.

“It’s okay,” he says lightly, stroking your cheek with his thumb.

“No, it’s not,” you insist as a few tears make their way down your face. “It’s not, Aaron. What if this is it? What if I just don’t get my memories back?”

Letting out a long sigh, Aaron raises your hand to his lips and kisses your palm before folding your hand into his.

“You will. I know you will,” he says with such conviction you might just believe him if it weren’t for the way he rapidly blinks to keep his own tears at bay.

“Yeah, Princess.” Morgan chimes in from somewhere across the room. “We’ll figure this out, you know we will.”

And with that, you see something click into place in Aaron’s eyes and suddenly, he’s looking at you in such a way that your heart picks up—thanks, heart monitor.

“Aaron…?” you ask cautiously.

“Princess,” he says it so simply, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. You only have time to raise an eyebrow at him before—

Oh.

Kissing Aaron Hotchner is something you could definitely get used to. His hand comes up to cradle your face as he gently moves his lips against yours. You sigh and can feel his smile against your mouth before he’s tugging your face closer, tilting your head just so and—

There.

It’s like opening a window to let in a breeze. Soft and sure, filling the space in a way that’s all-encompassing without being suffocating.

Like snowflakes falling and settling on his black jacket, like Aaron down on one knee sliding your engagement ring on your finger while you smile so much it feels like your face will break. It’s leaving cups of coffee on his desk during late nights in the office. It’s playing soccer with Jack as Aaron smiles and cheers both of you on. It’s being in bed late at night, falling asleep in the comfort provided by the man you love. Your wedding vows, promising to love him forever.

And you know.

With a gasp, you pull Aaron closer, kiss him deeper, harder, moving your lips more frantically against his. I remember I remember I remember and you think he gets it because he pulls back and looks at you with so much hope it almost breaks your heart.

“When I said I’d love you forever, Aaron Hotchner, I meant it.”

And his face breaks into the biggest smile you’ve ever seen as he laughs in disbelief before capturing your lips with his again, returning the urgency you had kissed him with just moments ago.

Someone clears their throat and you pull apart, smiles obvious on both your faces as you turn to the team who are looking somewhat confused.

“Would you mind enlightening us as to why you two are suddenly acting like teenagers?” Rossi asks, eyebrows raised.

“Well,” Aaron starts, grinning in your direction, “It would seem that— “

“Nuh uh. No way,” Derek interrupts him. “Are you seriously about to say that you kissed her and she magically remembered?”

You can’t help but laugh at his disbelief because what the hell and nod, unable to speak through the giddiness overtaking your body. You remember.

“Ohmygod! You guys!!” Penelope squeals before launching herself into your arms for a hug which she promptly pulls Aaron into as well; he doesn’t protest.

“What made you do that, Hotch?” Reid asks curiously once Penelope has let you and Aaron go. “Did you know it would work?”

“Princess,” Aaron says with a nod towards Morgan. “In Jack’s storybooks, a kiss always wakes the Princess so she and her prince can live happily ever after.”

Okay that’s adorable and you can’t help but aww with the rest of the team at Aaron’s confession.

“Happily ever after, huh?” you say, tugging on his hand. “Who knew you were such a sap, Hotchner?”

Rolling his eyes, Aaron just smiles. “Wasn’t it obvious from Garcia’s presentation? I’ve been in love with you forever, Sweetheart. And besides, it worked, didn’t it?” he says with a smug smile. 

You pull him down for a short kiss before moving back just enough to murmur “My Prince Charming.”

“I can’t believe you guys,” you turn to see Morgan shaking his head. “A literal fuckin’ fairytale,” and then he’s laughing and the whole team, you and Aaron included, are laughing with him because yeah this is pretty surreal.

“I can’t believe you thought I was a ghost!” Emily says once the laughter has died down, her arms crossed in mock-anger.

“Can you blame me?” you retort. “The last thing I remember was burying you and suddenly you’re here? Nope. No way. Ghost. Only explanation.”

“I have to say, Y/L/N, I’m glad you’re back, if only to stop Aaron’s sad puppy-dog eyes every time you called him ‘Hotch,’” Rossi shakes his head. “I don’t know how much more yearning I could take.”

“Hey! Be nice,” JJ admonishes, swatting Rossi’s shoulder. “I think it’s sweet.”

“Yeah guys,” you echo. “Be nice! Don’t think I forgot you two,” you say, leveling Morgan and Prentiss with glares, “and all your laughter when I couldn’t remember that my husband and I were married!”

“Oh c’mon, Princess,” Morgan groans. “It was pretty funny. You were trying so hard not to look completely in love with your husband.”

“In my defense,” you start, “I didn’t know that you guys already knew how much I love Aaron, so excuse me for trying to hide my love,” you say with a sniff.

“Well, it was pretty obvious. Whenever you looked at him or he grabbed your hand, the heart monitor would register an increase in your heart rate by—” Reid starts to ramble but your laughter cuts him off.

“I get it, I get it,” you continue through your laughter. “I’m very in love with Aaron, even when I think it’s a secret, but as Penelope’s presentation so eloquently demonstrated, I’m not subtle and neither is he.”

Aaron leans over to kiss your cheek as the rest of the team continues into a conversation about Penelope’s presentation and how the hell she collected all those photos and videos in one day.

With the attention no longer on you—for now—you smile at Aaron, who smiles right back. He slumps back in his chair with a sigh, and you can’t help but pull him back closer to you.

“I love you,” you say kissing the back of his hand.

“I love you more, Sweetheart,” he replies softly.

Yeah, this is happily ever after.

[spencers-renaissance]

Emergency Contact

Summary: When Spencer ends up in the hospital again, his emergency contact — who happens to be his boyfriend, Luke Alvez — is called. Too bad he hasn't told the team about him yet...

Tags: whump, h/c, hurt spencer, broken ribs, coming out, relationship reveal, protective derek, team as family, fluff, au: different first meeting

Pairing: Luke Alvez x Spencer Reid // (heavy on the Derek & Spencer friendship, too)

Word Count: 2.6k

Masterlist // Read on AO3 // Bad Things Happen Bingo

Okay, so Emily was not in S11, but for this fic she is, because I wanted supportive Penemily and that's what I gave myself. Other than that, this fills the square "broken ribs" for my Bad Things Happen bingo card. Enjoy the whump mixed with fluff!

Spencer doesn’t mean to get hurt again, but he also isn’t exactly surprised when it happens. If anything, Hotch really needs to stop sending him out to scope places and suspects out by himself. Surely Tobias Hankel proved he’s a trouble magnet in that regard years ago.

The summerhouse the suspect rents is a nice enough place to lay incapacitated while he waits for back-up, he supposes, but he’s not exactly able to lie and enjoy the sunshine when his ribs have been smashed in with a metal baseball bat and he knows the suspect is currently hightailing it down the beach. Not to mention the fact that it’s worryingly difficult to breathe.

Still, it’s better than a dilapidated cabin in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere Georgia, pumped full of heroin while his feet are whipped. Small mercies.

“Goddamnit, Spencer, again?” Derek asks amusedly when he finally arrives and crouches down by his side, but the undercurrent of worry in his voice doesn’t elude him.

“Sorry,” he wheezes, still winded and in immense pain from the ambush. “I didn’t see him coming.”

Derek raises a brow, chuckling slightly. “Yeah, pretty boy, I figured that.” His hand goes to Spencer’s hair as his expression furrows in concern again. “Did you see where he went? I’ll send the others after him while I go with you to the hospital.”

Spencer smiles a little, relieved that he won’t be alone. It’s become a strange sort of tradition to sit in one another’s hospital rooms after the job kicks their ass, and he’s glad Derek isn’t about to break it now.

“I saw him turn right out of the backdoor, but that’s all,” he says breathlessly, before cringing at the effort and folding in on himself even more.

“Okay, Spencer,” Derek says soothingly. “Just relax. The ambulance will be here any second.”

He obeys and closes his eyes as he listens to Derek call Hotch on the radio and send the team in the right direction before coming back to sit next to him on the floor.

“This might be one of the nicer places one of our unsubs has owned, huh?”

Spencer nods, mirroring Derek’s morbid amusement. “Crime pays better than investigating it,” he manages, smiling up at his friend.

He snorts. “You can say that again. With the way the market’s turned in the last couple years it’s more like this is my hobby and my properties are my day job, rather than the other way round.”

Spencer tries to reply, but he moves involuntarily in amusement, and a fresh wave of pain has him wincing again, trying to will the tears away.

“You’re alright, Spence,” Derek says gently, his hand returning to his hair. “Help will be here soon, okay?”

Thankfully, the medics do show up in a semi-timely fashion, and both of them are loaded into the back of the ambulance as the EMTs check him over, Derek’s hand not leaving his person unless it absolutely has to.

“How many times were you hit, Dr Reid?”

He cringes. “Four.” It’s almost embarrassing that the unsub got four hits in, and the only reason there weren’t more is because he was fleeing the scene, not because Spencer was able to fight back. He tries to remind himself that there isn’t much you can do when caught-off guard by a furious arsonist armed with a steel baseball bat, but his ego is still bruised. Albeit not as badly as his poor ribs.

“I’m gonna fucking kill him,” Derek mutters under his breath, his grip tightening on Spencer’s shoulder minutely enough for him to know he isn’t doing it consciously.

Spencer smiles appreciatively, closing his eyes against the pain. The non-narcotic painkillers they’re feeding him through the IV really aren’t doing anything.

“I think you’ve managed to avoid internal bleeding,” the EMT says, all though he tacks on a pointed, “just. But I’m concerned about the possibility of a punctured lung. There’s a chance your trouble breathing is solely pain-induced, but I don’t like the way your chest sounds. The doctors will check everything out when we get to the hospital, and get you all patched up.”

“Hold in there,” Derek says urgently. “I really can’t have you dying on me, pretty boy.”

Spencer smiles as comfortingly as he can through the immense pain in his chest and his mangled breathing. “Trust me, I don’t intend on it.”

The x-ray reveals two broken ribs and confirms the paramedic’s suspicions of a punctured lung, although thankfully, minor enough to not require surgery. He’s set up with oxygen and regular nurse check-ups in a quiet room after the doctor is able to remove the excess air in his chest cavity.

“How are you doing, Spence?” Derek asks worriedly as he pulls up a chair next to Spencer’s bed as soon as he’s allowed to see him.

He pulls away his oxygen facemask to answer. “A bit better,” he says, but his voice is dry and raspy from the oxygen so he certainly doesn’t sound it. “The pain meds are actually working now.”

Derek’s tight, anxious expression relaxes slightly. “That’s at least something.”

Spencer nods tiredly, but before he can respond, a nurse is popping her head round the door. “Dr. Reid,” she says genially, “sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to let you know that we’ve managed to get a hold of your emergency contact, and they’re on their way.”

Spencer’s eyes widen. How could he have forgotten? Granted, he was a little preoccupied with the whole punctured lung, broken ribs thing, but how could he have let it slip his mind that this little accident would lead to the secret he’s been keeping under wraps getting out?

When he’d first met Luke at an FBI gala last year, he never could have foreseen the most intimate and special relationship of his life coming to fruition, but it had. They’d connected on so many different levels, and the chemistry between them felt like something out of one of the fantastical romance novels Penelope reads, and when he’d asked if it was okay for Spencer to put Luke down as his updated emergency contact, he’d been rewarded with a wide, beautiful grin and a firm, heartfelt kiss.

It was serious enough, sure, and they were coming up on having been together for a year, but besides Emily and Penelope — who’d met Luke and developed an amusing, playful rivalry with him — he hadn’t introduced him to anyone on the team.

“On their way?” Derek asks, raising an eyebrow in mild confusion. “Isn’t your contact Hotch? He already knows you’re in the hospital.”

Spencer just stares at him like a rabbit caught in the headlights, completely blanking on something to say. They’re working a local case, so it won’t be long before Luke is bursting into his hospital room armed with cuddles and comfort, and as much as he craves that, he’s too busy panicking about his team finding out to really look forward to it.

Eventually, after watching Derek’s face morph into even stronger, more suspicious confusion, he gives up. They’re going to find out anyway. “I’m dating someone.”

Derek’s face lights up. “Pretty boy!” he exclaims happily, playfully pushing his shoulder as gently as he can. “That’s amazing! Why didn’t you say something? What’s her name?”

Ah. That’s the primary reason he hadn’t told his team about Luke. He’s nowhere close to being ashamed about his sexuality, he accepted himself decades ago, but he’s still not worked up the courage to share that part of himself with his team. Excluding Penelope and Emily who have been together for years (he’s still baffled as to how the others haven’t caught on yet), everyone’s in the dark.

It had started as a basic survival tactic. He’d joined the FBI two years younger than the standard entry age in the early 2000s, and he was far too concerned with just getting by than living outwardly as a gay man. And then, as time went by and he knew his team was accepting and welcoming, he found it too awkward to try and correct people when they assumed he was straight. There just wasn’t ever the right time.

“I’m gay.”

Derek’s happy expression falls and for a split second, Spencer feels a flash of panic. Maybe Derek’s okay with gay people as long as they’re not his immediate friends, as long as he doesn’t playfully call them ‘pretty boy’ and play with their hair when they’re injured, maybe—

“Well, what’s his name, then?”

Spencer looks up from his panic, seeing Derek smiling again, eyes maybe even brighter than they were just seconds ago.

“Wait—”

“Spencer, if you think I’m gonna care that you’re gay — if you think any of us will care that you’re gay, then you have another thing coming,” Derek reassures him. “Wait, that isn’t why you didn’t tell us right?”

He suddenly looks distraught at the idea that Spencer might not have felt comfortable coming out to him, and Spencer rushes to correct him. “No! No, I know everyone would be fine with it, I just didn’t really know how to say it. Penelope and Emily know, but only by accident.”

Derek relaxes, chuckling a little. “I’m sure there’s quite a story there.”

Spencer blushes. “Maybe.”

“I’ll find out later,” he says confidently, winking at him, and something in Spencer loosens at the fact that Derek hasn’t changed his behaviour at all. “But I’m more interested in Mr. Sexy Emergency Contact Mystery Boyfriend Man right now.”

Spencer outright laughs at that, before wincing painfully as his ribs twinge, and he has to fit the oxygen mask around his face again and breathe deeply for a couple of breaths before the nasal cannula can suffice again.

“I met him around this time last year at an FBI gala actually,” Spencer manages. “Everyone on our team bailed except Penelope, Emily, and me. He’s called Luke and he works in the Fugitive Task Force. We just clicked as soon as we met, you know? We have this chemistry that I’ve never felt with anyone before, and we started dating pretty quickly. We actually moved in together last month when his lease was up, but we’re thinking of moving to a bigger, nicer place in Mount Pleasant. Luke’s actually had his eye on this one house that went up…”

He trails off when he notices Derek looking at him strangely, suddenly feeling self-conscious. “What?”

“Nothing,” Derek says gently. “You just look happy, pretty boy. When you started talking about Luke you got this happy, dopey smile on your face, and I’ve just never seen you like that. It’s nice.”

“Oh.” He blushes fiercely at the acknowledgement of just how soft he is for his boyfriend, but it’s not embarrassing, he’s just ridiculously happy and head over heels in love.

Still, feeling a little awkward at the attention, he raises the oxygen mask to his face just for something to do.

“Does he treat you well?” Derek asks seriously, suddenly looking like the FBI tough guy he really is.

Spencer grins and nods, pulling the mask away again. “So good. He’s one of those people that looks out for everyone before himself, you know? He listens to my rambles and tangents like he actually knows and cares about what I’m saying, and he insists on making me every meal we’re both home for. Every day off, he brings me breakfast in bed, and he’ll even suffer through my documentaries even though his favourite thing to watch is action movies. He’s the best boyfriend I could hope for.”

“Good,” Derek says fiercely, even though he’s smiling just a little at the thought of Spencer being taken care of. “But if anything ever changes, I won’t hesitate to—”

“Spencer?” Derek’s interrupted by the door flying over, and a very harried looking Luke Alvez rushing towards the bed, seemingly not noticing the man literally threatening his death right next to him. “Oh my God, Spencer, I was so worried, I thought—”

“Hey, it’s okay,” Spencer says, voice still a little weak. Can’t he at least sound convincing when he’s trying to tell these people that he’s fine? “I’m okay, I’ll be out of here before you know it.”

“Are you sure, baby? Do I need to get the doctor? Have they been looking after you, because I swear—”

“Luke,” he laughs, interrupting his worried tangent. “I’m fine, I promise.”

He watches amusedly as Luke sags with relief. “Oh thank God,” he breathes, and it’s then that he appears to notice Derek. “Oh, shit.”

He looks to Spencer with an alarmed look in his eyes, knowing full well that he isn’t out to his team yet, but before apologies can start dripping off his lips, he rushes to fill him in.

“It’s okay. I told him.”

Luke’s face brightens in an illuminating smile, his eyes wide and happy. “You did? I’m so proud of you, cariño.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Derek says, rising from his chair to shake Luke’s hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you in the last ten minutes.”

Luke grins. “All good things, I hope.”

Derek winks teasingly at Spencer. “Oh, better than good. Spencer here seems quite gone for you.”

He blushes again, but Luke just sits on the edge of his hospital bed and takes his face in his hand. “Well, I’m just as gone for him as he is for me. Probably even more so.”

“No way,” Spencer protests as vehemently as he can with an oxygen mask glued to his face again. “I definitely love you more.”

His words are half swallowed by the mask, and half muffled by the gaggle of FBI agents pouring into his room, all talking over one another loudly.

Luke jumps off the bed and stands to attention as they all quieten down, three of them in complete shock, one of them — Emily, recognising Luke — in anticipation of what’s about to happen.

“Uh,” Spencer starts unsurely, eyes flicking between his boyfriend and his team. “Meet my boyfriend?”

There’s a brief pause before everyone jumps into action again: Emily greeting him warmly, JJ introducing herself, and Hotch and Rossi giving him firm, threatening handshakes as a warning that no harm is to come to their pseudo-son.

Spencer knows they don’t have to worry about that, though, not with Luke, and they’re quickly shown that when he takes his rightful place sat on the edge of his hospital bed again, hands smoothing his hair gently.

“Thank you,” he says to Derek, voice soft and sincere as everyone’s sat leisurely around the room, doing their own thing now they’re calmed down after the initial meet and greet, “for taking care of him. I worry about him, you know, and it’s good to see that he has so many good people looking after him.”

“We all do,” Derek replies, looking over at Spencer fondly. “We’re all incredibly overprotective. Residual effects from him joining the team so young, probably.”

“I can see that,” Luke smiles, looking over at Hotch and Rossi, who still have their eyes trained on him, despite having warmed up to him quickly.

“Well between us all,” Emily interjects diplomatically, “I think we have Spencer covered. He has a lot of good people looking out for him.”

Spencer knows they all think he’s asleep, but he can’t help but say something. “I definitely do,” he slurs tiredly, causing Luke to quickly turn his attention to him, pressing a tender kiss to his forehead as he runs his fingers through his hair with the hand not intertwined with Spencer’s. “Love you.”

“I love you too, baby,” Luke murmurs. “And so does everybody in this room.”

Smiling softly and feeling safe as anything, Spencer finally gives into the heavy pull of tiredness, and lets himself drift off to sleep.

I'm such a sucker for coming out fics omg, I hope you didn't mind that element! But God, I've missed writing Ralvez fics. If anyone has any Ralvez prompts then please send them my way because I want to write them so badly but I really find it hard to find plot for them! <3

taglist: @criminalmindsvibez @suburban--gothic @strippersenseii @takeyourleap-of-faith @makaylajadewrites @iamrenstark @hotchseyebrows @reidology @spencerspecifics @tobias-hankel @goobzoop @marsjareau @garcias-bitch @oliverbrnch @im-autistic @anxious-enby @kuolonsyoja @ropoto

[pippytmi]

Howdy! For the little au trope prompt ask. 2, 2, 39. Supercorp please. Thank you! (Hope it helps your writer's block!)

Everyone knows that when the Quidditch season starts, rivalries begin.

As a general rule, Lena doesn’t mind the Gryffindors. If she had to pick a house she hated, the Slytherins would be the unfortunate lot; Veronica Sinclair and Andrea Rojas alone give the group a bad name. (That could be Lena’s own personal bias, given the fact that both girls have broken her heart, but she maintains it goes far deeper than that). But the point stands—Lena isn’t a hateful person. Generally.

There is just something about Kara Danvers that brings it out of her. The one and only Gryffindor that Lena despises is that moronic, reckless Chaser who scores nearly every single goal she takes. The Ravenclaw team is nothing to sneeze at either, but Lena hates that of all people to throw her off her game, it is a girl who blew up her broom when attempting to fly on it during her first year. Seven years that she has known Kara, and still Lena is annoyed at the mere sight of those perpetually-askew glasses, those untucked robes, that undone tie; Kara Danvers is never expected to be poised and perfect, even with all the expectations on her shoulders. She’s just so...blasé. People talk about Kara like she is destined to join a Quidditch team straight out of Hogwarts and all Kara does is stroll into the Great Hall on game day with her head in the clouds.

So far up the clouds that she apparently can’t watch where she is going, either. Lena throws Kara the nastiest glare she can muster when they just about knock each other’s heads together, but all Kara does at the sight of it is grin. She always grins, not in a way that is arrogant or snide, but stupidly amused. Stupidly amused, as if everything Lena says or does is a bloody laugh, like Lena’s simmering hatred is nothing more than an inside joke.

“Hey, Luthor,” Kara says cheerfully, and there she goes, pushing those crooked glasses up her nose. There is a scratch on one lens, and Kara has either not noticed or not bothered to repair it. “Trying to take out the competition a little early, even for you.”

“You were the one in my way, Danvers,” Lena replies tightly.

“Was I?” And here is the kicker, that golden girl charm that fools everyone: bright blue eyes peeking out beneath those eyelashes, hand rubbing at the back of her neck, undone tie slipping an inch further. Kara tilts her head unassumingly as if that is even an actual question.

It makes Lena furious. “Here’s a tip,” she says, “for here and the Quidditch field. Maybe if you got your head out of your ass, you could actually see where you’re headed.”

Kara has the audacity to look affronted. “Is this because of the Brainy incident during training? Because he and I agreed that it was a joint effort. Joint…blame. Whatever you call it.”

Lena rolls her eyes. “Just keep your aggression to yourself, Danvers,” she mutters, and then she resolutely brushes past. She has no time for blank, witty banter, especially when this is the year’s first game and she has a team to rally.

“My—? Hey,” Kara’s voice rings out, louder than necessary, and that idiot is actually following her. “Hey, wait. Lena. Do you seriously think I’m aggressive? It was an accident! Both times!” A beat. “I mean both the Brainy thing and right now. I didn’t knock into Brainy twice. I did knock James off his broom once, but you probably don’t care about that since he’s not from your house, so…well anyway, just so you know, that was also an accident.”

“I have zero interest in your training squabbles,” Lena says exasperatedly, “and you’d do well to keep that in mind.”

“Oh so this is about the Brainy incident,” Kara says. “How many times do I have to say that the training pitch was ours?”

“According to you,” Lena counters. With that she whirls around, nearly colliding into Kara’s chest, but she still manages to lift her head up high and stare down that egotistical jackass. “I know you might think you’re entitled to any space you waltz into, but some of us mere mortals actually schedule training sessions. You know, like we’re supposed to.”

“I did schedule the—!” Kara has a tendency to become flustered mid-argument, it seems, because her mouth opens but no words come blustering out. Finally she settles on scowling when she declares, “You are a piece of work, you know that? Would it kill you to apologize to me once in a while?”

“That would imply that you have apologized to me at some point,” Lena scoffs. “Which you haven’t, for the record.”

“Yes I have,” Kara is quick to disagree.

Lena crosses her arms; it’s a challenge, and Kara immediately stands a little straighter when she notices. “Oh?” Lena prompts. “Like when?”

“Like…when I knocked into Brainy.”

“I fail to see how I fit in that scenario,” Lena says, “since you didn’t break my nose.”

Kara gives a little huff, as if this back and forth is all so inconvenient right now; as if she hasn’t instigated it. “Okay, but I apologized for disrupting your practice, remember? I took complete responsibility even though it was your fault you couldn’t keep track of when your team was scheduled—”

“That was not an apology. You literally said ‘Sorry Luthor, we need this more than you do’ and then refused to leave for the next half hour!”

“But I said sorry in there, ergo, it is an apology.”

“Well then, when my team beats yours to dust I’ll be sure to apologize properly for that in that exact same sympathetic manner,” Lena sneers.

Somehow, trash talk only makes that dumb, signature Kara Danvers grin come back, completely wiping away any sign of vexation. “Oh yeah? Tell me more, wise old Ravenclaw—”

Before Lena can even begin to dissect that childish comeback (and stupid sing-songy imitation of the Sorting Hat), other students come filtering down the hall and they are practically swept up in the masses. One kid completely shoulders Lena before she even realizes what’s happening; she stumbles to the left, nearly collides with the wall, and opens her mouth to shout, but then:

“Hey!” Kara is already brandishing her wand with one hand and catching the boy’s collar with the other. “Ten points from Hufflepuff! You could’ve hurt someone, walking around without looking where you’re going.”

Lena bites her tongue to stop from making a quip on how ironic that statement is, because Kara is engrossed in a stare-off with the pimply sixth year who is demanding to see her prefect badge to prove Kara can even take points. She would normally side with the kid—anything to knock Kara Danvers down a peg—but, well. For once, Lena can’t be bothered to actively hate someone getting into a heated argument on her behalf.

Two minutes later and the boy stomps off with ten points gone from his house and a detention to boot. Kara, meanwhile, is still frowning as he leaves. “Are you okay?” she asks absentmindedly, still tracking the kid’s every movement with her eyes. “I swear, if there weren’t so many witnesses I would’ve hexed him.”

“Winning move for a prefect, I’m sure,” Lena says dryly, and Kara turns towards her with that slow-growing buffoonish smile and another sheepish nudge of her glasses. Her next words kind of just fall out, almost as if she’d never formed them in her mouth but in the deep recesses of her subconscious alone: “You know, you confuse me.”

“Huh?” Another nudge. The smile slips a fraction, but just enough to show Kara is slightly confused by the change in subject.

You confuse me, Lena wants to repeat. You are the opposite of self-aware. You are messy, and reckless, and selfless whenever it counts and it’s confusing because all I can really hate you for is being able to get away with being imperfect and still be adored by everyone.

But none of those words, thankfully, leave her head. All she says is, “Your approach to discipline confuses me. It’s not like he purposely tried to run into me—ten points might have been too harsh.”

“This coming from the girl who once threatened to curse me into oblivion for tripping her when we were twelve?” Kara’s eyebrows shoot up. “Who are you and what have you done to Lena Luthor? No, hold on, I know. You’re really Jess in disguise, right?”

“Hilarious, Danvers. I wouldn’t quit Quidditch, it might be the only place you’re suited for,” Lena mocks, but all Kara does is laugh.

“Nope, definitely Lena,” Kara says, and the way she says it is almost…fond. Come to think of it, Lena can’t remember a time where Kara actually called her Lena. It’s always Luthor and Danvers and stop breaking the faces of my best players and never—never anything else.

Lena clears her throat and looks away; she can’t take another second of those warm, bright eyes. “Whatever,” she says. “I…guess I’ll see you on the pitch.”

“Sure thing,” Kara says, and she takes a step back, tucking her wand into her pocket. “I’ll be the one rocking the winning team uniform.”

Slowly, Lena begins to feel the corner of her mouth twitch. Completely unbidden, completely unpredictable. “Dream on, Danvers.” She allows the space between them to grow, but their eyes remain locked, and the air feels heavy—thick—and the weight of their shared gaze holds a meaning Lena can’t possibly unpack right now.

But Kara’s tongue pokes out between her teeth cheerfully, and she doesn’t appear half as bothered by this development. “Always, if you’re in them,” she says, twists a little on her heel to walk away, but she pauses while she is still in earshot. “You know—next time you can just thank me for defending you.”

“You mean abusing your power as a prefect,” Lena replies automatically even as her head is running a mile a minute; even as Kara is getting farther and farther away and the scratch on her glasses lens catches the light.

“That too!” Kara shouts as she gets lost in the crowd, and damn her, Lena has to put her hand over her mouth to hide the absolute idiotic smile that has formed on her own face.

(Joint blame indeed, Lena muses, and she figures that she might as well form a rivalry with the Slytherins instead of the Gryffindors after all).

[hxneekyuu]

accidental kiss || tsukishima kei, ennoshita chikara, miya atsumu, lev haiba

request :  Hey Can I request a headcanon or one shot with Haikyuu characters (any of your choices) having an accidental kiss with their crush, you know, the cliché romance scene in drama's where the girl fell and male catches her and end ups kissing, or something when the girl turn around not noticing the close distance between the male, and their lips touches. Anything that is accidental

warnings : miya atsumu, Suna Gets a Haircut

a/n : so i did one of those random hq generator things bc i could only decide on one boi and that was tsukki,,, the results made me laugh so here you go -- btw these are all gonna be pre-dating bc thats just wonderful we love that

tsukishima kei

this is definitely all tsukkis fault

you two are at your house just vibing and at some point you head into the kitchen to make food

and hes leaning against the counter right in front of the cabinet you need to get to

but he has the audacity not to move the fuck outta the way when you tell him you need to get past 

so youre like ok fuck it and just reach around him to open it 

but the bowl you need is pretty high up so youre like on your tippy toes tryna get the damn thing and hes just sitting there watching you struggle 

instead of helping you like he isnt damn near 6′3″

but riiiiight as youve got the bowl, you end up grabbing it a little too forcefully and you bring like a million dishes down with it 

so ofc even though he definitely deserves it, youre not trying to concuss the poor guy with literal ceramic dishes raining down on him 

so you kinda lunge forward to stop them all from falling 

and, hearing the crash of dishes over his head, he naturally ducks because he doesnt want to die

honestly,,,, its more of a crash of your noses and foreheads but theres such chaos of like,,, trying not to die?? 

that at some point you just feel his mouth on yours and it deadass just stays there while you both are figuring out what the hell is happening 

eventually he kinda pulls back but only a little bc he knows youre struggling to hold onto the dishes and he doesnt wanna screw that up

and he doesnt even say anything he just reaches up awkwardly and helps you set the dishes back on the shelf

and then he grabs the bowl youd been trying the get the entire time and hands it to you with a completely blank face 

its a very awkward dinner im not gonna lie

mostly bc at some point he just starts cracking jokes about it and refuses to acknowledge it seriously bc he sucks

ennoshita chikara

ennoshita’s taking a break from studying with the second years on the team

mostly bc he never gets any studying done with them 

so youre studying together for a test at his house

and its just been many many hours of studying so ofc youre both exhausted

so its not surprising to him when you just pass out on your notes

but the thing is,,, your heads right on top of a sheet that he needs

and for a while he just kinda studies without it

he studies other stuff and tries to remember it on his own so he can fill in the gap in his notes

but eventually hes like fuck i really need these notes

so he just,,, tries to slide it out from under your head really carefully

and it involves a lot of him getting really close and trying to lift your head and a bunch of really soft cute things that would be super embarrassing for him to be caught doing

like,,, if you happened to wake up

which of course, you do

and youre really confused bc you can feel his breath fanning over your face and his eyes are really close but not focused on you, theyre focused on smth under your face

so you lift your head to see what hes doing

but he freaks out and moves his face when he notices youre awake

and its just a litto brush of your lips over his as your faces are passing each other

but the poor bub jumps back like you just shocked the crap out of him

and then he apologizes for like the next ten minutes and its impossible to get back to studying bc youre both just panicking internally

miya atsumu

this literally happens like it does in the movies

it all starts with a chase scene

that really you should never have been a part of

youre just minding your business walking down the hall after school on your way to get your stuff

and its pretty empty bc you had a club thing so its late afternoon and no ones around

and you just hear it

men screaming

and then he appears, barreling around the corner like his life depends on it

and youre like

this cant be good

and when he sees you hes yelling out for you like HELP ME 

but you somehow always manage to get caught in the miya twin antics so youre like

fuck no im out

but apparently youre not out bc atsumus grabbing your arm and dragging you behind him yelling smth about scissors and a haircut

and when you look back you just see suna rounding the corner, half of his little triangle haircut chopped off so he looks like a sad half onigiri,,,

but you know it was atsumu and that this man is definitely dead when suna catches him

so youre like okay fuck it i guess im helping him AGAIN 

and you get outside to a section of the school where theres still sports teams practicing and lots of people around so you hide in a corner together

but the Suna Energy is approaching so atsumu fuckin freaks and does that cheesy movie thing where he ducks his head down so he wont be seen 

but theres like a group of guys passing by and one of them just bumps into atsumus back and that shit just sends him right into you

and all he can think is “oops”

he only has one brain cell give him a break

but he just stalls completely and forgets about the whole suna thing

but ofc his hair is fucking piss yellow and suna has not forgotten

he ends up totally getting his ass beat  but after that little smooch atsumus definitely a bit keen to see you more often 

lev haiba

i fucking love this gif look at the litto shoyou go

this tall babie does not know the meaning of personal space he has no functional understanding of a Bubble

honestly he probably gets dangerously close to kissing you on a regular basis, considering you’re seatmates in class

he’s just ALWAYS in your space

at first he’s probably shy bc he doesn’t know you

but once you become friends he’s like THIS IS NOT YOUR DESK THIS IS JUST MY SECOND DESK

so every day there’s always one thing that’s super dangerous

last week it was him looking over your shoulder while you did work silently

yesterday it was him reaching across you to open the window on your left side

today he just really wants a bite of the bread you bought and are currently already eating

and when he wants smth, he gets Very Whiny

he’s so clingy and adorable that you can’t ever get mad

he’s like a little puppy how can you resist him

so when you’re finally like okay fine you can have a bite he’s like

MONCH

he doesn’t even wait for you to tear off a piece he just leans in for a bite

but you had said yes while in the middle of biting it so he essentially does that thing where you’re both biting it at the same time

but, again, he doesn’t know what personal space means

so he also doesn’t have the ability to gauge distances well

so he straight up just meets you halfway and presses his mouth to yours while he’s biting down

the boi probably doesn’t even notice

he just pulls back quickly once he has his bite and goes about his life

you literally are going to have to tell him he just kissed you

and after that he’s a total fucking mess

he doesn’t know what to do he never knows what to do

he’s just going to keep causing Chaos while he panics

[ptergwen]

i got a funny blurb request

you know how some boys think that pads are stuck onto the vag, not the underwear? peter is one of those boys... so imagine peter being like “does it hurt to take your pad off? is that why women cry on their period?”

LMFAOOOOO he’s a dummy he definitely would

“ok, pads... lots of pads and some tampons just in case,” peter explains as he puts down two full shopping bags on the coffee table.

you’d gotten your period over at his place this morning. it was no big deal, though. you could make a quick trip to the store, clean up after. there was a change of plans when you took tylenol and passed out instead. being the thoughtful boyfriend peter is, he decided to go get everything you need while you napped. he can’t fully understand the pain you go through each month, but he can do his part to ease it.

“may helped me figure out what to buy. i didn’t wanna wake you up.” he lays in the spot you leave for him on the couch, giving your forehead a warm kiss. you hum and hug his torso. “thank you for going, petey. tell may i say thanks, too.” brushing stray hairs out of your face, he smiles. “no thanks necessary, baby. we love you.” he’s now peppering kisses to your cheeks as you smile back. “i love you more. so much more.”

“debatable. are your cramps any better?” peter wonders, bringing a hand to your stomach. his fingers rub soothing circles like they were doing earlier. “yeah, i think the tylenol worked. keep doing this, though,” you sigh and let your legs tangle with his. “anything you want, princess. whatever feels good,” he speaks softly and continues his movements. your face nuzzles into his shoulder.

“you never call me that. must really feel bad for me,” you laugh out, your ankles locked around one of his thighs. peter presses his lips together innocently. “well, yeah. don’t periods hurt, like, a lot? i only know a little about them from may.” nodding, you remove your face from his shoulder and cup his cheek. “they don’t just hurt. they ruin your life for about a week. seriously, it’s insufferable.”

“every single person with a uterus has my respect,” peter announces, putting his free hand over yours. you swipe your thumb over his skin and peck his lips. “as we should. can you hand me a box of pads?” “course, princess.” he leans forward and grabs one out of the bag, holding it out to you. “here.” “thanks. i’m gonna go put one on.” you pinch his cheek before getting up from the couch.

“wait, y/n?” peter calls after you. you stop on your way to the bathroom, turning around. “yeah?” “do those hurt, too? when you take them off?” he’s frowning as he looks at the box in your hands. “uh, no. why would they hurt?” you try not to smile. “because, um, don’t they go on your...” he trails off for a second so you can fill in the blank. “you stick them on... there.”

his face stays completely serious and concerned, so you know he’s not joking. guys can be so ridiculously clueless.

“peter, peter. no. we actually don’t,” you correct him gently, watching his mouth twitch open. “what? i don’t understand... how do they stay on, then?” he’s genuinely shocked. for someone who’s supposed to be a genius, he sure doesn’t act like it. you head back over to the couch and sit down next to him.

“well,” you set the pads on the table. “we put them in our panties. there is a sticky side, but that goes face down. it just keeps the pad in place.” you’re biting back a grin, peter looking at you in awe. “so, they don’t go on your...” “no. god, no. how would that even work?” he scratches his neck in embarrassment of his lack of menstrual cycle knowledge. “i guess it wouldn’t. you can’t pee or anything. unless-“

“the american education system has failed you so bad,” you giggle, peter rolling his eyes at himself. “i should learn some more on my own, too. gotta get educated on these things.” moving in closer, you wind your arm around his neck. “you don’t have to do it alone. i could answer your questions.”

“you’d really do that?” peter looks over at you with heart eyes. “you shouldn’t have to... it’s my job.” “but, i want to. i don’t mind, petey,” you reiterate. “makes me happy you’re interested.” he leans his head on yours, arm wrapping around your middle. “okay, let’s do it.” you smile up at him.

“let me go to the bathroom, then i��ll give you your first lesson.”

[selenavtl]

Travels of a Broken Heart (Thranduil x reader): Chapter 7

If the Company escaped, the hope of taking Erebor back wasn’t completely lost. I don’t blame them for leaving me here though, my cell is so deep in the realm that they couldn’t have found me. Hope is quickly replaced by fear when Thranduil pays me a visit later in the day. I thought guards would follow him, but none are there. The King approaches and sits on the stairs next to my cell, just like Legolas did. 

-“How did they escape Y/n?” he asks immediately.  

-“How could I know? I have been in here the whole time.” 

I perfectly know that a certain burglar was probably their way to escape, but I obviously can’t say this to Thranduil.  

-“Do not mistake me for a fool Y/n. There is obviously someone else with you. Who? 

-Do you really believe I will tell you? Ask your guards, they are the ones who caught us after all.” 

The elf gets up then and approaches the door. “You are smarter than that. Your little friends are chased by a pack of Orcs. My guards killed some of them, but the others ran away. Do you think the dwarves will survive with no weapons?” 

It hurts to admit it, but he is right. With no weapons, they don’t stand a chance. 

-“And if I tell you, what will you do? Bring them back into your cells? 

-Yes. Indeed. 

-Then everything we did to come all the way here would be in vain. I am sorry but you are going to have to figure it out on your own. They are indeed in danger, but it’s still better than imprisonment.” 

He groans and turns away from the door. I thought we were done, but no... it’s Thranduil after all. 

-“I was right though. They left you here. They don’t care about you.” he says, starting to walk away. 

-“No Thranduil, you wish they wouldn’t care. Do you really want me to come back here that bad?” 

He stops and turns to me again. Great, now he is angry. “Do not pretend to know what I want, or feel.” 

-“Isn’t that what you do too? You pretend to know that I do not actually love you, or that the dwarves do not care about me. But the truth is, you don’t know anything, Thranduil. 

-Stop disrespecting me! I know enough to be sure you indeed, don’t love me. 

-Is that so? Do you know you actually broke my heart then?” 

That’s it, I said it. And by the Valar, does it feel good to say it to him out loud. The king’s face goes blank and he steps back.  

-“It cannot be. I am not dead, nor am I fading. "he says slowly. 

-“Well, I guess my love is so strong that you only had to really hurt me. I told you, you don’t know everything.” 

He studies me for a moment, in silence. I swear I can see every emotion flash in his eyes; relief, sadness, fear, and even a bit of joy, something I think he didn't feel in a while. But everything is gone quickly, and his beautiful eyes become cold and distant again.  

-“My son caught an orc earlier. He spoke about darkness, and Sauron coming back. Do you know anything about that?” 

It’s my turn to turn away. Gandalf told me to not speak of Sauron, but Thranduil is aware of it now. I only hope nothing about our fathers has been revealed, 

-“Answer me. Before I seriously start to lose any bit of patience I still have left.” he says.  

-“Yes, I am aware. And it is most likely true. The Nine have been awaken...Azog is only a way for Sauron to take hold of the Lonely Mountain...” 

The king’s eyes immediately fill with fear.

-“Then you will stay here. I may not feel for you but I do not want to see you die. Even less for the quest of these dwarves.” 

Before I get a chance to respond, he goes away, leaving me with a head full of questions. “I do not want to see you die”? Does that mean he actually cares, even if just a bit, for me? Or does he only think I would be useful? The old Thranduil wouldn’t think like this, but this one, I don’t know. The night goes on, without a second of sleep yet again, and these questions making their way back any time I try to change my mind.  

In the early morning (considering the noises coming from up in the realm), I hear light footsteps and the clinking of keys coming my way. Who I thought would be a guard bringing me breakfast, is none other than the young prince, Legolas himself.  

-“Hurry up, you are coming with me.” he orders as he opens the door of my cell. 

-“Wait, where are we going? 

-“We are going to find your friends. I will explain later but hurry for now.” 

I immediately get up and follow the prince, as he leads the way out of the dungeons, carefully avoiding any guard that could ask too many questions.  

-“I heard you and my father talk about what is coming up yesterday. He won’t do anything, but I am not going to sit here and do nothing.”  

He stops when we hear two of the guards approaching and pulls me into what looks like a bedroom. The place’s only furnitures are a bed, a wardrobe and a desk covered in books. The rest of the room is filled with plants and archery training items.  

-“Is that your room?” I ask. 

He smiles as he shuffles through his wardrobe. “How did you guess?” 

-“The archery items mostly...but your name meaning green leaf and the plants everywhere was also too big of a coincidence.” 

He chuckles and hands me my weapons, along with my bag, and the sword Gandalf gave me. 

-“Do you trust me that much?” I ask jokingly as I put my weapons back in their place.  

-“I actually do. Come now, we must go. Tauriel is already on her way to your friends.” 

Just as we are to leave the room, a familiar elf stops us. Thranduil. 

-“Do you really think I am not aware of my son’s every move in the realm?” he asks. 

Legolas steps before me then, face to face with his father.  

-“We are leaving father...do not try to stop us. 

-I know I cannot stop you, ion. But I can stop her.” the king says, looking at me. 

-“I have to go Thranduil...I will not change my mind.” 

He doesn’t say anything, nor move, so Legolas takes the lead again and walks past his father, me following me.  Before I can walk away, Thranduil’s hand grabs my wrist and spins me around to look at him. The same fear I saw when I told him about Sauron is back in his eyes, that are staring right into mine. 

-“Do not go...” his voice has never been like this. Shaky and insecure. 

Once again, I do the opposite of what my heart says: 

-"I am sorry, aran nin...I cannot stay..."

He looks at me for a few seconds, lost, before letting go of my wrist. Before I can change my mind, I rush away and join Legolas near one of the doors leading outside.  

-“Are you alright?” he asks as he climbs on bis white horse that was waiting for us.  

I climb on it too, trying very hard not to go back inside the realm. 

-“Yes. Let’s go...” 

The prince nods and rides away, in the direction of Laketown.  

Elvish translation:

Ion = son

Aran nin = my king

Author's note: Leggy is here to save the day ♡ I hope you like Bard because...;) thanks for reading ♡

[artificialqueens]

Late Night Talking (Camgeria) - Athena2

Angeria is expecting just another guest when Camden enters her inn during a thunderstorm. She falls in love instead. 

(Companion to the Stardust AU, You Must Be My Lucky Star).

So happy to finish this one!! So this is Camden and Angeria's story as talked about in You Must Be My Lucky Star. You don't need to read that first, but you totally can if you want!! Thank you to everyone who commented on that one about wanting to read Camden and Angeria's story. I really hope you like this, and please leave feedback if you like!!

Title from Late Night Talking by Harry Styles.

Rain pounds on the roof of the inn, drowning out even Angeria’s noisiest patrons. The wind is howling and probably blowing everything around outside, though the rain is too thick to see anything through the windows. 

Angeria fills another glass with ale, almost dropping it when thunder booms overhead. She’s glad she’s not out in this. There was a flurry of people when it started, desperate for the first shelter they could find. Things have settled now; no one would be out in this if they didn’t have to, and no one would pick this inn unless there was nothing closer. 

Thunder rumbles again, and the door opens with it, revealing a slim figure with red hair. She’s completely soaked through and shaking from the cold rain, with drops of it falling off her and pooling on the floor. 

She stands in the doorway like she’s in a daze or unsure what to do, and Angeria slowly makes her way over to her. 

Up close, Angeria can see a few freckles on her fair skin, see the tangles in her wet hair from the rain and wind. She’s oddly tense, her shoulders drawn up tight, eyes blank like she hasn’t noticed Angeria in front of her. She has a bag on each arm and a trunk in her trembling hand. It’s a nice trunk with a fancy crest on the top, embossed with what Angeria thinks might be real gold. 

“Brought your whole life with you, huh?” Angeria asks, trying to relieve the woman’s tension.

Amid all the raindrops rolling down the woman’s face, Angeria sees her eyes water with tears. She’s clearly upset about something, upset enough that she came here in a storm, and it’s not Angeria’s place to bother her about it. 

“I’m sorry, forget I said anything. It’s not my business. Do you need a room?”

The woman nods. 

Angeria grabs a room key and the woman wordlessly hands her the payment. 

“If you need anything, just ask, okay? I’m Angeria.”

“Camden,” the woman says softly, and then she goes to her room. 

—

Angeria watches the stairway closely the next day, looking for a glimpse of red hair. She even asks Bosco, who does the night shifts, to keep an eye out. But Camden never shows. Angeria doesn’t know why she cares so much. It’s not like she knows anything about Camden beyond her name, spoken in a voice so soft and sweet it lingers in her ears. And she never cares what her guests get up to, as long as they don’t destroy their rooms. She pushes it out of her mind. 

When she doesn’t show the second morning, Angeria can’t dismiss the worry in her chest. The rooms have water, but unless Camden brought food with her, she hasn’t eaten since she got here. Not to mention how tense and scared she’d seemed. Maybe something was really wrong. It can’t hurt just to check on her. Noon hits and Angeria is at the door before she knows it, knocking lightly. 

“Camden?”

“Come in.” A faint reply comes from behind the door, and Angeria steps inside cautiously.

The room is still neat, with all her luggage piled in the corner. In the daylight, she can see the crest on Camden’s trunk better, and she’s pretty sure it belongs to an earl from the east. 

Camden’s in bed, just a tuft of red hair peeking out above the blanket that’s clenched tight around her. A harsh cough sounds from somewhere in the bed, and then Camden’s head emerges, looking even paler than when she got here. 

“Sorry, are you looking for me?” she asks hoarsely. She has gray shadows under her eyes, and Angeria winces at disturbing her when she obviously should be sleeping. 

“I just wanted to check on you, since you haven’t been down in two days,” Angeria says, hoping it doesn’t sound as weird as it does in her head. 

“Oh, I—”

“And it’s a good thing I did, since you’re sick,” Angeria continues. She may not know Camden well—or at all, really—but taking care of her guests has always been important to her. Especially ones who are coughing and sniffling and shivering like this. She quickly grabs extra blankets from the hall cupboard and starts tossing them over Camden.

“You don’t have to do that,” Camden protests. 

“I want to.”

“It’s just a chill. I’ll be fine in a day or two.”

“Right, but I still want to help.”

“Angeria—“

“I like helping people, it’s no bother.” 

“It’s just, um, I don’t think I need quite this many blankets.” 

The words are slightly muffled, and Angeria realizes that, in her desperation to help, she’s completely buried Camden under five heavy blankets. 

“Sorry!” She pulls away four and smooths out the remaining one. 

“It’s all right.” Camden’s lips twitch into a hesitant smile, the first one Angeria has seen. It makes her even prettier somehow. “About the other night,” Camden begins.

“You don’t have to explain anything,” Angeria says. 

Camden shakes her head. “I was…running from something. An arranged marriage to a lord.” She takes a quick breath and goes on, like she doesn’t want to leave any room for Angeria to properly react or even think about that. “I was wondering if I would be able to stay here for a while. I’ll pay for the room now.” 

“Oh, you don’t have to—“

But Camden is sitting up and reaching for a bag she has on the nightstand. Coins clink inside and she gives Angeria enough gold for three months. It’s the most anyone’s ever paid at once. 

“Thank you,” Angeria says. There’s a pause, and then she jumps back into caretaker mode, because that’s something she knows, something to focus on beyond Camden’s blue eyes. “Are you hungry? I can bring you soup.” 

Camden fidgets with the edge of the blanket. “I don’t want to trouble you.” 

“Hey, it’s no trouble, I promise.” 

Camden nods, and Angeria runs to the kitchen, coming back up much slower so she doesn’t spill the soup. 

Camden accepts the bowl with a grateful nod, pulling herself up to eat it. Angeria hovers, unsure what to do. It’s way too weird to stand here while Camden eats, she decides. 

“If you need anything else, just let me know,” she says. 

“Thank you, Angeria,” Camden says, and Angeria’s name sounds so much more special when she says it. 

“Of course.” Angeria heads back downstairs, and Camden’s smile lingers.

—

“It’s really nice down here. I didn’t notice that first night.” Camden is at the bar just before noon the next day, and Angeria almost drops her spoon when she sees her. She’s still sniffling a little, but her eyes are bright and warm, the shadows beneath them gone, along with that tension in her shoulders. 

“Thank you.” Angeria beams. She puts a lot of work into the inn, polishing the lanterns on the walls and making sure the oak tables shine. “Are you hungry? I can make you breakfast.”

“I’d love some. If it’s half as good as your soup, I’m sure it’s amazing.”

Angeria’s cheeks burn. She knows people love her food, because they always clear their plates and ask for more. But no one’s ever complimented her quite so kindly. 

“Do you feel better?” Angeria asks, trying to get the focus off her cooking as she gives Camden a plate of eggs, bacon, and crispy potatoes. 

“A lot better.”

Angeria nods. “You look better. Not that you looked bad before!” she adds, blushing once again. “I just mean—”

“Sleeping helped a lot,” Camden says kindly, sparing Angeria from saying anything else. “I was traveling for a while.”

There’s a hint of what she mentioned yesterday, the arranged marriage that brought her here. Angeria has been trying not to think about it, because it isn’t her business, and as much as she likes talking to her guests about their lives, she isn’t going to pry unless the offer is there. 

“Do you have any plans for today?” Angeria asks, grinning as Camden joyfully eats her eggs. 

“Do you have any recommendations? I’ve never been here.”

Angeria knows just about every building in town, and she pulls them all out in times like this. She loves suggesting a place to one of her guests and having them come back raving to her about it, and she’s developed a knack for guessing what place would be perfect for what particular guest. But Camden’s still a bit of a mystery. Angeria thinks of the gold crest on her luggage, the graceful, delicate way she picks up her fork. “There’s a theatre in town,” Angeria says, taking a guess. “It’s nothing fancy, but they do lots of plays and ballets sometimes.”

Camden’s eyes light up. “I think I’ll go there, then. Thank you,” she says, and Angeria watches her graceful exit. 

When she comes back and gushes about the theatre, Angeria knows her intuition won again. 

—

“Do you need help with those?” It’s Camden asking; Angeria knows her voice, even if she can’t actually see her over the stack of plates in her arms. 

“No, I got it,” Angeria mumbles. 

“You can’t even see over that, can you?” Camden asks. 

“Nope.”

A few layers of dishes suddenly lift off the top of the pile, revealing Camden’s worried expression. 

“You don’t have to do that, I can get them—”

“It’s no trouble,” Camden says, just like Angeria had said when she wanted to take care of her. She follows Angeria to the bar, setting the plates down next to hers. 

“Thank you.” Angeria fidgets with the edge of a plate, unsure of what to do. She’s used to helping people, but she isn’t used to getting anything back. Even after hiring Bosco for the night shifts, Angeria still took most of the inn’s work—cleaning, cooking, laundry—upon herself. She’s gotten used to doing it all herself. 

“Of course.” Camden sits at the bar and opens a book, and Angeria goes back to her kitchen duties. 

When Angeria is finally done, she boils some water to try out the new tea her friend Willow gave her. 

“What’s that?” Camden peeks up from her book, distracted by the tea’s aroma. Her eyebrows are drawn together in curiosity, and Angeria tries not to think of how cute it makes her look. 

“This is a new tea from the tea shop in town. They give me all kinds of special samples. This one should taste like summer berries.”

“It smells really good,” Camden says, and Angeria wordlessly fills another mug and slides it over to her. 

They take their first sips together, gleeful eyes meeting over the steam from their cups. 

“How was your day?” Camden asks.

Angeria pauses, taken aback by the question. She asks about people all day long, but no one has ever asked how her day was. No one has ever really cared about her that way. Especially not with the careful attention Camden is giving her, arms folded and eyes patient. 

“It was pretty good. I went into town for supplies, and my friend Daya let me pet her new dog. He was really fluffy.”

“I love dogs!” Camden says. 

Angeria grins. “Me too. And this one lady was being nasty to Daya, and the dog started barking and scared the lady off.” 

They laugh together, and it’s the hardest Angeria has laughed in a long time. 

—

It becomes a routine. Every night, Angeria pours two cups of tea, and then, instead of sitting at the bar, she leads Camden behind the secret door to her private space. The back part of the tavern’s first floor is her own little apartment, with her bedroom, a bathroom, a library, and a living room by the fire, all hers, away from the patrons. Every night, she and Camden sit by the fire and talk. 

“How did you start running the inn?” Camden asks one night, sipping her tea.

“It was my parents’ place. I would always help my mom in the kitchen. I loved talking to all the guests too.” Angeria smiles at the memory of dragging a chair to the bar counter so she could see all the patrons coming in and out. “A few years ago they decided to retire, and I took it over. I always wanted to.”

She had loved being at the inn so much that her taking it over was more of a when than an if. It was logistically easier, since that way her parents wouldn’t have to sell the place, but really, it was all Angeria had ever wanted. To provide that comforting place for weary travelers like her parents had, to have different parts of the world all under this roof.

“It suits you,” Camden says. “You seem perfect for it. You’re so good with all the guests.” 

“You think so?” 

“Yeah. There’s something about you. When people walk in, you make them feel like they’re home.”

Angeria knows Camden really means it, and her heart leaps with pride. Camden understands her in a way no one else has, or even tried to. She sees Angeria, sees how hard she works and how much she wants to help everyone at the inn. She's the kind of company Angeria didn't even know she was missing.

“Thank you.” 

“Of course.” 

Then Camden asks about Angeria’s best and worst guests she’s had over the years, and they stay up talking and laughing until long past midnight.

—

Angeria’s only brought a few people back to her private area, some men and women that she talked to and maybe shared a kiss with, just for a night or two. But with Camden, days become weeks, until she’s been here for five months, talking to Angeria and helping her out when things are busy, and suddenly Angeria can’t remember what it was like without her. 

For how quiet and scared she was on that first night, Camden is always warm and relaxed when they talk at night. She talks much more now, every word coming easier. It’s like she’s not used to talking much. Or not used to having someone who will listen. 

Angeria loves talking to her too. Sure, she’s always had someone to talk to, by running the inn. Merchants and knights and poets from all over the country, there for a day or two, then gone, never saying much to her beyond asking for a room and food. But Camden is there, every night, constant in a way Angeria’s never really had before, being with her in a way that no one's ever been. Angeria’s always been able to count on people. But she’s never been able to count on one specific person.

They’re side by side on the couch, as close as they’ve ever been while they sip rosewater tea, and it feels right to Angeria. Like the spot beside her on the couch has always been waiting for Camden to fill it. 

“I like this tea,” Camden says, taking her last sip. “It reminds me of the rose garden back home. It’s probably the only thing I really miss.”

The mention of her life before this is there, like a dangling rope for Angeria to grab, and from the look on Camden’s face, it seems like she wants Angeria to take it.

“I…I know we’ve never brought it up before, but I was wondering about that marriage you mentioned. And how you ended up here. But only if you want to talk about it,” Angeria says cautiously. 

Camden hugs her knees to her chest. “I want to tell you. I’ve been trying to figure out how, because it feels like I’ve been lying to you.”

“Keeping stuff to yourself isn’t lying to me,” Angeria soothes. “It’s okay.”

Camden nods. “The truth is, I’m a Lady. From East Lynaria.”

“Okay.” Angeria has known for a while that Camden had to have some kind of noble connection, and finding it out doesn’t change things. Because she’s always been Camden to Angeria, no title needed.

“You don’t seem surprised.”

Angeria shrugs. “You have a bag of gold and a gold seal on your trunk. And you’re so graceful. Plus you hold your tea all fancy, like a Lady.” 

“I do not!” Camden squeaks.

“Yes you do.” Angeria laughs, grabbing her empty teacup and trying to copy the poised way Camden holds it. From Camden’s laugh, it’s a spot-on recreation. 

“Okay, fine. Maybe I do that.” Camden’s grin fades as she turns serious again. “Part of being a Lady involved an arranged marriage with a Lord. I delayed it as long as I could, but I ended up engaged to Lord Walter. I only met him once, when the engagement was arranged. He was…strict.”

“What do you mean?” Angeria asks, though from the fear in Camden’s eyes, she isn’t sure she wants to know. 

“He had rules I had to follow after the marriage. No dancing except for balls, no reading, no gardening. Those were my favorite things to do.” She shrinks into the couch. “My only job was to produce sons for him, and I had to do that whenever he wanted. I didn’t…I didn’t think I could ever be happy there. So I left a week before the wedding.” She wipes her eyes before tears can fall. 

Angeria’s heart clenches, and she gently wraps an arm around Camden, pulling her close. Lynaria is at least two days of walking from here, and Camden had done it all by herself, seeking comfort and safety somewhere. Angeria is just glad she’s been able to give it to her. 

“Are you happy here?” Angeria asks.

“The happiest I’ve ever been,” Camden says softly. She leans in closer, resting her head on Angeria’s shoulder. Angeria doesn’t dare move an inch, can’t even take in a breath at having her so close. 

Angeria wants to tell her it’s okay, but that’s pointless, really, because Camden knew her situation wasn’t okay, and got herself out of it. She wants to tell her that she would never make her do anything she didn’t want to do, that she would always want Camden to be happy. 

“You know,” Angeria says, “that little patch by the door would be a great place for a garden.” 

—

Early the next morning, Camden pulls her red hair back and gets to work, the sun shining off the gentle curves of her forearms as she hums to herself. She plants seeds and some flowers and comes back sweaty and smiling, with a rose for Angeria that she immediately presses between a book, because she wants to keep it forever. 

—

Summer comes, and the seeds Camden planted sprout out of the dirt and reach for the sun. Inside, every time Angeria reaches for a plate that Camden hands her by the sink, it feels like she’s reaching for the sun too. Camden has insisted on helping more and more, sweeping the floor while Angeria wipes the counter and they trade conversations about their days, drying dishes at Angeria’s side in an easy silence punctuated by Camden’s quiet humming. The more she’s helped, the more Angeria has lowered her room fee, and she’s not even charging Camden at all anymore. 

It’s been a long day, and Angeria is grateful to have Camden at her side to dry the dishes. 

“The mashed potatoes were a hit, huh?” Angeria asks, rinsing another already-clean plate. 

“Of course they were. Your cooking is amazing. And you have me as your official taste tester, so how could anything be bad?”

“You are a good taste tester.” Angeria grins mischievously. “So good that you ‘tested’ five cookies that time and were sick all night.”

“That was one time!” 

“You would’ve done it again with those chocolate truffles if I didn’t stop you.”

“Okay, fine. Almost two times.” Camden pouts, and Angeria has to look away from how cute she looks. 

Angeria turns back to the dishes, humming to herself as she scrubs. She doesn’t actually know what song it is—it’s the one Camden hums all the time, something that’s just become part of Angeria’s life, like Camden has. 

She hears Camden suck in a breath beside her. “What's wrong?” Angeria asks, taking in Camden’s wide eyes. 

“I love you,” Camden says breathlessly. “I–I think I have for a while now, but I didn’t realize it.” Her cheeks are bright red, and she’s tugging at her hair the way she does when she’s nervous. “I understand if you don’t feel the same—”

“No,” Angeria says quickly. “I love you too. I think I’ve loved you for a long time.” She knows she has, but was just too afraid to let herself feel it. Too afraid to share it, just in case Camden suddenly decided to leave. 

Camden throws herself at Angeria, wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug. Angeria squeezes back, letting herself truly feel all the love she has for Camden for the first time. She loves Camden’s big blue eyes, and her laugh, and how she’s always so sweet and kind.

“I love you,” Camden whispers again in Angeria’s ear, and Angeria whispers it back, holding Camden until she pulls away, breathless and giggly. 

“I have a question, though,” Angeria says.

“Yes?”

“Would you like to share my room? If you want to keep yours, that’s fine—”

“I’d love to,” Camden says, and when they embrace again, Angeria gives her a gentle kiss on the cheek that she’ll never forget.

[usaigi]

Moon Knight v Spider-Man

Lunar sys au character cards | Read all chapters on ao3

Jake’s pretty sure Daniela forcefully took control of the body as soon as they passed that one soap store she likes. And while Jake certainly didn’t appreciate the mind splitting headache and the overwhelming sense of nausea that came with it, he's secretly grateful he’s back in the headspace. Away from everyone and the social expectation of being a “person.” He’s fine leaving the body for someone else to deal with. So as he strolled through the narrow corridor in the inner world he passes Steven and Jake, deep in discussion over something, before reaching the Kid’s room and gently knocking on his door. Jake opens the door as soon as he hears a faint ‘come in’ creaking from behind. 

‘I bought you the Thor lego set, I know Moon Knight is obviously your favorite hero but their agent's got a birdbrain and can’t get us a good merchandising deal,’ Jake jokes, a little present for Kid the next time he fronts.

Kid’s sitting on the ground, playing make believe with his New York lego set, reenacting some sort of battle of heroes vs aliens. He wiggles with excitement before rushing over to hug Jake, ‘Thank you, Jake. But Moon Knight’s not my favorite hero.’ 

‘What do you mean he’s not your favorite, we’re Moon Knight,’ Marc says, sounding mildly insulted from overhearing their conversation, gesturing at Jake, Steven, and himself. 

‘You’re not, Spider-Man is my favorite,’ Kid replies matter of factly, totally indifferent to their betrayal. 

‘You don’t even like spiders!’ Steven points out. 

‘No but I like Spider- Man. He’s super cool, he can climb on walls and swing on webs!’ Kid says, bringing out the tiny Spider-Man lego figure to mimic him swinging through the air. 

‘We have a god on our side. And we can fly. Who need web shooters when we can literally fly,’ Marc argues. 

‘But he’s so cool! Spider-Man goes like fwip! And they can catch bad guys just like fwip, fwip, fwip,’ Kid presses his middle and ring finger against his palms, aiming it at Marc and Steven as if he’s fwipping the bad guys. ‘And, and, he’s really cool and strong and he’s really funny!’

‘Moon Knight’s cool and strong too. And funny. Steven, tell him a joke,’ Marc pouts, elbowing Steven. 

Steven jolts up, mumbling into his fist as if to try to recall a joke. His eyes widen and he smiles wide before saying, ‘Wait, I know. Why are mummies very aware of investment security?’

‘Why?’

‘Because their favorite is Cryptocurrency!’

‘I don’t get it,’ Kid says with a completely blank expression. 

‘Well, you see–’

‘Come on, let’s go see Mr. Knight.’ Jake says, bemused by this whole exchange, curious to see how they’d reacted. More so for his own entertainment. He never expected to see Marc and Steven defend Moon Knight, especially since he and Mr. Knight were the only ones actively acting as Moon Knight at the moment. When they all reach their room, Jake knocks while saying, ‘Hey Vengeance, we have a dilemma, open the door.’

On command, the door swings open automatically. Mr. Knight sat at their desk, back straight, hands crossed up under their chin, ‘Gentlemen, I don’t believe we had a scheduled–’

‘We’re not the Kid’s favorite hero. Tell him a joke,’ Marc demands right away. 

‘I do not have time for this childish tomfoolery.’

‘Please, we have to be his favorite,’ Steven pleads. 

‘If you four don’t get out of my office I’ll eject you all into outer space.’ 

‘You’re so mean. Spider-man wouldn’t be mean to me,’ Kid pouts, rolling his whole head dramatically in discontent. 

‘Parasocial relationships are unhealthy, Spider-Man is not your friend despite what the video online will have you think. However, I’ll consider your complaint for further examination at a later date, thank you for reaching out. Now leave,’ And almost as if the floor turned into magic carpet, the four of them get thrown out of Mr. Knight's office, the door slamming right behind them. 

And so mission Be-Kid’s-Favorite-Hero commenced. 

‘Kid look! Moon Knight just saved ten people from a building on fire,’ Marc says, showing Kid some blurry videos from a couple of years ago. 

‘That’s cool. Spider-Man saved an entire boat when a bad guy tried to cut it in half.’

‘He didn’t even do that! Iron man did!’

‘Kid, look. I got you a custom Moon Knight and Mr. Knight lego figure just for you,’ Steven says when his Etsy order finally arrives at his doorstep.  

‘That’s nice. Ms. Layla bought me a Spider-Man figure, maybe Spider-Man can save Moon Knight.’

‘Kid, do you know Moon Knight is Gatarina’s favorite hero?’ Jake tells him. 

‘That’s nice! You have a fan!’

‘Kid, did you know Moon Knight fought Dracula? Isn’t that cool?’ Marc asks him.

‘Dracula isn’t real. If he was, he'd probably be a nerd.’

‘I bet Spider-Man doesn’t even know how to drive,’ Jake says.

‘He doesn’t need to, Jake! Remember, he can swing!’ 

‘Moon Knight got invited to be an Avenger, isn’t that cool? Spider-Man isn’t an avenger,’ Marc says proudly.

‘Seriously? When?’ Steven asks in disbelief, questioning the validity of that statement. Marc just nudges Steven in response and tells him to hush. 

‘Ms. Layla says the Avengers are a US-sponsored militarized team who doesn't take accountability for the mess they make and a real hero would focus on saving people even after the major threat instead of flying away.’

“We need web shooters,” Jake tells Khonshu before their next mission.

“Why would I indulge in such a childish request, may I remind you that you can fly?” 

“Nah, we need web shooters.”

“You have batoons.”

“They specifically need to make the ‘twip’ sound.”

“Marc,” Layla says, cupping his cheeks so he looks up towards her, “Why are you grumpy?”

“I’m not,” he mutters. And in response, Layla gives him that look, the ‘ I’m not playing his game with you, Spector’ look.  

“Kid's favorite hero is Spider-Man and I guess I’m jealous,” he sighs. 

“Awww. If it makes you feel better, Moon Knight’s my favorite,” giving him a kiss on the forehead,  “after Black Panther of course.”

“Then why don’t you go marry him,” he huffs making Layla laughs before panicking and retracting with,“wait, actually no, please don’t.”

‘Kid look, Moon Knight can–’ Steven says before Daniela cuts him off. 

‘Hijo de la grandísima puta, are you guys still at this? Why can’t you just accept that Moon Knight is a nerd and the only people who like him are pretentious hipsters too cool for any of the real heroes, conspiracy theorists trying to figure if the mummy and wannabe James Bond are the same dude, and incels who think he’s a real life version of batman?’ Daniela groans. 

‘It’s okay guys! You can be my third favorite hero,’ Kid says, giving Marc, Steven, and Jake a genius smile, reaching all the way to his eyes. His soft innocent eyes peering straight at them, without even the faintest hint of fear behind them.   

‘Third!? Behind who?’ Marc asks. 

‘Ms. Layla of course!’ 

‘Damn straight, Kid,’ Daniela smirks, holding her hand out for a high five. Kid even jumps up a little to meet it. 

‘That’s… fair, I guess I can live with that,’ Layla was Marc's favorite hero too, with or without the Scarlet Scarab suit. Looking over, Steven was also nodding along in agreement.   

‘Who’s your guys’ favorite hero?’ 

‘You are.’ Jake answers with hesitation. The Kid who still smiled despite the water trying to drag him down. 

‘Yeah,’ Steven nods. The Kid who is still kind and gentle in face of all the chaos. 

‘The bravest kid we know,’ Marc pronounces. The Kid who despite being tied to them and all their baggage is still good. 

_____

‘Hey Birdy, who's your favorite hero?’ Jake jokingly asks the next time he sees her. 

‘King Valkyrie, obviously,’ she answers without even looking up from her game.