#and then find a garage on monday to get my car fixed

[roses-and-elixir]

.

[cheriladycl01]

Just some Stray - Sergio Perez x Mechanic! Reader

Plot: Sergio decides to spend his summer break how most drivers do, but his car breaks down in an unknown country and he needs to find help.

It was a pretty standard day for you in the UK. It was a Monday so you were working in the garage that your dad used to own beofre he passed it onto you and your brother. You had an oil change on a Vauxhall Corsa in the morning, an overheating engine just before lunch in a Audi A3.

It was your turn to go get lunch for you and the rest of the staff. Everyone agreed on the local sandwich shop that was only a 5 minute drive away. You took the company car, not wanting to waste your own petrol even on a 5 minute drive, and gave the hearty order of food to the lady at the till who comically wiped the non existent sweat off her forehead.

You waited on one of the seats scrolling through your phone before your name was called with the large order.

“Hmmmm there’s a lot right? Could you help me take it to the truck?” You asked politely. The chef nods seeing its a slow day and takes the boxes and helps you load them onto the back seats.

“Thank you for the help” you grin in a flirty sort of way before running off and into the drivers seat. You crank the windows down and turn the old radio that only had three different stations tuned to it.

As your driving down the winding country road back to the garage, you slow down seeing a car pulled into a lay-by, a man shouting into his phone on the grass bank.

“Hey, you good?” You shout out your window that’s rolled down as you look over at the car that’s steaming at the front from the bonnet.

“Si, I mean yes sorry” he says seemingly struggling to switch from his phone call in Spanish to English with you.

“It looks like your engines overheated, this car looks pretty new too, which is kind of concerning” you point out as you check your wing mirror to make sure no one’s speeding round the country lane behind you.

“Let me pull over and help” you say as you put you car gear from neutral back into first to pull off.

“No no that isn’t necessary, my … friend? Has already called … erm this company?” He says showing you his phone and the AA roadside assistance number.

“Ahh man how long have they told you?” You ask and he shrugs before he answers his phone again.

“5 hours! WHAT! I can’t be on the side of this little windy road for 5 hours are you kidding me?” He asks to the supposed friend on the other line.

“That’s what I’m telling you, look I own a garage I can get your car there and fix it up for you! Much cheaper than AA I promise, and quicker” you nod and he sighs before having a hushed conversation with the friend.

You pull up in front of his car and jump out just as he ends the call.

“You have a garage?” He asks with a suspicious look. You understood that it was a nice car and he probably thought you’d try and drive off with it or something.

“Yes, I’m a mechanic. I can take a look at the car but … it’s going to be an in garage job” you sigh having seen many sporty cars get like this if they were driven a little … boyishly? If that’s even a word.

Which you didn’t expect from this older, Mexican, gentleman.

“Yes please take a look” he says clasping his hands together. You leave with a little laugh going round to the front of the car and popping up the bonnet.

A huge puff of water like smoke come burning up into your face making you flush a little red but it wasn’t anything that you weren’t used to.

“Okay, yeah it’s the cooling system. I can fix it up at the shop” you say wiping the sweat off the forehead from the sheer heat that was coming from the car.

“Alright, how will you get it to the shop” he asks and you point at the truck that allows you to get one car on the back.

“Can you even do that” he asks scratching the back of his neck. Even though many others would have taken offence to that, you couldn’t help but laugh it off as it didn’t look like an easy job.

“Yeah, don’t worry I won’t get a scratch on her” you smile before you climb up onto the back of the truck, grabbing the main chain to lift the car up.

After closing the bonnet and attaching the chain to the car you start your own engine and pulling the car up onto the truck with Sergio’s guidance. Once it’s on you come out to secure it and make sure it won’t roll off even on the 3 minute drive back to the garage.

“Okay, you can jump in” you smile once you show him the car is secure. He goes into the passenger side while you wait for some traffic to go past and walk round to the drivers side.

“Oh erm, you want a sandwich or something? We got some spares” you point to the back where the boxes and bags of sandwiches are. You grab the bag that had your sandwich in and split it in half.

“What is in it?” He asks inspecting his half and the fillings inside.

“I think it’s supposed to be like a Fajita ciabatta? So it’s got like chicken, peppers, salsa and all that healthy stuff, Yano?” You say looking happily at your sandwich and you lean back into your seat starting to enjoy your lunch.

“Why are you being so nice?” He asks with a raised eyebrow, a look of curiosity and suspicion on his face, his thick brows almost furrowed.

“Aren’t you used to people being nice?” You laugh, wiping your mouth just incase there was so sauce there as you turned to face him in shock.

“Look, I’m a mechanic. It would have played on my mind all day if I didn’t stop and help. And besides I don’t think I’ve ever had a car THIS nice in my shop” you grin and he nods with a small polite smile on his face.

“You like?” You ask and his head shoots up to look at you in shock.

“Excuse me?!” He gasps out looking at you.

“The sandwich do you like it?” You ask again this time a little bit more direct with what you were asking whether he liked or not.

“Oh yeah, it’s very nice. Thank you for sharing” he nods taking another bite of his half of your sandwich.

“Anytime, and besides I got spares too, so I can have my filling later if half doesn’t turn out to be enough. So if you don’t mind me asking, where were you going in such a rush? And don’t lie to me, you were 100% driving that car like a manic for the cooling to already be knackered” you admit looking over to him when it’s safe to do so.

“Erm, work? A meeting with my boss” he sighs knowing he definitely has missed that meeting now.

“Oh, is that the er friend that was on the phone with you earlier?” You ask cocking your head to the side as your turn down a side road, coming onto a busier street.

“Oh no, that was my … helper while I’m here in the UK” he admits and for the first time you hadn’t even considered that he didn’t fully know where he was going as this country might not be familiar to him.

“And where possibly could you be heading to work between Buckingham and Towcester” you laugh, meaning it as a joke not expecting his to divulge his whole life to you.

“Ah just my bosses place, he’s very personal” he nods knowing he didn’t want to tell this very attractive woman who he really was.

“Okay here we are” you say pulling into the garage, reversing in so it’s easier for the boys to get the car in.

“Whose this?” Fred, one of the mechanics who you worked with asks looking at Sergio who’d just jumped out of the truck.

“Ahhh just some stray, get his car in. He’s got a cooling problem and a boss to try get too on time” you smirk as your fellow colleagues help get the car off the truck.

“Dude this is a nice car. Who do you work for to afford a car like this” someone whistles as it’s rolled down and into your section of the garage.

“And how have you knackered the cooling already?” Another chips in looking at what you were writing in your pad.

Sergio watches as you get to work on his car, it was a very attractive sight and he never knew seeing a woman work and get her hands dirty would be such a turn on for him.

In about 30 minutes you’ve fixed what you found to be the issue and offer him an oil change as to you it didn’t look like it had been done for years and knowing Christian and his cars it probably hadn’t.

“All done, your good to make your way to you boss” you say swinging a spanner round your finger before catching it in your hand as you walk over to him.

“How much do I owe you?” He asks starting to dive into his pocket for money.

“Ahh consider this on the house” you smile and he again looks so shocked with how nice you are being to him.

“No, I refuse” handing you over £500 which is seriously over the asking price for the job, and it shows when your mouth falls open like a goldfish.

“I can’t - I can’t accept this” you say trying to get him to take it back. But of course he won’t budge.

“And my number too? If you, you know want it?” He asks shyly and you pretend to think for a second before switching details with him.

“I’ll text you later then, drive safely yeah?” You ask and all he does it nod before leaving and driving away.

And audible sigh comes from you, until your phone pings with a voice note from none other than mystery break down guy. Whose saved his name as Sergio in your phone.

Dinner me and you, tonight 6pm?

And you were smiling and grinning like an idiot for the rest of the day.

y/user

Liked by schecoperez, y/l/n’smechanics and others

y/user: Met a guy who broke down on the road today, shared my sandwich with him and drove him to the garage.

View all comments

schecoperez: thank you for … everything

user1: babe why is an F1 driver in your comments?

-> y/user: EXCUSE ME?

y/user: Sergio? You have some explaining to do!

-> schecoperez: Erm oops? 🫣🤙🏼

-> y/user: oops? You cannot just say that to this kind of revelation 😳

y/user: I feel stupid 😭

user2: its hilarious that you just towed a random man AND shared your food, you never anything

user3: no way Checo broke down and this sweet girl helped him.

Instagram Story Caption:

Met this man today. His car broke down 😳

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[catnipaddictt]

Talk

wc: 1.5k

series masterlist ⭑ co-creator @memoiich

Your day had done rather well, Maul seemed to have a bit of an attitude but when did he not. While going through some documents for Dathomir and noticed something odd, every single deal had involved Maul and strangely they all involved someone named Savage Opress, you presumed he was the Dathomirian advisor but why would he be a man. The night sister ran the organisation right?

You walked over to Maul who was seated in an office at the end of the hall. The red Zebrak looked at you with pure annoyance “Hey Maul, I noticed something on the papers for Dathomir.” He glanced up from his computer “and that would be?” Maul always had that stern face it was quite hard to explain, the only way you could describe it was that it was the total opposite of obi wans. “Well, there’s a man named Savage Opress but I thought it was a woman owned company?” You asked a bit hesitant. 

“That would be my brother, he works for the company” he made eye contact and continued “you don’t know a thing about Dathomirs history, do you?” You were indeed a bit out of your depth. "When we go to the night sisters tomorrow, let me do the talking “ he stated “Are you satisfied with your answer?” He went back to typing “I think so.” He pointed to the door “then go.”

Maker, he was petty. Closing the door behind, you let out a long sigh. Maul could be really tiresome to be around. You heard a huffed set of laughs. Looking over to the desks, you saw Quinlan trying to hush himself and his desk friends Kit and Obi wan. 

You walked over, hardly able to keep from laughing yourself. “Did he kick you out of his office?” Obi wan questioned with a mischievous smile on his face “he did, why does he have an office anyways?” Maul sat at the back of the office normally. “He threatened Rex for it" Quinlan giggled out. “Maker, I can't imagine how bad it must be to work with him,” Kit let out with a loud sigh. 

You took a bit of offence, sure maul could be arrogant, prideful and a downright rude but he was a hard worker that just seemed a bit guarded. “It really isn’t that bad, he works really hard and we get along somewhat well!" Quinlan passed a look towards obi wan “Wouldn’t you want to work with someone else?” You thought it was a bit of a strange question. “I mean it's sometimes a bit difficult but he knows a lot of stuff about Dathomir, I don’t think anyone else would be more suited for the job. His brother even works there.” You ended with a bit of a smile. 

Rex's voice boomed from the front desk, you rushed back over to your desk. There was a man standing next to Rex that you didn’t recognise “Y/n this is is Bail Organa, HR representative and a weekly nuisance “ you were a bit taken aback by that. "I thought I planned the meeting on Monday next week, did you not get the email?” he let out a rumble laugh “I don't check emails from my branches, I thought it would be a good idea to check up on how you blended in with your peers” that was nice at least. Rex started awkwardly stepping away back to his office. He must have been uncomfortable, you thought.

Bail guided you to a nearby conference room (which really was more like a table with 6 seats). He pulled out a chair and crossed the room to sit in front of it. You took the seat. “So tell me how you’re blending in?” Bail asked “Well I'm doing rather well. My first day was a bit of a hassle but I think I’m really getting the hang of it now” you beamed. You liked your new job a lot, the hours were kind, the people were ever kinder and your pay was great. “I heard you were late a few times, may I ask why?” He looked at you nonchalantly. “Well my car broke down on my way over on that infamous first day." "Did you find a good garage?" he asked, ''Yeah , Its called MustaCar and they’re fixing up the car as we speak. It took them almost an hour to get there but they did it.” Bail looked shocked when you said MustaCar "Who was your mechanic?” He questioned a big to quickly “Anakin Skywalker.” that was one name you weren’t going to forget quickly. He nodded and smiled. “Are there any other things you would like to speak about?” You shook your head “No, not really.”

Bail shook your hand as you both left the room, you noticed that he walked over towards Obi Wan but his hologram went off before he could get there. He bid a quick sympathetic goodbye to the paper company before walking away. And your day continued as normal. 

You walked down the stairs to the parking lot to catch your ride home, 'Shaggy' the minivan. Qui Gon was standing by the beauty but Obi Wan was nowhere in sight. “Hey y/n, how was your day?” He greeted you warmly “My day was pretty great. How long do you think we need to wait on Obi Wan?” He let out a laugh “He kept talking too much so now he's running behind with his work, which means i will give him a lift later." He looked at you knowingly but of what you didn’t know. “Are you in a rush?” He asked “Yup, could you drop me off at this address? “ You had written it down back at your desk because Shaggy didn’t have a GPS. “Well then we better get going!” Qui Gon said while stepping into his car.

It didn’t take too long for you to get there. “MustaCar...” was all Qui Gon let out before bidding you goodbye and you did the same.

Stepping out of the vehicle you wave your thanks to Qui Gon before walking the short distance to MustaCar. Making your way into the reception, you are greeted by a gruff man who tells you to go out back to see your beloved Shelby. Pushing open the door you are greeted by a ball of fur curling around your legs. Bending down, you pat the sandy loth cat before spotting your shining glory. Shelby sits looking rather sad but nevertheless still beautiful. You cross the distance to her, loth cat in tow, and run your hand over her blue bonnet. 

“She won’t be done for a while you know?” the voice from beside you makes you jump out of your skin. “Didn’t mean to scare you” Anakin says smoothly, leaning on the side of shelby. You walk around the car, checking that she hasn’t acquired any scratches or dents.”I swear I haven’t damaged her one bit, my apprentice has been working on her mostly” he pauses “but don’t worry she knows what she is doing.”

You up at the apprentice, noticing his ruffled hair and rolled up sleeves. ‘Damn’ is all you think to yourself before shutting out those ideas circling your head. He was just a guy after all. With enough charm to sink a battleship. You mentally elbow yourself before speaking; “how long is a while?” “At least another few weeks, parts are difficult to ship in at the moment” He explains before shooting you a winning smile, “means I get to look at you more often if you continue to stop by.” You roll your eyes at him, maybe to make up for the feeling in your gut.

Interrupting Anakin's remarks, the loth cat wanders up to you and makes a sound that basically implies ‘attention please’. You bend down to pat it, but it gets a different idea and basically jumps onto you, luckily your reflected kick in and you manage to place your hand around it. It settles comfortably in your arms and you are able to stand back up. You hear Anakin let out a laugh. “Sorry, she’s new to the place” he says, “showed up the other day, hungry, but very friendly.” You nod, giving the animal a scratch behind its large, pointed ears.

“She is very friendly, does she have a name?” you question, looking at the creature's large, chocolatey eyes. “Snips wanted to name her Honey.” “I can see why, she is very honey coloured.” He smiles “yeah, and sickly sweet.” The cat nudges your shoulder playfully, and you scratch under its chin. “I can tell” you laugh.

“Hate to break up your bonding session” a female voice says as she walks over. You recognise her as Ahsoka, Anakin’s teenages apprentice. “But the boss wants to see you” She points an accusing finger at the man beside you. He nods before turning to face you, “I'll see you around sweetheart.” He shoots you a winning grin before he walks off inside the building. Ahsoka rolls her eyes dramatically before beginning to tell you exactly what she has been doing to your Shelby.

You are left with a strange feeling in your gut and a lot of questions to ask yourself.

So sorry this took so long. We live in different parts of the world and planning can get tricky. We will definitely finish this project anyways… We hope you enjoy <3

[ddejavvu]

Multiverse Monday with pervy stepdad Hotch confronting his step daughter of like asking her about any boys she likes and she's embarrassed and red

today is multiverse monday! send me any au you can think of :)

this post is 18+ and dark, minors dni.

"Sooo," Penelope's voice holds excitement you know spells doom for you, "Anything happening in Boy Town, Miss Y/N?"

"Boy town," You snort, "No, I, uh- I don't really meet a lot of people? I'm sort of just socially stagnant right now."

You hope it's a good enough cover up. The truth is, you haven't tried to meet anyone lately. In fact, you've probably gone out less in the months since your mom met Aaron than you ever have in your life. You're not sure if it's doing anything, and you're a little embarrassed to admit it to even yourself, but you're scared of losing whatever shot you might have with him, so you don't dare get involved with anyone else.

"Come on," Emily scoffs, "No one? No cute college boys in your classes? Not even a celebrity you've got a little crush on?"

"Even I have little celebrity crushes," JJ admits, and you chuckle at the way Will's eyes widen momentarily. You know what they'll be discussing later.

"I dunno," You shrug, picking at your nails, "It's just not a concern of mine right now, I guess. I'll find someone, eventually."

"You've found someone," Aaron murmurs, and all eyes turn to him, including your own slightly panicked ones.

"Oh? You know something, boss man?" Derek raises an eyebrow, and your heart begins to pound.

"I've heard you talking to your friends before," Aaron presses on, and you feel like you can't breathe suddenly, "You're at least interested in someone, whether he likes you back or not."

You know what he's heard. You're slightly lax about discussing your pathetically inappropriate crush in the confines of your room, voice slightly louder than you probably should be speaking with. But you always say his name in a hushed whisper, or use a code name. You aren't sure if you're praying for him to never have heard his own name, or to have heard it and want you back.

"Oooh!" Penelope squeals, "Tell me about this man!"

"There's nothing to tell!" You insist, and if you weren't sporting such a massive crush on him, you'd glare at Aaron, "And- and stop eavesdropping!"

"It's not eavesdropping if I can hear it from my room," Aaron laughs, "You need better whispering skills if you're trying to keep this a secret."

There's a few light chuckles from around the living room, but thankfully everyone seems to drop it. You're almost certain you'll be added to a group chat later with the ladies of the BAU to discuss your mystery man, but you're going to avoid any detail lest they figure out you're talking about their boss.

Even though conversation evolves, slowly moving away from your fiery cheeks and trembling breaths and towards Rossi's car troubles. Apparently he's insistent on fixing his own car, no matter how inexperienced he is in the craft. It's a pride thing, you're sure.

You're only half listening to the man drawl on about the different parts he's trying out, the tinkering he's been doing in his house's mansion's garage. You don't realize anything is out of the ordinary until you glance over at the clock on the wall and see Aaron staring at you below it. Your stomach flips as you meet his eyes, dark and firm. They're locked onto you, and he offers you a slight smile the more you hold his gaze. The longer you stare, the wider it gets, until the butterflies in your stomach are fit to burst and flutter around the room in a frenzy. You finally offer one back, turning away and suddenly much more interested in hearing Dave's spiel.

It's barely two minutes later when you chance another glance at the clock, and this time you don't need to look at Aaron to know he's staring, you can feel his gaze burning at the side of your head.

[jaemified]

SNOWED IN ! [ep.iii] | forced proximity

“literally hate you jeon wonwoo”

a barista xu minghao x receptionist reader smau

‘welcome to first class resort’

previous | MASTERLIST | next

updates ; every saturday-monday (new schedule bc work is kicking my ass</33)

synopsis ; after a long first week of their first quarter at work, y/n and her department just want to go out for burgers before being snowed in the hotel thanks to an unexpected snowstorm.

🏷️ ; @minhui896 @snowcake666 @kissesfrmwonwoo @wonqr

couldnt tag ; @/heelarious @/minghaossv

note - if u see those blank pages below this then the tweets ur phones not glitching its just to fix the format:)

read below the cut !

before any of the staff realized, their first week of the new quarter had flown by, and it was time to go home for the weekend (or, just saturday since they had to come back sunday).

the first concierge/receptionist unit (aka miyeon, y/n, minnie, chan, soonyoung, sakura, and mingyu) finished cleaning up their stations, before miyeon and y/n went to explain the night shift to the manager of the second unit from the other department.

“finally, just barely 20 minutes overtime. its only 10:20 but does anyone want to go for a late dinner with the other staff from our department?” miyeon suggested to her team of 6.

“yeah sure, ill need to find seungkwan first? he’s my ride home.” chan said as he started to walk down the hall as soonyoung called out, “make sure he brings down all of his staff too!”

“alright is that a yes from everyone else?”

“except for me, my auntie is visiting from japan and i need to be the one to pick her up from the airport.” sakura said while waving at everyone as she walked towards the exit.

the unit began to converse amongst themselves as they waited for the other staff in their department before they felt the ground shake the walls harshly, the winds howl as their speeds increased and the front doors be pushed open.

“earthquake! everyone get under the desk!” miyeon yelled out, her staff being her priority as manager.

they all took cover underneath the receptionists desk before hearing a loud thud after a few minutes, leaving the glass on some of the doors shattered.

everyone got up to see what the noise was, only for their faces to freeze in shock.

“s-snow?!” minnie exclaimed. “there wasnt any snow in the forecast this week at all! and its barely the first few weeks of winter..”

“im sure you’re just as shocked as any of us are. i hope sakuras safe, im just glad she got out. uh- y/n! call sakura while i try to reach seungkwan and josh? and someone go to check out the side and back doors! don’t go alone! the powers iffy right now.” miyeon safely instructed off the top of her head, trying to remain calm in front of her staff.

you pull out your phone, dialing sakuras number as you tap your foot repeatedly against the floor in impatience and worry.

she picked up after the first few rings, “hello?”

“sakura! where are you? are you okay?”

“no, yeah im fine. im just off the side of that bridge a few miles away from the hotel. but the real question is, are you guys okay?”

“you felt it? we’re fine. splitting up duties to ensure safety. and why are you off to the side off the bridge? i assumed you wouldve been at the airport already.”

“everyone in seoul felt it. but i think it hit you guys the hardest since it came closest from that direction. you know, some cars were flipping over as i was about to pull out the parking lot!”

“just glad youre safe, but if you see the hotel, how bad does it look like we’re snowed in?”

“pretty bad.. looks snowed in on all sides and that wall of snow is so tall it goes beyond the 9th floor. that’s at least 7 meters thick going outwards.”

“shit. alright. i gotta go, but get home safely okay? bye!”

after getting off the phone with sakura, y/n goes back as she sees some of her coworkers returning from opposite directions after looking at the exits.

“theyre all blocked. completely. the garage tunnel is entirely blocked through the stairs, elevator, and side door too.” mingyu and soonyoung reported with minnie following not far behind despite being told not to go alone.

“should we call the police?”

“ill try, i just got off the phone.” you said, but just as you swiped emergency call, you immediately had no bars. “what? anyone else have service?”

everyone pulled out their phones and held it in the middle so you could see, “guess the signal just dropped.” you muttered as you dialed 119 anyway.

‘we’re sorry, the person you are trying to reach is-’

“has anyone noticed chan hasnt come back yet? its been like, well over 20 minutes.” mingyu questioned while looking around the darkly (and eerily) illuminated halls.

as mingyu walked closer, he let out a loud scream as he saw a big snd ominous silhouette coming towards him before he realized it was the rest of the staff from their department.

miyeon walked passed mingyu, playfully slapping his back before meeting up with the other managers seungkwan and josh.

“hi wonwoo.” you smiled, wrapping your arms around him brightly as you were now reassured your childhood best friend was safe now that he was in your arms.

“hi y/n. you’re not hurt or anything right?” he asked while looking around your body as he kept his hands on your shoulders.

“no im completely fine. what took you guys so long to come out though?”

“we still had a lot to clean up, but then chan went to kwans restaurant then jun just HAD to make a quick meal for him before coming to us and it always takes long if the cafe is the last stop.”

after everyone discussing what had to be discussed, such as agreeing to try calling for help in the morning, etc, etc, wonwoo announced to everyone they’ll have to check out rooms for each other and that they had to be paired up into twos.

so of course, he made you and minghao be ‘roommates’ for the time being.

“are you serious??” minghao whisper shouted as he pulled wonwoo into a corner, watching as everyone walked towards the stairwell.

“you were the only two left.” wonwoo shrugged, playing it off even though he was aware minghao clearly knew about his schemes.

after climbing 29 flights of stairs (seeing as the elevator broke), you were all beyond exhausted.

so, you took your room key from miyeon before following minghao to your shared room.

you opened the door and sigh in relief as you saw the two beds separated by a nightstand, taking off your shoes before lying down.

minghao ran a hand through his hair as he walked out from the bathroom to get himself ready for bed.

he went under the white sheets and muttered a grumpy, “dont even try talking to me.” before turning out the light, leaving you with your thoughts in the darkness.

[fatgirlgetsfitatlast]

2022 Year End Summary

What happened this year, hmmm, let's see what I can remember...

April: Mad Max, the Road Warrior Kitten arrived.

There had been a couple of stray cats hanging around the farm for some weeks and we'd been feeding them. The female was beautiful, the male was HUGE. This is the female, who would later be called, 'Mama'.

We were worried she might be pregnant, but turns out she was just putting on weight because of getting fed on the regular. She showed up pretty soon with two kittens...

The kittens would hide under the vehicles and if you looked at them, they would CLIMB UP INTO THE UNDERCARRIAGE. I had to scare them out of the motor compartment of my car before I drove it that first week after they showed up. I was so paranoid about one of them still being in there, I stopped several times while driving from the farm to my house to check. My BF was not so thorough before he left to drive to my house, 60 miles away over country roads, interstates through Tampa, and stop-and-go city streets. He got to my house on a Tuesday and on Thursday, when he was getting ready to go back, we heard it. The meow! This kitten had not only survived the ride (that road has some seriously huge bumps! I don't know how he stayed in!), but then STAYED UNDER THE TRUCK FOR TWO DAYS with no food or water! HE WAS TINY. Just over 1 pound...

He's lived with me at the beach, traveling back and forth with me to the farm every week, but always an indoor cat since then. He's grown into a Big Boi ...

After many years of resisting getting another dog, it seems like the universe conspired to place another little life in my home. I'm fine with it.

We got his mom fixed a bit after this. We don't know what happened to the other kitten, but the BF says he saw the other kitten at the farm when he got back that Thursday, so he didn't make the ride.

Here is mama kitty on the way to be spayed. It took us a whole week to trap her -- she's smart! I would've offered her a home indoors, but she went BAT SHIT CRAZY when confined, it just wasn't going to work. She remains living at the farm, free and doing as she pleases.

Also in April: Hit my highest weight in the last SEVERAL YEARS at 331.

September: We sold the farm.

(Don't worry, I made arrangements for mama kitty and her boyfriend, they are still there, being fed and taken care of).

For the last 12 years we have been dividing our time between our 10 acre farm and a house near the beach. They are about 60 miles apart. I would go up there on the weekends, (Friday night-Monday morning), and he would come down to my house during the week (Tuesday morning-Thursday morning). This gave us both some 'me time' and was the best of both worlds -- beach and country. However, the BF has some serious health issues and they have only gotten worse the last couple of years. I was having to pick up more and more of the work and it was just becoming too hard for me to handle it all, so, we made the decision to sell the farm and both live at the beach full time. This happened VERY QUICKLY. Like, he made the call on a Monday and by the next Monday there was a relator out taking pictures and by later that week we had a contract on it. This is all great except for the fact that there was 32 years of JUNK in the house and the outbuildings and barns that had to be dealt with and I was the only one healthy enough to do it.

I ended up working myself into an infected/ulcerated toe, walking 25k steps a day for WEEKS as I cleaned and hauled stuff away, donating, trashing, or moving stuff to my house. Moving stuff to my house meant I had to make room for it, so there was more sorting, trashing, and donating to be done from here to make room for the stuff from the farm. It was a NIGHTMARE and I still don't have everything put away, the garage is stacked with boxes of garage stuff that needs to find a place to be put away.

October: BF needs stent in carotid artery.

Since all his doctors were still 60 miles away, this meant driving those 60 miles up to the hospital there, and then even after he was released, more driving up there for the follow ups. During this time also, his eyesight started to become an issue. Apparently, this is common after having new lenses put in during cataract surgery, which he'd had some years before. But that meant, even when he was cleared to drive, he couldn't, so I was spending hours and hours every week driving him to doctors appointments. At this time I tried to get in to see a doctor of my own about my toe, which was clearly infected, my whole foot was starting to swell up and turn red, but every appointment was weeks out. Finally we got the BF in to see the eye specialist and they lasered this cloudiness away and he could drive again. Thank goodness!

November 15: Got in to see podiatrist about toe

The news was rather alarming, enough so that it scared me into going back on keto, and while I have 'cheated' at Christmas and Thanksgiving, overall I have kept to the low carb lifestyle in an effort to get my undiagnosed diabetes under control. I have neuropathy in both feet; he said I missed being able to feel about half of the little 'pokes' he did with a needle thing. I, of course, knew I had that, but in my defense, I've had numbness in my feet since I was in my 30s, I think brought on by doing high impact aerobics on hard flooring for several years. I simply ignored it when it got worse.

I also made an appointment with a primary care doctor-- the first I've had in about 8 or 9 years. That appointment is January 4th, so we'll see how bad everything is then.

December 31:

I'm down about 10 pounds since November 15th, which I would've hoped for more, but down is better than up, right? I have been staying true to low carb for the most part, trying to heal this toe, which is still not healed. I am not supposed to walk on it at all, but that has never happened. I did stay off it quite a lot at first, but that just isn't sustainable, and I have to workout to lose weight and also help the blood sugar and blood pressure numbers.

Throughout the year, I have been working out 3x a week doing Plyojam and Yoga via Zoom, but have not done much more than that. I know I need to do more, so have committed to a 30 minute workout every day. Thus far I'm on a streak of 12 days; when I workout later today, it will be 13. Hoping to keep this going all through next year and add in more walking as soon as I feel like my toe can handle it.

Here's where I am right now. It pains me to post these, but I want to be honest about my condition and have these for comparison later...

Next jeans goal:

Weight:

So, here we go again. Into a new year, trying to get healthy AGAIN. I don't have specific goals other than that -- work out more as possible, eat keto/low carb, get blood sugar and blood pressure under control, feel better.

[heartxshaped-bruises]

       ❛❛Blown head gaskets.❜❜ Rafe put his tools back into the box and headed to a metal shelf. It looked all over the place, the way things were arranged, but given how systematically he browsed through it there was SOME SORT OF ORDER. He knew that he could save his way to the storage room where they kept the replacements. He’d installed the last ones two days ago and was just doing a good deed digging for some possible spare items.

       ❛❛I’d have to order new ones❜❜, he informed her slowly as his search remained without result. Just as expected. He’d just done it out of politeness and to smooth over their encounter. Rafe turned back to Kate, eyes rolling to the ceiling as he went over a few numbers and details, counting his fingers. ❛❛That’d take… yeah, about a week. Monday’s the best I can promise – if I get the pieces by Friday. And it would cost ya about 1000 to 2000 bucks. If the engine's not entirely ruined, that is.❜❜ Rafe fished a cigarette from a package, meeting Kate’s gaze, and tucking it behind his only ear. ❛❛Ya know, I said the check-up’s for free. Not the work. I GOTTA MAKE RENT SOMEHOW, LADY. If ya wanna leave with this thing nonetheless, ya got about 3 weeks before everything goes to shit for good. Do me the favour and just leave it here. Sherriff’s gonna think it’s my fault if he finds you in a ditch.❜❜ Only one thing about this was a lie. Rafe lived in the main house, right next to the garage in a small apartment over the office. There was no rent due. Just other stuff. But Kate looked like she could afford to get her car fixed. So what. // @archxngxl

"Sounds rough." Kate got the hint that he did not particularly liked talking to her, but then again, she didn't care. "Guess I'm in for quite the pain." The dark haired woman mumbled. She already expected to be outcast from this new team, since her being the Bureau and all.

Kate was curious about the man in front of her. She wondered how he got his scar. While she would never pry and ask, Kate could only wonder. Something told her that this wasn't the last time she would see him, though. Not that she would mind. To her, he looked quite handsome when he wasn't being rude.

Kate moved to look where he was looking, an eyebrow raised at the comment. "How come? What's wrong with it?" She could think of a few things that could've caused the damage, but one stood out. Before she was demoted, she was chasing after someone in a black van. Kate decided to cut him off by slamming her car against the side of the van. But Rafe didn't need to know that.

"Well, that's just fucking great." Kate ran a hand over her face, the cogs in her mind spinning. "How long would it take to get it fixed?"

[spaghettificationandpretzels]

“I just ran out of fucks so you better fix this." With Happy please,.. Complete fluffiness pleaseeeee

Yayyy to 500!!!!!

Drabble Masterlist

Motor Oil and Mess

Contains: Fluff, mild angst

418 words

Comment if you want to be tagged/removed

Happy didn't think you come home from work early and you find the garage a mess.

To say work was bad was an understatement, not only did your boss spend the day ordering you around but your car was parked in the heat all day and the ride home was unbearable. However, you managed to get away early, seeing that you clocked in early and didn't want to have to put in for overtime. When you tried to pull into the garage, Happy was there and there were bike parts everywhere.

"Happy, what the hell is this?"

He smiled sheepishly, "I didn't have enough room at mum's."

You exhaled through your nose, "and T-M, was there not enough room there?"

Happy wiped the motor oil off his hands, "they're doing a big clean out before the inspection on Monday. I'll just finish up here and take my tools back then I'll clean up and you won't need to worry about it."

You rubbed your face, "I need to put dinner on so you're on your own, I know you know how to cclean up after yourself so please don't leave a mess and from now on, text me if you're going to work on your bike at home so I can bring shit to help you clean up, it's going to take you forever to get all this oil up."

"Umm, I may have told Gemma we were going to breakfast tomorrow as well."

You didn't know how to respond, "tomorrow is my first real day off in two weeks, I have nothing to do and you want me to get up at the crack of dawn to help Gemma."

His eyes wrinkled, "you don't need to do that."

You shook your head, "I kinda do, she expects all the old ladies to help." Happy nodded, but before he could say more, you cut him off, “I just ran out of fucks so you better fix this."

"Yes ma'am."

****

By the time Happy left to take his tools back, the garage was spotless. Happy returned with some small boxes in hand, "have you started dinner yet?"

You shook your head, "I'm about to."

Happy handed you the boxes, "I got your favourite, plus dessert. I'm sorry I made a mess little girl, I know how hard you've been working."

You smiled, "thank you, and thank you for cleaning up. You want me to plate this?"

Happy shook his head, "let me do it." He paused on his way to the kitchen to kiss you, "I love you little girl."

"Love you too Hap."

Fin

[smol-and-grumpy]

Instant Attraction - Chapter 8

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: Dean Winchester is thirty-eight and the stepdad of her best friend Ben. He’s caring, goofy, dorky, sexy and has a deep soothing voice. She wants him so bad, but he is more than a decade older than her. The thing is, she knows he wants her too but he’s holding himself back. How far can she take it until he caves? — Or the one where Dean tries to resist but fails miserably.

Chapter Warnings: Uh-oh... PROGRESS!

WC: 2,908

This chapter fills the “Grinding” square on my @spnkinkbingo card

Series beta’d by the amazing @deanwanddamons

This series is COMPLETE on Patreon

If you like what I’m writing, please consider leaving me a tip to keep me energized.

Series Masterlist ~ SPN Masterlist

Tuesday started the same as Monday — very tense, and Dean feels like he’s walking on eggshells.

Y/N’s still sleeping when he makes his way downstairs. He quickly grabs a water bottle out of the fridge before heading for work, forgoing his morning coffee in favor of not having to spend too much time lingering in the house that feels suffocating to him. 

Dean’s not exactly an idiot – at least not most of the time as he knows they should probably talk about what happened last night before he bolted on her. But he sure as hell also knows that he can’t and won’t talk to her about it in the morning. It would be too much, and most likely a sure way to ruin his fucking day since he doesn’t even know what there is to talk about, and then he’d be super riled up and would definitely project his foul mood to his employees. 

While, yeah, she was coming onto him — but he would be lying if he didn’t want that too. It’s by miracle alone that his brain managed to catch on and pull away at the right time, even though it killed him a little inside.

And now it’s nearing the end of the day again and Dean finds himself dreading the moment he has to leave work. 

Glancing out of the office, he sees Benny still bending over the hood of a car the man was trying to fix since the morning, so he gets up from his chair and walks out into the garage, both hands in his pockets. 

The other man still has his head inside of the hood as Dean comes closer. And then he bellows, “What do you want, Winchester?”

Dean freezes mid-stalk as if he’s caught doing something bad. He frowns, faking offense, “Why do you think I want something?”

His employee snorts as he emerges. He cleans his hand on a washcloth, all while eyeing Dean suspiciously. “You’re weird. It’s as if you’re running away from something but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is.”

“It’s nothing,” Dean grumbles before gritting his teeth.

“Right,” Benny snorts, “then go home.”

Dean resists the urge to roll his eyes as far back to the head as it would go, and thinks he’s doing an okay job with it. He waits another beat before asking, “You wanna go grab dinner?” 

He can’t really read what Benny’s eyes are trying to convey. It also takes a long while for Benny to answer, but then he breathes out and goes, “I honestly don’t fucking know what’s going on and I’m not sure I really want to, but yeah, dinner sounds good. You’re paying.”

“Of course.”

 *

 It’s already past his usual bedtime when Dean finally arrives home. As he turns into his drive, he can see that the lights are all off inside the house but Y/N’s car’s parked out front. He guesses that she must have gone to bed already. She sent him a text earlier, asking if he was going to be home for dinner. Dean made sure to answer her this time, telling her that he’s going out with Benny right after work. It’s not a lie, but she certainly doesn’t have to know that he only did it because he wanted to avoid her. He still doesn’t know what excuse he can use tomorrow, though. 

The house is coated in darkness and eerie silence when he steps inside. Dean carefully takes off his boots by the door, goes to the fridge to grab a bottle of water, and makes a mental note to go grocery shopping soon in order to stock up his fridge. 

As quietly as he can manage, Dean makes his way up to his room and closes the door behind him while exhaling the breath he’s been holding since he stepped inside his own goddamn house. 

God, that is no fucking way to live!

With annoyance, he makes quick work of undressing and stepping into the showers, and then he settles into bed, hoping for a good night’s sleep, hoping for his mind to stop reeling the film in his head over and over again about the kiss that never was.

 *

 Dean groans when he wakes up with a dry mouth. His hand shoots to his nightstand, fingers feeling around, trying to find the bottle of water, only to realize that it’s already empty. God, the tacos they had made him so fucking thirsty. 

Getting out of the bed, he rubs his eyes and has enough brain to think ahead to at least get dressed semi-decently. Dean pulls a shirt over his head before heading down. He usually sleeps in only his boxer briefs but there’s no way he wants to run into Y/N like that. 

Opening the door of his room, he walks over to the stairs. Instead of being pitch black, he notices flickering lights coming from downstairs. Flipping his wrist, he reads the time. It’s 3.12 AM. 

For a moment, he wonders if he should venture down at all, but god, he’s so fucking thirsty. So he tries to at least be as quiet as he can be while walking down the stairs. The wood creaks a little but the noise gets swallowed by voices coming out of the TV. 

He stands by the stairs when he gets off the last step and feels like the air has been punched out of his lungs when he sees what’s happening. Dean can’t breathe. 

Can’t. Fucking. Breathe.

She’s leaning back on the couch, her one hand in her short pj pants, apparently touching herself, if the way the bulge on the front is anything to go by. Her other hand is on her tit, the cotton of the tank top she’s wearing is pulled down just below it. Her palm kneads her full breast while her fingers pluck at the hardened peak. 

Dean’s dick twitches to life. 

The Devil’s Advocate flickers on the screen and Charlize Theron is naked, ready to seduce Keanu Reeves. 

Jesus.

He swallows thickly as he watches her. He’s a pervert because he definitely shouldn’t watch but Christ, he can’t look away. Her eyebrows are pulled into a frown, her eyes are closed, a look of concentration on her face as she bites down on her bottom lip so as not to be too loud. 

Look, he knows he should move, that he should probably make himself known because he knows better than to be a fucking creep, and last he checked, he’s not a voyeur either. He considers himself to be a masochist, though, so there’s that. But it’s just like a goddamn tragic traffic accident where you have enough common sense to know that you shouldn’t watch but also you can’t look away from it because it’s a primal instinct to be nosy when it comes to things like that. 

Dean swallows again when he sees her spreading her legs more while dropping her head to the back of the couch, pressing it deeper into the cushions, causing her throat to get exposed, and shit, yeah, he’d like to lick and suck at it, imagining the marks he would leave on her soft skin that would, without any doubt in his mind, suit her. 

Her frowns tighten as she works herself up to her release. It etches even deeper after a couple of minutes while her teeth bite into her bottom lip harder. It seems like she is tethering on the edge but she can’t quite make the jump. Poor little baby, he thinks to himself, palming his dick through his underwear, like a total pervert he’s become. His cock is straining hard, filling out his boxer briefs considerably. Dean’s abso-fucking-lutely sure there’s a special place in hell only for him. 

It goes on for about two more minutes, her toes curling as if she has a cramp. Her fingers are still inside of her pants, working over herself furiously as if she wants to start a goddamn fire. He doesn’t think she can come. She’s determined, though. 

The thirst somehow won over his mind and Dean thinks about the best way to make himself known without startling her. 

He clears his throat and walks straight into the kitchen, playing oblivion by ignoring her and not looking in the direction of the living room at all.

There’s a gasp when she realizes that he’s here, but Dean doesn’t stay to watch the embarrassment shooting up to her face, he’s not cruel. Instead, he opens the fridge, takes out a bottle of water only to uncap it and drinks up the whole bottle in one go. He is definitely fucking thirsty, okay? 

When he throws the bottle into the trash, he walks to the living room, acting as if he didn’t just watch her fail at making herself come, acting as if the sight didn’t make him harder than he’s ever been in his fucking life.

“Can’t sleep?” He asks, pretending he walked in just now. 

“Yeah, sorry, did I wake you?”

Y/N has since moved her hand out of her pants and covered her tit back, but she hasn’t gotten rid of the slick because he can see it glistening in the dim light of the flickering TV. 

“Nah,” Dean swallows, sending a short silent prayer up to whoever’s listening to please forgive him. “Mind if I join for a while? Couldn’t sleep either.” It’s not even a lie. There’s no way he can sleep right now, all wound up because of her. 

“Sure.” She scoots to the side, making room for him on the couch and Dean suppresses the sound his throat wants to make when he takes in the whiff of her arousal that is lingering in the air. 

He settles in next to her, trying not to look over. The only light source is the TV and Dean almost curses at the lack of lightning. He’d love to see her flushed face, but again, that would probably make her feel uncomfortable and that’s not what he wants for her. 

There’s another sex scene playing, and he’s not going to lie, it does something to him seeing someone getting it on, especially right after what he witnessed. Dean keeps his face straight ahead, but he can’t help but notice her squirming next to him. She’s restless, pressing her legs together and releasing it, moving and folding her one leg under her ass, sitting on one of her heels. Then he notices that she’s moving her hips, albeit very subtly. 

Dean decides that he’s had enough of the squirming, that he’s also had enough of being a pathetic fuck. So when he opens his mouth next, he’s driven by nothing but his dick and he shouldn’t be held accountable for it. 

Turning to her, he asks, “Y/N, are you turned on? Are you trying to get yourself off on the heel of your foot?” 

She nibbles at her bottom lip again as she stares right into his eyes. Y/N doesn’t answer him, but instead, he sees some emotions pass her face. Her expression changes from uncertainty to something else. Something he can’t place– but apparently, he doesn’t have to wonder what it is because suddenly, he finds himself with a lap full of Y/N as she straddles him rather unexpectedly. 

“Y/N,” Dean growls. It should be a warning.

“Just–, please,” 

His arms fall to his sides, too afraid to touch, while she finds the right position on top of him. Her short pants ride up her thighs, the fabric at the crotch damp, almost wet, as she sits down right on top of his hard cock. “We–,” his voice his strained, the thing he wants to say hurts him more than he can explain, “–fuck– we shouldn’t,”

Her hands are braced on his chest, traveling up to his shoulder as she uses the broadness of it for leverage while she drags her wet cunt over his shaft. Dean doesn’t think he’s ever been this turned on in his fucking life. 

She shudders as she lets out a sigh of relief from the friction she’s gaining by grinding against him. Her lips part and her eyelids flutter while her nails dig into the muscle of his shoulder, “Please,” she begs again, her voice soft and needy, “Just–, I need–,”

“This is so wrong,” he grits his teeth. Even though it feels fucking fantastic, he can’t help the guilt already nagging at his conscience. 

“It feels right,” she counters.

Of course she would say that. Goddammit, Dean curses to himself, because fuck, she’s so right. It does feel fucking right. Dean realizes that he’s weak. He’s a weak, weak man with emphasis on the word man, because shit, as a man, he just can’t resist having a pretty girl in his lap – especially when the girl is Y/N. 

His arms move without his prompting as his hands settle on her waist, fingers digging into her soft flesh, helping to guide her along on his clothed dick. Holy fuck, it’s getting wetter by the minute. Her pants are soaked and he is sure the wetness on his underwear is not from his own precum, albeit he’s also leaking profoundly. 

“Tell me what you need, sweetheart,” he croaks out, voice low and deep. 

She’s moving on top of him, her wetness seeping into the fabric of his underwear, her tiny hand covering his large one before guiding it up her body. His one palm rests on her tit, and Dean groans out when he feels the weight of her breast in his hand. Y/N urges him to knead her tit and he groans again. Shit. It feels better than he ever hoped it would. 

Y/N guides his other hand to her throat, making him put slight pressure on his fingers as they curl around her neck. Dean almost comes. This little dirty girl wants him to choke her. He feels like he’s in a fucking dream. 

The hand on her tits move up slightly only to drag her top down, revealing her bare chest and Dean plucks at her hard peak. Letting out a shaky moan, she grinds harder as she arches her back to gain maximal friction. 

“Is that what you need, Y/N, yeah?” He whispers, fingers tightening around her throat. 

“Fuck–,” she curses, hips working relentlessly, her eyes are closed. “Yes, fuck–,”

“How does it feel?” 

“Oh god,” she breathes out, voice a little strained. “Good. Shit, I love it, Dean. Love it.” 

“Christ,” Dean huffs out, trying his best not to come – at least not to come before she does, “look at you, so fucking needy. Such a dirty girl, grinding on my fucking cock. Take it, Y/N, take what you need.” 

She whimpers when she looks at him now. Her movement is fast, determined, and then her thighs start to shake around him. The hand that has been down her pants cups his cheek and for a moment, he thought that she’d lower herself down to kiss him, but then her fingers touch his lips and Dean can smell her on them. He growls before he opens his mouth, swallowing three of her fingers into his mouth greedily before licking them clean of her juices. She tastes fucking amazing, tangy and sweet like a pussy should taste. Just that it’s better because it’s Y/N’s fucking pussy. He lets them out with a pop and then she goes back to squeezing his shoulder while she rides him.

“Good girl, so close, ain’t cha? Come, baby, come for me,” He coos, and god, what would he give to kiss her, but instead, he grips her tighter, bucks up when she grinds down to help her along. 

Y/N comes with a squeal, her eyes rolling to the back of her head before she slumps against him, burying her face into the crook of his neck while her body twitches all over. 

“That’s it, baby,” he praises, one hand traveling up and down her back while his other hand pets her hair, “You did so well. Such a good girl for me.” 

She starts to chuckle when she comes back down from her high, and then she moves away from his lap, plants herself next to him. Dean tries not to show that he’s already missing her weight that anchored him down.

“You okay?” He asks the girl who’s still panting next to him. 

“Yeah,” she smiles in return, which lights up the fucking room.

“Good,” he says, standing up before he gets the chance to do something that he shouldn’t, which– yeah, he already crossed the line but he’s still a decent man and he doesn’t want to cross it any further. Dean clears his throat, “So, I’m gonna go back to bed. You should too, okay?”

“But–,” she starts, and then she stands up to take a step closer. Dean backs up. There’s a frown on her face, and she looks a little disappointed. He feels bad but he also thinks it's best if he keeps his distance. “–you didn’t,”

“I’m good,” Dean answers quickly, already doing a moonwalk back towards the stairs. “Good night, Y/N.” 

He turns around and walks up, leaving her behind, not daring to take a look back in case he becomes weak.

Fuck, he’s so screwed.

Chapter 9

Please share your thoughts with me, I’d love to hear your feedback.

​

[randofics]

Batman beyond x reader pt.2

The reader takes Batman's advice to join the police but after her first day she suffers a tragedy that she'll stop at nothing to fix.

A few months later you were walking into the police commissioner's office. Having finished training at the police academy. You looked at the name plate before knocking on the door. "Commissioner Gordon? I'm here for my introduction." The older woman looked up from her data pad. "Come in and take a seat. What's your name kid." You sat in the plush chair and gave her a friendly smile." "I'm y/f/n y/l/n it's nice to finally meet you ma'am." She types something on her computer. You sit patiently for her to finish or talk. "Ah here you are. Well you seem to have some potential to make a great cop." "Really!? Oh that's great, I'm happy to start whenever Mrs. Gordon." She gave you a small smile. "Well how about next week then?" "Sure is there anything I need to get before I start?" "We'll worry about that Monday, I'll start you off with some guard duty and some other basic stuff." You flashed her a bright smile. "Ok that sounds good, I'll see you Monday then commissioner."

When you got home you skipped up the steps happily and opened your door. Your cat greeted you with a loud meow. You looked at her a bit surprised. "We'll hello to you too little missy. I'll bet you're hungry aren't you." Another loud meow made you laugh. "Ok ok just let me put my stuff up first jeez." After you set your stuff down you make your way to the kitchen. You bend down and open the cabinet with the catfood and other pet stuff. You scoop out some kibble and pour it into her bowl. She looks up at you waiting for the wet food you pour on top. The small packet refuses to tear open so you grab the scissors from the drawer. As you pour the liquid food on her kibble she tries to lick the packet. Once the packet is empty you toss it in the trashcan under the sink. You lean against the counter and watch her eat. "You're so cute honeybunny." You squat beside her and scratch the base of her tail making her stick her butt in the air. You chuckle at her. Later that night you're sitting on the couch watching the news when the news anchor starts to talk about the recent animal fighting rings that have been stopped by police. You reach out to pet your cat instinctually and she starts to purr. "Don't worry honey I won't let anything like that happen to you. And I'll try to stop some of them too." You turned off the TV and got ready for bed, as you laid down on your side she jumped up on the bed and curled up into your stomach. You curled your body around her protectively and you fell asleep to her purring.

Monday rolled around and you walked into the commissioner's office again to meet with Mrs.Gordon. She showed you the ropes, and set you up with your new partner. You hit it off with her as you talked while on guard duty at the bank. The day was uneventful but you supposed that was good for your first day. After you put your gear in your new locker you said goodbye to your partner. It was dark out as you walked to the parking garage. You got in your car safely and drove home. When you got home you noticed your door was open. You ran inside and grabbed your baseball bat that was next to the door. You snuck through your house making sure to clear every room. They had taken your electronics and anything else they deemed expensive enough. You suddenly realized you hadn't seen your cat anywhere in the house and she hadn't meowed to greet you either. You called for her and looked anywhere she might hide but you never found her. At this point you were shaking and you ran back outside to call for her. She never answered. You called the police and your partner who was still on duty pulled up first.

You were sitting on the steps sobbing as she jogged to you. "Hey y/n what happened? Is anyone injured?" You hugged her tight as you tried to calm down enough to speak. "I-I think they took her!" "Who? They took who?" "My cat I can't find her!" Another sob racked your body as you mentally kicked yourself for not being there to protect her. "Hey hey look at me! She might be running around here somewhere. When the others get here I'll go look for her ok?" You wiped your tears with your sleeve and nodded your head.

Two more cop cars pulled up and one draped a blanket over your shoulders. They questioned you as you sat on the steps. Just like your partner said, she walked down the street to call for her. A few more cops showed up along with the commissioner and they closed off your house for the investigation. Your partner came back an hour later empty handed and you broke again. Your partner offered for you to stay at her place for a while and you took her offer. The others gave you their sympathies and another hour later you were driving to your partners place. Anger coursed through you at the thought that your baby was in a cage somewhere about to be subjected to who knows what. Your grip tightened on the wheel and your nuckles turned white. That night you didn't get much sleep and the next morning you went to work. You checked in to see if they started an investigation for your missing cat and valuables. The commissioner assured you that they would find her. And with that you went on patrol with your partner.

Patrol was mostly uneventful other than catching a few speeders. The commissioner called over coms that there was a robbery in progress. You sped off to find them and as they pulled out of a parking garage you gave chase. Out of nowhere the batmobile sped past you and pit maneuvered the robbers vehicle. It slammed into the guard rail coming to a stop. You and your partner managed to catch one robber as he jumped out of the vehicle but the other two ran off. Bats ran past you saying he would catch them. You growled at the robber as you pinned him to the concrete. "You're under arrest punk. You have the right to remain silent everything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law." He chuckled at you. "You seem angry officer." "I've had a bad day. Now do you have any weapons on your person?" "No I do not officer." "Good now in you go, and watch your head." You closed the door behind him and looked over to see bats dragging the other two robbers over. They were unconscious and he held them by the scruff of their clothing. "They're all yours officer." He dropped them at your feet and you pulled out another set of cuffs. "So you decided to take my advice after all?" "Yeah." You concentrated on cuffing the men. He could tell you were in a sour mood. Two other officers lugged the men to their cars and you stood not looking bats in the eye.

"Hey what's up with you? Is something wrong?" You sigh and finally look at him. "My place was robbed yesterday and I suspect they took my cat aswell. We searched everywhere but couldn't find her." You had a pained look on your face. "Did commissioner Gordon start an investigation?" You nod at him hugging yourself. He puts a hand on your shoulder. "Hey I'm sure they'll find her. And if it'll make you feel any better I'll do some digging too." You give him a weak smile and wave to him as he jumps into the batmobile flying away.

[phantominzie]

I found it!! It takes a while to get to that point though so I'll put the chapter verbatim below for you to read without reading seven chapters. This isn't mine lol so I highly recommend you go give the full story a read when you get the chance <3

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12849006/chapters/29341518

Virgil woke up feeling unrested and immediately felt panic. What was wrong? He couldn’t figure out what was wrong! What -

Breathe. He needed to breathe. In for four. Hold for seven. Out for eight.

After a few more minutes, Virgil had calmed himself down and started sifting through the past few days, trying to find a trigger for the sudden panic.

It took him over twenty minutes of laying in bed and staring at the ceiling to find the issue.

Reality had switched off. During the weekend, the reality switch flipped. Nothing felt real and he had been happy (well, relatively). There were no consequences. It almost felt like his past didn’t exist.

Monday, and reality had come back on. His skin itched from how much they’d touched him, yet he craved their touch once more. He wanted to see them every second of the day, yet he wanted to run away. Far away.

This wasn’t right. Nothing was right. Everything felt wrong and he didn’t know why or how to fix it.

The issue wasn’t that he didn’t care for his soulmates. That was far from true. No, Virgil cared too much for his soulmates. He was making himself vulnerable. They probably didn’t care for him as much as he did them, if they cared at all. They were going to end up hurting him. Then he’d end up lashing out and hurting them back. And that was the last thing he wanted.

Maybe he should do what he had been planning to do since the beginning. Distance himself. Remove himself from the equation. It was better off this way. He couldn’t hurt anyone and they couldn’t hurt him.

So Virgil worked his best to distance himself, but it was hard .

Roman would meet him outside the honors dorm and insist on walking him to class. Patton would beg and beg for them to meet for meals until Virgil relented and ate with them. Logan would somehow find him in the library (seriously, it was like the guy lived in there) and propose some group study sessions.

He couldn’t escape.

After a month of this, Virgil finally managed to avoid them all for a week. He spent it mostly in his room, sneaking out at strange hours because they’d all figured out his schedule.

They texted. They called. They wrote on their skin.

Virgil ignored it all, tried to play it off like classes had picked up. He was just busy. That’s all it was. He was just busy.

He thought it was working.

Until Patton finally caught him outside the honors dorm on the way back from class.

“Hey, Virgil!” He chirped. “Working hard or hardly working?” He giggled.

“Uh, hey, Patton….”

“So! My grandma is coming in for dinner tonight again and I wanted you and everyone else to join us!”

“Oh, um, I dunno, Patton. I, uh, I’ve got a lot of homework and--” Virgil stammered out, but cut himself off.

Patton’s puppy eyes. Anything but that.

“I-I guess I can take a break for tonight.”

“Great! Meet us in the west parking garage at five!”

Patton gave him a quick hug that left Virgil feeling very conflicted, then skipped off.

Virgil sighed and walked into the dorm, planning to change into something more appropriate to meet a grandmother in. Ripped, black skinny jeans, a band t-shirt, and a torn up hoodie? Not gonna cut it this time.

Virgil jogged toward the parking garage. He was late. Again . He would do them a favor by disappearing.

Patton, Logan, and Roman were all standing around an old, beat up minivan that couldn’t have been from later than 2003.

“ This is your car?” Virgil asked hesitantly. He didn’t know if he trusted something that looked like that .

Patton smiled, unoffended. “She’s more reliable than she looks. Hop in!”

So they piled in, Roman in shotgun and Logan and Virgil behind them. Virgil didn’t speak for the entire ride. Patton and Roman chattered the whole way. Logan said very little, but Virgil could feel the man staring at him for the duration of the ride.

They arrived at a small diner, about a 25 minute drive from the campus. It was small, obviously family-owned. Patton led them inside cheerily, walking in as if he was right at home. He greeted some of the staff by name, leading them to a large horseshoe booth right by the window. It had a beautiful view of the nearby park though the window.

And older woman was already sitting at the booth, and stood as they approached.

“Patton, sweetheart!” She said, pulling Patton into an embrace.

“Gram!” He hugged her back tightly.

“And these,” she said, turning to the rest of them with a large smile, “must be those lovely soulmates of yours.”

“Hello, Ms. Sanders, I am-” Roman started respectfully, but was cut off by Patton’s grandmother.

“No, don’t tell me. I want to guess.” She carefully inspected each of them.

“You,” she said, pointing to Logan, “are the smart one. Lo, I believe.”

“Yes,” Logan replied, adjusting his glasses. “I am Logan.”

“Nice to meet you, sweetheart.”

She examined Roman and Virgil. Roman puffed out his chest. Virgil shrank in on himself.

“You’re the actor, Ro.” She said, gesturing to Roman.

Roman smiled. “Yes, ma’am, Roman”

“Which makes you the mysterious one,” she said, putting a gentle hand on Virgil’s shoulder. “V.”

“Uh, y-yeah. That’s me.:

Logan rolled his eyes. “Yes, he’s Virgil.”

Mrs. Sanders smiled and gestured for them to pile into the booth before her. “With my hips, it’s much too hard to scoot in there.” She explained, sitting on the end.

A waitress came around and took their orders. Virgil made certain to order the cheapest thing on the menu. Then, Mrs. Sanders laid her hands on the table and looked at them all.

“Let me lay down the law, here,” she said, making Virgil even more nervous. “No more of this ‘Mrs. Sanders’ or ‘ma’am’ nonsense. You either call me Gram or Delilah.”

Logan and Roman both voiced their agreement. Virgil gave a small nod.

Logan shot another look in his direction. Virgil shifted uncomfortably. What was with him tonight?

They chatted about meaningless things for a few minutes, Patton looking anxious all the while. He seemed to tense up as he finally asked what was on his mind.

“So, Gram, how was the drive up here?”

Delilah rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Patton, you really worry too much. My feet my be numb, but I can drive and walk just fine!”

“Gram, it’s not safe !”

“Um,” Roman said, lifting a finger, “I don’t mean to interrupt, but why are your feet numb?”

Delilah gave a smile. Patton stared at the table and shifted uncomfortably.

“It’s a side effect of the chemo.”

The table went still, all staring at her in shock.

She didn’t look sick.

“I’m sorry,” Logan said, looking down and adjusting his glasses. “Did you say chemo ?”

Her eyes softened. “Yes. I was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer a little over two years ago. Nearly died for a while there!” Delilah laughed, as if was no big deal.

Patton was completely still. In all the time Virgil had known him (which, granted, wasn’t long), he had never been still. He was always moving or bouncing or tapping. He had too much energy. Now, it was as if he was a statue.

Virgil had no clue what to do or how to react. Luckily, their meals arrived and cut through the tense moment. They moved on and didn’t acknowledge it again.

The meal passed well enough, but Virgil could tell something was up with Logan. He kept glaring at Virgil out of the corner of his eye, rolling his eyes or making harmful quips whenever Virgil managed to speak. He seemed to snap a few times at Roman and Patton, but none of those were as fiery as the ones directed at Virgil.

By the end of dinner, everyone was tense and on edge. It was obvious that even Delilah had picked up on it and was uncomfortable, yet was too polite to butt into whatever was going on between all of them.

She insisted on paying the bill herself, despite everyone’s protests. It made Virgil even happier that he had ordered the cheapest meal.

She gave Patton a kiss on the cheek before waving them out, saying, “I think you boys have a few things you need to talk over.”

The car ride back to campus was tense. Quiet. Logan was glaring out the windshield. Patton’s knuckles were white from how hard he was gripping the steering wheel. Roman was shifting uncomfortably in his seat. Virgil was trembling in his own, dreading the upcoming confrontation.

What the hell was going on?

They pulled into the west parking garage at 8:43 pm. Virgil’s throat closed up. That was the beginning of the end.

“Why don’t we head to my room?” Patton asked, though it was more of a command. “It’s probably the closest from here, and my roommate is out.”

Patton turned off the car and left them with no choice but to follow him. He led them in silence to Juniper Hall, one of the regular dorms on the opposite side of campus from Virgil’s. He went into the elevator, forcing Virgil to follow, the enclosed space drawing the breath out of his lungs quicker than he could get it in. Luckily, Patton only lived on the third floor.

He held the door open for them all to enter his room before slamming it behind himself.

“Mind telling me what that was?” He asked, voice low, glancing between Virgil and Logan.

“I didn’t do anything!” Virgil exclaimed, his voice higher pitched and louder than normal due to panic. An ingrained response ever since he entered the system.

“Oh you didn’t, did you?” Logan said, turning on him.

Virgil flinched and took a step back. Logan followed, and Virgil did his best to stand his ground.

“No, actually, you’re right,” he said after a few moments. “I believe that’s an accurate description of your behavior.”

Virgil shot a look over to Patton and Roman, their faces blank. He looked back to Logan.

“W-what?”

“You see, Virgil ,” Logan said, beginning to pace the room, hands clasped at the small of his back, standing ramrod straight. “All of us have been trying to put effort into this relationship, even if it’s out of our comfort zone, yet you don’t seem to be making the same effort. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’ve been trying to avoid us, seeing as this is the first time we’ve seen you in a week .”

Logan whipped around and quickly approached Virgil, causing him to trip over his own feet in an effort to back up. His back hit the wall, breath hitching. Logan advanced until he was inches from Virgil’s face.

“I - I -” Virgil tried to defend himself, but the words wouldn’t move past the lump in his throat. He was trembling violently.

Logan’s eyes were cold, hard, searching his own. The anger in them grew.

“Logan-” someone tried to speak up, but it sounded like it was miles away.

“I thought we were past this,” Logan growled. “I thought we were done with this dilemma. What is with you and running away?! And STOP SHAKING! ”

He slammed his fist into the wall, right next to Virgil’s head.

Virgil flinched to the side and gasped.

Patton and Roman were yelling now, too. Virgil couldn’t hear the words over the blood pounding in his ears.

The switch in his brain went from flight to fight. Blood boiled in his veins. He shoved Logan away, ignoring the shock on his face.

Logan was staring at his fist, face white as a sheet.

“Oh no. No, no, no no nonono-” He whispered.

“Fuck you,” Virgil hissed, before the anger boiled over. He started shouting. “I have anxiety, jackass! You don’t just ‘get over’ it! I probably have a shit ton of other issues, too! My life as been shit, and I don’t need dicks like you ,” he jabbed a finger at Logan, “making it worse!”

“Virgil, I’m-”

“No! You don’t get to talk! You’re done talking!

“Virgil, stop!” Roman grabbed Virgil’s arm.

He hadn’t even realized he’d started advancing on Logan, who still looked like he was going to be sick and staring at his hand. It was almost enough to shake him out of his blind anger.

Almost.

He wrenched his arm out of Roman’s grip. “And who the fuck are you to tell me what to do?”

“Virgil,” Patton’s voice was stern. “That is enough.”

“Fuck you!” Virgil yelled. “You’re siding with him?!” He flung out an arm to gesture at Logan.

“I’m not siding with anyone, I’m just--”

“Bullshit! You’re hiding behind other people’s opinions and a fake smile, just like usual! Why not be real for once in your life!”

Patton’s face was blank, his voice steely. “You want me to be real?”

Roman looked terrified, stuck in the middle of the three of them. “Guys, maybe we should just--”

“Shut up, Daddy’s Boy.” Virgil snarled.

Roman snapped his mouth shut. Clenched his jaw.

Patton moved slowly in front of Virgil. His face may have appeared calm, but his eyes were filled with rage. “I lost my moms when I was just a kid. My grandmother, my sole caretaker , has stage four cancer. It’s a miracle she’s even alive . Everything important is either taken from me or destroyed. I thought this would be the one good thing I could have. I guess I was wrong.”

It was like a slap in the face, like a bucket of cold water had been poured on his head. Virgil deflated.

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint.” He said. He turned and walked out the door.

This time, no one followed.

Ppl should write virgil as the one who is in the wrong more often

[joontopia]

Find You Now | KSJ Oneshot - Preview

pairing: kim seokjin x female reader

genre: smut, angst, dashes of fluff

au: ex childhood friends to lovers, college drop out

rating: explicit, nsfw, 18+

current word count: 7K and growing

preview word count: 1.5K (unedited)

fic warnings: TBD

preview warnings: slight angst, slight pining

summary:  It’s been 4 years since the last time Seokjin has seen you. Four long years since he has seen your face, since he’s heard your voice, since he left you behind in your small hometown to find himself. But the only thing he found was how empty his life was without you. Following the downfall of his most recent relationship and the news of his brother’s engagement, Seokjin’s back home looking to fix the mistakes he tried to escape. To fix the friendship he lost, the pain he caused, and to find his happiness again. If only he could find you now.

This is a part of the Not A Phase Collab hosted by @suhdays​ - Inspired by the song Ocean Avenue by Yellowcard

Release Date: By Monday May 31st, 2021

It’s just past midnight as Jin pulls into his mom’s driveway, softly closing every door of his car as he gets out and retrieves his suitcase from the trunk. He turns slowly, taking in the stillness and quiet of the street he grew up on, stopping the moment his eyes fall on your house across the road. Not much has changed about your house, save for the vacancy of your car. Your typical parking spot in your parent’s driveway is empty, leaving Jin to wonder if you’re not home or if your father finally cleaned out the other half of the garage, allowing you to park inside.

From the faint illuminance of the street lights, he’s able to see the hibiscus bushes that line the outside of your home. The flowers not yet in bloom due to the time of year. His eyes shift over to the cherry blossom tree at the corner of your yard, sight trailing up its growth until his gaze ends at the highest point. The top of the tree still reaches just above your bedroom window on the second floor. Jin’s lips twitch up into a smile as a memory surfaces in his mind.

6 years earlier

“It was intentional. I’m telling you!” You rant, pouting as you stab your spoon into the cup of ice cream in Jin’s hand.

You’re sitting next to each other outside of the local ice cream shop, sharing two big scoops of chocolate and strawberry that had cost Jin the last of his weekly allowance. You had begged him to take you out for a treat, having just endured one of the most awkward conversations with your parents, promising him that he could choose the flavor as a form of sweet talk to get him to agree. He ended up getting a scoop each of both you and his favorites, his heart fluttering at the sight of your bright smile when he joined you outside on the park bench. The moment Jin handed you a spoon, you immediately dived in, a mixture of the two flavors disappearing into your mouth in a flash. A subtle hum of satisfaction slips past your lips from the taste. Jin shakes his head as he smiles, dipping his own spoon in for a scoop. “Chocolate and Strawberry is a match made in heaven. Two favors that go together perfectly. Like best friends, just like us,” you would say each time Jin asked you about your favorite indulgence.

You remove the spoon from your mouth, waving it around in the air as you share with Jin the scarring conversation with your parents that led to this impromptu outing. They finally decided it was time you had ‘the talk.’ If the topic at hand wasn’t bad enough, your dad even shared with you how he used to sneak out his childhood bedroom, your current bedroom, to meet up with your mom. Information that you stated you’d be better off never knowing.

“Did you know there used to be a big oak tree there? Branches so thick, dad brags about how easily they held his weight as he climbed down them,” you grumble. Jin’s eyes are on you, nodding along to your story as he listens. His attention is slightly distracted the moment he feels your hand cover his causing the both of you to hold the ice cream bowl together as you try to steady it, scooping up a generous portion of the treat with your spoon. The subtle touch redirects his mind from your words to his surroundings, suddenly aware of how closely you two were sitting next to each other on the bench.

It’s not unusual for the two of you to be this close to each other, having known one another since you were in diapers. But now at the age of 16, Jin can only blame it on teenage hormones. What else would explain his rise in blood pressure being this close to his best friend? Surely not the intoxicating scent of your perfume. The one he quickly recognizes as the very brand he got you for your birthday last year. Nor the change in how you do your makeup, the natural tones and faux bare minimum style accentuating your facial features. Allowing your natural beauty to shine.

Jin observes as you bring the plastic utensil up to your mouth again, turning the spoon upside down at the last second before placing it on your tongue, your glossed, plush lips closing before pulling the now clean spoon from between them. He watches as the tip of your tongue peeks out, swiping at a rogue drop of melted chocolate ice cream on your bottom lip and he’s momentarily mesmerized. Lost in wonderment at how his favorite flavor would taste from your lips. He’s brought back to reality from a painful thump on his forehead, the result from where you flicked him with your fingers.

“Yah! Are you even listening?” you scold him, doing a terrible job at stifling your giggle from the pout that forms on Jin’s lips as he rubs his wound. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“What’s the big deal? I thought you liked the Cherry Blossom tree,” Jin asks, ears turning red as he looks away from you. Scooping a hefty amount of ice cream into his own mouth to avoid answering the second part of your question. You roll your eyes at him and continue in your rant. Jin quietly lets out a small sigh of relief at you letting his obvious avoidance go.

“I did like it. LOVED it even. My dad said he had the old oak tree removed and the new tree planted shortly after learning I was going to be a girl. But now I just see it as a traitor tree. With branches not thick enough to let me sneak out.” You’re back to pouting, Jin catching the down turn of your lips from his peripherals. How badly he wants to kiss that frown away, the sudden urge to see you smile filling his thoughts.

He hadn’t realized he turned towards you, fully facing you with his spoon in his mouth until you were speaking to him through a fit of giggles, the sound of your amusement like music to his ears. “What are you thinking about, Jinnie?”

Jin is at a loss of words the moment his gaze meets yours. Your eyes full of genuine curiosity as you look up at him, a soft smile one your lips as you wait for him to answer. A slight breeze picks up, causing loose strands of your hair to blow into your face. On instinct, Jin reaches with his free hand, moving your hair back and tucking it behind your ear. Not missing your tiny gasp as your cheeks turn a soft pink from the intimate action. “Have you always been this beautiful?” he thinks to himself as he lets his fingers linger on your cheek. Unsure if it’s just wishful thinking, he swears your face is getting closer to his. Not able to tell if it was from him leaning in or you or both. The moment is suddenly broken by the sound of a car horn blaring from somewhere behind you, causing the two of you to jump slightly back from each other as Jin drops his hand from your face. Clearing his throat, Jin spoons another helping of ice cream into his mouth before passing the bowl towards you.

“Well,” he says, breaking the tension between you two as you take the ice cream from him, “Guess we’ll just have to think of another way for you to sneak out then.”

The smile you award him knocks the breath right out of lunges. The beauty of your happy expression being the most wonderful thing Jin has seen all day. A similar smile reactively graces his face, telling himself then and there that he wants to only ever make you look at him that way all the time.

A somber feeling takes over Jin as he brings himself out of his memory. Turning back towards his house, he walks up to the front door, quietly turning the key and going inside. Locking the door behind him, he carries his suitcase up the stairs, his head turned down the whole way to his old bedroom. He hadn’t kept his promise to himself, so easily breaking it only two years after making it. Entering his room, Jin drops his suitcase on the ground and closes his door. Falling onto his bed, he hopes that once he is able to find you, you will grant him the mercy and honor for him to redeem himself. Allowing him to see that beautiful smile once again.

[kaunis-sielu]

Blackbird: 6

You don’t see Steve for the rest of the day. You assume he’s working and when a pretty blonde woman comes in around four and introduces herself as Carol you let her take over with Ada. You go take a shower and get ready for the night, putting on your show clothes under your jeans and tee shirt. You go back upstairs when you’re done getting ready, your bag with all your stuff over your shoulder. You don’t find Steve on the main floor so you run down to the garage and the car is gone.

You check your phone and swear softly before texting Fury who agrees to come get you and you send him the address.

It takes him fifteen minutes to get to you, the car pulling up and you climb in the passenger seat.

“What changed?”

“My mind.” You say simply and he glances over at you to see if you’ll elaborate but you don’t.

“Alright.” You make the rest of the ride in silence, at least until you pull up to the club.

“Oh, Nick, you should probably talk to your drivers about making sure that the dancers are inside their homes before driving away. I was attacked last night, on my doorstep. He broke into my place when I managed to slip inside and hide until help could come.”

“Is that why you were at Rogers place?”

“You know Steve?”

“Oh, he’s Steve is he?” Fury gives you a sly smile and you roll your eyes.

“How do you know him?”

“Everyone who has a club knows him. How do you?”

“I was being harassed by one of his people on the street and he came along.” You don’t know if Fury knows about Ada and you know he doesn’t know about your job so you leave that out.

“I’ll talk to the drivers.” He promises and you nod and go to climb out of the car when Fury stops you with a hand on your arm. “Just be careful around him. He’s a powerful man, and power in this world often brings danger.”

“He was closer than the cops.” You feed Fury your same line then head into the back of the club. You get ready while the rest of the girls chat around you, you’re not in much of a chatty mood today. Melinda gives you a little nudge pulling you out of your head.

“You okay? Normally we can’t get you to shut up.” She teases and you laugh softly.

“Yea, my place was broken into last night.”

“Oh my god. When?”

“After I got home, so I guess it was this morning. You know the toucher Brock?” She nods, “it was him. He must’ve been waiting for me to get back from the club and tried to force his way into my place. I got away but he broke in.”

“Oh my god. You should tell Fury that he did that. He can ban him from the place.”

“I didn’t even think of that.” You admit tucking a Bobby pin into your hair. You finish getting ready then when it’s your turn strut out onto the stage.

Three sets later you’re texting with Wanda to let her know that you’re done and will meet her at her place. You’re grateful she doesn’t mind you crashing on her couch for the weekend. You’ve also received a few texts from Steve asking where you are but you’ll respond when you get to Wanda’s since the van is leaving. You climb in and let the driver know that you’re going to Wanda’s instead of your place and he nods then you take off.

You’re the third one dropped off, Wanda is waiting just inside the door and you tap on the glass to get her attention. She gives you a wide smile and lets you into the building.

“Hey, thanks for letting me stay with you.”

“Of course. How was Shield?”

“It’s fine. Not quite as fun as being at Galaxy but it’s a nice change of pace.”

“Why aren’t you at Galaxy?” She asks pushing the button to the elevator.

“Needed a change of scenery.”

“It has nothing to do with the sexy but angry mob boss that came into Galaxy tonight?”

“Steve?”

“Yea, he was looking for you. I was the only one who knew where you were and I made myself scarce so he couldn’t ask.”

“Sorry for putting you in that position.” You tell her as she pushes the open.

“It’s fine, I have a feeling he’s going to be back tomorrow though.”

“Do you want to come to Shield with me?”

“No, I’ll just tell Quill no private dances.”

“Wanda are you sure?”

“Yea, I’ll-“ your phone starts to ring then cutting her off. You glance down and see that it’s Steve.

“I should probably take this.” You tell her and she nods. You move out to Wanda’s balcony before answering.

“Hello?”

“Where are you?” He demands sounding stressed.

“I’m fine.”

“That’s not what I asked Birdie.”

“I know.” You hear him groan in frustration and you sigh softly, “I’m not your responsibility Steve. Besides if it is so dangerous for me then being around Ada is probably not the best idea.”

“You’re safer with me.” He growls, you close your eyes and rub the back of your neck in frustration.

“I understand you feel that way but I’m not yours to control Steve. You can’t keep me in a cage.”

“Isn’t that what you do when you’re trying to protect a bird?”

“No Steve.” You say softly, “I appreciate your help but I’m perfectly safe.”

“At least tell me where you’re dancing tomorrow night.”

“I’m not, I work Monday morning. I’ll see you when you drop Ada off.”

“You’ll see me tomorrow when we get your window fixed.” He corrects and you close your eyes again. He is so frustrating!

“I can handle it, you don’t need to come.”

“I’m coming over Birdie.”

“If you must.”

“I must.” He says and you pinch the bridge of your nose.

“Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“3pm Birdie.”

“Aye aye Captain.” You snark before hanging up the phone.

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[grlnxtdr30]

Sorry, need to rant...

2022 is turning out to be as bad as last year so far, if not worse. You may recall I mentioned that my husband was in a car accident on February 24th. He was not hurt, but the car was severely damaged. Now our insurance company, SF, which we have NEVER had an issue with before, suddenly can’t seem to do their job.

First, they said the car was totaled, and they were just awaiting an appraisal for payout, then didn’t hear anything for almost two weeks, so we called to find out what was up, and they said, oh no, you need to pick a garage to take it to for repairs, it can be fixed. Okay, we pick a garage, and they were supposed to have towed it there last Friday, but it was too late in the afternoon, so they had to wait til Monday. Monday afternoon we check the claim status online, and it had a repair estimate of $666.60, of which we’d only have to pay the $500 deductible. Okay, good, right?”

Wrong. Today we called the garage to see when the car would be fixed, as we only have the rental car for five more days. The garage never received the car. They don’t know where the repair estimate came from, as they have no record of our car at all. So I called SF, and they said the car was towed to a different location, OVER 100 MILES AWAY, and had a repair estimate of over $6000. Now, according to them our car is worth just over $8000 if they decide it is totaled, which after the deductible and fees would mean we’d get about $7500, which would be more than enough to pay it off and put a down payment on another car, and they can’t at this time verify if the car can be repaired or if it is a total write off. It’s been almost a MONTH!

So now apparently they have made arrangements to tow the car back here, to the garage we selected, but by the time it arrives here it will be almost closing time for them, so they won’t even look at it until tomorrow to decide if it can be fixed or not. We asked them to extend our rental car since it is their fault everything is screwed up, but they said they weren’t able to at the national level (Our local agent is looking into it and trying to extend it for us), and if we don’t return it by Tuesday, we will be financial responsible for it, which we can’t afford, and if we don’t have a car, my husband can’t get to work!

I’m PISSED! As I said, we’ve never had this kind of issue with this insurance company before. They’ve always been able to get things done fast and hassle free, so what the F* is up now?

Sorry for the rant, I needed vent.

[mysticalnightenthusiast]

S.N.A.F.U CH-54 ‘Manure’

Three days later at the end of a half load yet exhausting week Eadaoin returned home ready to sit down to some homemade Irish Stew, soda bread and Guinness and watch Qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix.  She walked in the door and was enveloped by the alluring smell of fried meat and warm bread.

“I need FOOD!” she announced loudly upon walking through the door.

“Hello to you too.” Cahir said sticking his head out of the kitchen “want a Guinness?”

“Oh yes please,” Eadaoin replied gratefully “but let me have a shower and change first, I’ve just spent an hour on the tube and feel yuck.”

“You got it.”

Eadaoin made her way upstairs to her room stripping off as soon as she closed the door behind her, leaving her work clothes and heels in a messy pile she padded over to her little ensuite bathroom and proceeded to have a long hot shower, washing away the jetlag, stress of the working week and worry about her car.  Sudsing up a storm she twisted her hair into a turban and changed into as pair of shorts and one of Daniel’s baggy team polos he had given her back in Austin that stilled smelled alluringly of his cologne and deodorant.  Grabbing her hairbrush she made her way back downstairs to the kitchen that was a hive of activity as Donnacha, Roisin and Cahir prepared dinner.

“You’re all awesome,” she said hugging each of them in turn “if it was the usual qualifying night I probably would have picked up a six pack at an off licence and ordered a curry.”

“Well we knew you’ve had a pretty heavy week dealing with jetlag, work and the worry of your car so we headed out today and did some grocery shopping for you and thought we could have our traditional Friday night stew and Guinness night whilst we watch quallies for Mexico,” Roisin suggested.

“And I noticed your bar is woefully under stocked so I fixed that up for you,” Cahir said cheerfully.

“How much do I owe you?”

“Eh don’t worry about it, you’re letting me crash until I have a job and can find my own place,” Cahir said cheerfully “I’m not going to miss a few hundred quid.”

“You’re a star.  How did the job search go?”

“Good, I have an interview on Monday at a small animal clinic in Putney,” Cahir replied cheerfully “its only a fill in position for a month but it’s full time hours and on Wednesday I have an interview at an equine practice in Walliswood.  I’d love to get the second job it’s exactly what I did back home.”

“Well I hope you get both,” Eadaoin said as he phone beeped with an incoming text message.

“Tell Danny we say hi.” Cahir teased as he made his way into the lounge room where Eadaoin’s TV was broadcasting the Sky F1 coverage.

“Oh sod off.” Eadaoin replied as she retrieved her phone from her pocket.

As Cahir predicted the incoming text message was from Daniel.

‘I’m just about to jump in the car for quallies and just wanted to say you’re the most beautiful woman in the world and I love you and miss you like crazy.  I’ll be in touch after the session and all my media commitments have been met okay?”

Eadaoin smiled and easily slid onto one of the stools at the end of her kitchen bench.

‘I love you and miss you like crazy too’ she texted ‘have a good session, drive safe and kick ass.  Might send you a boobs selfie later if you’re a good boy.  Everyone says hi BTW.”

A beating heart and eggplant emoji came back a moment later then Eadaoin looked up and saw Daniel hand his phone to Michael and climb into his car on her T.V.

“How long til we can eat Ma?” she called.

“After the first session,” Roisin called  back “the stew’s done but the soda bread needs a bit longer.”

“Let’s get some Guinness and watch Danny drive, he just got into his car.”

Roisin fetched some cans of Guinness from the fridge and followed her daughter and husband into the lounge room just as Danny drove out of the garage and into the pit lane.

“We’ve got to go to this GP one day,” Cahir said as Roisin gave him a can of Guinness “that stadium grandstand looks mint.  Ta Mum.”

“Would still rather watch from pit lane, or McLaren corporate” Eadaoin countered with a grin “you would too especially seeing as you get a paddock pass and can sit where you like.”

“Yeah yeah, I get ya,” Cahir said dryly “you know having your baby sister dating an F1 driver really has its perks.  I’m not going to have to buy any merch for ages now.”

“Most of what you have you got before I’d even met Danny!” Eadaoin exclaimed.

Cahir chuckled.

“I know, only kiddin’ kiddo,” So how is he feeling about a decent qually spot?”

“Cautiously optimistic like usual,” Eadaoin replied taking a swig of Guinness “he’ll be satisfied to get through to Q3 at minimum and happy with fifth or sixth on the grid.  At this point of the season most focus is on next year.”

For the entire twenty minutes of the first qualifying session Eadaoin’s attention flitted between Daniel’s car and the panel that displayed all the driver’s session time.  She punched the air and cheered when the curly haired driver easily made his way into the second qualifying session with a time just over 1:17.

“He’d be happy with that,” Cahir said as the driver’s began returning to the pits and the on air presenters began analyzing the session “and both the lads are through to the second session.”

“It doesn’t matter how Lando does tough the team had to change his power unit and he’s automatically starting from the back of the grid,” Eadaoin said “that’ll annoy him.”

“He’s got the skill to make his way through the field early though,” Roisin said getting to her feet “and the power unit change will set him up for the rest of the season.”

“True.”

After a small break the second qualifying session began.  Nursing a bowl of Irish Stew, a wedge of soda bread and a can of Guinness Eadaoin stayed on the couch engrossed in the session for the Mexico City Grand Prix cheering on Danny as he hauled his car around the track. The clock counted down agonizingly slowly and he was stuck in the elimination zone risking elimination but with a final burst of speed he managed to go from a possible eleventh position to a solid sixth fastest taking him into the third and final session.

“Oh god I hate that when it happens!” Eadaoin exclaimed with a groan.

“He can relax a bit now though,” Donnacha commented “barring any significant changes to his car the worst position he can have on the grid is tenth.”

“He’ll want to be higher than that though,” Eadaoin said with a huge sigh “but one of Danny’s best qualities as a driver is his starts so....”

“Bit surprised Ocon missed the third session,” Cahir said draining the last of his Guinness “maybe the issues his car had in Austin are still affecting his pace.”

“S’pose we’ll find out at the end of the session,”

There was a small delay to the beginning of the third and final qualification session as the track was cleared of some debris then the session began with Carlos and Charles leading the charge out onto the track.

“The practice and qualifying sessions have become far more interesting since you and Danny have hooked up,” Cahir told his sister.

“They have a bit aye?” Eadaoin replied with a smile, her stomach performing a little flip flop as Danny roared out of the garage closely followed by Lando.

Just then Eadaoin’s mobile phone buzzed with an incoming message, she swiped the screen and saw the message was a video file sent from Michael.

“Oh Michael's sent me a video!” she said in surprise.

Eadaoin tapped on the file and immediately a compilation of Danny driving in the sessions began playing a smile grew on her lips and when the forty second clip finished she sent back a thumbs up emoji and a ‘Tell Danny I love him.” text.

“Wasn’t a dirty text was it?” Cahir asked with a snort of laughter.

Fast as lightning Eadaoin grabbed the nearest cushion and hit her brother with it.

“Ná bheith ina moron fucking!” (Don’t be a fucking moron!) she exclaimed “it wasn’t a dirty text, Michael has a girlfriend.  He sent me a video of Danny driving.”

“So it was a dirty text then.” Cahir said “could’ve saved time just saying that in the beginning you know”

Donnacha and Roisin unsuccessfully tried to hide their snorts of amusement.

“I’m not getting dirty texts from anyone!” Eadaoin exclaimed “you’d be the last person I’d tell if I was!”

“There’s something wrong if you and Danny aren’t exchanging dirty texts,” Cahir teased.

“If I didn’t have a bowl of steaming stew on my lap I would throw the bowl at your head!” Eadaoin exclaimed as Cahir guffawed loudly “you operate on a singular brain cell I swear.  Watch the damn T.V you dick.”

Cahir threw back the cushion and poked his tongue out at his sister before turning his attention back to the T.V.

The remaining qualifying session was pretty uneventful for Daniel and the rest of the drivers with Valtteri, Lewis and Max filling the first three places on the grid.  Daniel was looking at a solid fourth place and second row position but was overtaken by Checo, Pierre and Carlos right at the last minute.  As soon as the curly haired Australian raced over the finish line Eadaoin, Donnacha, Roisin and Cahir let out a collective groan of frustration that was felt across the water when the McLaren garage staff dropped their heads into their hands.

“Aw man that sucks!” Cahir groaned “seven one hundredths and he’d be next to Max.  He’ll be annoyed at that.”

“Not for long though,” Eadaoin countered “and seventh isn’t too bad, he’s podium’d from further back than that before.”

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

Half an hour later whilst Eadaoin was helping her parents and brother clean up after dinner her mobile phone rang.

“Tell Danny we said Hi,” Roisin said teasingly.

Eadaoin immediately turned the same shade as her hair and poked her tongue out before making her way back into the lounge room and swiping the screen to answer Daniel’s call.

“Hey handsome,” she said cheerfully as she dropped down into her favourite chair “how’s you?”

On the other end of the line Daniel let out a long drawn out sigh.

“Eeeehhhhhhhh,” he said “far from satisfied but I can’t change the result now so now it’s just all guns blazing for tomorrow.”

“What do Andreas and Tom think?”

“They’re confident I’ll finish higher than I’ve qualified which is the usual aim,” Daniel replied “I just want to race, get out there, floor it and hopefully do it faster than everyone else.  I’m a bit more confident about Brazil next week, gawd Michael would kill me if he heard me say that, you know what he’s like ‘be in the present, nothing is gained by dwelling on the past or focusing too much on the future’”

Eadaoin let out a snort of laughter.

“You in your trailer or your driver’s room?” she asked.

“Trailer, I have half an hour to talk to you, then freshen up and start doing the post qually media rounds,” Daniel replied “but enough about me how about you?  Any more news on your car?”

“Yeah, the insurance assessor as deemed it worthy of repair and a truck picked it up after work yesterday,” Eadaoin replied “I pick up a rental on Monday and I just have to give the hiring contract to the assessor and my insurance will pay for the hire.”

“Well that’s good at least it’s fixable,” Daniel replied cheerfully “we should go on a road trip through Europe in the off season when it’s back up to scratch, I haven’t been on a good road trip in years.”

“I would have thought given what you do for a living the last thing you’d want to do is drive anything or anywhere.”

“Darling going on a recreation holiday driving trip and driving and F1 car at three hundred k’s an hour are polar opposites,” Daniel said in amusement “the whole point of my job is to be as fast as possible and finish in front of everyone else, there’s no recreation in it.  I love driving when I can take the time, especially if I’ve got someone to enjoy it with and I know if we went on a road trip with you I’d enjoy it.”

“Well let’s put it on the off season break to do list and when the season has actually finished we’ll organise something,” Eadaoin said with a sigh “god I miss you, hugging your pillow at night isn’t half as good as hugging you.  I’m super tempted to work remote and get on the next plane to Mexico City tomorrow.”

Daniel laughed.

“Don’t do that,” he said in amusement “only a couple of weeks more and I’ll be home, I’m flying out Sunday night after the Qatar race once I’ve met all my post race commitments so if you fancy meeting me at Heathrow at six in the morning I’ll be home that Monday morning.”

“I look forward to it, waiting-”

“EAAAAAAAADIE!” Cahir called from somewhere near the front of the house “EAAAAAAADIE!”

“Hang on babe Cally’s calling me,” Eadaoin told Daniel “can it wait Cally?”

“No you’re going to want to see this!”

“Babe I’ve got to go,” Eadaoin told Danny with a sigh “Cally’s yelling for me from out the front, call me before you get in the car tomorrow okay? You’ll do fabulously I know it.”

“Can only wait and see,” Daniel said cheerfully “I love you darling, chat tomorrow.”

“Love you too handsome bye!”

Eadaoin hug up and pocketed her phone and made her way out to the front of the house where Cahir and by now her parents were.  Immediately upon opening the front door she was overcome by the nauseating smell of fresh horse manure.  She looked around and saw her entire front yard, rose garden, lawn, daffodil and tulip bed where covered in piles and piles of equine excrement that spilled over onto the path leading from the letter box to the front door.

“What the hell?” she exclaimed carefully stepping forward as to avoid the manure on the path.

“I came out here to put rubbish in your outside bin and literally stepped in horse shit,” Cahir said.

“You sure its horse shit?”

“Eadie I’m a horse vet I think I know what horse shit looks like,” Cahir said dryly.

“Who the hell would do this?” Donnacha asked “the ground is sodden too, like someone left a garden hose on.”

“You pissed anyone off at work?” Cahir asked his sister “maybe lost a case your client expected you to win?”

“No, I haven’t taken a case to court for three weeks and even then it was a preliminary hearing, the beginning of a case to set out procedure,” Eadaoin replied “I’ve been home for four hours and this wasn’t here when I got home! What am I going to do with a shit ton of shit?”

“You got any shovels?” Roisin asked “I know it’s getting late but if we shovel all this manure into one pile maybe on Monday you can call someone that removes organic waste to come and get it.”

“Think I’m going to have to do that,” Eadaoin said with a sigh “fucking hell all I want to do is nurse a whiskey on the rocks and go to bed. Shoveling horse shit is not my ideal Friday night wind down activity.”

“Ah c’mon kiddo if we all pitch it your garden will be back to looking normal, or as normal as can be within a couple of hours,” Donnacha informed his daughter cheerfully.

“Best get started then.”

[imhereformr]

Hi! :) Could you please do prompt 11 for Rivusa? 💜💜 I wish you a wonderful day!

11: Secret Relationship

Rival gang AU /// Content warning: mildly smutty

The abandoned car factory wasn’t the most romantic place. It was certainly not where Musa had ever expected to be having rendez-vous’ with her lover. The place, even though it’d been deserted for close to twenty years now, smelled like a strange mixture of leather, chemicals and dust. Occasionally, the ghost smell of burning metal would tickle her nose, but those were rare. Besides, she spent most of her time coiled into Riven’s side, enveloped by the fresh, woodsy scent of his aftershave or the sweetness of his sweat.

She walked through the building to the backroom where they spent most of what little, precious time they had together. Always Monday nights, sometimes Wednesdays if they were lucky. She hated sneaking around, but it was necessary. If her father, the president of Magix’s Fallen Angels, found out his daughter was fucking – and in love with – the VP of their rival gang, The Dragon Riders, a war would break out between the two that would likely leave more dead bodies than she wanted to be responsible for.

No matter how hard she tried to keep quiet, her footsteps seemed to echo through the building. Every time they met up, she became paranoid. Musa was careful – more careful than she’d ever been about anything. She made sure to leave in the middle of the night once her father was asleep; made sure to always park her car a block away instead of in front of their house so that if he woke up he wouldn’t see her leave; made sure that no one was watching her as she got in her car; made sure that no cars followed her when she got off the ramp that led to the near-deserted stretch of road where the factory was; and made sure to park her car inside the old employee indoor garage who’s door that Riven had managed to fix so they could open and close it. All that effort – so much more effort than she ever thought she’d put into seeing a guy – just for a few hours by his side. And it was, in her opinion, more than worth it.

The door to the office where they spent their time was already open when she got there. Unlike the rest of the factory that was littered with trash, dirt and discarded production equipment, this office was in decent shape. It helped that Riven had taken the time to clean it when he had come across the area. There was a desk that faced towards the right wall, a torn black leather office chair, shelving and filing cabinets; all from the factory days, and all in surprisingly good condition. Riven had bought a loveseat for the corner of the office for them to cuddle up on a while back – that was the sole addition to the room. She would have preferred a bed so they could lie down, but there just wasn’t enough space.

Musa paused by the office door. Riven, leaning against the front of the desk with his phone in hand, still hadn’t noticed her arrival – she must not have been as loud as she thought – so she took a moment to drink him in. He was tall – significantly taller than her – with broad shoulders and a tapered waist. He always looked the same: dark wash jeans, a plain t-shirt and his leather jacket, the very one that told her she shouldn’t be near him. His maroon hair was slicked back – partially by stylistic choice, but also because he had a habit of running his hand through his hair whenever he was thinking about something or uncomfortable – and he still had a scar along his cheekbone from a fight he’d been in two weeks earlier. She knew that under his clothes, adorning a body worthy of a god, were more scars and bruises from that fight and others past, and two gunshot wounds: one in his right shoulder and one just above his left hip bone.

“Waiting for someone?” she asked when she realised she’d been staring at him far longer than was normal. Riven’s hand instinctively reached for the gun he kept tucked into the back of his jeans but stopped when he registered her voice. He looked at her over his shoulder and smiled brightly. His smile sent a bolt of lightning through Musa, awakening something deep in her. She returned his smile as she approached him, pulling off her own leather jacket. He mirrored her movements, tossing his jacket onto the desk where it landed on top of hers.

His lips were on hers within seconds, hungry and desperate. His hands wasted no time in making their way to her hips and pulling her as close to him as physically possible. Her own hands tangled in his hair, tugging lightly with every moan that escaped her lips. Riven backed her up against the wall, pressing himself into her. “You’re late” he whispered, removing his lips from hers to trail kisses down her neck.

“Sorry” she managed between gentle moans and pleased sighs. “Dad went to bed a bit later than usual.”

“Doesn’t matter. You're here.” His lips returned to hers, drowning her in desire. One of his hands wandered down from her shoulders to her chest, where his thumb brushed over her nipple lightly, sending a shiver through her, and down to the hem of her shirt. There was no pretense of modesty, no playfulness in the way Riven pulled the shirt off her. He knew what he wanted, and she was more than happy to give it to him. She hadn’t bothered to put a bra on in her rush to get out of the house, and Riven smirked when he noticed. He ducked down to suck at her nipple, and Musa arched her back to make it easier for him.

Her hands ran along his back, digging into him with her nails, until they found the edge of his shirt and yanked it over his head in one swift movement. Her eyes drifted down to his perfectly sculpted abs as she ran her hand across them, feeling every groove and bump. She let her hands slide lower, giddiness and anticipation building with every second, until one was cupping and teasing his bulge and the other was fiddling with his pant button.

Musa could feel his eyes on her, and when she lifted her own to meet them, she found him watching her with a softness that made her feel like goo. “What?” she laughed, her voice coming out much breathier than she’d expected. Riven shook his head, pulling his eyes away from hers and whispering an almost inaudible nothing. When they’d first started doing this – whatever this was – Musa would get upset when he would do that. She thought he was hiding something from her. It had been two years since then, and she knew better now. Nothing didn’t mean nothing; it meant I’m happy or you’re perfect or, her favourite, I love you.

***

Riven pulled her onto the loveseat beside him and draped his arm around her shoulders. She leaned her head onto his shoulder, feeling it rise and fall in time with his chest and heavy breaths. Her finger trailed along his sweat-slicked chest, drawing figure eights. A smile was plastered on his face and his eyes were still glazed over from his orgasm. He was beautiful.

“I’ve been looking at Melody” he told her after a few minutes. She could feel his fingers ghosting over the angel wings tattooed on her back. He traced the wings every time they were together, and every time she wished they weren’t there. Those wings represented a stupid, made up barrier keeping her from him, and she’d grown to despise them.

“Oh?” Musa raised her eyebrow as she tilted her head to look up at him. His eyes were focused on the dark office, but looked faraway from where they were. She loved his eyes. They were a deep shade of violet that swirled and danced every emotion he felt. He was her ticket into his soul and, now that she could figure them out, she never had to wonder if he truly loved her again. Until the day when those eyes wouldn’t look at her like she was the sun, she knew he was hers just as much, if not more, than she was his.

“You told me you’ve always wanted to see the realm your mom was from. And I looked into it, there is no Dragon charter out there. You’ll have to confirm about the Angels, but I couldn’t find anything.”

Musa sat upright, resting her palm flat against his chest. She searched his eyes for any hint of dishonesty or humour, but found none. “Really?” They’d talked about leaving Magix – getting away from the gang life and starting over somewhere – more times than she could count. Everywhere had been an idea: Solaria, Eraklyon, Andros, Melody, Zenith, Dalona, Oppositus. That’s all they’d ever been, though, ideas.

“Yeah. I don’t know what my future holds, but if it doesn’t include you – all of you, not just secret meetings in the middle of the night in some shitty abandoned factory – I don’t want it.” Riven dropped his head onto the back of the couch and let it flop sideways to look at her. His hand caressed her cheek with a tenderness that she knew he reserved for her. Her hand lowered from his chest to trace the dragon’s tail that coiled up his right leg, ending in a majestic magenta, blue and black dragon on his back. “I like Melody.”

“Good” he smiled. “I’ve looked at real estate and I have enough money saved up that we can get a nice place of our own. We couldn’t get anything big enough for a family in the city, but the suburbs are still really affordable.”

“The suburbs? Are we the suburban type?” she laughed. “I mean, I’ll have to learn to bake pies. And what the fuck does a PTA do?”

“Do you think we’ll have to get a minivan?” he added, laughing at the snort that escaped her lips.

“Of course. How else are we gonna get the kids to soccer practice?”

“Fine, but I refuse to wear beige or polos. And I still want at least one bike.”

“And I won’t wear dresses or curl my hair. Plus I demand that you keep at least one jacket. You look too hot in leather to give it up entirely.” Musa eyed the leather jackets crumpled on top of the desk. “Preferably one without a dragon on it.”

“We’re gonna scandalise the neighbours with our tattoos, leather jackets and motorcycles.”

“That’s fine. We’ll probably be the coolest parents in the neighbourhood.”

They fantasized about their life after escaping until Musa’s alarm went off at 4:15, breaking them out of the dream bubble they created and forcing them to return to their real lives. They got dressed as slowly as possible, dragging out the time until they’d have to be apart again. Then, the lovers walked hand in hand through the factory to the garage.

When they reached their vehicles, Riven pulled her into a passionate kiss. She wrapped her arms around his neck, reciprocating the tightness of his around her waist. After pulling away before the kiss became too heavy, Riven laid his forehead against hers. “One month” he whispered. She looked up at him through the messy fringe on her forehead. His eyes were closed, and his mouth was drawn tight. “That’s the goal. We leave in one month.”

“Wait, really?” Musa pulled her head away from his as she batted her eyelashes in confusion. She never thought he’d actually want to leave Magix. “You’re serious?”

“Yeah, are you not?” Riven furrowed his eyebrows and clenched his jaw. She could feel his fists clenching on her back, and the doubt and hurt that sparked in his breathtaking eyes tore Musa to shreds, made her feel like she’d just stabbed the man she loved. “I’m in. I just never thought you would actually want to. I mean, the Dragons are your family.”

“And the Angels are yours, but we can make our own family. One free of drugs and turf wars.”

“Just pies, minivans and nosy, scandalised neighbours. Sounds perfect.”

“Anywhere that you are is perfect” he whispered, pulling her back in and placing a gentle kiss on the crown of her head. They stayed like that for a few minutes, breathing in each other's scent and memorising every feature so they wouldn’t forget them in the week until they could see each other again. Riven’s alarm went off, alerting them that it was 4:45 and they had to leave now. He pulled her into one last kissed, far sweeter than any they’d shared in their two years together. It was full of promise and hope, something they’d never had before.

“I love you Musa.” It was so rare to hear him say the words I love you that Musa cherished every single one. In their two years, he’d said it exactly twelve times. The first was a year ago when it had slipped out after they’d had sex. Not exactly romantic, but still very cute. “I love you too Riven.”

They shared one more quick peck before Musa watched him take a seat on his bike and ride away. She got in her car and let out an elated sigh and took off, already counting down the days. All she had to do now was sit tight and not let anything slip. It couldn’t be that hard; she’d already kept this secret for twenty-seven months. What was one more? She just had to make it through this one month without her excitement bubbling over and he would be all hers.