#by the management company. who we are paying to handle these things | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

rookinthecrownest · 3 months ago

Text

Bedtime Stories for a Demon, Night 1: The Sleeping Princess (Lucanis x Rook Fanfic)

“Lucanis?”

Some assassin, he thinks bitterly, as Rook’s soft voice breaks him out of his reverie. She finds him sitting at the dining room table, staring at the fire with a cup of now cold coffee in his hands. He didn’t hear her come in.

Caterina would’ve given him at least ten lashes with her cane for letting someone sneak up on him like that.

His mind, lately, was a restless sea. Waves of him and Spite crash over each other, fighting to rise above the din. Fighting for control. And like the moon pushes and pulls the tides at night, Spite’s influence becomes harder to ignore in the waning hours of the evening. Sometimes it was hard to pay attention to anything but Spite rattling the bars of the prison that was Lucanis’ mind.

On most nights he finds himself alone in the pantry, or the dining room, with only a flickering fire and the demon in his head for company. Until a few moments ago that is.

“Rook” he manages a pleasant, tired smile while turning towards her. “You’re up late”

She shrugs and pulls up a chair beside him, now rimmed in the warm orange glow of the fire. “Thought you might want some company – you know, after the whole…” she gestures vaguely in his direction, and he doesn’t need any further elaboration.

He remembers feeling tired, so tired after their last mission. A bone-weariness that only came with the kind of world-ending threats they were becoming entirely too accustomed to handling. Three cups of his strongest brew hadn’t been enough to curb the knife’s edge of sleep deprivation. He remembers sitting upright in his cot and closing his eyes for just a moment. Then, he was in the basement hallway with the Vir’Evas Eluvian, surrounded by Harding, Rook - and the terrible realization that Spite had taken him for a walk.

Perhaps it was his brutal training at the hands of his grandmother, perhaps it was his own stubbornness, but he hated to make them worry. Especially Rook, who already carried the weight of the world on her small shoulders and the voice of an Elven god in her head. Dealing with a sleepwalking abomination was probably the last thing she needed to be worried about.

“I’m fine” he lies, and stares down at his coffee. His grip on the handle of his mug tightens. Rook’s bright green eyes flicker down to his hands, and he knows she doesn’t believe his words any more than he does. “As I said before – Spite is my burden to bear. Please, go get some sleep, Rook”

Her face falls just a little at that.

“Would if I could” she starts, “You won’t sleep, I can’t sleep – I figure we might as well be night owls together. But if I’m bothering you, I’ll go”

He doesn’t know her well enough yet to catch if she is lying about not being able to sleep – but he imagines she has plenty of her own worries big enough to keep her up at night.

When he doesn’t answer, Rook moves to get out of her chair.

Lucanis quickly waves her back down into her seat.

“No, no, no bother at all” He raises his cup to her in a cheer, “I’ll be glad for the company”

He swirls the cold coffee in his cup, before looking back up at Rook.

“Coffee? I’m going to make a fresh pot” he asks, rising from his place. Rook gives an appreciative nod, the corners of her eyes crinkling with another smile.

“I’d love some, thanks”

Rook is silent until his return from the kitchen, with a cup of freshly made coffee – real coffee, in each hand. None of that instant boiled bean water that Neve had a habit of making.

As he hands her the cup, he notices something in her lap that wasn’t there before. A small journal. Its bindings were tattered and frayed, the colour had faded from what he presumed was a bright crimson to a more muted shade of red, and the pages were yellowed with time.

“What is that?” he asks, taking his place in front of the fire once more.

Rook sets the steaming cup of coffee aside on the table, so she can begin flipping through its worn pages. A musty, acrid smell like old mothballs hangs in the air, and for a brief moment, he’s a boy in the Dellamorte estate’s library running wild between tall, marble bookshelves seeking mischief and knowledge in equal measure.

“My father’s old journal” Rook thumbs through the pages more carefully now, and her voice grows soft.

“He was a Bard in his youth. Toured all over Thedas with his troupe. As he went, he wrote down stories from across the continent” She leans her chin against her hand and smiles fondly at the little book in her hand. “Never imagined he’d be collecting bedtime stories for a future daughter”

There was a softness in her voice that he was not accustomed to hearing, tinged with the barest echo of grief. This is the first time in the few weeks they had known each other that Rook mentioned any kind of family. He notes her use of past tense and decides not to pry, much as he finds himself growing ever curious about his new companion.

Companions.

Rook looks down at the book again before meeting his eyes. They were almost pleading.

“I thought... maybe you’d like to hear one. You know, to help pass the time?”

He thinks of refusing, of telling her she needs to rest, that there is little sense in them both being sleep deprived because of Spite. There is something in her eyes that stops him from turning her down. An emotion he cannot quite name but feels akin to longing. Not quite sadness, not quite nostalgia – somewhere in between.

He quickly comes to the realization that this may be as much for her, as it is for him. Lucanis remembers the comfort that reading old stories brought him. He can picture, in striking detail, the book on Wyvern physiology he stole from the Dellamorte library as a child. He knows the contents of each page by heart, because he can still hear Illario's grumbling about wanting him to shut up about Wyverns echoing through his distant memories. He would read it by candlelight until late in the evening, ready to extinguish the flame and hide the book under his pillow at a moment’s notice if Caterina came by.

He decides that if he can help her by simply listening to a story, he will. Rook spends most of her free time trying to fix everyone else’s problems. Always flitting to and from each room in the Lighthouse like a hummingbird, fretting over the team. The Crows were already indebted to her efforts against the Antaam, and she made it a point to help him with both Spite and tracking down Zara. With all that in consideration, he feels it would be a rather poor show to refuse. That and another feeling he didn’t have a name for, keeps him from rejecting her company tonight.

“Alright” He sighs and takes a sip of his coffee before leaning back in his chair. “Let’s hear it”

Lucanis ignores the skipped beat in his chest as she beams widely.

She claps her hands together and straightens in her chair. “Wonderful!”

“So, what tale will you tell tonight?”

“Have you ever heard the old Tevene story about the Sleeping Princess?” she asks excitedly, crossing her legs in her chair like an impatient child about to be served dessert. She’s practically oscillating with excitement in her seat.

Lucanis smiles at that.

“No, I can’t say I have”

“It’s one of my favourites” she gushes, picking up the journal again and flipping to the correct page. Ringlets of rich brown hair sweep over her shoulder as she does so, and he decides to focus on his coffee instead, before he’s caught staring.

“Aha” her brow furrows as she quickly scans the contents of the journal. “Alright, here we go”

Rook sets the journal aside once more and takes a quick sip of her coffee. He doesn’t miss the way she savours the brew. He knew she enjoyed coffee from their meeting at Café Pietra with Illario, but it was nice to know she appreciated his coffee as much as theirs.

He raises an eyebrow when Rook starts cracking her knuckles – and her neck, then readies her hands in the same pose he’s seen her use for magic.

“What are you doing?”

“You’ll see” she grins conspiratorially.

“If you’re about to throw a fireball at me – “

“Relax, relax” Rook shakes her head, and whispers “Magic has more uses than fighting”

He can feel Spite stirring in the dark recess of his mind and does his best to ignore it.

Rook’s delicate hands begin glowing with blue light, and to his astonishment, a moment later she conjures a fully realized image of a castle, floating in the space between them. He can see the spires, turrets, and even the wrought-iron gates in clear, astonishing detail. Lucanis leans forward to inspect the castle as it rotates in mid-air, giving him views of every side. Even the masonry and statues have an immaculate degree of realism. It was almost as if she had taken a real castle and shrunk it down.

“How …?” He is not usually one to be rendered speechless, but it was not every day he is exposed to new types of magic - and when he was, historically, that hasn't always been a good thing for him. Spite rumbling under his skin reminds him of that.

“I learned to do it back in my Circle days. It was my thesis work – the use of the Fade to create projections of objects from one’s minds” her pride in her castle falls when she continues to explain, “The senior enchanters thought it a waste of effort and I barely passed my final year – they couldn’t see a use for it past getting their children to sleep. I suppose if magic can’t be used to some terrible, destructive end, it gets relegated to a novice’s thesis statement to be buried in the Circle’s archives and never touched again”

“It’s incredible Rook” he breathes. The words leave his mouth before he can stop them. He’s not sure if it’s the warmth of the fire, or something else, but he swears a faint tinge of red creeps from her neck up to her ears.

He desperately wants to reach out and touch the castle, but keeps his hands firmly on his coffee cup, worried he may ruin her concentration.

Rook’s eyes crinkle with her smile, wide and genuine. He’s never seen her smile like that, and it feels utterly disarming.

He brings his coffee cup to his lips again, about to take a sip.

“Thank you, Lucanis” Her voice is sweeter than the coffee on his lips.

“You’re welcome” is all he manages to choke out, leaning away from the castle to give himself some distance to regain control of his faculties.

Rook clears her throat, “I ahh, guess I should get on with the story, hmm?”

Lucanis nods and takes another sip of coffee, feeling the warmth spread through him but he is not entirely certain it’s from the coffee alone.

“I would say you’re burning moonlight, but given where we are …”

He smiles when Rook chuckles at his terrible attempt at humour, and he appreciates it even if it is forced on her end, but it feels genuine enough. Everything about Rook was genuine.

Her focus returns to the castle in front of them.

“Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a small kingdom”

She waves her hands in a fluid motion and the solitary castle morphs into a bird’s eye view of that same castle perched on top of a hill, overlooking a small village.

“And in that kingdom, there lived a King and a Queen, much beloved by their people.”

The castle and village disappear. They are now replaced with two figures sitting on matching thrones upon a simple dais. In the thrones sit a man and a woman, each with a crown decorating their foreheads.

“The King and Queen longed desperately for a child of their own and had tried for many years to make it so. ‘Would that we had a child!’, the King cried, and yet, their child remained a dream.”

As she said those words, the mouth of the king moved in tandem.

He can’t imagine the amount of concentration it must be taking to accomplish telling a story, maintaining an illusion, and making an illusion talk. He continues to sit there in awe, with only his training keeping his jaw from hanging on the floor.

The corner of her lips pull down into a slight frown.

“The Queen would not accept the words of her physician, who told her bearing a child was not possible for her, for there was a sickness in her womb that would prevent it”

The image morphed into the Queen hunched over on the floor, on all fours, sobbing. It looks so real he is convinced he could hear her agonized cries.

Now, the Queen has traded her crown for a traveller's cloak. She floats aimlessly in the air between them, the cloak billowing on an invisible wind.

“The Queen, unbeknownst to the King, set off to seek the knowledge of a Spirit from the Fade. When she eventually finds one,” Rook pauses and waves her left hand to bring forth the image of an amorphous spirit in front of the Queen. “She wastes no time asking the Spirit if it could help her conceive a child”

The spirit continues to float above the figure of the queen, who is now on her knees looking up at it, hands clasped as if in prayer.

“The Spirit asks if she is prepared to do anything to have a child. The Queen fervently answers that she would give up anything – do anything for an heir.” The figure of the Queen bows down to the Spirit in deference. “Satisfied, the Spirit gives her knowledge of a ritual that could provide her with a child. It would take several mages and the sacrifice of an innocent, but that was the only way to cure the sickness from her womb and carry a child. ‘Do this, and your child will grow in grace and beauty. Hair spun in gold, lips as red as the rose. She will walk with spring time wherever she goes. Her song will put nightingales and larks to shame’”

Blood magic. Figures this story comes from Tevinter.

“But be warned” The Spirit holds up a hand, “Should the Princess ever prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and draw blood, she will die”

The figure of the Queen hurriedly nods, before disappearing into nothing.

“The Queen quickly returns to the kingdom and enlists the help of her council of Magi”

The figure of the Queen returns to its original appearance. She is now surrounded by seven cloaked figures, each carrying a stave in their hands. The form of a young woman is chained, on her knees, in the middle of them all.

“They had their sacrifice, and the knowledge on how to perform the ritual” Her voice is quiet, almost strained.

The figures appear to be chanting now. The faint blue glow of the form of the young woman slowly turns red, with some concentration on Rook’s part. A moment later, the form is swallowed by red light and disappears. Veins of red climb like vines and weave their way into the figure of the Queen, settling on her stomach, before fading from sight.

Rook’s frown deepens and her brows draw closely together. The figures of the King and Queen morph into an embrace. And quickly after, they are sitting on their thrones, side-by-side, with the Queen’s belly swollen with child.

“The King had no idea about the ritual. He was ecstatic, of course, at the prospect of finally having a child” Rook said. “And so he didn’t question it when the Queen asked that every spinning wheel in the kingdom be burned to ensure her safety”

The pair disappear, and now, a large pile of spinning wheels, burning with blue flames, takes their place.

It disappears soon after, and the image of a baby is conjured in its place. She is sleeping soundly in an intricately carved wooden cot.

“The Princess, who they called Rosaea, was perfect. And just as the Spirit had said, she would indeed grow in grace and beauty” The form of the baby changes to that of a young woman, with long, flowing hair and a beautiful face. “She was loved by all her people, for she had a kind heart. She lived happily with her parents and was adorned of gifts from her people, the nobility, and suitors alike. But things would not stay that way for long.”

The image of the princess disappears. The scene shifts to the King, Queen, and the Princess together at the gates of the Kingdom.

“Urgent business with another Kingdom called the King and Queen away, and so the Princess was left to wander the castle by herself”

Rook waves a hand and the Princess walks alone, before coming to the form of an old woman hunched over a spinning wheel.

The princesses mouth moves in tandem with Rook’s words.

“You there, madam” The princess says, pointing to the wheel. “What is it that you are doing?’ She asks, for she had never seen a spinning wheel before”

The figure of the old woman turns towards the princess and beckons her closer, “I am spinning, dear girl’, it answers” The figure of the princess moves closer to the spinning wheel. She leans over it, and asks, “What is that thing that twists around so briskly?”

No sooner had she said the words and taken the spindle into her hand, there is a flash of red light, and the figure of the princess is on the floor. Not dead, but sleeping, for he can see the rise and fall of her chest.

The old woman first morphs into the spirit from before, the one that spoke with the Queen, and then it changes again into a twisted creature - all horns, claws, and jagged edges. One he was all too familiar with. A demon.

“The Spirit the Queen had spoken with was no Spirit at all, it was a Terror demon in disguise.” Rook explains, waving her hand through the illusion of the girl and the demon towering over her, erasing it from existence.

It is at this moment that Lucanis realizes he’s forgotten to breathe. He draws a deep breath, and leans forward, resting his forearms on his legs. His coffee sits abandoned on the table, as does Rook’s. Spite is practically vibrating behind his eyes.

“Well, go on” he gestures at her.

Rook grins, evidently satisfied with her work. “Impatient, are we?”

Lucanis smirks, “Spite wants to know how it ends”

“And you’re not the least bit curious?” She crosses her arms in front of her chest, looking at him doubtfully.

He distracts himself with a sip of coffee, miraculously still somewhat warm. “I might be”

Rook chuckles and shakes her head, mirroring him by bringing her own coffee to her lips. She licks her lips and sighs, and he tries to look anywhere but her mouth. For a moment, he finds himself preoccupied with his own shoes.

“Sorry, I was feeling a bit parched there. On with the story” She rings out her hands and brings them back into position. That familiar blue glow envelops them again. He feels its safe to meet her gaze again.

“The Terror Demon’s ritual didn’t just affect the Princess, it affected the whole Kingdom. One by one, everyone fell into a deep slumber, just like the princess”

He watches intently as the castle courtyard morphs into view between them. Figures of soldiers and servants alike start falling asleep in place, dropping like wilting flowers. The courtyard disappears and returns to another view of the entire kingdom. Large, twisted brambles begin enveloping it,He eererere forming an impenetrable wall of thorns encasing everything in sight.

“The King and Queen returned to find their Kingdom gone. They tried rallying support from other kingdoms, but none could breach the Demon’s brambles”

Figures of soldiers and magi alike lobbing magic and arrows and spears at the wall sprang to life. Each volley as useless as the last. She pauses as the image fades, and nothing takes its place.

“And?” Lucanis asks leaning onto his forearms even more.

“And I’m getting there” Rook laughs, flourishing her fingers like she’s conducting an invisible orchestra.

“The Demon’s spell kept the kingdom in a state of eternal slumber. It fed on their fears and nightmares in the Fade while they slept. On the outside, a hundred years had passed, and the King and Queen were long dead. But everyone inside the Kingdom still remained as they were when they were put to sleep”

Two elaborate tombs flickered to life, before fading a moment later.

“Another hundred years passes before a wandering adventurer, pure of heart and mind, and possessing the soul of a true hero, would come to the ruins of the Kingdom, still surrounded by the wall of thorns”

She conjures the image of a handsome-faced young man, in simple chain mail, riding atop a horse.

“But this adventurer was special, you see” Rook whispered and leaned in closer.

Smells like lavender and rosewater, Spite chimes.

“For he had a Spirit of Valor on his side. And the Spirit would see the Terror Demon banished back to the Fade forever”

The figure draws his sword, glowing a bright golden yellow, and pierces the wall of thorns with ease. He continues to cut through the wall and makes his way to the castle.

“There was a great battle between the Demon and the Hero, but the Hero prevails with the help of the Spirit of Valor”

The demon is pierced by the golden sword, and cries out a soundless scream, before disappearing. Now, the entire view of the kingdom is back. The brambles recede like a tide, and one by one, little figures of soldiers and servants begin waking up.

Curiously, when the image fades back to the figure of the princess, she still lies sleeping.

“Why didn’t the princess wake up?” Lucanis asks, his brows drawing together in confusion.

“The Nightmare Demon’s hold on the Princess is stronger than any of the other inhabitants of the Kingdom” Rook explains, shifting in her seat. "It was banished back to the Fade, but not defeated in its entirety. Terror is one of the strongest emotions there is, after all"

The princess and the hero fade from view, and this time, nothing takes their place.

“There has to be more than that” He throws his hands up and shakes his head, before taking another sip of coffee. He nearly spits it out. It’s gone cold. Again. Yet for all his love of caffeinated beverages, the thought of getting up to make another cup doesn’t even cross his mind.

She laughs again, her green eyes twinkling with mirth, “I’m getting there.” She repeats.

“You’re doing this on purpose” He points to her, frowning.

“I have to build suspense somehow!”

Rook raises her hands again, and the figures of the princess and the hero return to view.

“The Hero couldn’t help but be struck by the Princesses’ beauty. He could do nothing else but admire her sleeping form. And he was overcome with the desire to kiss her, for he knew it was love at first sight. He had no way of knowing if it would work – maybe it was his own heart, or maybe it was the Spirit of Valor whispering in his ear, but needed to know if a kiss could wake her from her slumber”

The figure of the prince moves closer to the princess, and hunches over her sleeping form. It leans in and presses a gentle, chaste kiss to her lips.

Both the princess and the hero were soon engulfed in a warm, golden glow. The figure of the princess wakes, and the hero takes her into his arms.

“The princess wakes to find herself in the arms of her rescuer. She and the Hero fall in love. They re-establish the kingdom and ruled together as King and Queen, living happily ever after”

And with a final flick of her wrist, the embracing figures vanish into the ether.

“The End” She says, with a satisfied smirk and a small bow at the waists.

Lucanis leans back in his seat, unable to stop himself from smiling. “That’s it? Everything is fixed with a kiss?”

Rook shrugs innocently, “Aren’t most things?”

He has no time to process that, or the way she’s looking at him while she says it.

“Besides, it wasn’t just a kiss. It was true love’s kiss. Love can be a powerful form of magic in its own right. Just as powerful as Terror - if not more so”

Lucanis frowns. He wishes he could believe that.

“In stories, perhaps” he mutters, swirling the cold coffee around in its cup.

Rook yawns and runs a hand through her wild curls.

“Perhaps” She stands and takes the journal in her hands. She offers him another sweet smile before turning to leave, “Never hurts to believe, though”

As she makes for the dining hall door, Lucanis stands from his chair.

“Rook?” He calls out after her.

She stops and turns, “Yeah?”

“Thank you … for this” he gestures to the fireplace. “For tonight.”

Rook nods, “You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked my story”

“Would you come again tomorrow night?” He asks, entirely too quickly. Convinced he sounds like a lovesick puppy, he wants to kick himself in the shin. Thankfully, he has Spite to do that to his head.

Rooks brows lift in surprise, like she wasn’t expecting him to ask. They quickly settle into a kind expression, one he finds he wants to burn into his memory until its all he can see.

“Yeah, of course” She gives him a small wave, “I’ll see you tomorrow night”

Lucanis returns the wave and returns to the kitchen to brew a fresh pot of coffee.

Meanwhile, Rook leaves the dining hall barely able to keep herself upright.

Being inside the Fade made it much easier for her to draw on her magic, but she’s never used that level of detail and sustained it for so long to tell a story.

Sleep would come easier that night for her from the mana depletion alone.

Lucanis, on the other hand, would stay awake replaying her story in his head over and over again. He would think of how the warm glow of the fireplace cast streaks of orange and gold into her wild curls. How her eyes practically sparkle and the softness of her voice when she tells a story.

But in all the loops of Rook and her story that play in his mind, it escapes his notice that a possessed man is the hero of her tale.

#lucanis dellamorte #lucanis x rook #rookanis #rook mercar #my rook #oc: madeleina mercar #datv #datv spoilers #sheesh guys this took for fucking ever #sleeping beauty was a hard one to adapt #but it won the poll so I had figure it out #be nice its my first fanfiction #dragon age #dragon age veilguard #fanfiction #fanfic #and sorry for any errors 1. english is my second language and 2. i was too lazy to properly proofread this #fic: bedtime stories for a demon

112 notes · View notes

ducktoo · 4 months ago

Text

Syncing Dream [Aespa x M!Reader]

16. Reveluv Dos

Note: Final chapter of Arc 2. Thank you for those who tuned in till now!

Masterlist here

The sun was barely peeking over the horizon when Y/n’s phone buzzed insistently on his bedside table. Groggy but instinctively reaching for the device, he squinted at the screen to see Minji's name flashing.

"Y/n, I need to talk to you," the text read, followed by an urgent “call me.”

As he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, a knot of worry tightened in his chest. Minji, Red Velvet’s manager, was known for her unflappable demeanour. For her to reach out this early—and so urgently—something serious must be up.

“Hey, Minji-noona, what’s up?” Y/n answered, trying to sound more awake than he felt.

“Y/n, I’m really sorry to bother you at this hour, but I’m not feeling well,” Minji’s voice was frail, betraying her usual strong-willed tone. “I’ve been hit with the flu and... well, it’s bad. I don’t think I can manage Red Velvet today.”

Y/n’s heart sank. Managing one group was already a herculean task; managing two was practically an Olympic event. But he remembered the countless times Minji had helped him out during his early days—those late-night calls, the advice, the reassurances. It was his turn to return the favour.

“Don’t worry about it, noona. I’ve got you covered,” Y/n said, trying to sound reassuring. “I’ll handle Red Velvet today. Just sleep or something.”

“I feel terrible asking this of you,” Minji replied, her voice a mix of guilt and gratitude.

“It’s not a big deal,” Y/n said, a smile creeping onto his face despite the early hour. “You’ve done so much for me. It’s time I pay that debt back.”

"..this kid." Minji felt like sobbing, especially under the weather.

"…but please buy me boba when you feel better."

"Aish-"

The first order of business was to coordinate with his own group, aespa. Y/n stumbled into the dorm’s common room, where Karina was lounging on the couch, scrolling through her phone. The sight of her sprawled in such comfort contrasted sharply with the whirlwind Y/n was about to dive into.

“Rina-ya,” he began, his voice a mix of urgency and exhaustion. “We’ve got a bit of a situation. Minji’s sick, so I’m going to be handling Red Velvet’s schedule today. I need you and the others to be extra flexible with your time.”

“I’ll fill you in on the details as we go,” Y/n said, taking a deep breath. “First things first, I need to make sure everything’s running smoothly for Red Velvet. Then I’ll jump back to aespa’s schedule. We might be a bit all over the place today, but we’ll manage.”

With a nod, Karina stood up and joined Y/n as he set up his makeshift command centre (aka. The chair and the man himself) at the kitchen table. The next few hours were a whirlwind of phone calls, schedule adjustments, and last-minute changes. The pressure was palpable, but Y/n’s determination was even stronger.

By early afternoon, aespa’s schedule was slightly rearranged to accommodate Red Velvet’s urgent needs. Y/n had managed to pull off the juggling act with impressive finesse, and Karina was already offering a steady stream of support.

“You’re doing great, Y/n,” Karina said, handing him a cup of coffee. “I know this isn’t easy, but you’re handling it like a pro.”

“Thanks, Karina,” Y/n replied, taking a grateful sip. “I just hope Minji-noona is resting up and feeling better soon.”

As the afternoon approached, it was time for Y/n to meet Red Velvet and break the news to them. He arrived at their rehearsal studio, his heart pounding slightly.

It wasn’t just the weight of managing two groups that was heavy—it was also the potential for awkwardness and teasing despite the company dinner months ago, especially with his not-so-secret favourite being Seulgi.

When he walked in, the Red Velvet members were gathered around, chatting and laughing. As soon as they saw Y/n, their conversation halted, and their eyes sparkled with curiosity.

“Hey, cake noona-dul,” Y/n said, trying to sound casual. “So, I’ve got some news. Minji-noona’s come down with the flu and won’t be able to manage you all today. So it's my turn to destroy the legacy and order that Minji-noona made.”

The room erupted in a mix of surprise and playful murmurs. Y/n glanced at Seulgi, who was beaming with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Aish, you're still shy!” Seulgi teased, her voice full of mock seriousness. “Everyone already knows that I'm your bias, don’t be too nervous now!”

Y/n chuckled, feeling a mix of embarrassment and amusement. “Yeah, yeah. I’m here to handle things, so no funny business, okay noona?”

The other members joined in with the teasing. Joy wiggled her eyebrows and said, “So, does this mean Seulgi-unnie get special treatment today? A free pass on the schedules?”

“Only if Y/n is okay with that,” Seulgi responded with a grin.

“Nah, Irene-noona will be the recipient instead.” Y/n said, trying to keep the mood light. “But seriously, if you all could be a bit flexible today, it would be a huge help.”

Wendy raised her hand with a dramatic flair. “What’s in it for us? We might need extra snacks or something.”

“Deal,” Y/n replied, smiling. “I’ll make sure there are snacks in the green room.”

As the meeting continued, the playful banter between Y/n and Red Velvet made the atmosphere surprisingly relaxed. Even as he managed the hectic schedules and unexpected hiccups, the camaraderie and light-hearted teasing helped ease the stress.

By late evening, the schedules had been adjusted, and Y/n felt a wave of accomplishment as he checked in with both groups. Minji had sent a message saying she was resting and appreciative of his help.

When Y/n finally collapsed on the couch back at aespa’s dorm, Karina plopped down beside him with a grin.

“So, did you survive Red Velvet unnie’s teasing?” she asked.

“Barely,” Y/n said with a laugh. “But honestly, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. They’re great, even if they do enjoy poking fun at me.”

Karina laughed, nudging him playfully. “Well, you handled well. I heard it from them. Tomorrow should be a breeze compared to today.”

As night fell and the dorm settled into a quieter rhythm, Y/n felt a profound sense of satisfaction. Juggling the responsibilities of managing two groups was no small feat, but the support from Karina and the good-natured teasing from Red Velvet had made it less exhausting as it should be.

The next few days after that double schedule , Y/n woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed. The chaos of managing both aespa and Red Velvet was behind him, and the prospect of a quiet day ahead was a welcome relief. But as he checked his phone, he saw a message from Minji.

“Y/n, thank you so much for everything. The girls and I are having a thank-you dinner tonight. We’d love for you to join us!”

Y/n smiled, appreciating the gesture. It was a nice way to wrap up a hectic few days. After a full day of managing aespa’s schedule and a few meetings, Y/n found himself heading to the restaurant where Minji and the Red Velvet members were waiting.

As he arrived at the venue, the warm glow of the restaurant’s lights spilled out onto the street. Stepping inside, Y/n was greeted by the lively chatter and laughter of Red Velvet, who had already taken over a large table in the corner.

“Y/n! My favourite child!” Seulgi called out, waving him over with a grin. “Glad you could make it. We’ve got a feast waiting for you.”

'I'm your favourite child now? Not Yerim?" Y/n pointed at Yeri, who glared at the second oldest.

"She's my favourite girl child." Seulgi defended. "You're my favourite boy child."

"…" Y/n swore he should get his ear checked.

"Ya, Seul. You broke him." Wendy sighed. "Jung Y/n, wake the flip up."

“O-oh! Anyway, thanks for inviting me,” Y/n said, frantically taking a seat at the table. “This is the least I could do after all your support and patience.”

As the evening went on, the food kept coming—plates piled high with Korean barbecue, bibimbap, and an array of side dishes. The atmosphere was warm and relaxed, and the teasing that Y/n had faced the previous day seemed to have turned into a playful chime.

“Y/n, you’re looking pretty relaxed,” Joy said, nudging him with a grin. “Did you finally find a way to enjoy the chaos?”

“Well, aespa had take out today, we finished early for once for a while, and I didn’t die at the gym with Aeri today” Y/n replied, grabbing another helping of kimchi. “I say it's a big win, and damn this food is incredible.”

“Glad you like it,” Wendy said with a wink. “We made sure it was a feast fit for a big boy.”

As the night wore on, the door to the restaurant creaked open, and Winter slipped in quietly, trying to blend into the background. She had been feeling a bit jealous of the attention Y/n had been giving to Red Velvet and decided to check out the dinner.

Seulgi, ever the observant one, noticed Winter almost immediately. She turned to Y/n with a mischievous grin. “Hey, look who’s joined the party.”

Y/n glanced over and saw Winter trying to sneak into a seat. Felt like a dejavu, Y/n could only sigh. “…Kim Minjeong? What are you doing here?”

Winter, caught off guard, tried to play it cool. “Just thought I’d join. Is that okay?”

…Damn this girl. No going around and head straight to whatever she wants.

"No-"

“Of course!” Seulgi chimed in. “Come join us. We’ve got plenty of food.”

"B-but noona-"

"Jung Y/n, don't be mean." Irene warned. "Minjeong, just come and eat with us."

Winter, looking relieved, took a seat at the table. As the night went on, she was quickly drawn into the group’s banter. Red Velvet welcomed her with their usual warmth, and Winter soon found herself caught up in the lively conversation.

The food was irresistible, and it wasn’t long before Winter was tucking into the spread with gusto. Between the delicious barbecue and the endless side dishes, she couldn’t resist going back for more.

Seulgi noticed Winter’s enthusiasm and laughed. “Looks like Winter’s on a mission to try every single dish. She’s catching up to you, Y/n!”

Y/n could only avoid where Winter was, clearly embarrassed at his childhood friend's antics. "Gosh, this girl will make this place bankrupt."

Winter, with a mouthful of food, managed to mumble through a grin, “It’s just too good. I can’t help myself!”

By the time the night drew to a close, Winter had eaten her fair share of the feast, leaving the table almost empty. The laughter and bonding continued, with everyone enjoying the relaxed atmosphere and the delicious food.

Well, someone clearly wasn't having enough.

"Ice cream ne- owowowow!"

Red Velvet and Minji could only laugh as Y/n, whose face was extremely red, pinched Winter's ear as an attempt to stop her never-ending appetite.

As the dinner wrapped up and everyone began to say their goodbyes, Minji approached Y/n with a grateful smile. “Thank you again, Y/n. This dinner was our way of saying thanks for everything. It really meant a lot to us.”

Y/n smiled, feeling genuinely appreciated. “It was my pleasure. I had a great time. And thanks for the amazing meal.”

Winter, who had managed to escape his grasp, gave Y/n a playful push. “Thank you for managing us and unnie as well. At least I had an excuse to use when we get home."

"Wait, you didn't tell Rina?"

"…no…?"

"…Pff" Y/n knew both of them won't survive what will happen next.

#aespa #aespa x reader #aespa giselle #kpop #aespa karina #aespa ningning #aespa winter #karina #ningning #giselle #aespa x you #aespa x male reader #ning yizhuo #yoo jimin #aeri uchinaga #kim minjeong #x reader #red velvet x reader #red velvet

85 notes · View notes

lurkingshan · 1 year ago

Text

Cherry Magic Episode 12

MY HEART IS FO FULL. This adaptation has exceeded my wildest expectations to become one of my favorite bls of all time. They really put their backs into it and gave us everything we could want for these characters, and I will always be grateful. This show managed to be a faithful manga adaptation, a loving homage to the jbl, and a fresh take on the story all at once. An amazing feat to pull off and this creative team deserves so much love and kudos.

The way Achi and Karan have grown together over the course of this show has been fantastic to witness. I love how seriously the show took their growth, and that we got to see them put in the work to improve their communication and become a great team. Meeting the parents was a big step for them, especially because they were uncertain how their respective families would react, but I loved that they were so open with each other throughout about how they were feeling. I loved, too, that we got a contrast, with Achi's mom being so warm and loving (but still managing to get a dig in on her son, lmao) and Karan's being more avoidant and passive aggressive and needing a talking to her from her eldest child to get her shit together. I love that the drama created space for things to not go perfectly with the parents, and to show us that people can be moved to acceptance.

We got a bit of a parallel with that message in Jinta and Min's story this week, with Min's fans initially attacking Jinta, but backing off once Min named him as his faen and asked them to respect his relationship. I like the choice to model positive fan behavior, and it felt a bit pointed from this production company. Both with Pai and now with this new group of fans, the show has said consistently that being a fan should be about love and support, not control. That you can admire your idols but you also need to give them privacy. That it's not your place to judge who they love. I just love that message.

Of course, I have to talk about the mutual proposal and the wedding. I am pretty sure Karan has been carrying that ring around in his pocket since the second day of dating, but it was such a welcome surprise to see that Achi had already made his own plans, too. The show really succeeded in taking this relationship from something that felt a little one-sided to a very mutual partnership I can believe in. I teared up when right along with Karan when Achi followed Karan's proposal with his own, and you could see how much it meant to him to know that Achi is really truly on the same page. Getting to see their wedding and the love surrounding them on their special day was the cherry (lol) on top of this fantastic love story. I also absolutely loved the wink to the jbl elevator non-kiss in the way they framed their final married couple kiss and then cut away from the bed.

Continuing the love fest, I also love the changes this version made to the side couple's story. Min getting to fulfill his dream, Jinta being an excellent supportive partner, their agreement that they will marry someday when they're ready--it was all just lovely. The nod to the jbl pen proposal was cute, and I love that they took it a step further by drawing rings on each other. The flip in the sexual relationships was also quite welcome, with that triumphant arc reserved for the main couple in this version. Jinta ended the show with his magical powers still intact, but it didn't seem like that would be the case for long.

As for Rock and Pai, I am happy with how the show handled their story. To the end, Pai stayed true to herself, and Rock came to know her better and understand what kind of romantic relationship he could reasonably expect from her. She will always have her head more on her ships than on her own love life, and he seems okay with it. I think you can still take an aroace read on this Pai if you choose, and I appreciate that the show made space for that. I like, too, that Pai helped Rock reconnect with his own passion for dancing and find a fun outlet for his creativity. They were another reinforcement of this show's overarching themes about the importance of kindness, support, and clear communication in relationships.

This show left me with such a warm feeling. I'm so glad they stuck the landing, that episode 8 never happened, and that we can rewatch and remember this Cherry Magic so fondly. I never expected Thailand to go so above and beyond the original live action drama, but they have undoubtedly delivered my favorite version of this story.

#cherry magic th #cherry magic thailand #thai bl #shan shouts into the void

174 notes · View notes

fuck-customers · 6 months ago

Note

never before have i worked under a supervisor who got mad at me for trying to help with other tasks when i otherwise had nothing the fuck else to do. 👨‍🍳🌌

i’m doing temp work at a catering kitchen with a few other coworkers and my usual chef while our usual location under the same company is closed for reasons. it’s literally my third fucking day here. today they tagged me in to help with “hand-outs” for a buffet service—basically i just had to stand there and wait for a buffet runner to come back and ask for a salad. the salads were already on their shelf, ready to unwrap and pass out. i am straight up just standing there doing fuck all. my usual chef from the kitchen i’m typically at (i’ll call Chef) is helping oversee the buffet service as the on-duty chef, there’s another guy actually managing it and touching base with the organizers running the event (i’ll call Guy), and then there’s this hot line supervisor (i’ll call Bibi) and the two other temps helping her.

Bibi goes off to do god-knows-what, and again, i’m literally just standing there doing fuck all, so i step over to help Chef and the other temps arrange shit for the hot plates on buffet—garnishing pans, etc. we get their shit dressed, put it back in the hot holding boxes, ready to hand out to the runners. i’m keeping general track of where everything is because…i don’t know, i’m fucking paying attention and make sure i can snap into action at a moment’s notice if called to do so? mostly i’m just transferring pans back and forth for dressing and finding the odd places things have been stowed so it’s not that hard for me to follow when i’m the one being told to put shit back. Chef and Guy walk off to do something, i think to do with the organizers or the buffet attendants, making sure we have all our garnishes to match spec, etc.

Bibi comes back losing her mind because apparently there’s *another* event that got their hot entrees mixed up with ours? so i, trying to be helpful, pipe up to mention which hotbox the just-dressed pans were put into, because like. we don’t fucking want those being taken. and instead of something simple like “i’ve got this handled, thank you” and going back to her shit, she drops everything she’s fucking doing and starts giving me this, like, straight up almost two minute condescending LECTURE. talking to me like i’m fresh out of kindergarten and never stepped foot in a kitchen before instead of a fucking 30-year-old man who’s been in this industry for the better part of a decade, about how *she* can handle *her* hot side and *i* can handle *my* cold side and a bunch of circular bullshit reiterating on that point and by her tone and body language, not so subtly disparaging my intelligence as she did so. straight up i would have felt more highly respected if she just called me a slur to my face.

i’m staring at her like she’s sprouted a second head, but again, it’s my third day here and she has seniority, so i bite my tongue. like, what the fuck? you’ve got a guy here who’s willing to step up and do something other than stand there with one thumb up my ass and the other on my phone to fight the urge to take a nap for the goddamn hour and a half until we even open service. and you’re going to stand there and lecture me for it? like i’m a child?? with your whole chest??? you are 40 years old and acting like this. wow. i appreciate the refusal to adhere to “time to lean, time to clean” mentalities but jesus fucking christ. it’s like she was perfectly genetically engineered to irritate me specifically and decided to speedrun pissing me off.

anyway, Bibi fucks off with the hotbox holding the vast majority of our backups for the beef entree. (we would later run out and have to call her to fucking bring some back because all we had otherwise was chicken and salads.) brief interlude with the return of Guy and him touching base with the temps. we’re standing around on our phones and chatting bc there’s nothing to do; he asks where the other hotbox went, and i actually AM allowed to explain that Bibi came and took it for the other buffet, but we’ve got X number in this other one, because Guy is actually halfway understanding of how operating a fucking kitchen as a team works, i guess. they check and confirm. rinse and repeat with Chef, also a halfway reasonable person to work with. again, they walk off to do whatever.

Bibi returns. she’s looking for a garnish. i start to point it out. this time she just cuts me off to dive into *another* lecture. i’m fed up at this point so i just interject “i’m communicating where i put it because i’m the one who was told to put it away” and this time it turns into an almost three minute lecture about the same bullshit of her handling her shit and me handling mine. i am physically struggling to keep my cool at this point and biting my tongue to keep from getting into an argument with her. i have to step back and put the speed rack with my salads on it between the two of us so i don’t have to fucking look at her.

Bibi walks away as Chef comes back. he’s worked with me a year he knows the Look i get when someone’s crossed a line with me and it’s taking everything in me not to metaphorically spontaneously polymorph into a silverback gorilla. and he comes back over to the buffet arrangement.

Chef: “So, what do you think of Bibi?”

Me, making unblinking eye contact: 🫠 (the longest, slowest, deepest inhale i have ever taken in his presence)

Chef: “Yeah, that’s why she doesn’t work for me anymore.”

turns out he has repeatedly had to get HR involved because of her behavior/attitude, resulting in her getting in the hot seat almost every time they have to work together when she just needs to learn when to stop fucking talking to people like that, and Guy agreed that she’s constantly out of line damn near every fucking time they’ve had to work with her, and they’re one of the location’s powerhouse workers. the fact that she still has a job there at all is so far fucking beyond me.

again, it was my THIRD DAY at this location, my first time working buffet service there, my first time working with her, and i barely got through a full sentence trying to be helpful and expedite things before she decides to take it upon herself to waste her own time by trying to break years of “doing more than your job description instead of simply doing nothing when you have no active tasks” conditioning in the most condescending way i could have possibly conceived of.

i’m so fucking insulted i’m seriously considering telling Chef not to volunteer me for any more temp shifts over there until i’m not at risk of having to work with her, because if she doesn’t learn to talk to me like i’m a fellow fucking human being, i will end up losing my temper, and i will certainly be asked not to come back regardless. i’ll just have less choice in the matter.

i might have to figure something out for seasonal work anyway while things are getting squared back away at my usual site, but i’d rather take my chances with a second job than risk having to deal with this fucking bullshit, and i don’t think i’ve made the best first impression at this other site anyway.

Posted by admin Rodney

46 notes · View notes

axelsagewrites · 2 years ago

Text

Daemon Targaryen*Gala

Sugar Baby Series Part 5 finale

Part one - Part two - Part Three - Part 4.5 - Part Four

Pairings: Daemon x f!reader

Summary: The reader finally has to face the whole Targaryen family at their gala and Otto is far from happy

Warnings: drinking, drunk Rhaneys, Drunk Otto, grabbing, threats, brief fight but nothing graphic

Word count: 5655 (i kno but its the finale i had to)

Masterlist Here

“She’s fucking your uncle for money bro,” Cregan’s words made Aemond’s eye go wide. Aemond sat stunned, looking between you, Cregan, and Jace who just shrugged. “And she’s going to your family reunion so if you could refrain from knives- “

“Cregan!” Sara hush whispered, jabbing her brother with her elbow.

Aemond paused for a moment before turning to look at you, “Are you really Daemon’s sugar baby?” He asked, the words sounding like sick in his mouth.

You gave an awkward smile, glancing at Jace for reassurance, “Kinda yeah, I mean yes I am,” you stuttered out, eyes falling to the floor.

You heard Aemond’s sigh and looked up to see him relaxing back into the booth, “Well then. Make sure he pays you double for the gala,” Aemond said before swallowing his drink in one go, “And bring a flask,”

Aemond wasn’t exactly comfortable with the fact his uncle was paying his friend for their company, struggling to believe sex wasn’t a part of the deal, but with a couple drinks he soon came around. The next morning all five of you woke up spread across Jace and Cregan’s flat. Jace and Sara somehow managed to stumble to his bedroom while Cregan lay in the bathroom, head hanging over the toilet as he slept.

You meanwhile woke up on the couch with a pounding headache and no clue how you got here. The one thing you knew for sure was that the bacon smell was not Cregan’s doing and didn’t smell burnt so it couldn’t have been Jace. When you stumbled through to the kitchen you tried to conceal your surprise when you saw a fresh face Aemond cooking up a professional level breakfast.

“Dude, you drank more than me,” you mumbled as you took a seat at the kitchen table.

Aemond scoffed but you saw the smile at the edge of his lips as he handed you a plate of eggs and bacon, “Not my fault you all cant handle a few rounds,”

“You made us do tequila shots. 3 fucking shots,” you reminded him as you dug into the breakfast.

You looked up when Jace walked in clutching his head and heading for a glass of water for his Advil. “To be fair the first shots were Sara’s fault. I think she ands Cregan are dead in the bathroom,” he said, gulping down the water as if he was in the Sahara desert. Jace paused for a moment, looking up at his uncle then back to the bacon, “I knew I always liked you,”

Aemond scoffed yet again before handing Jace a plate and the two boys joined you at the table. Meanwhile you replied to daemons texts asking if you had made it home safe last night. “Texting Daemon?” Jace asked, wiggling his eyebrows at you.

“I’m eating,” Aemond groaned in disgust as you finished off your text with a smirk before sitting the phone down. “Now onto more pressing issues,” even Jace looked confused at Aemond’s sudden seriousness, “We have to train you. For the gala,” Aemond rolled his eyes at yours and Jaces loud groans and protests, “Trust me, you want my help,”

“Why?” You groaned, desperate to just enjoy the greasy food that somehow was making this hang over bearable. “How hard can it be to wear a dress and smile?” The look Jace and Aemond shared made a pit grow in your stomach. “That is what Galas are right?”

Jace sat down his fork, glancing at Aemond before looking back at you, “Maybe you do need our help,”

Being hung over was bad enough but being hungover and going through Aemond Targaryen’s Class and Etiquette masterclass made you never wanna drink again. You did everything from learn which fork to yet with, how to shake hands, who to approach and what to say, who liked who and most importantly who hated who.

“And remember no matter what,” Aemond said as you walked up and down the living room with a book on your head, “Never be left alone with my mother. Fake a heart attack if you have to,”

“Is she the one who made you learn all this crap?” You asked as sara sniggered at your pathetic attempts to balance the book on your head.

“She was worse,” Aemond chuckled, “Way worse actually one time she made Aegon walk barefooted in the snow- “Aemond paused when he saw you stop walking and Jace and Sara staring at him like someone had shot him, “Never mind, just trust me. Avoid her,”

“Noted,” you said sceptically as you continued your newly learned prissy walk, “Do you think she’ll recognise me?”

Jace and Aemond shared a concerned look before Aemond cleared his throat, “She um remembers you yeah,” he didn’t go on till you death glared him, “She kinda well she wouldn’t let my dad say his order to you at the restaurant cause she thought you looked like a well,” he paused until the silence was more awkward than him just spitting it out, “A gold digger?”

Sara cackled while Jace face palmed while you stood open mouth and shocked. “I’m not-well I know it could seem- she-I’m not a gold digger!” You finally spat out. “Am I a gold digger?” You asked, looking between all your friends.

“The politically correct term is sugar baby,” Sara chirped, her hangover sadly gone.

“Oh my god,” you whispered, realising the horrible truth, “What if she finds out?!”

Aemond sat up, his elbows resting on his knees as he stared you down, “She cannot find out,” he said sternly, “Don’t worry. We’ll cover for you. We will survive this,” he said, somehow making it sound more like a war than it already was.

When you finally managed to escape Aemond’s class you only had time to run home, change, and head right back out to meet Daemon for lunch. Daemon was already sat at the table when you walked in, standing up he saw you, “You look stunning doll,” Daemon said, kissing your cheek before pulling out your chair, “Hungover?” He questioned with a slight smirk as he took his own chair.

You chuckled a bit as you glanced over the menu, “Nah I’m fine now. Your nephew helped with that,” you said as the waiter approached, and you both ordered.

After ordering daemon looked back at you, “Which nephew love? Should I be concerned?”

You snorted a little at his comment, “Jealous?” You asked before shaking your head, “Well Jace was there but it was mostly Aemond,”

“Aemond,” Daemon said, eyes wandering to the side as he thought, “Is that the eyepatch one or the syphilis one?”

“Aegon had syphilis?” You asked shocked, leaning forward wide eyed, “But yes Aemond has an eyepatch,”

“So why were you having a family reunion without me doll?” He asked. As you explained the rigorous etiquette you had just been taught the waiter brought the food over and Daemon hung off your every word. As you finished your story, finally able to dive into the amazing looking food, daemon nodded silently, “So he warned you about the gala?”

“He made it sound worse than world war three,”

Daemon chuckled at your description as he mulled it over, “That’s the Aemond I remember alright. You’ll be fine doll just stick to my side or my nephews if I get pulled away by someone but if you see my alone with a Baratheon for more than five minutes you’re obligated to swoop in and save me,”

“Mr Targaryen your doctors on the phone you’re having a heart attack right now,” you said, putting on your best posh accent making Daemon snigger. “There is something I need to ask though,” you said as you pushed the food around your plate with your fork.

Daemon raised an eyebrow as you avoided his gaze, “Everything okay love?”

“Yeah, it’s just um,” you said before finally looking up, “How am I supposed to say I know you? Aemond got worried about people finding out and yeah what’s like the plan?” You asked.

Daemon paused for a moment, sipping on his coffee before nodding, “Well I rsvp’d for a plus one so you’re my date and if anyone keeps prying i’ll tell them to fuck off,” you couldn’t help but laugh at his attitude but part of you knew it would not take much to push daemon into doing exactly that, “If anyone asks we’ll just say I met you at your work and we hit it off. Assuming you’re okay with pretending to be my girlfriend,”

You knew the idea of being Daemons girlfriend wasn’t supposed to fill your stomach with butterflies or make you want to lean over and kiss him. You were his sugar baby, someone he paid to like him, but you couldn’t help the feeling. “I suppose I can make it work,” you said with a shy smile before taking a drink to try concealing your fluster.

It didn’t go unnoticed however and daemon smiled quietly to himself as he watched your antics. Gods, he thought to himself, is it wrong he didn’t want it to be pretend? He kept his thoughts to himself as lunch continued.

“So where should I ask the driver to drop you off today?” Daemon asked as he helped you put your coat on to leave.

“I was kinda hoping I could stay at yours again tonight? I’ve gotta go in to work early tomorrow and your place is closer,” you said as you took Daemons hand without second thought as you began to walk out the restaurant.

Daemon laughed as he took your hand in his, his thumb stroking over your skin as it always did, “Of course doll. Though you don’t need the excuses love,” he smirked when he saw your head dip, a faint blush spreading over your face as he helped you into the car.

With every passing day you got slightly more nervous about the Gala on Friday. The whole of the Targaryen corporation got a half day because of the event but luckily you didn’t work Fridays so could spend the whole day worrying. Daemon unfortunately had to go into the office to sort some last-minute Gala financing out but said you were welcome to get ready at his house and even agreed to let Jace and Aemond over as well.

Jace and Aemond weren’t shocked by the extravagant house in the slightest, but Sara walked in, and her jaw hit the ground. “What the hell?” She gasped as she walked in, having decided she was more than welcome to come as well to do your makeup. “Why can’t I get a sugar daddy?”

“Hey!” Jace protested, his arm defensively going over her shoulder, “Give me a few years alright im still in uni,”

Sara scoffed as she pushed Jaces arm off to explore the house. Now it was time for business, “Where’s your dress?” Aemond asked, forgetting to say hello as he searched his uncle’s house.

You unzipped the dress bag revealing the dark purple satin evening dress that Daemon had made to your exact size. “Ta da,” you said, turning the dress to show the group.

“That’ll do,” Aemond said, nodding his head approvingly as he took the dress out the bag, “Now for makeup- “

“i’ve got that bit covered Aem’s,” Sara said as she flung her arm over Aemond’s shoulder, pinching his cheek. The two had grown a love hate relationship since Aemond took time off where Sara was her usual bubbly self and Aemond pretended to hate it. “Oh my god I forgot how gorgeous this dress is,” she gushed as she reached for the dress, “Hey!” Sara protested as Aemond snatched it away.

Aemond rolled his eyes as he slipped it back in the protective bag, “Not a chance. I don’t know where your hands have been. Now let’s get this show on the road,”

“Princess diaries style,” Jace grinned causing everyone to look at him, head tilted, “Sara made me watch it,” he mumbled.

“Bitch please you made me watch it,” Sara said before grabbing your shoulders and leading you to sit down, “Now let me at this face. I have work to do,”

Daemon had given you his credit card to get everything you needed for the Gala; makeup, shoes, jewellery, whatever you needed to complete the look. Sara took great pride in picking out the makeup with you and now began to slather it on your face with Aemond watching over her shoulder to keep it tasteful. You were thankful Jace was there to mediate.

She ended up giving you a soft purple eye look with a little bit of smoke and glitter, a more natural face and just gloss for lips. “Perfect,”

“Hot,”

“Looking good babes,” Jace cheered from the other end of the couch from where he was playing wordle on his phone.

Sara stood up with a gleeful smile, “My work here is done,” she said, clasping her hands together. You didn’t even question how Aemond knew how to do hair as he began to curl and pin it in place.

Jace and Aemond eventually went to get in their tuxes themselves and now all you had to do was get dressed. As you were heading upstairs for Sara to help you into the dress you heard Daemon getting home. “I’m home doll,” his voice called out across the entrance.

“Omg he calls you doll?” Sara whispered, grabbing your arm tightly.

“I’m just getting changed Daemon. Jace and Aemond are downstairs,” you called back as Sara dragged you to the bedroom, squealing at the sight.

The dress fit like a glove and the material was so soft it felt like ice water on a hot day. Sara made sure your hair was sitting perfect, shoes and jewellery was on, and makeup was perfect before you walked down. She was determined to give you your ‘teen movie’ moment as she called it.

When you walked down the stairs, seeing Daemon sitting on the couch with Jace and Aemond waiting for you, you almost felt nervous for some reason. At that exact moment that you contemplated turning back Daemons head turned to face you. You watched as his jaw went slack, his eyes scanning up your body as he stood from the couch.

He walked from the couch to the stairs silently, meeting you at the bottom and taking your hand softly into his, “Beautiful,” he murmured before holding your hand up and making you give him a slow spin, “Absolutely gorgeous love,” he said, pulling you in for a brief kiss while Sara awed and Jace gagged.

“Thanks doll,” you said, rolling your eyes to disguise you blush, “Are you gonna get ready?”

“Give me five minutes doll. Just gotta change,” he said as he finally let you go, moving past you to head up the stairs before pausing, “Sara, right?” He asked, taking her hand to shake softly.

“Yeah,” she said, her eyes wide as Daemon almost smirked before walking up the stairs. “Wow,” she mouthed to you as she walked down the stairs.

“Babe!” Jace whined at his girlfriend’s actions. The teasing and bantering didn’t stop until you saw Daemon reappearing at the top of the staircase. Unlike Jace who chose a plain black tuxedo and Aemond’s white one Daemon had opted for a dark purple tux to match yours with a lavender shirt underneath. Jaw dropping was an understatement. “You clean up nice,” you grinned, moving to stand beside daemon.

“Thank you love,” he said, his arm moving to wrap around yours before kissing the top of your head. Daemon smiled at you for a moment before turning to the nephews, “Called the cars. One to drop you home,” he said pointing to sara who looked like she may swoon at any second. Lucky for her Jace decided to spare her the war that was the Targaryen gala. “One for you both,” he nodded towards the boys before turning to you with a light smile, “Then one for us,”

You could melt under his gaze despite Jaces ews and Aemond’s eyerolls. For a moment you weren’t even worried about the gala. You just wanted to enjoy the moment as you all shared a glass of wine before the cars came. Sara was practically bouncing as she got into the car, hers being the first to show. Daemon sent Jace and Aemond in the next one, wanting to savour the last few moments alone with you. “Promise you won’t hate me if I show myself up tonight?” You joked as Aemond and Jace left.

“Nothing could make me hate you doll,” Daemon said, kissing your lips softly before pausing, “I got you something,” he finally said as he pulled a small box out of his pocket.

You gasped when he opened the box to reveal the most beautiful ring you had ever seen, “This is too much,” you said as you studied the ring.

“I could give you the world and it still wouldn’t be enough,” Daemon said as he took the ring out of the box, slipping onto your finger as he kept his eyes on yours. You couldn’t look away from those lilac eyes, even when the car honked outside you didn’t want to walk away. “c’mon love we’ll be late,” Daemon said softly as he took your hand in his.

“Okay,” you said, grabbing your purse and readying yourself. “Let’s do this,”

Despite all the prep you hadn’t expected all the flashing cameras or the lilac carpet, something you wondered if Daemon had suggested as you stood beside your date to pose for the cameras. Daemon work his signature sexy smirk as his arm slinked around your waist, resting on your hip, before you were ushered off the carpet to finally get inside of the gala.

Inside was thankfully less hectic but there was still a lot of hustle and bustle as people waited for the gala to usher them in. Servers passed out strange hors d'oeuvre you’d never heard the name of and, thankfully for you, champagne and wine. You gladly accepted a glass, almost drinking it in one go to steady your nerves. Daemons arm was locked protectively around you the whole time.

You glanced over to where Aemond looked like he was being sharply questioned by his mother, Jace standing a few feet away trying not to laugh. He gave you a slight nod when he noticed you looking. At least there were some friendly faces you supposed.

When the doors were finally opened you were ushered into a large hall with circle tables covered in red table clothes. Daemon guided you through the mess of tables and people to your seat. Apparently, the table assignments had been a lengthy process that he and his brother studied together while organising the affair. You were sat at a table with Daemon on one side and Jace on the other.

You smiled as Jace sat down and did your best to act natural when Rhaenyra, Lucerys, and Harwin strong arrived at the table. As they took their seats Jace began to whisper to you how his aunt tried to have Harwin banned from the affair but once they found out they were engaged nothing could be done.

“Who’s your friend sweetie?” Rhaenyra asked as she scooted her chair in before looking up and tilting her head, “Do I know you from somewhere?”

“She’s friends with Sara mum,” Jace said, blushing at the mention of his girlfriend which only made Luke start to make fun of his older brother.

Rhaenyra scolded Luke but before anything else could be said a loud microphone static rang across the room. “Is it on now?” Viserys voice was supposed to be a whisper but you and Jace sniggered as it rang across the room. “Okay good, good. Well, I would like to welcome…” Daemon had warned you about his brothers’ lengthy speeches at these things however you tried to listen but all you really heard was fundraiser, food, champagne, and eat. And eat you would.

You almost moaned as you bit into the food, something Daemon couldn’t help but chuckle at. Even though part of you knew Rhaenyra had recognised you, you were grateful for her discretion. The whole meal was surprisingly painless, even enjoyable, as Rhaenyra told you embarrassing stories about Jace, and daemon and daemon finally seemed to let loose around his family. During dinner they began to pace out donation slips for everyone to fill out. When you tried to peak at Daemons donation slip, he quickly pulled it away with a grin, telling you not to be so nosey.

When the dinner was over you were all ushered to the bar while they rearranged the tables, but you didn’t complain when you learned it was an open bar. You were stood beside Jace at the bar sipping your drink, your buzz already going, as daemon wandered off with Rhaenyra to talk to a client.

Jace waved at someone behind you and when you turned you felt your stomach churn. “Hi grampa, granny,” Jace said as he gave Rhaenys a hug and Coryls a firm handshake with a pointed but goofy look.

“Your grips improving son and look who it is,” he said turning to you, his arms opening, “Jace I see you’ve stolen my best employee,”

You blushed as you tried to avoid Rhaenys confused look, “Uh no she’s just my friend grampa. My girlfriend couldn’t make it,” Jace explained, “She’s uncle daemons date,”

Coryls let out a loud chuckle at that one, “Oh Daemon what’s he like,” Coryls said shaking his head, “I’d say you better make him happy but im sure you do sweetheart,” he tried to joke when his wife exclaimed.

“I know you!” She said, almost staggering as she pointed at you, “You used to work for me, at the Den. Oh sweetie how have you been?” She gushed, throwing her arms around you. You gave your boss a wide eyed look as he attempted to pry his drunk wife from you, “You know I know I should say this but,” she said, looking around as if someone was spying on her, “I’m so glad someone finally yelled at that awful witch,” she whispered in the loud way all drunk people do.

“Sorry bout that,” you said but you couldn’t help but laugh at her state as Coryls pulled him back to his side.

“No don’t be,” she said, holding your arms, “I would’ve done it years ago but someone,” she said giving her husband a dirty look, “said I wasn’t allowed,”

“Okay sweetie,” Coryls said as he brought Rhaenys properly into his grip, “Lets go find you some hors d’oeuvre, okay? Sorry about this,” he said turning back to you.

“I don’t know what you’re on about boss,” you grinned.

“That a girl,” he said before steering his wife off in search for food to sober her up.

You turned back to Jace, wide eyed as he sniggered at the interaction. “Well, that was fun,” before you could do anything else everyone began to shuffle back into the hall which had now pushed all the tables around the edges to create more of a dance floor. Viserys gave yet another speech before the music began.

While it wasn’t the music you and Jace would usually dance to he still insisted on dragging you out onto the floor. You and Jace were easily the youngest pair dancing. Aemond had taught you many of the dances he had been forced to learn in childhood, so it was surprisingly painless as you danced the Dornish Waltz.

As you danced however you could feel daemons eyes on you and when you looked you couldn’t help but smile at the way he watched you. However, there were another pair of eyes on you as you danced, and those ones were less forgiving.

When the dance ended daemon gave a slow clap as he approached you, taking your hand into his, “i’ve got her from here,” Daemon said, nodding for Jace to leave as another song began. The next song was dance of the dragons and it was easily your favourite one you had learned despite you being out of breath by the end, “You did perfect doll,” Daemon praised, giving you a brief kiss. However that much of a kiss seemed to be considered PDA by the way people looked at you.

For the rest of the night, you went between talking to and dancing with Jace, Daemon, and even Aemond who reluctantly gave you a dance. Aegon had asked for one, but Aemond had unceremoniously told him to fuck off making him retreat like a kicked puppy. Aemond also made sure to introduce you to a very sweet but very shy Heleana. You could feel ottos and Alicent’s death stares on you, especially when you danced with either of her children, but it was too busy for her to do anything about.

After much dancing and even more drinking, you found yourself sweaty and out of breath at the side of the dance floor. Daemon was off talking with Coryls while you hung out with Aemond when a girl, a very cute girl you mentally noted, approached Aemond with a warm hug that made his pale cheeks tinge red. Apparently it was one of his sisters’ friends she went to boarding school with. When Aly asked Aemond for a dance you practically answered yes for him, pushing him to show off his moves.

You meanwhile were buzzed, alone, and far too warm so you decided to step out for a few moments for some fresh air. Luckily for you just outside the door to the banquet hall was a balcony over facing the city that some people used to smoke but you used for some cool crisp air. The two men who were on there smoking left not long after you walked out leaving you alone to enjoy the noise of the city.

That was until you heard the glass door to the balcony open again. “I wondered if it was really you,” Ottos cold voice made you spin round on your heels leaving you face to face with the man who tormented you at the restaurant for months with his petty orders, “Im shocked you’re brave enough to show your face,”

“I should be going,” you muttered, trying to move past him but Otto blocked the door making you sigh, “Look I’m sorry about before but can I just get past- “

“You really think sorry will cut it? After you embarrassed me in front of my daughter,” he said, taking a few steps closer making you back up. All you could do was hope someone would walk past or to sneak past, but each move you made he copied, “Then now this. You show up to my family’s fundraiser uninvited looking like a tart,”

“I’m here with Daemon,” you practically spat out the words as you tried to push past. “He’ll be looking for me,”

Otto rolled his eyes, “Please that mans always drunk off his arse. Don’t act like I don’t know what you are,”

Your eyes narrowed at the man, stepping closer to him, “And what’s that?” You asked, smelling the whisky reeking from his breath.

“Just some whore,” before you could think you felt his cheek against your palm as a loud slap rang through the air. Your eyes widened, realising what you’d done as Otto roughly grabbed your wrist, “Don’t think we all can’t tell,”

“Father,” you heard the harsh whisper of Alicent’s voice before you saw her snake through the door, closing it quietly behind her, “What are you doing?” She hissed.

“Don’t you recognise her?” Otto asked, finally letting your wrist go and shoving you away.

Alicent tried to pull her father to the side, but he kept pushing her off, “Dad we’re in public,” she tried to reason with him as he continued his tyred.

As the two struggled you tried to rush away but as you reached for the door handle you saw daemon storming over to the balcony. “Why are you defending that gold digger?” Otto said as Daemon opened the door.

“What did you call her?” Daemon practically growled at Otto who finally moved on from Alicent to Daemon. You glanced over at Alicent, her face briefly contorted into some kind of sadness before she covered it again with a hard-line smile. “Go on say it again Hightower,” Daemon spat as he pushed at Ottos shoulders.

“She,” Otto said, pointing past Daemon, his finger wagging straight at you, “Is a gold digging whore,” he said the words slowly as if he was talking to a child, “And you-“ he said jabbing a finger into daemons chest, “are embarrassing the company by parading around some prostitute,”

Before you or Alicent could do anything, a loud cracking sound came from Ottos face as Daemons fist crashed down on the drunk. Otto stumbled back and part of you wondered whether Daemon was about to throw him from the balcony. Thankfully the doors were thrown open yet again but this time by the eldest Targaryen and two security men.

“What the hell are you two doing?” Viserys yelled, as much as an old man can, as you and Alicent backed into a corner, Alicent putting herself in front of you and for a moment you wondered if she cared. “Care to explain Daemon?” He said gesturing at his brother like a mad man.

“He was calling my date a prostitute,” Daemon said, his voice low and eerily calm. As he spoke you thought of a plan, silently but quickly switching the ring daemon had given you earlier from your right middle finger to your left ring finger.

Viserys paused for a moment, looking between you and Otto, “Brother you can’t understand how one might think- “

“I’m not a prostitute!” You said, finally speaking up for yourself and pushing past Alicent. “Or a gold digger or anything else,” you said as you put on your best indignant voice as you moved to stand by daemon, taking his right hand in your left, squeezing it quickly. Daemon glanced down, pausing for a moment when he saw the ring had switched.

Viserys paused, stammering for words, as a security guard checked out Otto and another tried to comfort Alicent, but she just pushed him off. Finally, Daemon looked up, raising your hand in his so that Viserys could see the ring, “She’s my fiancé you twat,” his spitting like venom but still the word fiancé sounded so nice off his tongue. “I was going to announce it tonight, but Hightower over here cornered her on a balcony to call her a slut,”

Otto tried to stutter for an answer but finally Viserys piped up, “She’s your-how long have you even known her, Daemon?”

“Two years,” he lied.

Before Viserys could keep questioning you continued the lie, “He came into the café I worked at before the Dragons Den and asked for my number,”

“We’ve been dating since,” Daemon said, expertly bouncing off your own lies. “I proposed last week and thought id share the good news with my brother but apparently not,” Daemon said, his face screwing up and for a moment you thought he should take up a career in acting.

“That’s the ring he proposed with?” Alicent asked indignantly, smelling a lie but unable to prove it.

You rolled your eyes before answering, “This is a temporary one, the real ones at the jewellers,”

“I bought the wrong size Alicent, hardly worth your father threatening my fiancé,” Daemon said as his arm linked around your waist.

Viserys sighed as he got in between his brother and wife, holding his hands up for peace, “Okay okay enough. Daemon I’m sorry we didn’t know. Otto- “Otto tried to pipe up, but Viserys raised a hand to silence him, “Is deeply sorry. Aren’t you otto?” Viserys shot him a nasty glare till otto reluctantly nodded. “And I’m sorry (Y/N),” Viserys said turning to look at you finally while you did your best to seem like you were bursting from excitement from getting away with the lie.

“I think its best if we leave,” Daemon said, holding his head high, “I trust you will deal with Otto on Monday considering this is a company event,” he said with a pointed look to his older brother.

“Yes of course,” Viserys said as he walked you and Daemon inside, leading down to the exit, “And I am happy for you brother. You two make quite the pair,”

Daemons eyes fell on you as he smirked, “I agree,” he said before bidding his brother goodbye. You tried to be nice with Viserys who looked exhausted from the whole interaction.

As Daemon reached into his pocket for his phone to call a car you stopped him, “Lets just walk,” you told him. Daemon squinted at you for a moment before finally nodding in agreement, taking you by the arm, “I know a 24/7 dinner we can try. It doesn’t have the same level of caviar,” you said in your best posh voice making daemon chuckle as you walked into the cool evening air, “but its good food,”

“Whatever you want love,” daemon said, kissing the top of your head as you walked.

As you walked you thought for a moment, your mind going back to the ring, “Daemon?” You said and he hummed in response, “If you wanted to propose, for real, I wouldn’t be totally opposed,”

Daemon glanced down at you, a smile playing on his lips, “I wouldn’t mind if you said yes,” he said before his eyes flickered away. His arm tightened around your waist, grinning as he did, “i’ll order the flower petals,”

Taglist: @clairacassidy @valeskafics @starkleila @delicious-xx @pet1t3 @skyesayshi @urmomsgirlfriend1 @dark-night-sky-99 @lantsovheiress@themotherofblood @avalyaaa @simbaaas-stuff @lunampacheco

382 notes · View notes

cobaltperun · 10 months ago

Text

Lost (24) - Landing in London

Tara Carpenter x female Reader

Summary: To anyone on the outside, and to Tara’s friends, you were Tara’s fierce protector, the MMA fighter who’d take anyone on for Tara. The Guard Dog, as Amber called you. You had no idea you’d have to protect her from people who claimed they loved her. It didn’t matter. As long as you and Tara had one another there was nothing you wouldn’t be able to survive.

Story warnings: Scream violence, family issues, trauma, angst, certain sensitive topics

Word count: 3.7k

Story masterlist / First part / Previous part / Next part

-And when the night falls in around me, I don't think I'll make it through, I'll use your light to guide the way, 'Cause all I think about is you-

She used to be lonely as a child. Woodsboro was a small place, children often met through parents, and her mother had her when she was young. Meaning while her parents were raising her their classmates and friends went out to party or went to college, meaning they had no kids Sam could hang out with when she was really young. So, Sam was lonely, Sam was alone, quickly learning that she couldn’t really go to anyone for company. Kids at kindergarten talked about watching cartoons with their parents, but Sam never had that. Her father, the only father she ever knew, even if she wasn’t his biological daughter, did his best, gave up on his dreams so he could take care of her. Her mother did the same thing, working, coming back home, taking care of Sam. They didn’t really struggle, they weren’t rich, but they had plenty, but Sam was lonely. All she ever wanted was to have someone to spend time with, to share moments and memories with.

And then the greatest gift Sam ever received in her life made the loneliness go away. Tara was born, a month earlier than she was supposed to be, and sickly, soon to be diagnosed with asthma, but she always, always looked at Sam with those expressive brown eyes and a happy smile that made Sam promise she would always protect her little sister. It broke Sam’s heart when Tara would spend another sleepless night, sick, sometimes just barely breathing, and still managed to smile at Sam.

Her strong, resilient little sister. Tara’s always been the strongest person Sam knew, enduring everything happening to her before she could even walk. Tara knew pain before she knew love, she knew sickness, and hospitals, and medicine before she knew playgrounds, parks, toys, playing, anything a child her age should know.

Sam loved Tara, more than anything in the world, but her love couldn’t replace the love of her parents. Unlike Sam, Tara never truly had that. Because Sam was loved as a child, her mother loved her, her father adored her, their family worked the way it was. Sam didn’t need much, so Sam was loved.

Her parents didn’t count on a sick child though, they didn’t count on all the medical bills, on all the time they’d need to spend taking care of Tara and taking her from one doctor to another. Looking back, perhaps finding out Sam wasn’t his daughter was only the excuse her father needed to leave them, because he could no longer handle having a sick child and now that the other one wasn’t his, well, it just gave him another excuse. Not to mention Christina was starting to drink some time before he left. He ran away, never to be heard from again, and Sam hated him for leaving Tara like that.

So, with him gone, money became a bit of an issue, and the only reason people didn’t really notice was Christina’s inherited house. Hell, Sam had no idea until several years later that Christina took money for Sam babysitting Chad, Mindy, and Wes. Sam didn’t say anything, because that money was used to pay for Tara’s medicine, and Sam would always protect Tara.

That was how she, now an angry teenager swung first before asking any questions when she saw an unfamiliar kid talking to Tara. That kid turned out to be you, trying to help Tara, but Sam didn’t know that at the time. She wouldn’t have even remembered your first meeting if Tara wasn’t angry at her for attacking you like that.

It was almost funny how the two of you were so drawn together, how Tara, without even knowing your name got angry at Sam. Tara was shy though, but she kept seeing you every now and then, and even though she never approached you, she’d tell Sam she saw the ‘cool girl’ in the hall between classes. So, Sam asked around as subtly as she could, finding out you were the only child of a rich family that recently moved to Woodsboro, but other than that she couldn’t find out anything about your family. She did learn you had an interest in martial arts, which explained the quick reaction when Sam attacked you.

Sam still remembered her anger when Tara, near the end of that year, and sicker than she was in a long time, told her how their mom didn’t pick her up from school and how she stood in the rain for an hour and a half. Yet, despite the temperature that was too high for home-made medicine, despite the cough and runny nose and all the other symptoms, Tara still looked happy, because she properly met you, and you carried her home in that rain. And when you dropped by the next day to check on Tara because she didn’t show up in school Sam saw the admiration in Tara’s eyes and somehow, without an explanation, she felt at peace.

And then you became a constant in Tara’s life, acting as her shield from the world. Sam remembered it as if it happened yesterday, the scene she walked into a few months before she left.

~X~

Tara hadn’t been this sick in a couple of years, probably since that time in the rain when you first carried her home. You kind of made sure of that, you skipped after-school activities when it was raining so you could make sure Tara got home as dry and warm as possible. You couldn’t protect Tara from everything, so when Christina’s neglect made Tara wait in front of the front doors for hours in cold weather, she got severely sick. She couldn’t even lie down without having a coughing fit, but Sam couldn’t panic. She couldn’t do much more than pick up medicine or make Tara some tea. She had to put faith in her mother to take care of Tara, even if every sign pointed toward the realization that Christina wouldn’t do that. Still, Sam had to hope because sooner rather than later Sam would leave and Tara would be left only with their mother.

She had to leave, she wasn’t safe for Tara, she was starting to hallucinate, waking up in the middle of the night and seeing her biological father. It took her several minutes to figure out what was real and what was her mind fucking with her, and she couldn’t let Tara see her like that. More importantly, she couldn’t risk hurting Tara in that state of confusion.

She still called her mother, just to ask how Tara was.

“W-what is it,” her mother answered and hiccupped, drunk, and Sam’s blood ran cold.

“Where are you? What about Tara?!” Sam demanded, for a moment wondering if she really could kill her mother, because she wanted nothing more than to do that, and that desire frightened her, strengthened her need to get away from Tara to protect her.

“At home, she’s fine~,” her mother drawled, and Sam wanted to crush her phone, to let her rage out, instead, she just ran home, barging in and running upstairs to Tara’s room. She didn’t hear coughing, she didn’t hear anything as she ran down the hallway, and she was frightened of what she would find when she opened the doors, but instead of Tara in pain or not breathing at all, she found Tara with you.

You were sitting in a not so comfortable position, leaning back against the rather uncomfortable headboard. You held a pillow to your chest, and Tara was right there, leaning on it and sleeping peacefully, half lying down, half sitting, but not coughing. She had the yellow teddy bear Sam bought her years ago next to her, and she was holding your hand, making you hug her from behind. From the corner of her eyes Sam noticed an almost eaten plate of soup, one that her mother definitely didn’t make. It was from a local restaurant, so you must have bought it for Tara.

Sam’s knees nearly buckled from relief, but the look in your eyes made her freeze, you were angry, but you couldn’t move, not without disturbing Tara’s peaceful slumber, and even as pissed as you were you wouldn’t do that. Sam saw you wanted nothing more than to get into a fight with Sam for leaving Tara alone when she was this sick, and Sam would have let you hit her as hard as you could, because she felt like she deserved it. Yet, you didn’t. Not because you cared about Sam, no, you talked every now and then and you were civil with one another, so no, it wasn’t because of Sam. It was because Tara would be sad if you and Sam fought, and you wouldn’t allow that.

“Y/N,” Tara mumbled weakly, and Sam noticed she held your hand a bit tighter now.

“I’m right here,” you soothed her, your thumb brushing against her hand as Tara settled down once more.

It was you. When Tara was sick and left alone by her mother, she didn’t call Sam, she called you, and you came, dropping who knows what just to take care of Tara. With how sick Tara was, she barely remembered calling you, she vaguely remembered you were there, but she most certainly didn’t remember sleeping while leaning back on you. Or if she did remember she definitely wasn’t sharing that with Sam.

~X~

The next time Sam saw you and Tara like that was after Tara was attacked, only there wasn’t a pillow between you two this time. Sam could never repay you for how much you cared for Tara while she was gone, because she was sure you’ve spent countless sleepless nights taking care of sick Tara, or simply keeping her company when she felt alone, abandoned by everyone else. Later, while you were training for your last two matches Tara told Sam about those times, about how she would always worry that you’d get sick taking care of her, yet you somehow remained resilient, not once getting sick. Tara also told her about all the times she had you watch The Babadook with her, or the times she just called you over so you could just hang out, do homework together or research random things.

Tara was always the happiest when you were with her, and Sam would forever cherish the memory of Tara laughing while the two of you danced at your wedding.

It was, naturally, a small wedding, the two of you, her and Danny, Chad with his girlfriend at the time, Mindy, Anika, Gale, Sidney with her family, and Kirby. And Tara looked more beautiful than ever, laughing, unable to keep the smile off her face for a moment, and her happiness was contagious.

Sam would have given everything she had to go back to those times, to the time when Ghostface was a thing of the past, and not a threat she once again had to deal with. To sit at the dinner table with Tara and you, making plans for whatever you wanted to do this week, instead of sitting at her computer, yet again realizing that the cult dedicated to Ghostface actually existed.

She should have known it was only a matter of time before he came back, and in the darkness of the night she looked at her window, seeing him there. Her real father, taunting her, putting the mask on her reflection, his mask, the same mask she put on when she killed Bailey.

“I like the design,” the monster told her, and she knew exactly what he was talking about, the dog painted on the mask, proving the belonging to the cult.

Sam got up abruptly, her chair scrapping against the floor. She needed to tell Tara and you, she needed to make sure you were ready and careful. She found you and Tara in the living room, on the sofa, with Tara sitting on your lap and flipping through a magazine while you hugged her from behind and rested your chin on her shoulder, occasionally kissing Tara on the cheek or the side of her neck.

“Sam? What’s wrong? You look worried,” Tara noticed, of course Tara noticed.

Sam should have told her right then and there, she should have told Tara everything. How she’s been lurking online, looking for any signs of Ghostface coming back, how she saw her father more and more often and the medicine was no longer working as well as it used to. Instead, seeing how happy you two were, she shook her head, staying quiet. “Just something at my job. What got you two so excited?” she tried to put on a smile.

Tara and you remained silent, as if exchanging a silent conversation by just briefly glancing at one another. “We’re having a baby!” Tara’s words shattered what little sense of relaxation Sam had left.

Tara would more than likely be the one getting pregnant. She’d be in even more danger than usual, and the child would be in the constant danger from Ghostface, no matter where Tara and you moved to. And in that cold September night that one thing that made Sam’s body tremble wasn’t the temperature, it was the fear for her sister and the life Tara was trying to build with you.

“Sam?” you spoke up when Sam didn’t respond.

“Oh! Sorry! That’s great! Congratulations!” she put on a fake smile, but her mind was already creating plans to infiltrate the cult. She’d just take the place of the one with the dog on the mask. She just needed to find him or her first.

~X~

It was the middle of the October, in the early morning, and Sam was watching a building from a busy coffee shop, with nothing but newspapers and a cup of coffee that had long since stopped steaming. She barely touched the coffee, frankly, she just needed some kind of cover. The unassuming blonde woman, no older than twenty-three left the building in a densely populated block. It was just at the edge of an area with high crime-rate, more importantly it was an area where one could easily rent an apartment without having to answer too many questions, so perfect to hide, or use as a base of operation for following someone. Sam narrowed her eyes and waited to make sure the woman wouldn’t come back right away before slipping into the building.

She had followed the woman enough times already to know which apartment was hers, so, when she got on the fourth floor she looked around and dropped to her knee to pick the lock, only to realize the apartment was unlocked.

Did the woman notice her and was setting up a trap? Or was she just that carefree? It didn’t matter, the girl was slightly smaller than her, looked slower and weaker than Sam as well. Worst case scenario Sam would get injured, but she’d come out on top, no matter what. It wasn’t this girl Sam was worried about, even if she left her alone she wouldn’t be able to beat you, it was the rest of the cult that worried her.

So, she stepped inside, on edge and ready to strike at any sign of movement, but the apartment was empty. No one was inside and she even checked to make sure there wasn’t a hidden room behind the mirror. So, she went and searched the place for clues about the cult. The notebooks gave her very little, and she’d have to deal with the girl’s laptop when she was alone. Still, hoping she’d find something in the laptop she stashed it away in her bag and hid in the girl’s bedroom. All she had to do now was wait for the woman to come back.

And sure enough, about an hour later she heard the doors opening. The blonde had no reason to suspect anyone was in her apartment, and she actually whistled happily when she stepped into the bedroom. As for Sam, she just sneaked up on the girl and grabbed her from behind, slitting her throat before the girl could even figure out what was happening.

She did it, she easily killed the woman that had the mask with the dog, but it also frightened her, because the woman was only a few miles away from where Tara and you lived. She moved there two weeks ago, and Sam was willing to bet she was going to attack Tara and you, or Sam herself, soon.

After that Sam got lucky, the cult meetings required the mask to be on at all times, and that they would use a voice changer, which meant no one really knew who the other Ghostfaces were. But she got into the cult, and though she wanted to start slaughtering them, she couldn’t get close to anyone without raising suspicions.

And then an opportunity that she couldn’t pass up on came up. The leader wanted to kill your father, and then get your mother to give him as much money as she could in return for her life. That would fund the next step of the leader’s plan.

Sam volunteered, killing your father in an apartment falsely rented in your name, in cold blood, stabbing him multiple times, taking her revenge for everything he and your mother did to you. Taking her revenge for them hiring Thomas and making Tara cry while you were in a coma, for making her cry for you, for nearly successfully arranging your murder… She may have stabbed him a few times too many in her fury.

“That’s enough, Ghost-Dog,” Ghostface pulled her away from the body and she shook him off, wiping the knife clean of blood and breathing heavily as she stepped away.

“Still, this will look convincing. Now, I’ll go deal with the Mrs. L/N, you need to get Y/N L/N to come here,” his words made her heart stop for a moment.

Why did he want you there? What did he plan to do? If he wanted to attack you that would be the perfect opportunity to end the biggest threat. The two of you could end the leader of the cult, you could take his mask and the two of you could then take care of the rest of the cult members.

“Ghost-Dog? Call Y/N and get out of here, let the police do the rest,” she could hear the confusion in his voice even through the voice changer-

They weren’t attacking you? They were framing you? They were making sure you were locked up? But Tara was pregnant! You couldn’t protect her from jail!

Still, if she didn’t follow the orders, she’d lose her chance and Tara would be in an even greater danger.

So, Sam nodded. “Yes, sir,” she spoke evenly, once again seeing her father tauntingly smirking at her. She was making things even worse. She was taking Tara’s greatest protection away from her. She was betraying you. She was betraying her sister. But maybe this would protect Tara in the long run. Maybe with you gone she’d go into hiding?

When the leader left, and Sam was sure she was left alone she turned off the voice changer and called you.

“Sam?” you sounded relieved to hear her. “Do you have any idea how worried Tara is, you asshole. Come back home!” you still scolded her, and despite blood dripping from her hand Sam still smiled a bit. If she could protect Tara, if she could only protect Tara…

“I don’t have time to talk, I need you to come and meet me somewhere, right now,” she didn’t need to fake urgency, she knew exactly what she was doing, she knew it would be unforgivable, that you would never trust her again, but she still set up the trap for you. And you walked into it, like a fool that trusted her.

~X~ March 24th, 2027 ~X~

Sam sat at a bar, drowning her sorrow in whiskey. Funny how things turned out. She despised her mother for drinking, she scolded Tara for drinking, yet here she was, drinking her problems away. She spent five months in the cult and had nothing to show for it but one dead Ghostface and blood on her hands. Danny was dead, Tara was captured, and she had no idea where she was. After getting you framed, she became somewhat of a second in command, seeing as she basically took care of the greatest threat, so she wasn’t assigned to whatever location they were holding Tara in.

She tried to keep Tara safe, and all it accomplished was the death of her boyfriend and her beloved, pregnant, sister, now being in more danger than ever before. Everything she touched she ruined, that was the summary of her life and she felt awful, she felt cursed, she felt like she had no right to ever hold her sister again.

“Your tip saved Sidney’s life,” she heard Kirby’s voice coming from the side and just barely lifted her head to look at the FBI agent. She didn’t care how Kirby managed to find her, Kirby somehow ended up finding her a couple of times over the past half a year, at this point Sam didn’t really question it. Maybe she was just that predictable.

“And Gale?” she asked, even though she felt the answer in her bones.

“Dead. It took too long for my mole, Ghost-Wolf, to take the snake mask and go after them,” Kirby sat down in front of her and slumped back against the chair. “Things aren’t so bleak though. Our newest ally found Y/N,” she managed to smile a bit, despite the circumstances.

Sam nodded. She failed to protect Tara, but you would be able to do it. You’d keep Tara and your child safe. “Good, I’ll finish this, three nights from now,” she decided right then and there, she’d put an end to the cult, or die trying.

Story masterlist / First part / Previous part / Next part

Taglist: @alexkolax

#tara carpenter x reader #tara carpenter x you #tara carpenter #tara carpenter x female reader #scream #jenna ortega x reader #sam carpenter #x reader #x female reader

134 notes · View notes

mask131 · 3 months ago

Text

If you ever want to get distracted with some of the little scandals of France, here's one if you want.

During the 2010s, Chinese investors and fortunes frenetically bought a LOT of the wine estates of France. It is known that China always ha little something for France, and already at the time it made lot of people grumble (the usual saying of "Why are we letting foreigners buy what's typically and traditionally French?"). The Chinese desire to buy or import a certain "French art de vivre", a French lifestyle, wasn't so much the problem, as some of their open and public commercial projects (some clearly announced they wanted to produce 5-euros wine in France to sell it back in their own network in China 100 euros).

Today, the Chinese are selling back the wine estates. Why? Well the most obvious and immediate reason was the Chinese government's decision of regulating more harshly the Chinese investments in foreign countries, and closing a lot of ways through which money went elsewhere than China itself. This resulted in the Chinese owners of these wine estates realizing they couldn't keep up. It becomes too difficult for them: after all, they realized that having a wine estate isn't as easy as just buying it and waiting for results to happen. Not only are Chinese people buying and drinking less and less wine year after year, but wine-making in France became QUITE difficult since the 2010s thanks to the climate change.

Because unlike what Trump and his insane clowns are saying, climate change is real and wine-makers suffered a LOT from it. Between the winters way too hot, the violent thunderstorms and hailstorms, the regular floods in river-adjacent areas, and this year a summer way too gray and rainy... Vines suffered a lot.

But that's not the scandal. The scandal is all what is coming up now that the Chinese are selling the domains. Already the mayors of the towns around were alerting people on the fact the Chinese are fracturing the domains - because typically a wine estate in France is a domain made up of a historical castle and the vineyards, and they always went together for quite some times. The Chinese bought them together, and now are selling the castles separately from the vineyards. That's a patrimonial problem, but not the biggest.

The biggest is the state of the castles... Turns out, after the Chinese bought the castles of the wine-estates, they didn't do ANYTHING with it. They didn't pay to maintain them, to clean them, to keep them up. They hired nobody for them, no one ever came to live within them, host things or even inhabit them. Basically... These castles stood empty and uncared for, for YEARS. The Chinese are selling them back now, at quite a low price... but they won't get a lot of people for them, because now they are filled with the usual problems led to castles left empty under storms, warm winters and rainy summers - fractured walls, broken roofs, mold everywhere, dust and vermin and animals... So whoever buys the castle, even for a low price, will have to pour a LOT of money to make the castle inhabitable again, or even safe. They're on their way to become ruins.

[Ironically, this careless, not to say clueless, handling of the castles and the wine business around them was explained by a Chinese businessman by the name of Hugo Tian as resulting from a different of investment model between Europe and China. In his own words, European people typically invest in estates on the scale of "generations", and that's how they measure time, in "generations", as opposed to China who has a model of buying-and-selling on a scale of usually five years, with no generatonal investment]

And that's not even talking of how the fracture of the wine estates, and the poor managing of the Chinese investors, results in hundreds of jobs being threatened - because now that everything is being sold back, the disastrous handling of the wine businesses. The companies owning them now have absolutely no representative in France, all the decisions are taken in China without anybody actually there to manage things in France, employees haven't been paid in years, and many taxes also have not been paid in years... Already before the re-sales had been announced, these businesses were about to crumble apart.

So, you know... French people are not very pleased.

#france #french things #china #wine estates #wine #vineyards #castles #scandal

23 notes · View notes

gremlinmodetweeker · 6 months ago

Text

A Conversation About Death with Those Who Laugh

So, another one for the Ghostbusters au. I'm telling you, stick with me here. This is a reader x König, don't get me wrong, but I like keeping him in the basement as my nasty little science gremlin.

I had a crush on Egon as a kid. Is it a surprise I cast König as Egon? We will never know.

TW: Conversation about death and religion

Wordcount: 2.5K

Story below cut

A Conversation About Death with Those Who Laugh

You opened your locker and sighed.

You knew this was coming, there was no way around it, but it still didn’t help with the knowledge that you’d be looking like you were a paper bag princess running around with a blaster pack strapped to your back until you either kicked the bucket or gave up on paying rent on time. Of the two options, you figured you’d rather be stuck in the brown jumpsuit than out on the streets.

You pulled out your suit to get a better look at it, not even bothering to even attempt to hide the sheer contempt you held on your face for the offensive clothing.

“It’s not pretty, but it’s damn useful,” Roze called from behind you.

You turned around to face her with a raised eyebrow.

“Useful? This?” you shook the garment for extra measure.

“Sure is,” Roze nodded as she leaned against a wooden pole, “you know, it’s insulated so you won’t get blasted by anybody’s proton packs. That, and it cleans up real easy.”

“Does it get sweaty?” you asked before taking a tentative sniff of the rubber suit.

“Nah,” Roze flipped her hair from her face, “unless you count getting slimed.”

You gave her a dark look that only made the older woman laugh.

“You heard me. Slimed. Just ask Horangi about it.”

You shook your head before turning back to your locker. You hoped you could do something to spruce it up with time, but seeing as it was still just your first day on the job, you had more important things to think about. Namely, how your self esteem will handle wearing the shittiest uniform you’d ever had the misfortune of laying your eyes upon.

“Who even designed this thing?” you grumbled as you forced your feet through the pants.

“Blame König,” Roze snorted, “he wanted it to be puke green.”

“Fucking… Ugh.”

You managed to drape the uniform over yourself before zipping up the front. At the very least, the utility belt helped pinch in the waist to give it a bit more form. It still looked horrible. At the very least, the washed out brown looked better than whatever König had in mind.

You turned to look at your back in the mirror, where the logo of the company sat square on your back.

“Look at you!” Roze whistled, “you’re rocking it”

“Thanks,” you grumbled, “I look like shit.”

“Better than barf,” Roze reminded you.

“Whoever this König guy is, I’m gonna give him a piece of my mind when I see him,” you muttered under your breath.

“He’s just European,” Roze shrugged.

“Isn’t Paris in Europe?” you huffed, “he could at least get a fashion designer or something to help…”

“We’re too cheap for Gucci,” Roze sauntered over to your side, “but you’re better off with than without. Cleaning out ectoplasm ain’t no easy task.”

“You’re really hammering in this ‘ghost busting’ business, aren’t you?” you snarked as Roze put her fists on her hips.

She shifted her weight to one leg and sighed, “You’re not getting it. We really do hunt ghosts. They’re real as you and me.”

“I’ve never seen any ghosts,” you retorted, “I thought you guys were scientists. Aren’t you all about tangible evidence or something?”

“Oh you’ll see ‘em soon enough,” Roze chuckled.

“You keep saying that,” you adjusted your hefty utility belt, “but I’ve seen nothing so far.”

“Look,” Roze put her hand on your shoulder, “you’re new. Why don’t you talk to Nikto? He was just like you when he came on the force. If you won’t believe me, maybe talk to someone who came here just like you.”

You locked eyes with her, holding her dark stare for a brief moment before tch-ing and looking back at the mirror.

“We’ll see.”

—

You strolled into the breakroom and plopped yourself down in the seat across from Nikto. You couldn’t see his eyes behind the mask, but the way his head twitched was enough for you to feel like he at the very least acknowledged you. Or, well, you hoped that’s what it meant.

“So…” you drew out carefully as you stirred your drink, “you came here from where again?”

“Russia,” Nikto pulled his mask’s shroud out to duck his cup of coffee behind it and take a long slurp.

“Russia?” you perked up, “where abouts in Russia?”

Nikto tilted his head before snorting, “What would it be to you? You wouldn’t know the name.”

“So not Moscow?” you smiled sheepishly.

“No,” he chuckled, “on the opposite side of the country.”

You nodded along, “Yeah I wouldn’t have any idea where that is. But what I’m really asking is why did you come all the way to New York?”

Nikto hummed and swayed his head thoughtfully before saying, “I wanted to get away from home. So I decided to come here, where I could get a new life.”

“But why did you come here, to the Ghostbusters?” you pressed.

“They were the first people to hire me,” Nikto lowered his now empty coffee cup to the scuffed folding table, “I didn’t know much english, so they were good for helping me learn.”

“So you didn’t come here because you believed in ghosts,” you concluded, falling back into your white folding chair with your arms crossed.

Nikto was silent as he examined you, his dark eyes flicking over you from deep within the recesses of his shoddy Scream mask.

“Somewhat,” he admitted quietly, “in my village, my mother would tell me ghost stories to help me sleep. Small town people live differently. Ghosts and spirits, little men, they all have a place at home. But I grew older and went to the city, and I forgot what I learned back home.”

“And then you came here.”

Nikto nodded slowly, “Then I came here. All those bedtimes stories I had laughed at were real! Imagine my surprise.”

“What made you change your mind?” you gave him a curious look.

He shrugged a shoulder and said, “I saw them. It is hard not to believe your eyes.”

“Okay but it could just be-”

“It is harder to not believe when they attack you.”

Well that was different.

“They… Attack you?” you carefully asked.

“Well of course!” Nikto chuckled heartily, “Roze explained it to me long ago, but this is what I remember. Ghosts are the leftovers of life. When a living thing does not feel that they are finished when they die, a ghost will be left behind. They are not really people anymore. They’re more… Emotions. Wants, needs. They are the shadows of what a person was.”

“So when you stop a ghost from doing what it wants to do…” you trailed off.

Nikto’s eyes crinkled with mirth, “That’s right. They get angry.”

The high salary of the job was making sense now.

“So how do you fight a ghost?” you asked, giving Nikto the benefit of the doubt.

“Roze and Horangi made a box to put them in, and König made a gun to shoot them with,” Nikto spoke frankly, “I like the shooting, but the trapping is not so fun.”

“So you’re like…” you rolled your wrist as you struggled to find an appropriate simile, “pest control or something.”

“Exactly,” Nikto affirmed, “we clean up pests.”

If it weren’t for the fact that Nikto was so straightforward, you’d have assumed he was completely insane. The idea of being a ghost exterminator was completely insane.

“How can a ghost even be a pest?” you scoffed, “it’s just a ghost.”

As Nikto was about to speak, Roze bustled into the room and sat down at the table.

“We’re talking about ghost busting?” she leaned in with a wide smile.

“You explain it to the recruit. You’re better at this than I am,” Nikto crossed his arms and slumped back into his chair, evidently relieved by Roze’s sudden appearance.

“Okay so, what’re you asking about? What makes ghosts? Where they come from? Where they go? What they’re made of? What they do-”

“Why do you need to get rid of them?” you butt in before Roze could run out of air. The thought of making the poor woman pass out on the first day wasn’t exactly on the top of your priority list.

You were brought out of your daze when Roze grinned wildly and slammed her fists on the table.

“Alright! We’re asking these kinda questions!” she cheered, “okay, so, first things first, you know what makes them?”

You shrugged as Nikto cast a curious eye to you, “Nikto said that they were made of emotions left behind by a dead person?”

Nikto nodded his head side to side, not quite satisfied with your answer but Roze was quicker to reply.

“Okay so yes and no,” Roze pulled out a blank piece of paper and a blue uniball pen, “so, ghosts are impressions of the recently deceased, yes, but they’re so much more! See, ghosts are mostly left behind by the living, but not all ghosts.” Roze drew a person, then a drawing of multiple stick men. She pointed at the singular person. “So when ghosts are left behind by a single person, they’re mostly just annoying. They just cause problems in the area around where they died. Depending on the type of person the person was in life, it determines the radius of the distance they can travel from the point where they died.

“When ghosts are created by a single person, they’re normally not too powerful, but they can sure be obnoxious. They can cause all sorts of problems, from causing damage to the foundations of the building they’re in to even physically attacking anyone who comes within their radius. It really depends.”

Roze drew the tip of her pen over to the drawing of a group of people and tapped it twice, “Now this is the bigger issue. When people come together to believe in something, it can create an entity all on its own. This is not something living that has died, this is something that was created entirely by the emotions of the living. Now, they’re some cool examples of this!

“Some figures from folklore can be ghosts, like dragons and unicorns and giants and all that. The boogeyman is a particularly powerful entity that haunts mostly young children. That’s right! It’s real! If a child believes in the boogeyman, they can be visited by the entity.”

You waved your hand with a scoff, “You’re telling me dragons are real? You’re fucking joking.”

Roze leveled you with a grim expression, “Oh they are more than real. They are incredibly dangerous, but that’s beside the point. Thing is, sometimes when people believe in things enough, it creates them. Monsters of myth can be created this way. Or, they can be a bit more dangerous.”

“More dangerous than a dragon?” you shook your head, “pft, get real.”

Roze rolled her eyes but turned back to the paper and started drawing again. Soon, a rudimentary drawing of an animal on an altar appeared.

“Is that meant to be a dog?” Nikto squinted at the paper.

“That’s a lamb! Get some eyes on ya, Nikto,” Roze huffed, but carried on with a quick tap of her pen, “so yeah, when humans come together to believe in something in a religious sense, like in a cult, they can create entire gods to control the universe.”

“So God is a ghost?” you drawled.

“No clue,” Roze admitted, “I have been trying to do more research, but I’m banned from every catholic church in the city.”

“In the entirety of New York City?” you blinked.

“Yeah but that’s another story,” Roze waved you off, “point is, it’s particularly dangerous when there are cults. So sometimes, with cults, they can want to exchange a lack of morality with a ‘higher power’. So when a cult truly believes they are dealing with a devil, if they believe enough and believe for long enough, a demonic entity can actually form.”

Nikto shivered across from you, making chills crawl up your spine. Something about the big scary Russian man being scared of a single word rubbed you the wrong way.

“So if demons are real, does that mean angels are too?” you asked.

“Some,” Roze nodded, “but you’d be surprised how many worship demons.”

“They create monsters they cannot control,” Nikto spat.

You glanced between the two. You hoped they were both clinically insane because the severity of their expressions spoke volumes you did not wish to hear.

“So how often do we, uh, deal with the devil or whatever?” you asked nervously, tensing with the change of atmosphere in the room.

Nikto and Roze exchanged a glance.

“Not often,” Roze cast you a half-hearted smile.

“Too much for comfort,” Nikto muttered under his breath.

“But hey!” Roze broke out into a full grin, “you won’t have to deal with one anytime soon!”

“Hopefully,” Nikto grumbled.

“Hopefully,” Roze admitted, “but still! I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

You nodded along with the information. The more you learned, the more you wanted to believe in what these people were telling you. Maybe it was just the end result of the repetition of a lie, but a part of you felt there was something deeper to what they were talking about. Anyways, why would you get a six figure salary for doing nothing? Something was amiss.

“So, you usually just deal with the regular old, you know, ‘boo’ ghost? Right?” you asked hopefully.

“Oh yeah,” Roze leaned back in her chair, “smooth sailing for the most part.”

“So who even calls you?” you asked.

“Mostly people who need help with a haunting,” Roze flipped her hair from her face.

“But how do they know that they’re being haunted?” you scrunched your eyebrows together.

“What else do they have to turn to?” Nikto chuckled, “we’re a last resort.”

“So how do you know if there’s been a haunting?” you lay your hands on your stomach as you leaned into your chair.

“Lots of signs,” Roze shrugged, “could be slime oozing from the walls, mysterious writing on the mirrors, unexplained noises, things being moved around, but the real thing you gotta worry about is if they report scratch or bite marks,” Roze shot your a serious look, “any type of physical harm is a reason to worry.”

You nodded slowly as you took it all in. You still wanted to fight, tell them ghosts aren’t real and dig your heels in to spite your fate. The only problem was that Roze and Nikto didn’t seem crazy in the slightest, but were making more and more sense as they spoke. Nothing they were saying contradicted itself.

You wanted to ask more, but just as you opened your mouth, a blaring siren cut through the air like a banshee’s wail. You ducked and covered your ears but Roze and Nikto were on their feet in an instant.

“Whelp,” Roze took your elbow to help you stand up straight again, “looks like it’s time to figure it all out for yourself.”

AU Masterlist

31 notes · View notes

honeyjars-sims · 7 months ago

Text

3.17 Branching Out

Damien had just announced to the staff that he was no longer the CEO of Rainy Day Entertainment. The crowd erupted in gasps and people turned to their coworkers to speculate about what was going on.

Damien held up his hand. “Please, before everyone begins to panic, let me explain.” Their voices began to quiet down as everyone looked at Damien expectantly. “I’m grateful for the time I’ve spent at Rainy Day, and I have a lot of respect for the work that’s being done in the company. But that’s not where my passion lies.”

Damien began looking around the room. “My passion is here, in this room. When I decided to expand my role at Rainy Day to producing new forms of digital content, I thought I could still handle my regular duties. Now I realize I don’t have the time to continue my work in the E-Sports division and also foster the work we're doing here. So as of today, Sunny Side Studios is branching off and a new CEO will be taking over my duties at Rainy Day."

The crowd once again erupted with questions. Johnny glanced back at Lucy to gauge her reaction; surely she would know more about the situation. He was relieved to see a relaxed smile on her face.

Damien continued, “I want to assure you that his won’t affect anyone’s pay and I’m not letting anyone go. We’re only getting bigger. We’re still a part of the Rainy Day family, but I'll be devoting all of my time here. And this building?”

Damien gestured around. “The whole thing belongs to us now. That means more expansion, more content, more staff members. Speaking of, there are a couple of people I want to introduce to you.”

A man and a woman who both looked familiar to Johnny turned the corner, both smiling warmly.

“These two amazing people are Celeste and Christopher Michaelson," Damien explained. "If you’re a video game fan, which you should be"--he paused and gave a knowing look the to the staff, who responded with laughter--"I’m sure you’ve heard of them. Christopher will be joining the team as my new Production Manager, and Celeste as Creative Director. They’ll be working with us on developing new projects. Celeste?”

“I know this must come as quite a shock," Celeste acknowledged. "But I promise these changes will only lead to more growth and more opportunities for everyone here. Christopher and I would love to hear all of your ideas and suggestions for where to take things from here.”

“Our ears and offices are open to you,” Christopher chimed in. “Everyone is here because you bring something to the table, so we want to hear from you before we add on any more team members.”

“Celeste, Christopher, and I will be meeting with each department over the next few weeks to hear your suggestions and concerns, so please don’t hesitate to speak your minds. Together, we’re going to make Sunny Side Productions really shine.” The staff began to clap and cheer.

Lucy stopped to talk to Johnny briefly before joining Damien, Celeste, and Christopher in a planning meeting. "You have nothing to worry about," she promised him, seeming to have noticed his apprehension. "This is going to be a good thing."

Previous | Beginning of story | Beginning of chapter | Next

32 notes · View notes

itslenagain · 11 months ago

Text

My thoughts on episodes 1-3 of Netflix ATLA (SPOILERS):

1. Commander Zhao has middle-aged white guy manager energy. I feel like this man is about to lead me in a team-building exercise

2. Aang having his origin story changed irks me! He ran away impulsively in the original show and got stuck in the ice. In this version, he fully monologs to Appa about his fears, but then just leaves for a joyride and gets stuck. It takes away from the significance of Aang leaving in the first place. When Kyoshi berates him for running away, it doesn't feel right because in this version, he didn't really run - he just got stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time

3. The Zuko that stood on an iceberg during a full Moon and challenged Katara to battle would be absolutely enraged at the Zuko that ran from the conflict in Omashu

4. Also, the fact that Zuko has not mentioned honor yet? What the fuck?

5. Seriously, Commander Zhao has a LinkedIn. He's got great networking skills

6. I miss aggro Katara. This version is way more subdued (though we do get a sibling fight in episode 3) and somehow listening to Aang's weird circular philosophy helps her learn how to waterbend and I don't get it

7. Seeing Aang be joyful is a nice change from the movie that shall not be mentioned

8. If Gram-Gram putting the waterbending scroll in Katara's bag replaces the storyline where Katara says fuck cultural looting and steals one I will scream

9. It's interesting to see Azula so early in the story, but I'm bummed we missed out on the whole blackmail thing with her & Ty Lee

10. Do you think Commander Zhao pays his employees a fair wage? Do you think they have health insurance? 401k matching? Vacation time? Sick days? What kind of benefits does his company offer?

11. This version of Sokka is definitely not silly enough

12. I feel robbed that Aang got to transform into a magical girl but we didn't get a magical girl transformation sequence

13. Also, we were robbed of Sokka crossdressing as a Kyoshi warrior and they are so rude for that

14. The graphic murder of the Airbenders felt. Weird? Wrong? I don't think we needed to see that. The impact it had when Aang arrived at the temple to find all of them gone in the original show felt heavier than in this version. We saw what happened, we know they're all dead. As a kid watching ATLA the first time, I remember feeling hopeful for Aang that maybe he wasn't really the last one. We don't get to feel that with this version

15. They did not understand Uncle Iroh at all. His character is so weird. Maybe it gets better???

16. The pacing is weird but maybe that gets better too???

17. I have never related more than when Ozai just burned that Earth nation dude who was about to start monologing, please shut up in my presence

18. Apparently everywhere has names?? Who decided on these names?

19. As a lesbian I also get horny on main immediately for girls who could definitely kick my ass, Sokka was so real for that

20. Overall I think they lean into the idea that the audience for this show is primarily older than the audience for the original (they're not totally wrong!) but I worry about it losing some of the messaging along the way. Part of the beauty of the original ATLA show was tackling these big, complex issues in a way that both kids and adults could relate to and understand. Anyone who knows me knows I also love Bluey for this, along with a few other shows that do it well. Media like ATLA that tackles the ideas of colonization, genocide, war, and so many other important issues is crucial! I hope that these topics are handled just as well as they were in the original series.

Am I going to watch the whole thing? Probably, yeah. Will I enjoy it? I hope so! It's not terrible, but it's also hard to do a show that has so much nostalgia attached to it in a way that will please all viewers.

If you haven't watched it, I think it's worth a shot. Just don't expect it to be an exact retelling of the original story.

#avatar the last airbender #atla #atla live action #netflix atla #aang #katara #sokka #zuko #commander zhao

49 notes · View notes

wooahaeruby · 8 months ago

Text

Chapter 7: New Beginnings Bring New Fascinations

Chapter Word Count: 3,355

Anything in Bold Italics are Korean/Another language.

Master List | Prev | Next

The excited uproar when you called Mimi and Papa was the tip of the iceberg. For the sake of privacy until any documentation was signed, you kept Jihoon’s name out of it, but that didn’t fully stop you from answering any questions. You were lucky to have taken some painkillers and a half hour nap before starting the adventures of the morning.

“Oh tell me about it! How did it happen? Where were you??” Mimi sighed dramatically, hearing a chuckle from Papa in the background.

You settled back on the bed, a smile on your features as you rolled your eyes. “It was so dumb. I told you two of my coworkers and I went to a concert in Jersey – it was amazing by the way, the best concert of my life. We went out to a diner in the city once we got back and we pretty much..ran into each other, literally.” Thinking back, the entire situation only got funnier. “Ji- He was there with his friends and we basically sat and hung out for hours. Some other things happened that I can’t discuss, but someone is going to email you guys an NDA for you to sign. It’s a kinda complicated time so I can’t talk too much about it.”

With confirmation they would read it over and sign whatever was needed by the end of the day, you bid both a farewell after promising to somehow have them meet either over video chat or in person.

Calling your supervisor was relatively easy. Once the formalities were out of the way, you explained that your soulmate was someone that travels the world frequently based on Seoul and with your job mainly being online, you figured it would be a better request for a transfer and move to remote. After a while on hold, a conference call with a few supervisors and the head of the Korean relations department, it was approved. You expected the conversation about a pay cut, it wasn’t as bad. It accommodated the change in costs of living.

Contacting Jamie and Kazuki was…chaotic to say the least. A text turned into a phone called…which turned into a video call and a tour of the room you were staying in. They gave no hesitation in agreeing to sign the NDA as long as you give them ‘all the tea’ and send them any extra merch you possibly could. Talking to them made you feel light, while the bond between Jihoon and yourself brought you warmth and destiny, the platonic bond you held between the three of you brought comfortability and familiarity.

“Wait, shit, what's gonna happen to your stuff? How was all that gonna be handled?” Jamie frowned. “You’re gonna be leaving this week, right?”

“Ah…yeah about that. I’ll pay for whatever you guys need, but I was kinda hoping you could go through everything since I don’t have a lot, pack it, and send it out with whatever company Pledis is going to use.”

“Can I call dibs on anything you don’t take with you?” The question from Kazu had you groaning, shaking your head and giggling.

“As long as you don’t keep some weird shit, yeah. Between now and whenever we leave, I’m going to need to head back home to gather everything I can in a few suitcases. I think when the manager was taking us back he was saying something about switching flights and needing my passport, which I don’t have with me.”

You shifted from your spot at the desk, turning your head towards the door. There was that pull again deep down, goosebumps once again raised on your arms.

“Babes? Are you good?”

The knock at the door interrupted Jamie, you already knew who it was. You gave a call of one sec!.

“ Quick question, do you know when Kazuki is going to come home if he goes out or feel him once he is close?”

“ Feel him? Like a sixth sense? Not really. I’ve read that some bonds can manifest that, but typically it’s the feeling of serenity when together and the shared emotions.”

“Hm, interesting. Okay, well Jihoon is waiting outside the door. Bye.”

“Don’t just hang-”

And you hung up on him, standing and stretching your limbs before answering the door. Jihoon didn’t change, but at least his hair was brushed and he might have slept a bit more.

You could feel the slightest hint of nerves build in your chest. Before you were able to open your mouth, Jihoon was already talking.

“ I know it might be a lot, but everyone in the group knows now and are insisting on meeting you. I’m the first one in the group to meet their soulmate outside of Seungkwan and Vernon-” That was…yeah that one was obvious. “ They said if I didn’t come and convince you to agree, Seungkwan and Seokmin would be coming to drag you out.”

Ah…Yeah…That.

Why you thought you could escape the inevitable for longer was unknown.

“ They all want to go out for lunch.”

“Jihoon, you are making it worse.” You cringed, giving him a pleading look which only morphed into a timid smile.

“... Sorry.”

“I can’t really escape this, can I?”

The quick, little shake of his head gave you all the answers needed.

That was how you found yourself in a fancy Korean BBQ place, walking into the back for a large private room. Jihoon and yourself were the last to show up since you needed to speak with his managers to give the needed information to send the additional NDAs out and hand over your own. You expressed your plans to travel home to pack as much as possible within the next few days before needing to fly out.

You thanked the waitress who had led you to the room, face contouring in uneasiness. Beyond the door, you could hear boisterous conversation and laughter filling the room. As Jihoon went to open the door, you slowly took his free hand, rolling your shoulders back to straighten up.

“ Finally! I thought we’d have to go back to the hotel and drag you here!” All conversation ceased as Seokmin called out, noticing you both at the door. “ Come sit! We just ordered the meat!”

Two seats were empty between Seokmin and Soonyoung. All eyes were focused on the two of you, quietly taking in you. Jihoon pursed his lips and stepped in front of you partially to block their view, walking you towards your spots and sitting down. He automatically sat next to Soonyoung, leaving you to fend for yourself against Seokmin. Across from you was none other than Mingyu.

Personally, you didn’t know how to break the ice. Too many pairs of eyes were perceiving you. No introduction was needed from them really.

“ Ya hyung, did you tell them we bite or something?” The first one to speak was Mingyu, the exasperation on his face and the scoff he let out made Jihoon return the scoff with his own.

“ They are a Carat, maybe they’ve watched enough videos to know how annoying you are.”

The comment had your lips pressed tightly together and your head falling back to hold in the laugh. You took a deep breath and shuttered it out.

“Lord save me.” You muttered out, shaking your head and looking back at everyone the best you could. Every single one of them were so close, clean faces without a hint of makeup, comfy casual clothes, and wide eyed in curiosity.

“ I’m not annoying! Tell them I’m not annoying!” Hearing the giant of a man whine in front of you was not on your bingo board of the year. No one came to his defense.

“ Can you shut up and stop making a fool of yourself?” The deep rumble of Seongcheol’s voice, he sat on the other side of Seokmin between Jeonghan and Chan.

A chorus of laughter fluttered out of each of them. Jihoon rumbled a laugh to himself, feeling a childlike joy shared with you.

“ Can I introduce myself or are you going to continue bullying Mingyu?” The sarcasm in your tone even had Jihoon reeling to stare at you.

With no objections, you stated your name, bowing your head to them. “ I was born in 1997 here in New York, and I speak four languages relatively fluently, and have been a Carat since 2019.”

The waitress from earlier had pushed the door open along with another waiter, rolling in a car full of different meat platters and extras. Food was quickly arranged haphazardly around the grills and table, gratitude shared for everything provided before you once again were sitting just the fourteen of you.

“ I have to say, you are handling this a lot better than I thought.” Jeonghan spoke up, leaning on his uninjured elbow to see you the best he could past Seokmin who was leaning over the table.

You chuckled at that, waving a hand to brush it off. “ If I’m being honest here, I’m about two seconds away from running out the door so I don’t embarrass myself. You should have seen me last night when my friend pointed out some of the members walking into the diner.”

Jihoon was pulling a plate of meat towards him, already starting the cooking to get everything going. “ I told Shua-hyung and Seokmin-ah that they were feeling close to imploding with embarrassment and shock.”

Your jaw dropped and you gave a hardish hit to his shoulder. “ Hey! Try to step into my shoes!”

“I thought you were going to pass out from just feeling that alone.”

“Jihoon!”

Another chorus of laughter filled the room, making you shrink down in your chair. Now you wished to crawl into a hole.

“ What was it you said? Oh my fucking god, you have to be fucking kidding me.” He continued, stating word for word your reaction in English.

“ Luckily you didn’t have the first words written on you, that would have been hard to hide, hyung.” Chan’s loud and innocent laugh had you laughing too.

“ It gets better, their friend placed a bet that one of us would be their soulmate and won.” Joshua interjected smoothly, flipping the meat on the grill in front of him.

“ Can someone be on my side?” Your plea went unanswered.

“ So, do we need to ask the question that is on everyone’s mind?” The innocent tone Seungkwan was trying to portray was laced with mischief.

“Wait, what is supposed to be on everyone’s mind? I’m lost.” Soonyoung – bless his heart – leaned forward, looking innocently between you and Seungkwan.

You stared daggers into Seungkwan. He was lucky he wasn’t across from you because you definitely would have kicked him under the table. “ Nothing, don’t listen to him. He is talking nonsense.” You rushed the words out, only making it even more suspicious.

“Ya noona…it would be mean if you don’t tell everyone your bias, right?” His tone was challenging towards you, raising an eyebrow.

You could hear the smirk on Jeonghan’s face when he spoke. “ Oh? I’m especially curious.”

“ Seungkwanie.” You said between clenched teeth, staring him down. “ I’m asking you nicely-”

“What? I think hyung would like to know. Right, Cheolie-hyung? You’d want to know if someone was biasing you, right?”

If your soul could split from Jihoon and leave your body, that was how you felt. Too many voices were talking at once, playful screaming and laughter flooding your ears. Jokes were cracked at Jihoon and Seungcheol, thankfully leaving you out of the mix for now. You rued the day that the jokes would be fired at you if they grew comfortable enough for that.

Your cheeks were bright red from what you could tell based on how hot you felt. In the back of your mind you were conjuring a plan of how to get back at him one day.

“ Wah…and here I thought the universe would make them have a natural draw to Jihoonie.” Jeonghan heaved a breath, “ Please tell me your wrecker is him.”

“ I will neither confirm nor deny that.” Was all you were able to say, pinching the bridge of your nose.

Although the beginning of your meeting was…interesting to say the least, the more the conversation flowed, the more comfortable it became. Minghao and Jun were mostly quiet aside from you boasting about the Performance Unit. Wonwoo was a quiet watcher who grew curious when Mingyu asked if you played any game, which you did but you were particularly good at. You preferred the single player games that let you pass time after work, but you would rather be reading a book in bed which he could happily agree with.

Seeing Seventeen in videos wasn’t all that different than who they were in person. They playfully bullied one another, told old stories that had you laughing so hard your sides hurt, and were unapologetically themselves. Jihoon and Joshua had brought up a new episode of an anime they were following. Soonyoung was leaning back behind your soulmate to ask you a question. Seokmin was ever so kindly giving you food when your plate was empty. Anything you didn’t finish was not so conspicuously shoveled onto Jihoon’s plate.

Truth be told, it was similar to how you thought of them: comforting, familial, and tranquil. They had already made you feel like family even if they had just met you. You were an important person to Jihoon now, who each one of them cared about deeply, and you were going to spend the rest of your life with him.

“ Oh god, my grandma used to call me dumpling!” Seungkwan howled, scrunching his face up into a cringe, shaking his head.

“ Dumpling!? That is cute though!” You yelled across the table, grinning wide. “ Mimi used to call me Ruby. My birth month stone is a ruby and I loved red roses growing up. She doesn’t do it much anymore since I’m older, but it was cute. She even got me a necklace with a ruby on it.”

A gasp came from Mingyu who gave the most puppy-like smile, wide sparkly eyes and all, quickly looking between you and Jihoon who you thought wasn’t zoned into the conversation. “ Can we call you Ruby? It’s like hyung’s song too! You are his ruby!”

A wave of adoration that washed through you had you glancing at Jihoon. Soonyoung was talking animatedly about a topic you couldn’t really catch and the latter was listening, however he definitely was listening in on your conversation as well.

“ I don’t see why you can’t, it’d be nice to hear it again.” You affirmed, nodding to solidify it.

“ Ruby-ah!” Mingyu grinning, “ That is your name now. I don’t make the rules.”

By the time everyone had eaten their fill, small groups were ready to explore on their own. Members started to funnel out after Seungcheol generously paid for the meal, some making plans to meet up once more for dinner. Truth be told you had no plans besides going back to the hotel, finishing whatever paperwork was needed and simply existing. Finishing the papers meant the posting of the announcement which also led to the making or breaking of your mental health depending on how the world reacts. You knew there would be the delusional fans that would start something. You had already placed your instagram on private after the meeting. You hoped you didn’t have to private your twitter since it was mostly anonymous.

“Noona, do you want to go out with us?” Chan broke you from your little trance, tilting his head slightly in question. Vernon and Seungkwan were already ready to head out. “We want to walk around Time Square.”

“ Ah, it might not be a good idea yet.” You stood, rubbing the back of your neck.

He raised an eyebrow, head still tilted. “ Why? Because a statement hasn’t been put out?”

You simply nodded. It wasn’t like you didn’t want to explore and get to know your new companions, but there were a lot of what ifs that plagued your mind.

“ Why can’t we just…live on the edge?” Seungkwan questioned, a purse to his lips. His eyes were focused more on Jihoon, hopeful he would think it was a good idea.

Looking at him, you see the internal debate he was having.

“ I- Well, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Maybe it would be better to wait, some fans can be a little…intrusive.”

“But what’s the fun in that?” Seungkwan’s pursed lips turn into a full pout now.

Jihoon was looking at you now, gauging your reaction. It was no question he could feel the hope, but also the fear you were attempting to bundle down. His expression shifted before he sighed, shoulders deflating some.

“ Fine, but if we get in trouble, you better take the blame.”

“Deal! Let’s go!” Seungkwan was taking your arm after having rounded the table, leaving the others to catch up. “ And we’ll have security with us, nothing to worry about. You and Nonnie can translate for us if needed.”

“ Am I being used as a free translator?” You ask while being dragged along.

Somewhere behind you, Vernon gives confirmation which causes you to laugh.

The handful of you had a blast walking around the main attraction of the city. You had called Jamie and Kazuki to meet up with you since they took the time earlier to read and sign their lives away. Spending the day with new friends and old ones only added to the fun. Seungkwan and Jamie had clicked last night and now it showed every more as they teased you based on things the latter told him about you. Throughout the afternoon, you and Jihoon found yourselves gravitating towards one another again. Just as Kazuki and Jamie did or Seungkwan and Vernon. So he didn’t feel left out, you walked close to Chan, asking about his interests and keeping conversations flowing between you.

Pictures were taken, plenty were littering your camera roll now; candid shots of them, selfies with a few, and a singular picture of Jihoon.

You don’t know what possessed you to take it. He was just standing in the afternoon light, reading something on his phone as he waited outside of the ice cream shop you had found with the security guard. His posture and expression was relaxed. He looked content if you had to place a word to it. After snapping the pictures, he had perked up, glancing through the window at you. You had turned away to face the front of the line, feeling the heat spread across your cheeks. Unbeknownst to you, Jihoon was laughing silently to himself, warmth filling his chest.

Upon arrival back at the hotel, you all came to an agreement that you would go out again for pizza with your little cluster later in the evening. Mimi had texted you that the papers were signed albeit with some minor questions that an email from the management team wasn’t unable to handle. An email thread from PR, management, and the legal representative were hammering out final decisions before you got one email attachment from Hyeji.

Jihoon was walking you back to your room, hands shoved in his pockets when you stopped. Opening the attachment led to the formal announcement draft written consecutively from Korean, English, Japanese, and Mandarin.

“ What? Is something wrong?”

You shook your head, eyes intently scanning over each and every word. “ They want me to approve the draft for the announcement.”

You felt him pressed up beside you a moment later, reading the text over your shoulder.

It was simple and to the point, nothing too frilly. You both shared a look. You were curious if he had any issues with it. With both approvals, you replied back, giving the okay and it began the wait…

#seventeen #seventeen x reader #svt #seventeen jihoon #woozi x reader #svt woozi #soulmate au #seventeen soulmate au #seventeen fic #svt x reader

35 notes · View notes