#cause i'm available on there more because it's on my phone which was the only way i could communicate with ppl

[king-of-the-underworld-hades]

Can you please do a Wednesday Addams & Enid Sinclair x Male Reader imagine? Where Reader is from a popular family of hybrids and tribrids, where Reader is a Vampire, a Witch and a Shapeshifter. And the three of them became roommates temporarily because there were no more available rooms for him in the boys' dormitory.

Tri-problem (Male)

Art by TanyaF2022 on X/Twitter.

You sigh as you feel the bumps of the road as the family chauffeur, Jack drives you to Nevermore Academy. You pull out your phone and start swiping on Instagram to see all your "friends" stories and whatnot. Rolling your eyes you start to block them all one by one. "Are you okay young sir?" Jack asks as he looks at you in the rearview mirror. "I told you to call me Y/N," you said annoyed. "But if you must know I'm just annoyed. Why am I being punished for something that my parents agree was the right action?" "Well, I doubt the school board was happy to hear you almost ended the life of your classmate," Jack said causing you to roll your eyes. "Please. No one would've missed him. He deserved it. He assaulted Normies to feed his ego. There is no excuse for that." "Yes, but you decided to, hex him, suck out almost two liters of his blood, and shapeshifted into a silverback gorilla to break both his arms," Jack said flatly. "And?" You said as if it wasn't a big deal. Jack just sighed.

"Well Mister L/N your father had informed me of your... predicament," Larissa Weems, the principal of Nevermore said as you sat across from her. "We have had your uniform custom made as your family requested but... I- uh..." she stumbled over her words causing you to raise an eyebrow. "We have no space in the boy's dormitory... and well... since you have no family in Jericho... I'm afraid you'll have to stay in the girls dormitory..." "You gotta be kidding me..."

She was indeed not kidding... here you were... standing in front of a dorm in Ophelia Hall... "Fuck my life..." You sigh and knock. Not like you had a choice all your stuff was there... "Enid. The door," you heard a flat cold muffled voice on the other side of the door "Coming~" you heard a second, sweeter warmer muffled voice. Soon the door was opened. "Hello...~ oh- I don't think I know you... have I seen around?" The girl asked her wide smile which showed off her sharp canines never faltering. She was about 5'2, had fair skin, rosy cheeks, pale blue eyes, blond hair with pink and blue tips, a pink sweater with white and maroon diamonds, a maroon skirt, and white thigh-high socks. You see that inside the dorm another girl was sitting at a desk writing in a typewriter. She had pale skin, black hair that was tied into two even braids, anthracite eyes, and a blank yet focused expression. She wore a pair of black boots, black jeans that went over the boots, a black shirt with white stripes that were slightly above her belly button, a black shirt with Ghostface on it that was the same length as the undershirt, a black vest, and a pair of black fingerless gloves. Before you were able to answer the blond girl's question, the ravenette turned and looked at you, her cold piercing gaze locked with your gaze as she spoke. "Y/N L/N. Correct?" Her voice was cold and monotone. "...Y-Yeah..." You mumble as the blonde's expression lit up. "You're our new roomie!" She exclaimed grabbing your hand and pulling you inside. Now inside you, we're able to see the room clearer. It was split in half, the spider web window was only halfway filled with color on, what you assume is the blonde's side, the other side had no color and was just normal glass with no tint. The blonde's side of the room was very colorful. Her bed frame was white and her blanket was splattered with multiple colors, her bed was on top of a puzzle-like rug with each piece being colored differently, ribbons were hanging from the ceiling, and a desk littered with notebooks, markers, pens, etc. A bean bag chair, posters, and so much more. The ravenette's side was the complete opposite. There was a lamp, a black cello, a black sheet music stand, a desk with a black typewriter, a black bed, and a black leather chair. All your stuff was neatly set in a corner of the room. The blonde let go of her hand as she looked at you her grin somehow wider. "My name is Enid Sinclair! I'm a Fur, AKA a werewolf! Nice to meet you roomie!" Enid said excitingly as she went to the ravenette and grabbed her cheeks making her look at you. "This is Wednesday Addams! She may look gloomy but she's a softie!" Enid exclaimed before Wednesday leaned away scowling. "...Nice to meet two..." You mumbled. "So~," Enid said as she leaned closer to you so close you could feel her breath on your face. "What are you? Fur, Scales, Fangs, Psychic, or something else?" She asked curiously. "Personal space Enid," Wednesday reprimanded her from her chair causing Enid to lean back pouting muttering "I was just asking..." under her breath. "I'm a tribrid... I'm part Vampire, Witch, and Shapeshifter," You explained as Wednesday stood from her typewriter. "Your family is known for that are they not?" Wednesday asked rhetorical. "Your family is known for giving birth to Hybrids and Tribrids," She said monotone with her cold expression. "Yeah... they are," you said as Wednesday nodded. "Weems had informed us of your... incident. Try to behave yourself," Wednesday said as she headed for the door. "Unpack and try not to make a mess of things," she said before leaving. "She always like that?" You ask. "Pretty much," replies Enid.

As the next two weeks passed you got accustomed to living with the two. You found out that Enid would try and snoop when you were on your phone or laptop to find something to put on her blog. When you caught her she blushed and turned away but after that day she would randomly ask to things, favorite color, would you rathers, song taste, etc. You got used to "Addams schedule," as Enid calls it. Basically when she did her writing when she wanted to be left alone, when she would leave for coffee, etc.

As time went on Wednesday had admitted she got used to your presence and even let you watch her write. Yoko, a fellow vampire and friend of Enid said that most Vamipres have a calming presence around them. Ironic. So since Wednesday hadn't really spent a prolonged time near vampires she was getting a heavy dose of it.

Enid on the other hand would paint your nails, do your hair, take you on friend dates, etc. You would talk to her about werewolf stuff, since you had cousins who were part werewolf you could relate in some aspects. After five months of living with the roommates, Weems came to visit.

"Hello girls, and Mr. L/N." "Yo," you did a two-finger salute from Enid's bed, your head in her lap as she dyed the tips of your hair. "I have news, one of the boys has moved out of his dorm as his parents found a suitable house in Jericho, so that means that Mr. L/N here will finally be moving to the boys' dorm. Fun!" Weems said with a smile but Enid stood up causing your head to fall onto the mattress. "What!? B-but he can't- I mean-," Enid stammered but Wednesday spoke I'm her usual monotone and cold tone. "What Enid is trying to say is we don't wish for Y/N's leave. He's been here for six months now. We have grown attached. So much so," Wednesday said as she stood from her desk and walked over to you, who had sat up. She cupped your face, causing you to raise an eyebrow, she then leaned down and kissed you softly. Her hands were cold to the touch. Her lips were soft and plush and tasted like coffee. Wednesday soon pulled away and looked at Weems. "We've started a polygamous relationship," She said as she looked at Enid who was blushing. Enid quickly walked over to you and kissed you as well. She was nervous, unlike Wednesday. Her lips were warm and soft. They also tasted like milk tea. Weems blinked a few times at this action. "W-well... this certainly complicated things..." she said as she looked at you. "I will... talk to your mother... see what she says about this...," She spoke before leaving. You were flustered and confused. The room was silent for a few seconds before Wednesday spoke. "I have him Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We share Sunday." "T-that works..." Enid mumbled. "The fuck just happened?" You ask as Wednesday rolls her eyes. "You just got two girlfriends."

[writingquestionsanswered]

Tips for writers with ADHD that get major writers block/burnout

Writers with ADHD and Writer's Block/Burnout

Tip #1 - Troubleshoot the Problem - I want to start here, in the most obvious place, because even for writers with ADHD, writer's block is often the result of a specific issue that can be surmounted once identified. My post 5 Reasons You Lost Interest in Your WIP, Plus Fixes! addresses some of the most common ones. It's worth checking to see if something on there resonates with you as a potential obstacle to progress.

Tip #2 - De-Stress Your Writing Time - Human brains are wired to respond in specific ways to perceived threats... fight, flight, or freeze. Quite often, what we call "writer's block" is actually your brain having a freeze response to writing because it's causing you stress and is therefore perceived as a threat.

So, anything you can do to de-stress your writing time can help. Troubleshooting the problem as in #1 is a good start. Set reasonable goals and deadlines... you can estimate your available writing time and calculate that with your estimated WPM to see if it's even possible for you to hit your word count goal. Go easy on yourself when you don't reach goals... celebrate even the smallest of wins, because negative thinking makes writing more stressful. Do what you can to set up an inviting writing space, light a candle (safely), play soft music, use ambient lighting, have your favorite beverage and snack at hand.

Tip #3 - "Gamify" Your Writing - Turning your writing goals into game achievements can make writing fun, which is another great way to de-stress it. You can usually find free game board templates online, or you can create your own. I like to set mine up like this:

You can set as many tasks as you want (within reason) for each goal, and your prizes can be anything from a handful of candy to buying something you really want, or doing something you really want to do. Whatever works for your budget that motivates you to get the tasks done.

Tip #4 - Do an Immersive Writing Sprint Session - YouTube is a wonderland of helpful videos for writers... not just easily digestible writing advice and research information, but also writing music, ambience rooms, and one of my favorites, immersive writing sessions. These are themed ambience rooms with ambient video, music, and sound effects, but they also have a writing sprint timer on the screen, so you are encouraged to write for however long (usually 10 to 20 minutes), then you get a five or ten-minute break before the next sprint starts. These can be a really great way to get into the zone if you're struggling otherwise.

Tip #5 - Eliminate Distractions - When you have ADHD, pretty much anything can be a distraction. If my desk is messy, I'll pause mid-sentence to clean it rather than write. If there's something on my desk I can fidget with or play with, I'll do that. If my phone is handy, I'll pick it up and start scrolling through social media. If I'm listening to music with words, I'll go look up the lyrics and fall down some weird tangentially related rabbit hole. If I'm hungry or thirsty, I'll get up fifty times to get a small snack or drink. So, I clean my desk ahead of time and remove anything I might be tempted to fiddle with. I only play instrumental music (usually an ambience room). I put my phone on silent or leave it in another room.

Literally anything I can do to head my usual distractions off at the pass. For me, it actually makes a big difference. Try keeping a running list of things that distract you while writing during a week of writing sessions. Then, go through the list and write solutions. This helps you build a pre-writing session distraction elimination routine.

I hope something here will work for you! I may do a part two to this soon, so keep an eye out!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[vnti-vnxiety-recs]

Rage Quit (M)

★  PAIRING: Gamer!Haechan x Reader

☆ WORD COUNT: 3.5K

★ GENRE(S): Established Relationship, Smut

☆ SUMMARY: You and Haechan get into an argument about something small, and when he goes back to playing his video games, he can't find it in him to focus. When he loses a match against Jeno, who's notorious for his terrible skills, it makes Haechan even more upset. Who better to take it out on than the one who caused him to be so distracted?

★ ☆ WARNINGS: unprotected sex, 18+, MDNI, degrading words.

☆★ NOTES: Happy New Year yall! Gonna try to write shorter fics and see if I can write a lot more this year!! I saw this tiktok and wanted to see if I could turn it into a fic.

₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊

It was stupid; it always was. You and Haechan rarely argued about anything serious, but when you did, it was typically over something trivial or insignificant. He had a bad habit of having to be right about everything, and you didn't know how to lose, which is why you're at each other's necks now.

Haechan had been home all day, glued to his gaming chair, when you returned home from a day out with friends. You unlocked the door, and the key turned with ease, but when you went to tug on the door, it didn't budge. Haechan must have put the deadbolt on by mistake when you left. That itself wasn't the issue; the issue arrived when you called his phone five times with no answer and pounded on the door to no avail. You were making such a racket that even the neighbors poked their heads into the hallway to check what was going on. You smiled politely and dropped your head slightly to hide your embarrassment. The ajumma smiled back and returned inside hesitantly. You were just about to try calling his phone again when the door swung open, revealing a disheveled Haechan, his headphones still propped on his head as its LED lights illuminated the apologetic look on his face.

“I'm so sorry babe; I just saw your text. I must have locked it by mistake,” Haechan pleads, taking a step to the side to finally let you in.

After being out all day, you were beyond tired, and this definitely ruined whatever good mood you were in. Honestly, you shouldn't have been so upset; you were only out there for 10 minutes; at least that's what Haechan tries to argue. Normally you wouldn't be, but the sight of his gaming headset indicated that he didn't hear you because he was too busy playing the game. You could tell he wasn't going to turn it off for another hour. You didn't mind when he played, but today you just wanted to spend time with him, wrapped up in the warmth of at least two blankets, drinking hot chocolate, and watching movies for the season. What was the point of being cuffed during cuffing season if you didn't get to participate in cuffing activities?

“I called you five times, Donghyuck.” You roll your eyes in annoyance and head to your shared bedroom where you dropped off your things.

He winced at your icy tone. “I had my headphones on; I couldn't hear you."

“It's fine, I'm not even mad, I'm just tired,” you explain as you undress and change into something more comfortable.

“You're clearly upset if you're calling me by my full name.” He's hot on your heels, reaching out to touch you, trying to make you face him, but you turn away each time.

“If not Donghyuck, then what should I call you?” You furrow your brow, waiting for his response.

“I'm your Hyuckkie,” he tries, smiling sweetly. He tries to smooth things over with you, circling his arms around your waist.

“No,” you say, breaking away from his hold. ”I'm upset right now, remember? Just let me cool down.” You finish grabbing your things to get ready for a shower. You make your way to the bathroom, giving him the cold shoulder.

“If you're gonna be like this, I'm getting back on the game,” he grumbles.

“Go play your little games babe.” You smirk patronizingly over your shoulder as you shut the door behind you.

You hated being petty, especially over small things, but once you're upset, you just need a second to cool down. You both knew by the time you got out of the shower you would be begging for some of Hyuck’s special lovings. That's what you thought, at least.

You exit the bathroom fully refreshed, a cloud of steam billowing out behind you. You had finished your nightly skin routine, and you were ready for bed. That's when you heard Haechan raging at someone on the other side of his mic.

“No, I'm not worse than Jeno! Im just not on my A game.'' Haechan says, aggravated.

You figured he must have been getting his ass handed to him in the game, and you giggled evilly.  You had already started feeling better, but knowing that Haechan was still on the game dampened your spirits again. You had been in the bathroom for at least an hour getting ready for bed, and he’d been playing all day. You figured he’d had enough by now.

At the very least he was playing poorly, and that little fact lifted your petty spirits just a tad. You make your way over to the bed that sits in the middle of the room and make yourself comfortable on your side, trying to stifle your laughter as the room was filled with more of Haechan's disappointed groans that were followed by arguments that Jeno should not replace him as squad leader.

After more ridicule from his team about his poor gameplay, Haechan finally decided to call it quits for the night. He bid his friends a vulgar farewell with a few obscene choice words and disconnected from the discord call. He wasn't upset at you initially; he was just annoyed at the fact that you were holding this small mistake over his head. He's usually really good about leaving the toplock off. After your argument, he just wanted to finish up his game with the boys, hoping to take his mind off of it, but he couldn't put his head on straight. He was making mistakes he normally never would, and that turned his dial up from annoyed to frustrated. He was playing so badly that Jeno had to step up and carry the team to victory, and he would never let Haechan forget it. If he hadn't been upset before, he definitely was now.

You anticipate a bit of attitude from Haechan when he gets into bed next to you, but you don't expect the rough hands pulling at your hips to tug you under him. The light from his computer screen behind him faintly lights up the room, illuminating his silhouette as he hovers above you.

“You really wanna do this now?” You give a disdainful look. Still feeling a little neglected, you decided you didn't want to make it easy for him.

"I guess you can say I'm not done playing my little games,” he challenges.

"Well, play by yourself; I'm too tired tonight.” You lie as you try to turn over and crawl back under the covers, but he pins you down with his hips. Your darling pink satin nightgown and matching panties were all that separated you from feeling his heavy length as it sat confined between your legs. All Haechan wore around the house was a white tee and his sleep shorts. He preferred to go commando underneath so you could feel all of him through the thin fabric.

“Should have thought about that when you were over here laughing pretty.” Even when he's being a menace, he still makes your heart flutter with his compliments. “You broke my concentration earlier; it's only fair if I break yours.”

You huff exasperatedly; once he got like this, it was easier to hear him out than ignore him, so you wait for him to continue.

“You wanna cum? All you have to do is count to 100," he challenges as he gently nudges your neck with his nose.

“Who says I need you? Don't think I can take care of myself?” You defiantly tease back.

“Don't think I know you? Your pathetic pussy is probably throbbing right now, begging me to fill it. You wanna bet?” He remarks as he grinds his hips against yours again.

“For you to be on a losing streak today, you sure are eager to wage more bets,” you stall.

You knew the moment he trailed his lithe fingers down your middle, you were in trouble. Your stomach was flipping the moment he pinned you under him, calling you his pretty plaything. Such a simple-minded creature you were, but you couldn't help it. Haechan looked so good. His hair had grown out, and it sat in a curly heap on his head. The way he looked at you under his long bangs had you fighting back prayers. His scent floods your senses as you lay under him, and his warm skin is inviting against the cool air of the a/c that blows gently in the background. He was like a magnetic force that drew you further into his grasp the more you peered into his pretty doe eyes.

He doesn't say anything; he just raises an eyebrow at you knowingly. It didn't matter anyway; the real challenge still awaited, and he was going to make damn sure he drove you insane. He's slow when he moves. There was no rush; he had you all to himself all night long, and he was going to make every second count. He kisses your neck softly and sweetly. His kisses are so faint you can barely make them out. His hands stay stationed at your hips, lazily dragging up and down your waist, not exploring your body any further. He kisses up your neck to your ear, placing quick kisses behind it.

“You ready to play, or do you still want to fight the fact that you're soaked through your panties?” There wasn't much between you two; you're amazed you didn't leave a bigger stain on his shorts where the two of you were joined.

Haechan leans back to examine your lips before delicately pecking them. You pursue his lips, reuniting them with yours in a scorching kiss. You should have known better to fall for his trickery, Haechan's feather-light kisses, and his gentle touch? He was only getting you ready for what was to come, putting your willpower to the test.

"Want it?" he asks, leaning away from the kiss. He kisses your neck once more, then comes to the valley between your clothed breasts and kisses there as well, kissing you hotly through your clothes. He looks up to meet your eyes, half his face buried in your chest as you make eye contact. He waits for your response, and you nod.

“You'll have to earn it first." He smiled wickedly.

The hands that previously roamed your waist finally make themselves useful. One hand slips between your thighs, while the other pulls up your nightgown, exposing your nipples to the cold air and making them harden. Shifting your panties to the side, he strokes your entrance, coating his fingers in your essence. He pulls his hand back, letting the fabric snap back into place before laying a few crude smacks against your cunt. The sound your soaked panties make when he lands another blow rebounds off the walls of your room; the wet sound taunts you.

Haechan joins in to mock you further. “My baby is so wet for me, and to think I was going to go easy on you?"

You wouldn't want that anyway.

"So nasty,” Haechan teases. Once he's done coating his fingers, the real fun begins as he sinks his middle and ring finger knuckles deep into your heat.

“Stay focused sweetie, get to 100 and we'll do everything you want. '' Haechan reminds you before burying his face back into your chest, laying a kiss across the expanse of your chest hungrily as he pumps his fingers at an even pace.

He's being nice…for now. You don't buy it for a second and begin to count, hoping to get far before he starts making trouble for you. You get to about 20 before he ups the ante. He adds another finger, stretching you out further and increasing his pace. He takes a nipple into his mouth and sucks on it intently. He pulls back with it still in between his teeth before letting it go. He watches as it bounces back into place before nipping the bud again and moving on to the next one, giving it the same treatment. You fumble a few times when counting, but you recover quickly, and you're at 50 before you realize it. You're halfway there, and you can't help but feel a bit smug. This wasn't as hard as you thought. You look down at Haechan, ready to boast, until you notice him getting comfortable between your legs as he takes off your panties. He slips his arm under your thigh, pulling you closer and locking you in place. You just know that the moment he gets his mouth on you, it's over.

You start plotting right away. You knew it was a bad idea to try to fool the King of Con, but it was worth a shot. The determination in his eyes told you everything. He was getting serious. There was no stopping Haechan once he set his mind to something. You're not going down without a fight.

You’ve been together so long that competitiveness is just second nature between you two. You hated to lose almost as much as he did. You wanted to wipe that cocky grin off his face, so you gripped his hair with one hand and pushed at his shoulders with the other. You try your best to hold him off as you resume your counting. He admires your effort and, in return, lets you count up to 60 before he's gripping your wrist and pinning them down. It was stupid to think you could hold Haechan back, but it was worth a shot. Once he's got you pinned down and spread open to his liking, he presses a kiss against your lower intimate lips. You can feel him smirk against you, and that's all the warning you get before he licks deeply into your heat. He licks a fat stripe up your center until he's sucking at your clit, messily spitting against it, adding to the slick mess that's been created between your legs.

He knew he had won the moment he saw your eyes flutter close before fully rolling to the back of your head. The long moan that escaped your lips was another indicator. When he felt the harsh tug of your hands as you aggressively rode his tongue, he knew he had effectively wiped your mind clear of everything but him. It usually took a lot from him to coax you into fucking his mouth like a slut. You would normally be embarrassed by the way you pathetically chased his mouth and cried his name as you made a mess of his face, but you were so far gone now that you didn't care. You had thrown your own leg over his shoulder in your craze, needing to feel more. He didn't let up for a second; his eyes were glazed over with lust, and he panted in between deep sweeps of his tongue. It was too much; your hips began to squirm, and he had to chase your cunt with his mouth, latching his lips back onto your clit whenever you managed to slip away. Your hips stutter and thrash at his relentlessness.

“Fuck-slow down baby, please.” You try to bargain with what little sense you have left.

“You done playing? Give up?” Haechan slurs.

He's almost as fucked out as you. Completely pussy drunk but still trying to call the shots. If you were in your right mind, you would use this to your advantage, but the way his mouth continues to move on you has you arching your back.

“Let me cum.” You demand.

“You give up?” He tries again.

“PLEASE!”

“That's not what I want to fucking hear!” He reprimands you with a harsh slap to your center.

"I'm sorry," you sob pathetically.

"and? Is there anything else you want to tell me?" Haechan slows down just enough for you to continue.

“I give up; you can have all of me, however you want it, whatever you want. You can have it.” You hiccup and tremble, as you finally admit defeat.

As he pulls away from your sopping cunt, licking his lips clean, his trademark smirk returns.

"Now, was that so hard?” He pecks your trembling lips lovingly. He loves when you get like this, completely broken and obedient.

“I'm going to fuck you, and you're going to take it just like you said, and you're not going to cum.” He says, positioning himself in between your legs.

“Although you're my good girl now, you still disobeyed me; I told you to count, didn't I?” Haechan reminds you displeased. “Now we do this my way.”

You totally forgot. How stupid could you be to enter into a game like this with Haechan? He was brutal and stern, and he would see to it that you received your punishment.

He pushes down his sleep shorts and slips into you easily, starting off slow. Your full lips intoxicate him further as he gets lost in the feel of your slick heat sucking him in each time he tries to pull out. It was addicting, and he couldn't help but become an addict as he drove his hips deeper for more, greedily picking up pace as he pumped his thick length into you again and again.

Haechan didn't care how difficult it was; he was going to have his fun and you were going to behave. You wanted to end tonight as his good girl; you wanted to show him you could listen, but you could barely hold yourself back from cumming. The way he gripped your waist and manhandled you, pinning your thighs to your chest, you were seeing stars. You tried to squirm away, but he wouldn't let you, practically fucking you into the mattress. You almost felt sorry for your neighbors as your headboard noisily slammed against the bedroom walls, but when you felt lightning strike in your belly, you didn't have time to worry about anyone else. If you didn't lock in and starve off your orgasm, you'd be in big trouble with Haechan.

Haechan was enjoying himself, watching your internal struggle above you. He was so close, moaning at the feel of you under him. You needed him to cum quickly; you were not doing a good job at holding on. You hold fast and clench tightly around him, hoping this might push him over the edge. Haechan's hips stutter as he throws his head back, his eyes rolling back as he gasps at the feeling.

“Fuck just like that, make me cum, make me fill up this pussy,” he grunts shamelessly.

He's pussy drunk, and you have enough wits to use it against him this time. You push at his chest, and he takes the hint, lazily sitting back. You use the space to lower your legs that he had pinned to your chest and wrap them around his hips, pulling him in close. He's about to argue, but you drag him down for another passionate kiss, swallowing his protests. You help him fuck into you as you hook your ankles together at his lower back and push his hips into you on each downstroke, effectively shutting him up further.

“Like you mean it, hyuck,” you tease.

You were definitely power-bottoming, and Haechan was too far gone to realize it, but when you reach behind his head to graze your fingertips at the hair on the nape of his neck, he knows what's coming next. You tug harshly, and he moans into your mouth like a slut. His hips snap into yours at the feeling, and a few more thrusts later, he's resting deep in your gut and releasing. His hips stutter as he gives you everything, making sure to fill you up.

“Cum” He pants breathlessly; it's all he can manage before overstimulation takes over.

You tighten your hold on his hips with your thighs and grind onto his softening length. You fuck yourself onto his length, in a hurry before he goes completely soft. You felt pathetic scrambling for the leftovers of his arousal to bring yourself to completion, but this was as generous as he would be. He does his best to help you and lazily rubs at your clit whispering cruel degradations in your ear. You cum at last and can't stop the tremors that wrack your body. Haechan bites his tongue at the feeling of your cunt spasming around his abused length. He eases out slowly as he feels you come down and drops his deadweight onto the mattress beside you. You both struggle to catch your breath. You chuckle through your harsh breathing as you turn to your lover.

“I think you're a sore loser,” you joke.

“Hmm?” Haechan looked puzzled; he almost forgot how you two even got to this point. “Nah, Jeno just didn't deserve that win."

“Sorry for earlier; I know you didn't mean to lock me out. I shouldn't have given you so much attitude about it.” You apologize sincerely.

“I'm sorry too; I'll try not to lock you out again." Haechan adds

You snuggle into his side, relieved that you two didn't go to bed without settling the small quarrel from earlier. You couldn't stay mad at him for long, anyway. Haechan gets out of bed and grabs a warm cloth to clean you up. He tenderly apologizes and kisses the bruises he left. You slowly drifted asleep to his gentle caresses, trusting he would look after you. In the morning, you'd thank him. You're out by the time he softly tucks you into his side and joins you in slumber.

[ns-games]

2024 CrowdStrike Incident

I just wanted to document my day today. Since I feel this is a pretty major historical event in the history of computing.

From my understanding, the update that CrowdStrike pushed occurred last night, but I wasn't made aware of it until this morning.

I heard the notification for Microsoft Teams go off on my work phone a couple of times while I was still in bed. I decided not to answer right away since employees are supposed to call me directly if there's a production issue. However, around 5:30 this morning, I got a call from one of my team leads telling me that a CrowdStrike update got pushed earlier that has now "BitLockered" a bunch of computers.

For context, my team uses the term "BitLockered" for any time a computer crashes and requires the BitLocker encryption key to recover.

In any case, I was asked if I could run over to our local distribution center right away to start mitigating the damage. I immediately got up, got dressed, grabbed my work laptop and bag and left. I skipped my morning coffee and shower so I could get there ASAP.

When I finally managed to get inside the building, I started taking a look around the front office and saw several computers stuck on the Windows Recovery Mode screen. Already starting to look like a bad sign. I started booting up my work laptop, which I thankfully did not leave turned over overnight, and headed upstairs to a bank of production computers. As soon as I got up there, I saw a sea of Windows Recovery Mode screens.

By this point my Microsoft Teams notifications started going off non-stop, and I started running the recommended fix on one of the computers. Basically I was trying to make sure I understood how to perform the fix. At this point, it became apparent we were going to have to touch every endpoint in our network at every facility.

Around 6:00AM, I got a call from a manager from a separate facility asking me about what was going on. This is someone that's constantly just called me instead of submitting a help desk ticket, and I've tried to be patient with. Today I had to be a bit more blunt and state that I couldn't drop what I was doing to come over and help, but that someone would be there later today to assist. This manager continued to try and call me throughout the day, but I had to keep telling him that I was not going to be available all day.

Around 6:30AM one of my co-workers made it to the distribution center to help. I ran the fix on his laptop and we started working to fix each computer one by one. A bit later I noticed my mom texted me that she heard about this in the news. So I looked up "CrowdStrike" on Google and found that not only were we affected by it, but many other major companies were.

As we started getting workstations back online, it became apparent that was only going to be half the battle, as this issue caused most of our servers to crash as well. But at this point, we figured it would be best to continue to get as many workstations back up and running one by one. But because the servers were down, I kept getting asked if I could restore a connection, which unfortunately we couldn't do until the server team could run the fixes on our servers.

Eventually I was asked to join a Zoom call so I could start providing other facilities with BitLocker keys so they could start running the fix on their own computers. Some machines we determined could be fixed by reverting to a restore point. Others we had find a way to manually remove the "C-00000291*.sys* file by booting the computer into Safe Mode with Networking. Those devices ended up costing us a bunch of time to get back up and running.

By the time 5:00PM rolled around, I asked if I could go home and continue to work from there. So I took the opportunity to go home, get myself cleaned up, and continue to work. By 8:30PM it seemed that things had died down to the point we could stop for the day. I'm sure we've got a few machines we still need to apply the fix to, but we managed to get our core business back up and running within the matter of a few hours.

So yeah, long story. But I just felt like documenting it, given that this is an event that's probably going to be pretty well remembered in the history books.

[beomboomboom]

Boy's a Liar

genre: fluff, best friends to lovers, drunken confession

pairing: Mingyu x reader

summary: Yes, it's not good to lie to your best friend of 10 years after drunkenly confessing to them. But, desperate times call for desperate measures, and this definitely counts as a desperate time.

warnings: mentions of drinking and alcohol

note: I originally wrote this on Mingyu's birthday, but wasn't able to post this until now. So I guess happy late Mingyu day 😭! This fic is part of an ask for drunken confession fics. Enjoy reading <33

"Can we talk about what happened yesterday?"

Mingyu freezes when he hears your words from his phone, already knowing exactly what you're on about.

It was a mistake.

A stupid mistake that will probably cost him his friendship with you.

So, in a fit of desperation, Mingyu chooses to value his friendship with you over his feelings by doing what seems to be the only way out.

Lying.

Which in hindsight, was a terrible idea.

"Uh...what about yesterday?"

"You know...when you confessed?"

"I don't remember ever doing that? You must've been dreaming. How much did you drink last night??" With every word Mingyu lets out, he feels a pang of guilt. Yes, it's not good to lie to your best friend of 10 years after drunkenly confessing to them. But, desperate times call for desperate measures, and this definitely counts as a desperate time.

"oh...nevermind then," he hears your disappointed voice say on the other end of the line before uttering a quick goodbye and hanging up.

Mingyu sits on his bed in a guilty silence before groaning at the unfortunate way things turned out.

He wasn't supposed to reveal his more-than-just-best-friend love to you last night. But one drink with you quickly turned into ten, and before he knew it he was telling you how much he loved you and wanted you to be in his life forever.

And with the way you responded...

Wait.

How exactly did you respond to his confession?

Mingyu furrows his brow as he tries to remember what happened but to no avail.

It's not until later when he's cleaning the couch, where you and him drank, when he remembers.

And that's when the regret of lying to you starts to kick in.

"You're so pretty," Mingyu murmurs fondly while tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. "And a bit blurry, but you're definitely always so pretty."

"Mingyu...don't say things you don't mean," you say warily. As much as you wanted to believe what he was saying and kiss him on his lips, you were on your fourth drink and Mingyu on his fifth. So at that point you both were pretty tipsy and practically saying nonsense to one another. Which was why you thought he was just joking at first.

But it seemed less like a joke when he replied smoothly while scooching closer to you to lean his head on your shoulder," No, I mean it. I like you. Let's be together forever."

"I like you too Mingyu, you're my best friend," you reply, still unclear about what kind of 'like' he meant. The friend kind or the more than friend kind? But thankfully, in only seconds your question was quickly answered.

"Noo, I meant I like like you. Like, I like you so much I love you."

Your heart speeds up the minute you hear his clarification, happiness flushing through your entire body at the realization that what you thought was a one-sided crush wasn't one-sided after all.

"Oh Mingyu, you should've told me sooner. I like you too."

"Oh Mingyu, you should've told me sooner. I like you too."

Your words play over and over again in Mingyu's head. He just can't believe it.

You.

Liking him.

He didn't have to lie out of fear for ruining his friendship with you anymore, not when he could have a relationship with you instead.

He didn't have to lie, period.

Because now he was stuck with resolving all the problems his lies caused him.

Taking out his phone, Mingyu quickly dials your number, and lets out a nervous scream when you pick up within seconds.

"I'm sorry, I was lying."

"Wait what?" Mingyu can hear your voice amid the background clatter of the dishes that you're probably washing right now in the doggy slippers he had gifted you for your birthday. "Mingyu, give me some context here."

"I was lying about not remembering when I drunkenly confessed to you," Mingyu explains while pacing back and forth in his room nervously.

"And, why would you do that?" you question after a pause of silence.

"I was scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Loosing you," Mingyu admits sheepishly.

"Okay, give me a second. I'm coming over to your house," you reply suddenly, Mingyu being able to hear the rustle of your jacket and keys as you make your way to the car.

"Wait why a-," Mingyu begins to question before you hang up on him, leaving him in a state of confusion.

"Hey-," Mingyu says when he sees you outside his front door, "why did you hang up on me?"

"Because-," you begin to say before gently taking Mingyu's face in your hands and making him lean down so that you can give him a chaste kiss on the lips.

"Because I've been wanting to do that for so long."

[ceasarslegion]

By the wishes of a few people, here's my advice post about living alone. Keep in mind I'm speaking from the perspective of a canadian urbanite, so this will not apply to absolutely everybody in every kind of culture, economy, living situation, those in rural areas, etc. This also is not assuming wealth disparities are a matter of personal attitude, i KNOW it's complicated. Get back with that shit right now, you know damn well this advice assumes you are able to achieve the financial means to live on your own and is not disparaging anyone who legitimately can't.

Let's cover the basics first.

Source of income:

This seems rather obvious, but your income should be regular and reliably the same or similar on a monthly basis. The most obvious way to achieve this is with a job, and I'm sorry but minimum wage is not going to cut it on your own anymore, which means you're going to have to swallow your pride and accept that you'll likely have to work for some industry or corporation with a dodgy moral record. Get used to it. There is no point in self-flagellation, the world is complicated, just take the 50-60k a year office job, no one actually expects you not to and nobody will hold it against you when the "moral" option is soul-crushing retail. The real world really doesn't give a shit what you have to do to afford a comfortable lifestyle as long as you do what good you can within your abilities, no one in the real world expects you to sacrifice your own wellbeing for a cause.

Salaried positions are your most reliable because you'll always pull the same amount, while hourly pay comes with the ability to pull overtime pay in exchange for more shifts, but if you run out of sick days you'll have to spend the rest of the year taking unpaid time off when you need to call in. Whichever one you choose depends on what's available to you and what's right for you physically and mentally, I can't make that call for you.

You also need a credit card. That is non-negotiable. If you don't have a credit score, you can't sign a lease. Bad credit is better than no credit. We can argue until the cows come home whether or not credit scores are good or bad, but it's just reality that you're going to need one. The good news is it's fairly easy to build credit from no credit: you just have to pay off your credit card in full on time every time. The bad news is it's equally as easy to tank your credit score, you just have to miss one or pay it too late, and it's very hard to build good credit back from bad credit. So don't see it as free money, only spend as much as you can pay back, and if you don't have credit right now, start with small things like lunch and little treats that you immediately pay off.

Looking for a place to live:

Once you have your regular and reliable source of income, you can start looking for your place. There's a few things you should keep in mind:

-Draw up a budget for how much you can spend on rent and bills. That includes all basic living expenses: rent, utilities, food, internet, phone, hygiene. Compare how much you make per month to what you can spend. 1/3 to 1/2 of your salary is a bit more realistic to expect to spend on rent alone nowadays, so work within that range when you apartment hunt. Think of everything when you're budgeting, like how much do you spend on haircuts per month? You probably didn't think of that, because I didn't either at first.

-Apartment buildings with some/all utilities included often have higher base rents. You have to keep in mind that this is so the landlord can balance out the utility bills of the whole building, which are unpredictable expenses and on them to pay every month. If you don't know how to budget yet or don't know how to do so with unpredictable bills, I highly recommend trying to find a place with utilities included so you know EXACTLY how much you'll need to pay every month and can plan in advance

-Older buildings tend to be both cheaper and more likely to have centralized utility systems, which means they have to include it in the price of rent because there's no way to tell who used how much of something. If it's your first place alone, you'll probably be tempted to get the brand new, expensive building down the road, but it won't actually make much of a difference when you move in. You will love it regardless.

-Never ever sign a lease until you've either seen THE unit you're considering, or one of the show units that is exactly the same layout. The last thing you want is to go off online photos only to move in and find out the building has a mold problem. You can arrange personal tours by contacting the building manager or the landlord directly. Phone calls are the best way to do this.

-If you want the unit after seeing it, you know you can afford it, there's nothing funny about the place, apply IMMEDIATELY. Places are usually on the market for a few days before they're snapped up by a new tenant, you have to strike while the iron's hot.

-If you've decided on the place you want and had your application accepted, read the lease carefully before you sign. Many places require tenant insurance that meet specific policy requirements, have registration rules about long-term guests, outline how the parking works, quiet hours, smoking rules, mail, laundry, all the way down to what kind of barbecues are allowed on your deck in the case of mine (I am in a wildfire danger zone, so any types that produce embers are strictly prohibited for fire safety reasons). Ask any question that comes to mind about the lease. Not everything in a lease is some human rights violation just because you don't like landlords, keep in mind you're living in the same building as dozens of other people, so there has to be ground rules established for everyone's sanity.

-Internet is often not considered a utility so you'll have a hard time finding any place that includes it. You can arrange to have your wifi set up in advance of a moving date on a specific time and date, do this right after you sign a lease so you don't forget. They won't charge you until you're actually hooked up to the network.

-If your utilities are NOT included, get those set up in advance too. The main ones are HVAC, water, and electricity. The companies that do this vary depending on where you live and what's available, so shop around online once you've signed your lease and sign up as soon as possible. The last thing you want is to forget this and then move into a dark freezing apartment with no water.

Budgeting:

After your living expenses are covered, you should have a comfortable amount of financial wiggle room leftover. If you wouldn't, the place you're looking at is either too expensive, or you're being overcharged elsewhere. It's completely normal for living expenses to take up most of your budget these days, you're doing just fine in the same boat as everybody else if that's the case, so don't panic yet. If you have absolutely NOTHING leftover though, then you're out of your price range.

You also need to set money aside for fun and saving. Do not forego fun money, your brain will try to kill you with hammers and knives if you never get or do things for yourself. And if you're on your own, you're the only one providing that for yourself now. And a solid building base of savings will only help you in the future, whether you lose your job, have an emergency, or even need a down payment on a house later in life. Don't be a doomer about your circumstances or the socioeconomic and generational cards that were dealt to you, chip away at it a little at a time. And don't fall for social media's insistence that anybody with anything at all is some bourgeois degenerate or that being fortunate enough to be able to have upward mobility makes you some ultra wealthy shithead, working towards a comfortable standard of living for yourself does not make you a rich elite or a bad person. You're working towards the standard we should all live as, not exploiting the poor or being a class traitor. I feel the need to add that last part since we're on the website of "struggling art students in NYC are bourgeois that are just bad with money and having a gaming computer makes you upper middle class." Don't listen to a word any of those people say, I know it comes from a place of very real hurt and pain for them but that doesn't make it grounded in absolute reality for absolutely everybody.

Social needs:

If you're by yourself, there's gonna be a lot more work you have to put in for your social and entertainment needs. I can not stress enough how important it is to give this the time and work it needs, do not neglect this.

Lots of libraries have clubs you can join that will get you out of the house and meeting new people regularly. They're either free or very inexpensive. This is a great place to start.

Take advantage of technology we have now. Hop on discord calls more frequently, make sure you're talking to your friends on the regular and try to make plans as much as you can.

Also, I advise finding lots of things you can do by yourself. You will be spending way more time alone than you ever have before, so find single-person hobbies. Go thrifting, get into knitting, go explore the city, read lots of books, do puzzles, just don't lock yourself inside all day in your free time. Even if you're doing it alone, going out and seeing that the world is bigger than your apartment and your workplace is very good for you.

Misc advice:

You don't need a conventional coffee pot maker. Single serving will suit you just fine.

Cleaning is easier when you have a routine. It doesn't all have to be done on the same day of the week, but having a regular schedule of what gets cleaned when for non-daily chores will help you keep on top of it. And please, god, don't neglect your cleaning and hygiene just because no one lives with you to see it. On that note, spray bottle all purpose cleaners are your best friend for daily spot cleaning and you should deep clean your washroom around every 2 weeks in my experience since that's where you'll be doing most of your personal hygiene. Also make your damn bed, yes you'll just get back into it at the end of the day but having a major part of your space neat and tidy will do wonders for your mental health.

Don't buy the cheap garbage bags. Some things you really do want the expensive shit for.

If you don't have a car, delivery service/rideshare subscriptions ARE worth it and legitimately economical in the long run. I do wanna circle back to square one and say that yes, most of them like prime and uber do have dodgy moral records, but sometimes you just gotta swallow your pride and accept that. Once again, no one in the real world expects you to spend your entire day on public transit looking for toilet paper that isnt 30 dollars a pack or lugging 50 pounds of groceries back on a bus just for a cause. It's not the fault of someone who needs these services for their quality of life that they do the things they do, don't put that responsibility on your or other's shoulders when the fault lies at the top of the corporate ladder.

When you're budgeting for living expenses, expect your income to be at the lowest and your expenses to be at the highest. I expect 2 call ins per month and to need to spend the max amount i have on groceries every time, that way I never fall short and never have to cut into my savings that I've dubbed my "oh shit, I'm broke" money. Your emergency reserve may look tempting to you, but as someone who has been in a position where they had to drain it to nothing in the past because of an unforeseen financial emergency, you REALLY are gonna want that untouched if and when shit hits the fan. Life is unpredictable, prepare to roll with the punches so they don't knock you out.

A few people wanted to be tagged in this, so here you go @lilsnatch and @kisstheashes <3

[nightmaretour]

I hate to do this, and it's a long shot I know, but things are getting desperate and it seems like I'm going to be waiting WAY longer than I should be for something that's fairly urgent.

I'm a disabled trans man living in the UK. Recently I was found to have severe anemia, and came up with my FIT test (gastrointestinal cancer screening) a few months ago, and was referred for a colonoscopy to find out the cause, since it looks like I'm having a slow but constant bleed through my GI tract. However, my referral has been awaiting review for over three months now. I'm not even on the waiting list, I'm waiting for someone to decide if I need to be on the waiting list. Since then I've started having GI symptoms such as pain, intermittent loss of appetite, etc. as well as my anemia worsening significantly.

This is of course pretty urgent, but it looks like I'll be waiting months longer once I finally get on the waiting list too. I really have no choice but to get it done through a private hospital, because of the time sensitive nature of, you know, potentially having cancer. I managed to put some money away out of the backpay I got from PIP, but it's not enough.

[ID: A screenshot of an email that's says:

Dear Mr (name blocked out in red),

Thank you for your website inquiry. For your information, the cost of an initial consultation with one of our consultant gastroenterologists is £280."

It then lists the names of 3 doctors as links, all blocked out in red. The email continues,

"The guide price for a colonoscopy is £2,339. For further information, including appointment availability, please don't hesitate to contact the medical secretaries (followed by three names redacted in red) directly on (phone number redacted in red) or call the private patient team on (phone number redacted in red). End ID]

Currently I have around £1,400 stashed away from PIP backpay I got after they royally fucked things up (however I may need to dip into this at points if I find myself struggling). Together the consultation plus the colonoscopy will cost £2,619, which leaves me about £1220 behind. I know I'm most likely not going to get that much from this, but I honestly have no choice but to try my luck here. I really don't know what else I can do.

I really don't like asking for money from people for nothing, but I have a Ko-fi store where I sell handmade screen printed patches, and I'll be adding more designs to it over the coming weeks when I have the time and energy to make new screens. I'm also offering commissions for custom band patches! (Due to Kofi's TOS I can't officially offer patches for bands without their permission.). Below are a few examples of my work:

[ID: 5 images of patches printed in white on black fabric, all sewn onto a worn looking black denim jacket. All are sewn on roughly in red floss, aside from the last one. The first says "only dates I want are tour dates". The words "dates" and "tour dates" are larger than the other text. All of the letter As are replaced with spade symbols. The second is the logo of the band Cop/Out, which is the band name with rough, jagged edges. The third is the logo for The Prodigy, which is the band name in sharp. Zig-zagging letters. The fourth is the logo for the band Subhumans, a stylised skull shouting into a microphone. The fourth is the horizontal silhouette of a crutch. With the words "Talk shit" above it and "get hit" below it. Unlike the rest it is sewn on in black, and the edge of an embroidered back patch is visible just above it. End ID]

I know a lot of people aren't doing well financially right now, and that there are people in far, far more dire situations who probably need your help far more than I do, but I would appreciate any purchases of patches or help you can offer so, so much. Even just sharing the post would be enormously appreciated.

Current progress:

£115/£1220

And of course as pet tax, here's Cynder :)

[ID: A photo of a female wild type leopard gecko laying spread out on a smooth rounded rock in a glass fronted tank. Her head is sideways and raised, looking at the camera with one eye. She looks relaxed and curious. Behind her a large piece of thick tree bark and a plastic cave can be seen. End ID]

[dilflover-4ever]

Someone older 3

Josh Kiska x f!reader

wc: 2.5k

Summary: Having a crush on your best friend's older brother is normal. It is just something about an older, “cool” teenager that appealed to you in your preteen years. Almost everyone experiences this, but is it still normal when he is 8 years older? Yes, your best friend, Sam, was older than you but he was like a brother and something about Josh was so intoxicating. The crush didn’t leave when he left for college, he stayed in the back of your mind throughout all of those years. Hell he plagued your mind through your last years of highschool and first of college. So what are you supposed to do when he moves in with Sam near the college you and he attended.

Minors DNI!!!

Warnings: Angst, kissing

for more info go to master post!

a/n: Guys I'm so sorry this took so long I've been pooped these past couple weeks! So sorry, I love y'all.

~~~~~~~

During the past two weeks since Josh had ‘invaded’ his younger brother's space, you felt as if the time you spent with Josh was few and far between. After the first night you had only seen him three times, Sam of course being there all three. It wasn’t awkward with Sam there, just a little bit uncomfortable. How were you supposed to make any moves with your best friend sitting in such close proximity? Disregarding that, Josh hadn’t been holding back with feeding into your delusions. He would do small things that caused your heart to speed up like carrying you into the car to avoid puddles and letting you cuddle into his side during movie night last tuesday. He even went as far as kissing right next to your lips as a goodbye before you and Sam left to study, which could have been an accident but he never mentioned it. As you lay in bed tonight you can’t help but think about how unserious he seems with everything. Well, not unserious but he just makes it feel like it means nothing to him when it means the world to you. What if he really only sees you as a sister figure? 

Stop. These thoughts are causing an ache to arise in your head so you closed your eyes and attempted to fall asleep.

~

Waking up to the alarm coming from your phone, you rolled over in bed and tried to ignore the intruding sound. To no avail, you rolled back over and slammed your finger tip onto the screen a few times, missing the stop button the first couple, before the noise finally stopped. After adjusting to the sunlight, you got out of bed and basically crawled over to your bathroom. 

A quick rinse and morning routine left a fresh feeling and clean aura around you. Adjusting the hood on your sweatshirt you grabbed your backpack and got ready to head over to Sam’s because today was one of the days he needed a ride to campus. Finally looking at the notifications on your phone you see a text from Sam. 

Sam

Hey sorry running a bit late this morning, you can wait in the kitchen.

Remembering to grab your key to his house you left your comfortable home, promising yourself a nap after class. The walk down the hallway was quiet in the peaceful morning. After unlocking the door you pushed it in and moved towards the island, taking a seat at the stool. You grabbed your phone from your back pocket to scroll for a time passer. After a couple minutes you saw Josh’s door open down the hallway, expecting to see him, a smile grew on your face. But it fell at almost lightning speed when a short blonde walked into the kitchen, clad in what seemed to be only Josh’s shirt. She had a falter in her step when she saw you but she smiled softly at you and said good morning in a sweet soft voice. You couldn’t respond because your mouth had gone dry. Mind swirling with all kinds of thoughts as you watch her fill up a glass of water and retreat back into Josh’s room. What. The. Fuck. 

Before tears could fall onto your cheeks a voice broke the eerie silence. “Sorry about that, my alarm didn’t go off. Are you ready?” Sam questioned, unaware of the previous interaction. Not trusting your own voice you turned and nodded at him with a small smile. Driving to campus was silent. Sam had tried to engage in conversation but after you only returned a dry response he decided to sit and look out the window. Until he couldn't take it anymore and dug his nose in your business. “Y/n come on, what’s wrong? You’re never this silent in the car, you won’t even let me play music!” He exclaimed, breaking the quiet. “It’s nothing Sam, I'm okay just trust me.” You hated lying to him but how were you supposed to tell him that you were flaming with jealousy over a girl his brother had over?

You had no right to be jealous, Josh wasn’t yours and he was a grown man who could do what he wanted, but something in your heart just would not let you believe that. It was killing you from the inside, it has been so long and your heart tugged towards Josh at all times. Sam didn’t like your answer, “Don’t think you’re off the hook, we are talking about this later. But right now let me have aux.” You were satisfied with this for now, dreading the time tonight when Sam would interrogate you.

~

After hours of laying in bed trying to take that nap you promised, you decided to get up and head over to Sam’s since the nap was not an option for your running mind. You let Sam know you would be over soon as you brushed through your hair and applied some strawberry chapstick. Looking in the mirror you tried to ignore the look you were giving, that of someone recently hit by a bus. Shrugging back on your hoodie you traveled out the door. Part of you prayed Josh was elsewhere tonight, you didn’t know if you could face him without bursting. But the other part of you hoped he was inside, by himself. 

After a few soft knocks you heard shuffling on the other side before the door opened and Sam stood with a playful smile. When you didn’t smile back he stepped aside and as you walked in he pulled you into a hug. This was one of the things you loved most about your best friend, even with his somewhat bony frame, he always gave the most comforting hugs. You tried to keep your feelings at bay as he crushed you into him, but the tears that escaped and the sniffle to catch your running nose were something you couldn’t control. He pulled back with a soft look in his eye, and led you over to the couch. As he instructed you to take a seat he pulled out his lighter and pack of cigarettes. Offering you one with an eyebrow raise. You gladly accepted and inhaled deeply as he lit it for you. 

After he had taken a few hits of his own he spoke up, “You don’t have to tell me what’s wrong if you don’t want to, but I would like to have an idea so maybe I could give some input.” You looked into his eyes and nodded with a grateful smile. “Thank you Sammy. I’m gonna be honest the reason is pretty ridiculous,” You started while trying to figure out how you could tell him your dilemma without giving away your fat crush on his brother. “Sam, what are you supposed to do when you are getting mixed signals from somebody and it is fucking with your head?” You figured leading with that would not give away too much. 

Before he could answer you sat up straight, a worried look on your face. “Wait, is Josh home?” you asked urgently. With a questioning look Sam shook his head no. You breathed a sigh of relief and tried not to focus on the dread in your heart, wondering if Josh was with that girl again. “Why did it matter if he was home?” Sam asked with a somewhat accusatory look. Realizing how your question could have come off you recovered with the truth. “Oh I just didn’t want him eavesdropping that's all.” You tried to force a reassuring smile but it didn’t quite reach your eyes. He seemed to believe that and continued. “Well I think if the mixed signals are fucking with you too much, then you should bring it up with that person.” You nodded but then asked, “What if that isn't an option?” He sat in thought then responded, “I think what would be best would be to try and figure out the signals by spending more time with the person. I think it would become clearer the more time you spent with them.” 

You took that as your best answer and planned to think of ways to act on this later. “Thank you Sammy, I love you so much.” You told him with true sincerity. After putting out your cigarette you leaned into Sam and let his warmth lull you to sleep. Half an hour had passed and you woke up to the front door being opened. Realizing Sam was asleep behind you, you decided not to move from your spot. Looking up at the door you noticed it was Josh coming through the front hallway. He froze upon entering the kitchen, staring at the couch. You slammed your eyes shut and hoped he hadn’t realized you were awake. As he walked away you couldn’t help but notice the defeated look on his face. What was that all about?

~

Last night you had allowed yourself to spend the night on Sam’s couch since today was saturday and you had nothing to do. While making yourself a cup of coffee you saw Sam had left a note on the counter. 

Heading out to run some errands and then meeting up with a study buddy for a while ;) I’ll see you later Y/n, let’s hangout.  - Sammy

You added the creamer to your coffee and went to sit on the couch, resting in between the pillows you stole from Sam’s bed last night. After around twenty minutes you set your now empty coffee mug on the coffee table and continued the magazine that had found its way into Sam’s mail. The silence was peaceful and you allowed your mind to rest. You hadn’t thought about Josh or your situation all morning, until Josh came to make coffee a couple minutes ago and had only given a small greeting and a fleeting smile. You tried to let the interaction sit for a little until you stood, letting Sam’s throw blanket fall to your feet. The very soft music and sound of a drawer being shut coming from Josh’s room let you know he was still awake. You tapped a soft knock onto his door and pushed it slightly open after hearing his soft ‘come in’. 

You stood in the doorframe, staring at his bare back as he put away some laundry. He finally met your eyes after placing the last of the clothing into the dresser. You took the time to take in his room, mainly the smell. It was so manly yet so soft, so welcoming. Why did that girl get to experience sleeping in here before me? That thought brought you back to why you came in here as you brought your eyes to meet his again. “Hey,” you started, in a light voice. “Goodmorning y/n, you can come sit down if you’d like.” He responded. y/n? He never called you that. A hurt look flashed on your face and he looked down at his lap as he took a seat on the edge of his bed. 

You moved to sit next to him as you started questioning him. “Did I do something wrong? You barely talked to me in the kitchen and now you're calling me by my name? Josh you never do that, what's wrong?” The questions flew out of your mouth in a desperate voice, mouth moving faster than your head. He noticed the tears welling in your eyes and placed a soft hand on your shoulder. You recoiled from his hand, “No, tell me what I did wrong.” You demanded. He sighed and his eyes flew around the room. After a beat of silence he started, “Sweetheart I am not mad at you, you didn't do anything wrong necessarily,” huh? “Necessarily? What does that mean?” you were only more confused now. “I'm just hurt by the fact you didn’t tell me you and Sam were a thing.” He finished. 

“Josh, me and Sammy aren’t a thing,” your voice trailed off. “What makes you think that?” you continued. A bewildered look took over his face, “What? But I saw you two on the couch last night? And you guys are so close.” You finally understood what he meant. “Well me and him aren't a thing and why would you care anyways?” You didn’t want to come off as harsh but you weren't in control of your mouth right now. He didn’t know how to answer. “I- I don’t know why I care, I just do okay?” This was giving you a headache. “Josh, I don't want Sam! I want someone else but I can't have him.” The subsided tears finally came rolling down your rosy cheeks.

“Why can’t you have him baby? You’re beautiful and funny, I'm sure you have no trouble getting guys’ attention.” He didn’t know what his words were doing to you. “Because it’s you Josh! It always has been! God, why can't you see that!” Oh shit. With wide eyes and a hand over your mouth you jumped up and tried to leave before a strong hand grabbed your arm and pulled you back into his lap. “No, no, no Josh I'm sorry, please let me leave.” You pleaded with him, attempting to push off of his chest, avoiding his eyes. His fingers pulled your jaw towards his face and softly pressed his lips to your lips. You gasped into his mouth and turned your body more to face him, placing your arms around his shoulders. As he slipped his tongue into your mouth and gained access to more of you, he ground your hips down slightly. A soft moan escaped your mouth and you squeezed tighter around his shoulders. You pressed your mouth into his harder and let your mind go blank, high off the feeling of his lips. 

He pulled back and trailed his mouth across your cheek and jaw, down to your neck. As he started to kiss around your throat you threaded your fingers through his hair, to which he groaned. When he reached a particularly sensitive spot he nipped at his but soothed it with his tongue. He left soft hickies along your throat before bringing his lips up to yours. As his tongue entered your mouth his phone went off. You both ignored it but as he got another call he broke away from you. “Fuck” he said, seeing Sam’s contact on the screen he put a finger to his lips, telling you to keep quiet. “Hey, sure, no she’s fine she's in the living room, ok, alright bye.” After he hung up he met your confused face and chuckled, rubbing his hands up and down your thighs. 

“Babe I got to go okay? But I'll be back before Sam is later, why don't you head home.” He told you. You softly nodded and crawled off of his lap. Standing up after you and adjusting his shorts, the now prominent hard on being visible. You laughed and ran your hand up his chest. He leaned down to peck your lips.  After he walked you home, or down the hallway, you flopped onto the couch and closed your eyes. This was so great, he knows how you feel and reciprocated. Maybe this could turn into something more. You thought. Surely nothing can fuck this up now. Right?

~

sorry the end was a little rushed I had to go run errands! Hope this meets expectations!

[michelle-is-writing]

Unexpected ch.2, Spencer Reid

Word count: 4.4k~

Read the first part here!

It isn't that hard to lie and say you need an emergency transfer to where your parents live. Thankfully, I'm able to do such a thing and move into a house similar to the last one I had when I lived in Las Vegas. I'm even more thankful to gain a good position at the FBI agency there, but I'm not all too thrilled about having to leave my best friends at Quantico. I knew them for only a short year, but it felt like I knew them forever.

Four months of the same work I once did months before pass, but this time, I've had to do it a bit differently. Instead of being able to travel to other agencies and help review specific cases for them to solve, I'm forced to stay at my agency and continue working there. It turns out the FBI doesn't exactly like their pregnant workers traveling, no matter how far along they are.

In my second month of working, I found out I was pregnant through a sudden spell of vomiting and fever. When one of my co-workers took me to the doctor, they did a blood test, and like any other unsuspecting parent, the news hit me in the face. One night of passion, sadness, and hurt lead to that moment where I was given the two exciting words that I had least expected.

"You're pregnant!"

When I was first given the news, I was excited, and I still am. I've always wanted kids, but I've always wanted to have kids that had a father present in their lives (preferably, in this case, Spencer). Going by the fact that Spencer most likely hates me for my sudden absence from work and leaving in the middle of the night, I can presume he doesn't want anything to do with our baby. Who would? But at the same time, can you blame me for leaving?

I felt alone in a relationship with a guy who acted like he barely knew me when we had known each other for our entire lives. I felt like I knew Spencer like no one else, and vice versa. I was wrong about something I would have bet my life on, and it was absolutely mortifying.

I still love Spencer, and I will never stop loving him. I think out of everything, that's the most painful thing. The high probability that he hates me now comes in second, which is why I haven't told him about my pregnancy. That, and I presume he never wanted kids - so, how can I push that onto him and make him not only hate me but a child he helped create? Why would my child ever deserve that?

Without fail, Penelope has tried to call me once every week ever since I left, and I just can't answer her calls. As stated once before, me leaving out of nowhere is embarrassing. I know that the gang is concerned about me leaving without saying anything, but how can I face them without lying? I can't just tell them I left because I knew Spencer didn't love me like I thought - that would've just added insult to injury.

However, the call Penelope sent this week was followed by two consecutive text messages.

Answer me right now or I will hack into any information about you there is available!

I mean it!

Because I knew she really did mean it, I answered her next call without hesitation.

"Hi, Penelope," I answered her, my voice drained of all emotion. Sitting down on my couch with my phone held against my ear, I placed my free hand over my small baby bump and lightly rub it without even thinking about it. I love my ever-growing child with all of my heart, and I haven't even met the baby boy yet.

"Don't 'hey, Penelope' me!" She almost shouts into my ear, causing me to close my eyes with guilt. "You haven't called, texted, emailed, nothing! You have sent me absolutely nothing explaining why you left! Why did you leave?!"

Her question makes me want to vomit, and I know I can't lie to her. "Spencer and I slept together the night before I left," I explain blatantly, hearing an immediate response only seconds later.

"So what?! Was the sex lousy? Did he not do it right?" Her questions roll off her tongue without pausing. "You have to teach the boy! He hasn't had that much experience in the past years, so you have to give him pointers and-"

"Pen, he couldn't get Maeve off his mind," I cut her off, tears rolling down my cheeks. As much as I'd love to laugh at Penelope's usual actions, I can't when I'm thinking about that night. "H-he mentioned her right after we were done, and I realized I would never be enough for him. I-I just couldn't face him after that, Pen; I just couldn't."

Unlike last time, Penelope halts her words before letting out a single-word response. "Oh," She mutters, every ounce of anger or frustration gone from her voice. She knew how I felt about Spencer and how I had always felt about him, even when we were younger.

A few more seconds pass before she speaks up again, her voice now a bit quieter. "But why couldn't you call me back or anything? Why'd you have to ignore me?"

Penelope's softly spoken words break my heart, and with the already falling tears, I can't hold back the new ones that arise. Biting my lip to prevent myself from sobbing out-loud, I take my hand away from my belly and raise it to cover my mouth. I never wanted to hurt anyone - I truly didn't - so, it hurts to hear that I ended up doing so anyway.

"Penelope, I'm pregnant," I shakily confess, shaking my head as I continually cry. "And I couldn't tell you, or Spencer, or anyone, because Spencer never wanted any kids! He never wanted me, Pen!"

Every word that leaves my lips is followed by my hands waving around frantically as I close my eyes with a shake of my head. It physically hurts to admit all of this to Penelope. Not only does it hurt, but it's embarrassing. I'm by myself with no one around me, the only guy I've ever loved doesn't want me, and I'm pregnant and scared to death. I have never felt so alone in my life, and it sucks.

"...Does he know?" Penelope asks, making me instantly sober up.

"NO!" I nearly shout, my eyes shooting open. "No, Pen, you cannot tell him! Whatever, you do, do. not. tell. him!"

"But, he deserves to know, (Y/n)!" Penelope argues, making me cry even more. She just said the same thing I've been debating with myself over the past two months, and to hear her say it makes me want to just fall asleep and forget about my problems. She's right, and I know it.

"He. doesn't. want. kids. Pen!" I repeat myself, placing my hand to my forehead. "And he doesn't want me either!"

"(Y/n), he does! He does want you!" Penelope tells me, making me shake my head. "When you left, he didn't talk to anyone. He just... he shrank into himself and never came back out! When we saw that you had transferred to the Las Vegas Unit, Spencer submitted transfer papers! Just to be with you!" Her words shoot right through me, making me pause in my actions as my eyes go wide. "He got denied, and when you didn't respond to my calls or his calls, he thought... he thought you didn't love him."

"Oh, God," I mutter, shaking my head. "I never stopped loving him, Pen - how could I? H-how could he think that?" I ask, not expecting an answer back from Penelope. "I tried to do everything I could to make him feel loved, to let him know I loved him and only him!"

Leaning my head back against the couch, I sink further into the plush material with a sigh. "When in reality, I was the one who never got anything like that back," I explain, my voice slow and calm now that I've let out the things I've been holding back on saying for months now. "I was the one who felt like I was never good enough no matter what I did or how hard I'd try... I would always be second-best - and that was that."

"If only you know how wrong you are, (Y/n)," Penelope tells me, sounding like she's crying too. "I-I know you won't believe me, but none of what you are saying is true. Absolutely none of it," She adds, "Spencer loves you with every ounce of his being, and you are not second-best to him."

"Pen..." I drag on, sighing.

"I know you don't believe me, but you have to," She states, before letting out a sigh. "I miss you, girl-genius, and I want to come and see you," Penelope confesses, making me lightly smile. "I miss our fashion conversations and shopping trips, and I've been sad the entire time you've been gone!"

Once all of her words process through my mind, I smile fully. Despite the shit that I've done, she's still the same fun-loving, girly-girl Penelope that I was close to in Quantico, and somehow, we're still close.

"I miss you too, Pen," I tell her, placing my hand back on top of my risen belly. In response, two little feet kick against my hand, making me smile. "I... I'm off for the next couple weeks if you want to come and see me," I tell her, "I think I'd like it if my baby boy met his aunty."

As soon as the words leave my lips, Penelope gasps. "You're having a boy?" She asks gently, making me giggle. I guess I didn't include that when I first told her. "That's it - I'll be coming in on Friday!"

I grin. "Don't rent a hotel room!" I tell her, standing from the couch to walk into the extra room in my house. I didn't think I'd be having anybody stay over for a while, so I didn't put any sheets or pillows on the guest bedroom bed. "I have a guest room here at my place, so don't waste any money on a room."

"Okay, okay!" She cheers, making me smile even more. "I'll get a flight and be over there in no time. I love you, and I'll see you then!"

With that, I tell her I love her back and we hang up. With my phone now in my hand rather than pressed against my ear, I move to sit on the mattress and sigh. I wasn't expecting Penelope to say everything she did, nor did I expect her to be so forgiving of me. Although, it is Penelope we're talking about here, and I don't think there's ever been a moment in her life where she wasn't understanding. I told her my problems, and in spite of loving Spencer like a brother, she listened to me and understood where I was coming from.

"I'm sorry you had to hear what your mummy told Aunt Pen," I apologize to my bump, my hand still resting against it. "Your daddy really is a great guy with a big heart, but mummy wasn't meant for him," Despite my heart cracking as I mutter these words, I smile and circle my hand around my bump. "However, mummy knows that you and I are meant to be, and no matter what, you will always be my little boy."

With Penelope calling me on Wednesday night, I didn't have to wait long for her arrival. I even went out and bought some lilac sheets for the bed so she could be on new ones, and I also got a pair of peacock themed earrings for her while I was out. I have to admit I'm a bit excited to see what she has to say about the nursery I've put together myself. I painted the walls with pale blue paint and then stenciled ducks throughout the middle of the wall. The furniture is all made out of a Walnut wood shade, and the curtains match the walls with a yellow ribbon holding them together.

On Friday night, I put everything together for Penelope's arrival and smile to myself. A part of me wants to believe it's just her that's coming, but another part of me is telling me that she's bringing Spencer with her. I'm partially scared, but at the same time, I'm not. What happens, happens... and there's nothing I can do about it.

Hearing a knock at the door, I close the kitchen drawer I'm currently digging into and move onto the next one. "Come in!" I shout, digging through the mess of kitchen utensils to find the pair of earrings I bought for Penelope. What interrupts me is two little feet kicking me as I do so, making me stop and place a hand to my belly. "Not now, little one!" I whisper with a smile, feeling my baby boy halt in his kicking. I can only hope he'll be willing to listen to me like this when he gets older.

Just as I find the black gift bag with the peacock themed jewelry in it, I hear my apartment door open and close. It isn't a peppy voice that I hear a few seconds later, and instead, a voice that I've wanted to hear for what feels like such a long time. Now that I hear him speak, I realize my mother's intuition has already kicked in.

"You know," the deep, yet boyish voice begins, making me stop moving. "Standing for long lengths of time can slow down the growth of a fetus, and cause premature birth as well as prolonged pain in the lower back."

A few moments pass before I slowly place the jewelry on my kitchen counter and turn around to see Spencer standing a few feet away from me, his hands wrestling with each other. Despite my mind telling me not to, my body takes charge, and I look into Spencer's eyes to see him gazing at me with glossed-over eyes. Once he sees my bump, his mouth lightly drops. "You..." He begins, holding a hand out. "You look amazing."

Leaning back against the counter behind me, I look away and harshly swallow, my throat feeling like it's being squeezed closed. "Spence..." I say the name I've always called him, but nothing follows it. I don't know what to say to Spencer at this moment, and going by the short silence that follows, he doesn't either.

"Why..." he starts, making me look back at him. This time, his tears are falling down his face freely. "Why didn't you tell me?" He finally asks, gently shaking his head. He truly doesn't realize, and even if I tell him, I don't think he'd understand.

"I know why you left," He explains, walking toward me with unsure steps. "And I-I realize that it was so stupid to talk about Maeve after we... we-we," Spencer stutters, making me shake my head as I bite my lip. "I never meant to send you away, (Y/n); I never wanted you to leave," He confesses, a tear trailing down his cheek. "That was the last thing I wanted you to do."

Once again, in spite of every signal my mind is sending me, I watch myself step forward and wipe Spencer's fallen tears away, his head leaning into my touch as I do so. With tears gathering in my eyes, I watch with bleary vision as Spencer lets out a shaky sigh before looking down at my bump and gently smiling. "It-It's mine," He states the obvious, making me smile as the tears finally fall.

Leaving my hand against the side of his face, I take his hand into my free hand and place it against my stomach, his warm fingers pressing against my belly with a softness I've never felt from him. "He is yours," I explain, emphasizing the sex to him. Instantly, he picks up on it and lets out a short noise of happiness, making me want to hug him to death, but I don't think I can handle that at this moment.

"Spencer, do you... do you want me? Have you... have you ever wanted me?" I ask him, his eyes instantly flickering up to meet mine.

"Every day of my life, yes," Spencer tells me, nodding his head up and down repeatedly. "My words to you about Maeve w-were not an attempt to tell you otherwise, I promise you," Watching as he shakes his head, I see him visibly struggle to swallow. "I just needed to get that out, and with you, I felt like I could tell you anything," He confesses, a few seconds passing before he shakes his head again. "And I felt that if I didn't let out my feelings, I wouldn't be able to move on, and then I wouldn't be able to give you all of me in my entirety because there is nothing I want more than that."

More tears sliding down his face, he leans down and lays his head against mine. Meanwhile, the tears haven't stopped falling from my eyes either, and even though I've felt hurt by Spencer for these past few months, I know he's telling me the truth. "I want you, (Y/n); you're all I've ever wanted," He tells me, crying even more as he shakes his head. "If you would have told me that I messed up that night by saying the stuff I did that bothered you, I would have apologized until the end of time for you. I would've done anything just to get you to stay."

At this moment, I feel guilty for not only what I've put myself through for these last months, but Spencer as well. I'm glad that he understands why I felt the way I did, but what I'm unhappy about is the fact that I was the one who wasn't understanding. For five seconds, if I had seen the difference in how he said his last words to me rather than what he was saying, we wouldn't be in this predicament. We wouldn't have been without each other, and we wouldn't have gone through so much by ourselves with no one to fall back on.

"If I wasn't pregnant with your baby," I start, my voice wary and slow. "Would you have still come back for me?" I ask, pulling my head away from his to look up at him.

In response, Spencer simply smiles and nods. "Even if you had left in the morning and told me goodbye, and you came here without our son growing inside you, I would have still fought for you with my life," He confesses, still smiling. "When I was young, I was stupid and I let you go without a fight," Spencer then shakes his head. "I don't want to do that again - I can't do that again."

Once again, I know that what Spencer's telling me is completely truthful and coming from his heart. For once, he isn't saying statistics or facts about what is going on around him, and instead, he's speaking up about himself and how he feels. He's not reading from a textbook or informative journal - it's all coming from him.

"I don't want you to do that again either, Spencer," I admit, welcoming his arm as he wraps them around my waist and slowly pulls me close. With my bump pressed against his practically non-existent stomach, I smile, feeling two little feet kick in response. My boy has never reacted like this when I've hugged people in the past - maybe he somehow knows who I'm hugging, and perhaps he's excited.

"I love you, (Y/n)," Spencer states, his other hand coming up to hold my cheek. Looking up at him, I see tears still flowing down his cheeks like before, although there are fewer this time around as his smile remains on his lips. "I love you so much, and I want you to see that so badly."

Spencer Reid - the man who avoids drama at all costs, rarely takes risks, isn't too great with social interaction, and who doesn't always show his emotions - is currently standing in my kitchen with his arms holding me close to him as he confesses his true feelings. At the same time, he's interacting with our son in ways he doesn't even know about, and for once, he's fighting for me by taking a six-hour flight to get to me and try to win me back. At this point, I never realized that it's something I've wished for with all my heart ever since I left.

"I do see it, Spence," I tell him, giving him a tearful smile. "I see it right now as we speak, and I see it looking back too," I add on, watching as his face never changes at my words. He probably doesn't believe me, or he doesn't want to because he's mad at himself for waiting for so long to do such a thing. "I see everything, Spencer, and I will always love you too," This time, my words do make a change occur, and I'm thankful to see it's a positive one. "Besides, I always have."

In response, his smile widens before he leans forward and plants his lips against mine. However, the kiss doesn't last long as Spencer soon pulls away and pushes his head into my neck. "Please, forgive me," He pleads, sounding broken like before. "Please, please, please," Spencer repeats the word over and over again until I speak up.

"Baby, I forgave you long ago," I tell him, only to earn a head shake in response.

"No, no, not just for this," Spencer murmurs, raising his head from my neck. Leaning above me, Spencer stares into my eyes while gently swaying us in our embrace. I don't think he knows he's doing it.

"Back when we still lived here in Las Vegas, I-I moved everything out of the apartment without telling you. I was in a rush to get moved into my dorm while moving my mom into Bennington that all I left was a note, a stupid note!"

Every word that leaves his lips afterward doesn't reach my ears. He left me a note? When I went into the empty apartment, there was absolutely nothing in there! If there was a note, then I surely would have seen it.

"Spencer," I cut him off from his rambling, and for once, he stops speaking. Turning my eyes up to his, I gently shake my head. "There was no note in the apartment. I-I went in, and every-single-thing was gone; it felt like you wanted me to feel forgotten, and it hurt."

Once I'm done speaking, Spencer leans down and places another kiss to my lips, apologies following afterward just like before. "I promise you, I left a note - I swear I did!" Spencer's words come out in a rush as if he were scared that I wouldn't believe him.

"It's okay, Spencer. I believe you," I assure him, nodding. "The owners of the apartment probably came by and cleaned up since there was absolutely nothing left - no furniture, pictures, curtains, nothing."

At that, Spencer shakes his head with squinted eyes. He then goes to say something, but quickly cuts himself off with a sigh. "No matter what, I love you - I loved you back then too," He confesses, his eyes flashing over to mine. "I thought for the longest time that you wanted nothing to do with me, hence why you never tried to see me."

If only he knows how far that is from the truth. For so long, I tried to find him. I searched everywhere online, but nothing ever came up except for old news articles about how smart of a kid he was. It wasn't until I joined the BAU that I realized why his online presence was so scarce - it was for his protection.

"I searched for you for a long time," I tell him, smiling at him as I reach up to cup his cheek. "But, I could never find anything on you. I never thought to look at our employee list though."

Laughing at my words, Spencer shakes his head at the irony before sighing once again. "I looked for you too, but I always got scared when I found you," He confesses, shaking his head. "I didn't think you'd want me meddling in your life."

Just like before, his words break my heart. There are too many damn things that have gone wrong in our relationship that could have been solved way before now. "Let's... let's not let another misunderstanding ruin our relationship again - please," I plead, wanting nothing more but to be close with Spencer without anything holding us back.

Liking the idea, Spencer smiles back and nods. "Let's," He agrees, leaning forward to plant his lips onto mine. As soon as he does, the baby boy in my belly begins kicking again, prompting me to place both of Spencer's hands on my stomach. Feeling his son kick, Spencer pulls away from the kiss to let out a mix of a surprised gasp/laugh, making me giggle with him. "I love you," He tells me, turning his smiling face back to me with happiness written all over it.

Smiling back, I lean farther into him with his hands still pressed against my swollen tummy, my head leaning against his chest. "I love you too," I respond, feeling as if the only things around me that matter are Spencer and our son.

Thanks to Penelope (who I doubt is even coming down here and is probably waiting for me to return to Quantico), I finally get to be with the person I feel to be my soulmate, once and for all.

This may not have been the way I wanted to start a family, but I can't say I'm ungrateful for us now. Finally, after so many years, things are cleared up and no longer blocking the possibility of Spencer and I loving each other. For once, we finally get to be with each other in peace and utter devotion - nothing else.

[lady-october]

Pairing : Oli Sykes x Female Assistant Genre : Romance, Smut (18+ Only) Previous Chapters : Available on Ao3

Story Content : Smut, Drama, Choking, Power dynamics, Romance, Rough sex, Sadism/Masochism, Dom/Sub, Mentions of addiction & self harm, Degradation, Praise kink, Exhibitionism, Orgasm denial, Breath play, Dirty talk.

Summary :

“Don’t you see what a dangerous game you’re playing? Why did you have to look so fucking delicious tonight, I couldn’t stop undressing you in my mind, thinking of all the twisted things I want to do to you.” She had only worked on the touring team for three weeks, but her mind had been hijacked by dirty thoughts of a man she barely even talked to. Sure, he was very attractive, but were there other reasons she was so uncontrollably drawn to him? This is a filthy story of pain, self discovery, and love.

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Chapter 22: I'm sorry, this directory is encrypted

Chapter title is lyrics from "DIg It"

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Drip.

While registering that something had just connected with my face, I only felt annoyance – the urge to continue sleeping overriding any coherent thoughts about it, or the ability to question why something wet was running down my cheek out of nowhere.

Drip, drip.

My features shifted into a frown as even more droplets began smacking against my skin, causing my consciousness to swim back to me. Suddenly, the warm and solid body next to me was in motion, a hissing noise surrounding us, growing louder, more intense.

“Fucking hell.” Oli uttered, as the very abrupt downpour pelted us mercilessly, rudely interrupting my deep sleep.

While snuggled up last night in silence, we must have drifted off under the stars on the rooftop of the hotel. And now the weather had decided it was time for us to wake up.

We shot up quickly with a yelp, legging it towards the exit, trying to avoid getting completely drenched in the process.

But it was too late; we were soaking.

Our mutual panting echoed in the stairwell after Oli slammed the door shut behind us.

Eyes wide as saucers met mine as he leaned against the door, clearly also pumped full of adrenaline from being awoken so unexpectedly by the icy shower.

I couldn’t help but laugh as I shivered, and he quickly joined in.

“That’s one way to wake up.” He said before taking my hand and pulling me up against him, his arms wrapping around my waist. All of which would have been heavenly if it wasn’t for our cold and soaked clothes, plastered uncomfortably to our bodies.

Smiling down at me, his eyes had softened, and his wet locks had taken on a darker shade as they clung to his temple in little circlets.

“I had a nice time last night.” I said without thinking, feeling rather stupid, knowing the date hadn’t gone according to plan whatsoever. Yet despite starting off rocky, the sex and the long talk afterwards had been nothing short of incredible, leaving me with an odd sense of hope for the future. Which was strange considering the gloomy and uncomfortable topics. 

Thankfully it seemed the man holding me agreed with my statement.

“Me too.” He whispered before leaning in for an unusually chaste and short-lived kiss. Pulling away he uttered what had been on my mind as well, “I don’t know about you but I’d really like to get changed, this feels fucking horrendous.”

I huffed out a laugh, fighting my shivers, “Yes please, let’s go.”

Taking Oli’s hand I started descending the steps.

But he didn’t follow.

“Shit, my phone’s still out there,” he looked towards the fire door then back to me, “I’ll see you later, yeah?”

Disappointment settled in me, having expected us to spend the morning together for some reason.

Which surprised me. Not just because of the expectation, but because I wasn’t overcome with panic at the mere thought of casually spending so many hours in a row with a man who had a romantic interest in me.

“Yeah, I’ll see you later.” I responded after a moment, trying not to let the disappointment be evident in my tone of voice. But when I attempted to let go of his hand, he held onto me. 

“One more thing,” he said, appearing slightly nervous, “can you start wearing underwear again?”

For some reason his question made me uneasy. 

I couldn’t tell if it was because of Mat – because of everything we talked about last night – or because he was trying to abstain from sex with me. It also made me worried that I’d done something wrong, similarly to how I felt last night when he’d been reluctant to open up about his nightmares – something I’d asked about twice now.

“Sure.” I finally settled on, not wanting to pry, not wanting to push him.

He visibly relaxed. Whatever the reason for his request, it was clearly important to him.

“Thank you.”

Letting go of my hand he took a deep breath before disappearing back out into the loud rain. I sighed deeply, trying my best to let go of the uncertainty our short morning interaction had brought on. Hoping it was just my anxious thinking patterns playing tricks on me.

Descending the steps, I made my way back to mine and Liam's room where a robed Liam was snuggled up in bed with a large sandwich in hand.

“Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in–” He started teasingly, smiling from ear to ear, but confusion quickly claimed his features when he took in my appearance, “What the fuck happened to you, love?”

Laughing, I pointed towards the window, at the downpour outside, “We fell asleep on the roof.”

“With… Oli, I presume?” 

“Yes, with Oli.”

“Sorry it’s hard to keep track of all your lovers.”

The grin was back on his lips, but I just glared at him.

“I’ve only been on one date with Mat– and we only kissed,” I started but quickly remembered that’s not quite true, “Oh, wait, I guess I may have maybe also seen him cum...” I continued under my breath as I began digging around for my toiletries in a rush so I could disappear into the bathroom, feeling both embarrassment at my admission and surprised I had somehow momentarily forgotten all about that incident.

Liam, who had previously been lounging – relaxed as could be – shot up into a sitting position, looking stunned, “Listen, I was just joking around– you what!?”

“I’m gonna go shower.” I quickly mumbled before running off.

“Okay, but you better tell me everything afterwards!” I heard him yell as soon as I shut the door behind me.

When I came back out I was also wrapped up in one of the lush robes the hotel had to offer. Liam scooted over as soon as he saw me, patting the space next to him on the mattress, indicating for me to join him.

I paused, wanting to talk about everything that’s happened – maybe even get some advice. But I was nervous, still not used to talking about my feelings with others, and only really having opened up to Oli so far.

Only Oli, huh? Sounds like I’m getting pretty invested in him already.

Shaking the unpleasant and unnecessary thought out of my head, I instead walked over to the large tray of room service, filled with breakfast foods, attempting to avoid both my own mind, and Liam, all at the same time.

“Yay, you got bagels!” I said with a bit more enthusiasm than the ordinary food warranted, but Liam was having none of it. 

“For the love of god, Alice. You can’t leave me hanging like this.”

I took a deep breath.

Okay, I can do this.

Abandoning the plethora of foods for now, I made my way over to Liam and joined him on the bed, feeling like a pair of gossiping teens at a sleepover. 

While I left out most of the explicit details, Liam’s jaw was still on the floor for most of it. Once I came to the part about Fay I learned that Liam already knew of the love triangle, which made sense as he started working with them right after it all happened – right after Oli’s recovery.

When I got near the end of the story, in the middle of telling him that I’d developed feelings for Oli – that I craved the emotional connection with him despite my commitment issues – I realised how effortlessly everything had flowed out of me, how easy it had been to talk to Liam, and I wondered distantly if it was because Oli had inspired me, pushed me, opened up whatever part of me that I’d sealed shut so tightly for everyone else in my past.

“So, what are you gonna do?” Liam asked once I was done naming all the reasons I felt pressured into dating Oli and Mat at the same time; how all of this was happening too fast, at a time in my life when I felt so very lost.

“I think I have to see both of them until I can figure things out. It’s all just horrible timing though, isn’t it?”

“You don’t have to do anything, love – you don’t have to date either of them, but I’ll tell you this much; there’s no such thing as the right time.”

I frowned, knowing damn well this couldn’t be happening at a worse period in my life, “What do you mean?”

He paused, considering his words, “I think the universe has a way of pushing us when we need it most. So a lot of the time the right people will enter your life at the worst possible time, but if it’s meant to be then you will still manage to keep them around. Mostly because you will feel the urge to fight for it, to make it happen even when everything goes against you.” His sympathetic eyes grew questioning, “Do you feel any of that?”

I thought about it for a beat, recapping all the discomforts I had put myself through – and continued to put myself through – in order to cling onto the things I wasn’t ready to let go of, “I guess I do. I think I would’ve gone home by now if I didn’t.”

He smiled at me, “Well I’m very happy you’re still around, regardless of the reason.”

The talk had left me feeling lighter than expected, and with a lot less panic about the situation. Which thankfully made the prospect of running into Mat today a lot less daunting.

Or so I’d thought, until it actually happened.

A couple of hours passed and it was time to set off; to drive the two hours back to the venue and begin all the preparations for tonight's show. But once we were done packing the van up with the essentials for the gig, I realised I’d forgotten my bag in my room, so I ran along to quickly retrieve it.

I was locking the door behind me, holding my previously missing bag, when I saw the elevator doors starting to glide shut in the distance.

“Wait!” I yelled, sprinting down the corridor. I was incredibly grateful to see a hand appear on the door, holding it open for me. Once I got to the open elevator I was wearing a smile, ready to thank the kind stranger, but my smiling lips were quickly joined by wide eyes.

“Hi.” Mat said calmly, grinning at me as he held the elevator doors.

I knew I’d have to face him any moment now, but I’d been hoping it would’ve been in the van, surrounded by everyone else, effectively removing any pressure to hold a conversation. Instead it had to be in a claustrophobically small metal box, with just me and him.

“Hi.” I eventually responded before coming to stand next to him, facing the door, finding it nearly impossible to maintain eye contact after what happened last night; after he watched me melt from Oli’s fingers moving over my pussy, after spanking me.

I guess it’s only fair that we’ve both seen each other's expression when we’re deep in uncontrollable pleasure.

The tension between us was unbearable as the elevator moved from floor to floor, at a pace that convinced me the passing of time had been tampered with – now very clearly moving in slow motion. 

When there was only one floor left, Mat launched forward to press the Stop button, causing the elevator to halt with a jolt.

My heartbeat was already in my throat when he turned around to face me, giving me a stare that felt intimate despite the distance between us.

“I don’t want things to be awkward between us.” He sounded nervous.

“Me neither.” I quickly responded, even though I didn’t have a single clue how to make things any less awkward.

My response caused all of the evident nerves to promptly fade away from him. 

He took a step closer to me, some of the unreadable emotion from last night now on his features, “Spend tonight with me, at the club.”

Since we all had tomorrow off, the VIP section of a local club had been booked for all the bands that were performing tonight, as well as their entourage. Considering what happened at the last afterparty we went to, I had my reservations about even attending now when the Mat spanner had been thrown into the works. But since I was the designated driver I didn’t have much choice.

“I don’t know.” An involuntary smile tugged at the corners of my lips, feeling quite intrigued by this unexplored version of him.

He took another step towards me, slowly stepping into my personal space, “Cause of Oli?”

Something was different about him, he wasn’t usually this demanding, this intense – no, that was Oli’s domain. Mat was always the laid back one, the patient and polite one.

“Yeah.” I breathed, looking up at him as he pinned me with his unreadable eyes.

“You can spend time with him too.” His voice came lower, quieter, due to our close proximity.

The eye contact that had seemed hopelessly awkward just moments ago, was suddenly unbreakable, the tension between us growing more magnetic, surrounding us with a sense of desire.

“Your friendship is odd.” I said distantly, feeling equal parts nervous and excited.

“Can’t argue there– what do you say?”

A smile spread across his lips as my expression gave away my intentions before speaking. I already knew I wanted to agree to his proposal, wanting to spend more time with him in hopes that it would help sort out the tangled mess inside me.

“Alright.”

“Looking forward to it.”

His smile grew momentarily before his gaze fell to my lips, his demeanour shifting, growing dirty, determined.

I felt myself hold my breath as he leaned in, so convinced he was about to kiss me that my mouth fell open. But instead he stepped back and reached for the elevator controls, ready to end our intimate moment. I was about to exhale, to relax and fight the sense of disappointment I was experiencing, when I noticed his fingers hovering, never actually connecting with the button. 

I swallowed.

Suddenly fiery, filthy eyes shot back to mine before he grabbed me, crushing my lips to his, pulling me flush against him. 

I dropped the bag in the process, struggling to form any type of coherent thought as his hands raked over my body – until he got to my very sore behind, which pulled me back to myself enough to feel torn in half, both finding this morally wrong – like I somehow belonged to Oli, like I’m already his girl... Yet the other half of me wanted nothing more than for his rough hands to touch my bare skin, hating the layers between us. 

But my moral dilemma was short lived. Paying more attention to how he was handling me I noticed the sharp sense of urgency in his kiss, in the way he tensed beneath my fingers that were digging into his shoulders, how tightly he was pressing me against him, how his hands were studying my shape as if trying to almost memorise it for later. 

As if he might not get another chance to feel me in this way. 

Whatever the reason for his desperation, it felt like more than lust, more than being rushed due to having stopped the establishment's only elevator.

Oli had told me he falls too hard, too fast – was Mat the same? Was this an emotionally indulgent moment?

He let go of me as quickly as he had grabbed me, and there was suddenly several feets worth of space between us. I hadn’t realised, but he’d pushed me up against the back of the elevator during our brief yet passionate embrace. Which I was now thankfully leaning against, feeling disoriented and incredibly overheated.

Mat wiped his bottom lip with the back of his hand, appearing barely contained as he started the elevator again, his dark eyes eating me up, clearly wanting a lot more than these short, stolen moments between us.

I was speechless, merely a receiver of the energy he was aiming my direction like a laser beam before the doors opened. Wordlessly, he broke our eye contact and stepped out of the elevator, leaving me to gather myself.

But sadly I never got a chance to.

Only seconds after leaving me, an elderly couple joined me in the small metal box, forcing me to use my legs prematurely, which now felt more like spaghetti than flesh and bone. 

Another unfortunate consequence of not getting a chance to pull myself together, was the fact that the first person to lay eyes upon me as I stepped out of the hotel was Oli. 

I knew he could see it on me, how flustered I was. He’d seen it on me an endless amount of times.

The only difference being that this time he hadn't been the one to cause it. And since I had been right on Mat’s heels, it was pretty obvious something had just transpired between us.

I wanted to disappear, to simply run away. Maybe just dash into the woods behind them to never be heard from again. I could find a cabin somewhere and just enjoy life as a hermit, forage for berries and learn to catch fish in the lake. 

While it was just a wild fantasy, it felt infinitely more compelling than spending the next two hours stuck in a van with the two of them.

Kicking myself mentally I lowered my head and quickly made my way to the driver's seat, which Liam was already occupying.

“Get out, I’m driving.” I muttered before essentially pulling him out of the van.

He stepped out, slapping my hands away, “Alright, alright– I just thought I’d drive since you drove us here yesterday.”

“No worries, I’m fine to drive.” I shot him pleading eyes, hoping he’d catch the hint.

He squinted at me, “Okay, but if you think this will get you out of driving us back tonight after the club you’re mad – I was promised I could have a drink.”

I hesitated for a moment, looking over to the passenger seat which was already taken by Matty, knowing that if I didn’t drive I’d have to sit in the back with the others. At the same time I knew how much driving this route had exhausted me yesterday, and doing it twice in the same day would be pushing it, especially considering how much work we had ahead of us.

I felt myself deflate.

“Fine, you drive.”

Dread filled me as I walked back around the van, trying my best to not catch anyone's eye when I opened the van door, only to find that I was faced with yet another problem.

There were two rows worth of seats in front of me; in the front row Lee was sitting near the window furthest away, with Mat in the middle who was watching me with anticipation, clearly hoping I’d take the seat next to him. 

In the back row however, Oli sat all alone, staring distantly out the window. 

And while the energy from the front row was warm and welcoming, I knew I’d have to pick the back seat.

I told myself that it simply made more sense this way – there was so much more room in the back row after all. But somewhere in the back of my mind I knew my subconscious was calling out to Oli. I just couldn’t tell if it was due to guilt, or because I wanted to be closer to him, having missed him this morning.

As soon as I shut the van door behind me, Oli looked in my direction. His large eyes locked with mine and I could tell he was happy I was back here with him, despite the sadness in them, despite the defeat in his posture. And while there was an entire empty seat separating us, I felt the comfort from his presence, confirming I’d made the right choice.

It scared me, terrified me even, how attached I was growing, how much I seemed to crave his presence around me in more and more ways each passing day. How quickly it was happening, and mostly how powerless I felt against it.

It struck me that I’d never let myself get this attached to anyone before, having chronically kept everyone at arm's length my entire life. Even my mother. 

I was so uncomfortable with the idea that I started regretting coming back here, wishing I’d just taken the driver’s seat and dealt with the exhaustion afterwards. All of which was made infinitely worse as I realised the sheer amount of ‘firsts’ Oli had been for me; first to open up to about all my fears, all my struggles; first to explore my kinks with; first to pull me in like a magnet, occupying my mind and heart so many hours of the day.

First person I couldn’t seem to get enough of.

Suddenly I was feeling nauseous as we drove along the winding road, and I knew it wasn’t because of the road, or the amount of bagels I’d had this morning, but because of all the inner demons I couldn’t seem to fight off any longer.

Terror began to press in from every direction, and before I knew it a panic attack was building inside me. I could tell it was going to be an unusually bad one when my breathing sped up, rapidly turning into hyperventilation.

That’s when I saw Oli’s open hand resting in the middle seat, reaching for mine.

My wide eyes shot to his worried ones; they were so tender, filled with the softness I craved, my heart ached at the sight.

He shoved his hand closer to me, pleading for me to take it, to let him comfort me.

Somehow it felt like a trust-fall to take it, like jumping out of an aeroplane with Oli being my untested parachute. All I could do was hope his touch would settle me, when I knew it had the potential of making me infinitely worse.

I didn’t even consider if anyone could see us as my fingers intertwined with his, too preoccupied by my narrowing vision, my speeding pulse, how I felt like I couldn’t get a full lungs worth of air.

Once he had a good grip on my hand, he squeezed it, rubbing his thumb on my skin slowly, silently letting me know he was there for me.

I focused on his touch, his presence, as I began taking deeper and deeper breaths, my heart rate dropping slowly.

It was working, I felt the parachute open before my face hit the ground. Ironically the man that had caused the sudden and severe onset panic was now the one to ease it away from me.

We held eye contact as my body slowly returned to normal, a glowing, affectionate smile making an appearance on him as he noticed how I was calming down, coming back to myself.

I was bewildered, amazed at how well such a simple gesture had completely disarmed the bomb inside me. Looking down at the hand still tenderly holding mine, brushing my skin lovingly, I had to fight back tears for what felt like the hundredth time around the man next to me.

He must have noticed my struggle, uncertainty making an appearance on him. Squirming in his seat, his eyes darted to check what the others were doing, then began untangling our fingers. But I stopped him, holding his hand tighter, determined to not break whatever spell that had managed to stop my panic attack dead in its tracks. I had never been able to stop one myself once it had reached that stage, neither did I know it was possible.

The vulnerability on his face once he realised what I was doing should have startled me, should have sent me right back into my spiral of panic, but instead I just smiled at him, feeling rather calm as his gaze flickered between me and our hands.

I don’t know if anyone noticed what we were doing in the back of the van, but we continued to hold hands for the rest of the journey.

It was such a simple gesture, yet it somehow felt like the most intimate thing we’d done so far. 

So why am I not terrified all of a sudden?

My mind kept attempting to race with these thoughts, touching on the things that usually triggered me, but every time I felt the pressure build inside me, I would just squeeze his fingers, and they’d squeeze me right back, pumping my veins full of his comforting energy. Making me feel safe.

Once we got to the venue, parking up next to the tour bus we’d left here overnight, we let go of each other. My fingers had completely cramped up, hurting as I stretched them, but I hadn’t even noticed during the long drive.

We wordlessly parted ways for the day, right as Liam showered me in the usual tasks. And before I knew it, my feet were hurting almost as much as my butt did.

When all the opening bands had performed for the night, I was with Liam backstage, making sure all the props were in the correct places for the stagehands, when Mat tapped on my shoulder.

“Are you alright to stand a bit further out than usual? I’d like to see you during the show.”

He was bouncing on the spot, clearly pumped up for the impending performance. Yet the laid back demeanour still somehow remained.

How odd.

I considered his request, still a bit taken aback from what happened in the elevator earlier, but also unsure how to respond considering there was a reason I kept to the shadows when I could; I don’t particularly enjoy the public attention.

“Maybe.” I responded teasingly, trying to keep the mood light.

He just smiled at me, knowing there was no time to argue.

“I’ll take it.” He said before walking up on stage with the rest of the guys. 

Well, everyone except the lead singer, who entered the stage last, on a later cue.

I was looking around for the man in question in the hopes of catching a glimpse of him before his performance, knowing he’d be close, but I wasn’t expecting him to appear right in front of me as I turned around.

“You look lovely.” He purred, coming to stand only inches away from me.

I was about to thank him, compliment him back, but he spoke almost immediately, clearly rushed – which made sense considering we only had about 30 seconds before it was his turn to run up on stage.

“You sticking with me later tonight?”

My heart sank.

“Some of the time.” The face I wore was apologetic to say the least, not wanting to admit I’d already agreed to spend time with Mat at the club – not after the expression Oli wore when he saw me leaving the hotel this morning.

His hand reached for mine, holding it in his with a surprising tenderness considering the high energy that was radiating off of him, also clearly ready to expel a high amount of it for the crowd in a moment.

Distantly I wondered how much energy he had when not on tour, when he didn’t spend so much of it on performing.

“Am I bad company?” His eyebrow raised, turning his grin more questioning, yet flirty.

“No, you’re great company.” Even though I really didn’t want to tell him, I knew there was no point in trying to hide it, especially since he’d see us together tonight anyway, “Mat’s already asked me.”

The smile fell away from him completely, almost as if it had been a facade entirely, and whatever urgency there had been in Mat’s behaviour earlier completely paled in comparison to whatever had just taken hold of Oli.

Regret washed over me for not waiting till after the show to tell him, made worse by the music starting – meaning we only had around 15 seconds left together. 

Throwing a quick glance towards the stage, he pinned me with all-too serious eyes and let his hands rest on my arms, as if wanting to hold me in place, causing worry and confusion to rush over me at the immediate shift in behaviour. For a brief moment he appeared uncertain, questioning whether he should speak or not, but his decision was made clear by the rant that followed.

“The nightmares, they started when I was a teenager; my girlfriend at the time killed herself, slashed her wrists one night,” he spoke so very fast, saying things I didn’t have a chance to even begin unpacking. All I could focus on was the fact that he needed to be on stage in mere seconds, yet he was opening up to me out of nowhere, not leaving any room for me to react or respond, “I know it wasn’t my fault, but it messed me up, made me real scared of some things – made me real hard on myself in many ways.”

“Oli!” A stagehand yelled next to us, interrupting him.

“Wait!” He barked, then immediately threw him an apologetic look before returning his intense attention to me, “I’ve dreamt about you for a month now, most nights you torture me, try to kill me–” He shook his head in distress, seemingly out of frustration due to the time constraints, “I know I’m not making a lot of sense – I can explain much better later, but my point is–”

“You really gotta get on the stage man.” The poor stagehand continued, only trying to do his job, but Oli’s attention remained on me, talking over him entirely.

“I don’t open up to people a lot, and I know you don’t either,” he searched my face for a split second, his eyes darting all over it, sheer panic in his stare before he gently shook me in his hands, “You’re very special to me too.” 

He let go of me and shot up the steps leading to the stage so fast I barely had time to realise he was gone.

I was left standing alone in the dark, completely stunned, as the man that had just dumped a ton-of-bricks worth of intimate and bewildering information on me, started singing the words of the first song in the setlist.

... Subscribe to the story on Ao3 for future updates

[dumbkatsu]

You ask and I deliver! I'm so happy everyone is enjoying the Mu Qing hc, so let's start:

Mu Qing would notice the littlest things about you.

From how you style your hair, how you prepare your coffee/tea, what you put first in the bowl if it's the cereals or the milk to the little gestures you do when you're nervous.

He just loves your little mannerisms so much. He finds them endearing.

Even the way every week you organize your books in a different system

He would notice how you sometimes forget to take care of yourself properly so he would help.

If you are a very busy person in the morning and forget to eat breakfast he'd prepare it for you to take away with a sticky note saying: "Don't forget to eat dummy"

When you first introduced him to MBTI he was really confused.

And when you explained the concept to him he low-key thought it would be another zodiac thing.

Which made you really pissed

So you made him do the test.

(And during the test he was a bit bored ngl)

It gave him ISTJ

At first, he was confused but as he read his results he was starting to doubt his convictions and so he became interested in mbti's

Cue you sending him a shitton of mbti memes 24/7

And whenever he saw a meme roasting your mbti he would def sending you

You would def make him dress up as your mbti for Halloween

But he wouldn't mind

Because if it made you smile he would do anything for you

When it comes to communication in a relationship, he can get a bit shy and insecure, so there will be times when he won't say wants to say. But if you talk to him and show him that you can give him a safe space to express his feelings he will become more confident and it will show.

OH! I totally feel like mu qing is the type to avoid you when he realizes his feelings for you (pre-relationship)

If you were close friends before and this starts happening it can be very hurtful.

You try to corner him but to no avail, he just gives a half-assed excuse and weasels his way away from you again.

It takes Xie Lian, Feng Xin, and even a tiny roast from Hua Cheng to make him apologize and confess to you

"Mu Qing you should be honest about your feelings, it's clear that they like you too!"

"Yeah bro you need to go head in and do it, it's been too long and now that you decided to very obviously distance yourself they've kinda been upset these past few days"

"Only a pussy bitch boy wouldn't admit their feelings and just confess instead of causing mindless hurt to both parties, isn't that right Mu Qing?"

"San lang..."

Yes that was basically the last drop for Mu Qing and he decides to drive up to your place

(cliché warning: I'm about to be so corny on this one I hope you can forgive me)

It started pouring rain and Mu Qing cursed himself for not doing this sooner and just being a blatant coward.

When he reached your driveway he calls your phone

"Hey, why are you-"

"Come outside"

"Mu Qing it's raining"

"I don't care just come outside, I want to take you somewhere"

"Fine. Give me a minute"

You basically leave in your pajamas and go on a late-night drive with Mu Qing.

He obviously gives you the aux cord bcs he likes your taste in music

You guys drive for a bit until he stops at a place with a nice skyline

You guys stay silent until he turns the engine off.

Mu Qing sighs to himself as you look at him expectantly

"Look Y/n I'm sorry. I have been a first-class dick these past few days and I really didn't want to hurt you by doing it but...it's just that... " he stops.

The words he wants to say can't get out of his mouth it's stuck in his throat until he feels your hand on top of his giving him an encouraging nod

It's incredible how you make him feel like he can conquer the world without uttering a single word really.

"I have feelings for you y/n. I never felt like this before. I feel like I don't deserve to feel like this, I feel like I don't deserve you in my life because I can't treat you like you should be treated. You've been here for me through thick and thin and I would do anything for you. But I am honestly feeling very fucking scared for what it might happen next."

You stay quiet trying to process all of the information you were just told. It was a lot to take in. Until you broke the agonising silence.

"I like you too Mu qing. I always have" you said with a beaming smile

"And yes you were being a total asshat, I was so confused. I thought you were upset that I ate the last chocolate pudding in your fridge"

"SO IT WAS YOU?? I THOUGHT I WAS FENG XIN! I MADE HIM BUY ME 4 MORE"

You two broke in silly laughter and when you opened your eyes you saw mu qing really close to your face.

He was looking at your eyes with such adoration that it was hard to maintain eye contact with those grey eyes.

He momentarily looked at your lips and his Adam's apple bobbed

He looks back at your eyes again moving closer. Your lips almost touching

"Can I k-kiss you?"

You guys can figure out the rest ;)

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for breaking off a friendship without an explanation after a boundary has been crossed repeatedly?

This is one of those "happened a while ago, but still on my mind" stories. I (then 26F) had a long-term close friendship with a classmate from highschool (then 25F) in which we'd been really through a lot together, too much to recount here.

Relevant to the story is that I had just survived cancer a few months earlier, though. Also probably relevant is that we had started drifting apart a little bit recently anyway, because I wasn't as available for daily phone calls anymore due to a new job and a new relationship.

To get to the matter of the friendship break-up fight: I usually proofread her papers for university as a courtesy, she didn't proofread mine, which I didn't mind - orthography is a skill of mine and she showed up for me in different ways. Now it was time for her to write her graduation thesis and I had agreed to help her with it if (!) she managed to finish it a couple days before the deadline this time, because I knew I was gonna be busy on the weekend of the deadline (hand-in on Monday morning). She had a history of procrastination, so I made that clear beforehand.

Friday evening rolls around, she hasn't send me anything yet and I figure she has it covered or found someone else to help her out.

On Saturday evening I'm entertaining guests, two friends who were emigrating halfway across the globe for work the next week. I haven't looked at my phone in hours, as I find that really rude on such a special occasion. I get a call on the landline from my thesis friend, telling me she's done and demanding I get on it immediately. I tell her that I'm busy hosting friends, and that I don't know when I'll next see these two.

She gets nasty. Demands again that I get right on it and to throw my guests out now. I can only put this down to severe stress. I tell her that I'll do it Sunday morning, but not now, and hang up. I get back to my goodbye party. Sunday morning I do the proofreading, send it back to her, we talk a little on the phone and I can tell she's still mad at me for blowing her off.

When I probe a bit and ask what's wrong, she blows up at me and tells me that she had expected better of me, that she expected me to be there for her and not other people in her time of need because she was there for me when I had cancer. That I should count myself lucky because unlike some other friends, she didn't leave me over my illness. (Which did happen, other friends left.)

I get very upset and tell her how much that hurts, that I don't feel it's fair to have this brought up in this context and that if she uses my cancer against me again, friendship over. She hands in her thesis on Monday, gets an A- for it.

Fast forward a couple months, a common friend calls me and tells me my thesis friend had said some incredibly rude things about me and she worries. I have her tell me the story and lo and behold, it's the same complaints: I wasn't grateful enough, didn't value her sacrifice during my chemo enough (visiting me in the same city every two weeks to watch shows together), she expected more devotion etc.

I tell the shared friend and thank you and block the thesis friend on all social media and my phone. I get calls from a hidden number at an insane rate for a week, which I don't pick up, and then that stops too - I'm still not sure if that was her, but the timing was... weird.

The shared friend tells the thesis friend that she told me, so the thesis friend definitely knows what caused me to block her - but I wasn't the one who told her why. Some of our shared friends still feel like I was an asshole for cutting her out like this, so am I?

What are these acronyms?

[cyn-onym]

GYARU!! (Various!Tokyo Revengers X Gyaru!Reader) Pt. 1

warnings! - this story may contain manga spoilers, mature content, and sensitive themes such as r^p€, su/c¡d€, death, identity issues, toxic relationships (romantic & platonic), and others. the reader is mostly addressed with fem pronouns and is portrayed as black/mixed (Black & Japanese) although it may not be heavily implied or explicitly stated.

Hoshino (Y/N) is a laidback, yet well-mannered girl who has little to no aspirations in life besides shopping, the newest trends, and having fun. Because of how she expresses herself she is what many people call a Gyaru. (This story is also available on Quotev and Wattpad!)

Next Chapter

Third Person POV -

The day started like every other.

School alarm goes off, get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and go to school. Or at least that was the simplified version.

Hoshino Y/N's mornings were anything but simple. She prioritized her appearance over anything, and no matter the day she was always dressed to impress. Face lightly beat, mascara applied, with a final touch of lip liner and lip gloss.

After all, there was no telling when her future significant other or an agent would appear. She had to be prepared, always ready for the unexpected. 'Should I wear my red pleated skirt or my blue one..both are super cute but which am I feeling more??'

Things such as picking whether to wear thigh highs or leg warmers were the most of the girl's problems.

Although contrary to popular belief the girl didn't have a certain someone to impress but she could always impress the masses.

"Mom, what's for breakfast!??" The girl yelled down the stairs as she struggled with her tie. The girls' mother quickly replied "Eggs on rice, hurry down or you'll be late. I'm not dropping you off if you miss the subway!" Finally fastening her tie the girl decided to look herself over one last time.

The girl's outfit consisted of a short-sleeved uniform shirt with a striped red tie, she also wore a red pleated skirt and white leg warmers. The girls' hair was also decorated in numerous colored barrettes and star-shaped clips. And finally, despite it being summer she wore a pink hoodie wrapped around her waist.

The more time that passed the closer it became to summer break. A time when she could go shopping all day and go to karaoke by night while getting hit on by some weirdos, who would offer to buy her and her friends, snacks or drinks.

After deeming her appearance acceptable she rushed down the stairs to eat breakfast. In the kitchen, her mother, Hoshino Satsuki, stood over the sink washing dishes. Meanwhile, the girl's older sister, Hoshino Manami, sat at the table enjoying her breakfast as she aimlessly scrolled through her phone. Once the girl took a seat at the table she thanked her mother before digging into her meal.

Between her bites she decided to ask "Manami what are you doing here, don't you have school?" The older girl sighed before responding, "I'm only here cause I was bored and wanted breakfast."

The woman washing dishes sucked her teeth causing the youngest girl to snicker. Before Y/N could continue her meal her gaze fell to the stove which read, 8:00 AM. "You should get going Y/N.." the girls' mother prompted.

In response, Y/N finished the last of her food before handing her plate to her mother. In exchange, the older woman gave the girl her bento. Y/N quickly thanked her mother again before rushing to put on her shoes. Like the girl's hair accessories, her shoes were covered in multi-colored pen doodles.

Before exiting the house the girl briefly checked off her necessities in her head. And once she was positive she had everything, she bid goodbye to her family before jogging off to Harajuku Station.

Harajuku was a district bursting with style and trendy hot spots. The streets were filled with an array of different stores, restaurants, and boutiques. However, Y/N found the people the most interesting, because most of them expressed themselves through their fashion. It wouldn't be long before she could fully parade around without being dress coded.

As the girl jogged to the station she placed in her earbuds and began playing her favorite band, 'LILITH GIRL'. The jog to the station wasn't long and was sort of serene. Sometimes when the girl had extra time she would worship her local shrine before heading to school. However, today wasn't one of those days.

After finally reaching the station the girl scanned her subway pass before rushing to the Shibuya platform. As she approached the platform she noticed that the subway had also arrived. As the doors to the subway opened the girl and multiple other people flooded in. However, due to the number of people riding the subway, the girl decided to stand and lean on one of the poles.

To pass the time the girl decided to scroll through her phone. However, it wasn't long before she arrived in Shibuya. As the subway doors opened Y/N quickly drifted out following the crowd of students, workers, and citizens before exiting Shibuya station.

Living on the border where Harajuku and Shibuya meet had its perks. However, her school wasn't one of them. Mizo Middle School sadly wasn't particularly entertaining or significant in her opinion. She would have preferred to attend a school in Harajuku but finances stated otherwise. As Y/N followed her typical route she became more and more surrounded by students. Passing the gate the girl traveled into the school before heading towards her shoe locker.

Although the girl would have preferred to keep on her regular shoes it was school policy and she already knew the results of those actions.

Once the girls' shoes were changed she walked up the stairs leading to the second floor before approaching classroom 3. However, before she could enter her name was called. When she looked over she noticed her group of friends hanging out by a window.

The group consisted of Imai Nozomi, a copper-headed girl with short hair who had a quirk for lying.

Saito Akane, a girl with dark brown hair, a red skunk stripe, and a ponytail, renowned for her temper issues.

And Kaneko Chitose, a long-haired ravenette with a hime-cut who loved gossip and drama.

First Person POV -

"What are we invisible?" Nozomi stated grumpily as I approached them. Akane and Chitose laughed in response to the question. "You guys are anything but invisible, Nozomi. Did anything interesting happen over the weekend?" I asked as I placed my earbuds in my bag.

Chitose was quick to respond, "Nothing to die for but I heard the Soccer club is having a mixer this weekend."

"No way am I going to that, half of them aren't even that cute," Akane stated as she adjusted her hair. Nozomi nodded her head in agreement before adding "I had a fling with their captain about two months ago, he ended up asking me out but I shot him down."

This piqued my interest. "Ya' know you always talk about getting asked out but you never mention going out with them??" I questioned. "Well, ponder no longer because I currently have a boyfriend," Nozomi answered proudly.

This was a surprise to the rest of us but before we could question her further, she continued. "His name's Kiyomasa, he's also a second-year and he's super tall." She boasted. "How tall we talking?" Akane questioned in disbelief. "6'0 ft" Nozomi responded with a smirk.

Chitose and I let out an exaggerated "Wooow" as Akane whistled in response.

However, before we could continue questioning the copper-headed girl, the bell rang prompting us to go to class. We swiftly said our "laters" before separating and going into our classrooms.

Once I was seated it didn't take long for the teacher, Ms. Kubo, to enter. And as soon as she was settled she began taking attendance starting from the letter "A". I decided to use this time to take out any needed supplies. "Hangaki?" a boy with blonde hair anxiously responded to the teacher's call. I stacked my erasers as I waited for her to get to my surname. "Masashi?" To which another boy replied.

She then moved on, "Hoshino?", I briefly responded. After marking me as present Ms. Kubo directed her gaze over to me before stating "Out of uniform again, I see."

I smirked and briefly laughed before responding "Yes, Ms. Kubo." My classmates quietly giggled at the interaction.

A day like every other.

☆ During Y/N's first year, she was dress coded over 20 times in the first semester. Of course, administration tried to contact/urge Mrs. Hoshino to correct her child but she ignored them.

[knickynoo]

heyyyy so. i love your blog. and i was wondering, what you think about the headcanon that marty could be diabetic? with what little evidence we have in the movies? ( for example, him turning away peanut brittle which is ALL SUGAR, always drinking sugar free pepsi, asking for something without sugar in 55 at the diner, shoving food in his mouth after the phone call with doc in the morning before he goes to the twin pines lot, etc) i have a headcanon that doc keeps a stash of candy or snacks for marty if his blood sugar crashes or goes low. ( and i know the sleepiness and implied laziness of marty was probably due to mjf being sleep deprived but i read that thats a side effect of low blood sugar?? ) and not to mention the layers he always wears, probably bc hes cold ??? idk , ive had that hc for a while and i just wanted to know your opinions and thoughts on it ??

Ahhh, the return of one of my favorite fringe BTTF headcanons. I saw this ask initially when it popped into my inbox a handful of days ago, but I wanted to have the time to sit and answer it in depth because it really is such an intriguing headcanon. I've only ever encountered it two or so times in the fandom (and one of those times was another ask I'd gotten last year), and I do enjoy exploring the less talked about theories.

I will put this under a read more, on account of I have lots of thoughts, as well as personal experience that allows me some particular insight into how this headcanon might play out for Marty. I'm not diabetic, but I do have a condition that causes a variety of fun issues, one being hypoglycemia. Basically, I have frequent episodes of low blood sugar and need to monitor my glucose level and keep it up by eating often. That being said! Some thoughts on the "Marty is diabetic" headcanon.

• My very first thought is: this kid better be prepared and have lots of supplies stuffed into the pockets of his many clothing layers because otherwise, he's in trouble. Honestly, this is the biggest barrier for me in terms of the headcanon. Marty is on a non-stop, adrenaline fueled ride for most of the trilogy. Between the constant running and chaos and sneaking around and life and death situations, he'd need to find the time during his day for finger pricks to check his blood sugar levels, staying on top of eating regularly, and injecting insulin. That means carrying a glucometer, a lancing device, lancets, alcohol wipes, test strips, syringes, and vials of insulin. He'd likely carry a bag or something that has all this in it.

• BUT! If he left his house that evening and ventured to the mall without any supplies (thinking it'd be a quick outing), one of his first priorities upon becoming stuck in 1955 would be acquiring whatever he needed. His first opportunity for that would be once he arrives at Doc's house and convinces him he's a time traveler. After getting Doc to believe him, Marty would have to be all, "Oh, and, uh, Doc? I really hope you have some medical doctor friends or something because we need to get our hands on some supplies. Like, now."

Then, on top of all the shock that came with being hurtled through time, Marty would have the additional challenge of adjusting to 1950s era diabetes management. No at home glucometer (those weren't available until 1981), and the syringes were large and made of metal. It'd be difficult, but not impossible, for Marty to manage the disease during his travels.

• For the purposes of this hc, let's assume he somehow brought along all his supplies stuffed into secret pockets in his puffy vest. Or, perhaps he uses a portable insulin pump, which became more widely available in the 1980s. It'd look something like this.

The end of the tube would have a needle that'd be inserted under the skin on his lower abdomen, and he'd be able to dose insulin that way. The device would have to be clipped to his pants somewhere. Not sure if Twin Pines McFlys would be able to access this new (and probably super expensive) device for their son. Maybe Doc makes one for him! I could totally see him doing that.

• Anyway, in terms of Marty turning down the peanut brittle, drinking sugar free Pepsi, and asking for something without sugar, it might or might not have anything to do with diabetes in this headcanon scenario. Contrary to what many think, diabetics (type 1 at least, which is what Marty would likely have) don't need to avoid sugar. They need to be mindful of sugar just as any other person should, but they generally don't have dietary restrictions. Sugar would for sure impact his glucose levels, and he'd have to be mindful of that, but as long as he balanced it with the appropriate amount of insulin, he'd be good to go.

It could be that Marty just wants to avoid having to account for extra insulin and avoid a potential spike, so he turns down some sugary foods every so often. Diabetics have to keep careful track of how many carbs they consume, as that determines how much insulin to inject, so if Marty already took his dose for dinner, for example, it'd make sense he'd say no to the peanut brittle even if he wanted it. Otherwise, he'd have to do another injection to cover the carbs from it, and who has the time for that when you're busy sulking over the wrecked car??

• Something Marty would really need to be careful about during all his adventures is making sure his blood sugar doesn't dip too low. High blood sugar isn't good, but low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) is actually more dangerous and considered an immediate emergency. Your blood sugar can be high and rise a good deal before you start to get negative health effects, but once your blood sugar dips below 70 mg/dL, you need to treat it right away. He'd need to be eating regularly, making sure his insulin is matching the amount he's eating, and ALSO factor in that physical activity makes blood sugar levels drop. And all that running he does? Yeah, he's gonna need snacks on hand.

You mentioned sleepiness being a symptom of low blood sugar, and you're right. But if Marty is at that point, it'd likely mean he'd be having a serious hypoglycemic episode. A "normal" blood sugar range is about 80-120, though meals will bring it higher for a bit before you level back out. Once you get below 70, your brain is literally being starved of glucose, which it needs to function. Very quickly, you get hit with a lot of symptoms. Blurry vision, trouble concentrating and speaking, tremors, profuse sweating, tiredness, rapid heart rate and breathing to name a few.

If you manage to catch it soon enough, you can treat the low on your own—by eating or drinking something high carb or taking some glucose tablets—but it's also very difficult to get a meal or some snacks when you're shaking like a leaf and can't even think straight. My blood sugar dipped to 49 the other week, and I went from feeling a little off to experiencing all those symptoms in a matter of a minute or two. For Marty to reach that level in the midst of trying to repair timelines would be difficult, to say the least. An untreated low will lead to unconsciousness, seizures, and even death.

Of course, if Marty is prepared, he'd know to snack during the day to keep himself stable. And I do imagine that '85 Doc's garage is stocked with snacks good for bringing up blood sugar (especially juice, which is one of the BEST ways to bring blood sugar up quickly. My fridge is filled with it.)

• I'm a little concerned about how Marty would fare in Part III, but I assume he'd be well prepared at that point. Let's assume that when Doc came to pick Marty up at the end of Part I, he already had a supply kit ready in the car (Doc absolutely would have a kit for "just in case" that he kept in his garage and brought along if they were going somewhere, and I think he'd have the foresight to bring it to the future). Marty could then have it still for his stay in 1955 while he and Doc prepared the DeLorean for the Old West, and he'd be able to have it for his time spent there in Part III. Very large kit, okay? Doc is super prepared. Although, now that I'm thinking about it, a kit like that would probably still be in the car when Doc gets zapped to the Old West, so....not sure about this one, friends. Let's hope Marty has some stuff in his pockets and that '55 Doc can then help him out in gathering more things together for his trek to 1885.

Well. I'd say I've gone on long enough. In conclusion: Diabetic Marty is a fascinating concept and, while it'd be difficult for him, he could conceivably manage it all during the trilogy if he's careful and has Doc looking out for him as well. There are lots of "missing scenes" and things we don't see in the movies, so Marty could be using that downtime for testing and injecting and guzzling down juice.

Thanks for the ask! This was a fun one.

[teecupangel]

Hello! first time asker! I've only just recently got back into AC and you're pretty much the only AC blog I've followed so far (after reading your fantastic Eagle of Alamut fic) but the thing that happened to me seems very much something you'd enjoy.

Which is the Altair Jumpscare I got

to preface, I'm an ad blocker extraordinaire and put that on pretty much everything - except my mobile games. But even so, with how much i adblock the ads i DO get are very generic with very generic characters.

EXCEPT FOR ONE BIZARRE AD

A Tap-Away ad that for some inexplicable reason had Altair in it where he waved his arms like a wacky inflatable tube man and was then promptly sucked into the tapaway cube.

I was so caught off guard that i didn't nab a screenshot and I have been trying and failing to get him to show up again after 3 weeks of doing so much more Wordscape than I've ever had before to no avail😭

But it did spawn the idea of Desmond, with a burner/stolen phone, playing a mobile game and getting that Altair Jumpscare like i did which, with some digging by Rebecca because why the hell is he in an ad??? find a breach in Abstergo's database which they can exploit.

Welcome to the fandom! I hope you enjoy your stay (don’t mind the missing exit).

Aaahhh, Wordscape. I used to play you but then you keep interrupting my time with ads so I deleted you… like all the others who dared to give me ads that takes majority of the screen.

Ngl, I would have tried that game because it dared to show Altaïr to me. Then promptly delete it after a few hours XD

Alright, for this one, we’ll set it during AC2. He’s not that close to anybody yet so he sorta kinda stole Lucy’s burner phone while she was looking.

He always had a knack for stealing, probably the only thing that didn’t make William Miles say ‘again’ more than five times.

It only became so much easier when he started reliving Ezio’s memories.

The Bleeding Effect, right?

That’s what Lucy called it.

Regardless, Desmond figured it would be alright to play it anyway. It had a cell service and he always returned it to Lucy’s bag before she notices anyway.

It was during one of his free time (Rebecca said the Animus was acting fussy for some reason), he figured he can play one more level before they tell him to go back in.

The level wasn’t anything new, kinda funny that one of the words was ‘imprison’ and he got a bonus for trying out ‘prim’ (primo was a no go though and it took a moment before Desmond realized it was because it wasn’t English, fuck, was this the Bleeding Effect as well?. Just when he cleared it, the phone let out a loud static sound.

Which was weird because (1) the game’s audio was set to mute and (2) the phone itself was set to full silent with 0 volume on any kind of media.

They all turned to stare at him and he would have apologized, had he not heard someone shout his name coming from the phone.

“Desmond!”

It was Altaïr.

It could only be Altaïr.

The voice was the same voice he heard back in the Animus.

And he shouting at Desmond, staring at the screen as he slammed one hand against…

The screen?

Golden wisps wrapped around him, dragging him to the darkness behind him as he shouted, “Desmond! Find us! We’re-”

The ‘ad’ disappeared.

And Desmond was now staring at the next level.

He could clearly see one of the words was already filled out for some reason.

‘Breach’.

“Desmond…”

“Sorry, Lucy.” He handed the phone to Lucy as he said, “I was just playing ‘cause I was bored.”

Before Lucy could grab it, he pulled it back and pressed it over his chest as he asked, “Did you guys hear Altaïr too?”

“We heard him but, more importantly, Desmond…” Rebecca glanced at Lucy before she said, “None of us should have any phones at all. Abstergo could track us.”

“It’s not mine!” Lucy immediately said, taking a step back as she said, “I don’t know why you think that’s my phone, Desmond.”

“What?” Desmond blinked, “But… I took this from your bag…”

“Shit.” Rebecca’s eyes widened as she realized, “Did… Did Abstergo plant that in your bag, Lucy?”

“What?” Lucy turned to stare at Rebecca.

“That’s not possible. We’re the ones who brought that bag here, remember?” Shaun reminded Rebecca, “And we’re absolutely sure we didn’t put that phone there.”

“Then… who did?” Rebecca frowned as she mumbled.

“We need to get out of here.” Shaun said, “Desmond, turn that phone off and give it to Rebecca. She’ll check it.”

“Wait-”

“We don’t have to tell Bill about this.” Shaun said, “That phone could have easily given Abstergo our location. We need to move.”

Lucy’s eyes widened when Desmond gave the phone to Rebecca and she said, “We need to destroy it then. To keep us safe!”

“What? No!” Desmond stepped forward to cover Rebecca.

No.

To cover the phone.

“Altaïr just used it to contact me. We need to know how it was able to do that.”

“It’s a risk but he’s right, that Altaïr could have just as easily been a trap but we need to be sure.” Shaun was already taking down the papers on his corkboard as he said, “Come on, Lucy, let’s pack as quickly as we can. We can contact Bill on the move.”

Desmond frowned.

Lucy looked pale.

Was she afraid that Abstergo already knew their connection.

“Hey.” Desmond placed a hand on her shoulder, feeling her freeze. He smiled at her as he said, “We’ll be fine.”

His smile grew as he said, “I’ll kill any Templar coming our way, okay?”

[kimbap-r0ll]

Hello~~ this is probably a weird request but can I have some hc of Shalnark x gn reader where he was tasked with investigating but literally don't have any information of them online? Like no accounts, no database or anything about them, and the more Shalnark tries to investigate them the more obssesed he becomes and kind of develops a crush?

Ooh, this is interesting, thank you for the ask!

Shalnark x gn!reader - no digital footprints?

Shalnark tried using the hunter website but it was to no avail. For some reason, the person that Chrollo requested to be investigated didn't show up on any records. They didn't have a job that perhaps could lead them? No. Did they have a birth certificate? No. He was convinced that this could mean one thing: you're from Meteor City.

He took it upon himself to ask about you from various people in Meteor City when he went back. He knew his chances were limited in finding good info since the population was massive, but you were well-known enough by a handful of people that he was able to locate you. You were working at a hospital in the city, just on the outskirts which helped you hide yourself from the general population

Chrollo likely took an interest in you after finding out about your ability. He wasn't interested in taking it, no he couldn't find himself doing that to a fellow citizen without them first being convinced it was for the better good of the city (strange morals, but oh well). Because of this, he wanted Shalnark to approach you first (not only was he more advanced at technology, but he was also outgoing and could attract people easily)

Shalnark spotted you while you were off on a break and took it upon himself to chat with you. It went smoothly, the two of you talking about the city and how different it is from when you two were kids. He managed to get your phone number, which was going by a different name (probably stolen from a mafia member a while ago) and used that to talk to you.

He doesn't like the idea of having to personally investigate you, he would rather read documents and articles but Chrollo wanted this to be done. Shalnark thought he would be exhausted by the end of his first day talking to you, but he found himself excited to meet you tomorrow. With that, he decided he would see what happens

Shalnark will likely start falling for you after a few weeks. He isn't really a hopeless romantic, so he was confused when he first started obsessing over little details about you. "No, I'm just doing my job" he might think, but in reality he was starting to get invested in the little relationship you two started

He would visit the hospital more often, sometimes talking about things other than your nen ability and even going around the city just for leisure. Sometimes Shalnark would forget why he was talking to you in the first place. This brings in a dilemma for him since he knows this is just for a job, but perhaps he really likes you for who you are. So far, you've been kind to him, and you two share a lot of similar interests.

Finally when the time comes to have Chrollo meet you, Shalnark doesn't break the news that he's part of the troupe. He's proud of his job, but he doesn't know if you feel the same way, and this for some reason causes him to be afraid that you might stop talking to him. It might take him a while to open up about his job, but what he knows for sure is that the outcome of his little mission wasn't what he expected.

Chrollo might find this kind of funny. He doesn't mind Shalnark developing a crush (probably saw it coming too). Shalnark would ramble about things unrelated to the mission sometimes when giving details to Chrollo, which hinted a lot at the crush. Would Chrollo try convincing you to ask Shalnark out? Maybe.