#cause man this awkward dinner party of four is gonna be so awkward and also probably 5k by itself

[tennessoui]

🫣

[i-like-turkey]

Since nobody has chimed in with context, here’s what I’m headcanoning to make this line not drive me up a wall:

The first time Kate sets her eyes on Lucy is when she’s walking into a coffee shop near the base. Lucy is standing outside with a tray of coffees talking to a man. They are both smiling and she can hear some laughter. Kate wouldn't normally spare them much of a glance but she's gay and she has eyes and she's a sucker for women with curly hair so her gaze lingers. All of a sudden Lucy sets the coffee tray down and absolutely decks the man. His head snaps back. There's a loud crunch. Blood flies everywhere. Lucy picks up the coffee and walks off. When they finally meet a few days later in the NCIS office, Kate doesn’t mention the incident. She just says, ‘nice to meet you Agent Tara�� upon Tennant’s introduction and hopes she’s managed to pull her face into something resembling a genuine smile. Of course she then proceeds to deny the team access to classified information and then Lucy jumps in to try and change her mind and Jane is standing there like 👀 and that is the beginning of their beautiful UST-filled work dynamic. Does Kate go into every NCIS meeting prepared for the possibility that Lucy might get a little violent? Yes. Does that work for her a little bit? Yes.

But what Kate doesn’t know is that the man Lucy decked was a huge creeper. He works on a different team at NCIS, so they don’t interact much. One day he catcalled her while they passed each other in the hall. She laughed it off, but resolved to deal with him if it happened again. Fast forward to the coffee shop. He starts off a friendly convo. But creepers are gonna creep, so sure enough he says something gross. And all Lucy can do is 🤜👃🩸

Cause here’s the thing. She knows HR is probably shit and filing a complaint rarely works out well for the complaining party. She also knows exactly who she’s dealing with; the kind of guy who is so misogynistic and fragile that he’d never admit to getting his nose broken by a ‘girl’ and who won’t even want to look at her again because then he’ll have to think about the beatdown. Lucy actually hates to use her fists—she’s not doing this job for the adrenaline rush that comes with fighting—but she knows their value and she isn’t afraid to use them when necessary.

The guy transfers out of the NCIS office within a few months and Lucy mostly forgets about it. Kate never brings it up. They barely talked when they first started their whatever and once they did start talking it was a bit awkward with neither of them knowing how much they could pry without scaring the other off. Then came the Cara reveal and a very slow rebuilding of their relationship and by the time Kate felt like she could talk to Lucy about anything, the punch is out of her mind.

But then at their rehearsal dinner, about four years later, Ernie stands up to make a toast. It’s a really sweet ode to two people he considers family; full of embarrassing anecdotes about them separately and together. At one point he asks if anyone in the crowd ‘remembers that jackass Dave’ and then gleefully reveals that Lucy is the one who gave him a massive black eye and permanently reshaped his nose.

Later Lucy and Kate are texting as they’ve been forced by friends to spend the night before their wedding separately because ‘it’s tradition’.

Lucy: I can’t believe Ernie brought up the punching incident. I haven’t thought about that in forever

Kate: Me either.

Lucy: ??????????

Kate: That’s actually the first time I saw you. I was heading into the shop to get a quick cup before work and there you were knocking out a guy.

Lucy: WHAT?!!!!!!!

Kate: Yeah.

Lucy: ARE YOU SERIOUS?

Lucy: WAIT

Lucy: When I came to your place that one night to apologize for getting you in trouble you said something about me taking a swing at you. Did you really think that I would do that?

Kate: Maybe.

Lucy: oh my god

Kate: I love you.

———————————————

Yes. Kate uses periods in text messages. She’s gotta have some flaws…well…besides the being shit at breaking up with women.

[biggest-stupidhead]

I'm sorry for sending many requests 😭 but I saw something and I had to show you! I was reading about spellchecker mistakes and this popped up:

"Once, close to Christmas, I was wondering if we were going to work the day before, I asked “Hi boss, good afternoon. Are we going to have sex tomorrow? ”. He was on the second floor and you could hear his laughter in the entire office."

I thought it would be funny a levi x reader from that 😂 you pick if it's gonna be platonic or romantic!

 ahhhh this is so funny I love it! Tbh it took me way too long to understand what was happening but now I get it and I think it’s so cute. 

Summary: You make a typo in an email to your boss. 

Word Count:  1.3K

__

You leaned back in your chair and swiveled around to look out at the snowy city. Fat flakes of snow were spiraling down from the sky, you felt like a little kid when that familiar excitement that came with a good snow gathered in your chest. It was nearly Christmas, a time that wasn't celebrated in your office, your boss, Levi was only just recently warming up to the idea of allowing a birthday party for him to be thrown. Behind his back you had heard the interns calling him a slew of mean names: Grinch, scrooge, and even comparing him to that scary neighbor in home alone. You hadn't said anything, simply because you knew that they weren't wrong, but also you knew that Levi was deeper than the front that he put on. You turned around and decided to get up and grab a cup of tea, and probably one for Levi too.

You had gotten to know him well over the past four years that you had worked under him. He was a particular man, who loathed small talk, coffee, you assumed he hated children, and he also hated parties. You had invited him over to your humble apartment once for a beer and movie night with Erwin, Hange, Mike, and Nanaba. He had surprisingly showed, but proceeded to complain and be an absolute sourpuss the whole evening. You marched out of your small office and into the even smaller kitchen, where you weren't surprised to find almost all of the interns.

They had been lagging behind their usual pace the past few weeks, most offices offered a few days off for the holidays, but Levi basically held the employees until Christmas day. The interns all collectively straightened up at your presence, you worked directly under Levi and they were always hyper aware around you incase you had loose lips. Thankfully for them, you were no snitch, you just wanted your afternoon tea. Eren shimmied out of your way as you reached for the burner, he was in the middle of tying his hair off of his face. Mikasa was surprisingly no where to be found, you knew she and Armin were the two good ones. Connie and Sasha returned to their game that they had been playing, a weird spin on rock paper scissors, you had seen them play it before. They used a bowl large enough to fit their head in and an empty bottle of pop. As soon as they both matched the sign, for example, scissors, one would grab the bowl and the other the bottle. The goal was to cover your head before your opponent could bash you over the head with the bottle. It was a loud game, but it kept them busy so you didn't complain. Jean was officiating as always, legs crossed and nose in a magazine as he gave out half-assed hum of approval or disapproval. You finished the tea and stalked back to your office to catch up on emails. You glanced at the calendar and found it to be only a mere week away from Christmas. You decided to shoot Levi an email and attempt to bargain for a few extra days off.

"Hey Levi, good afternoon, is there anything you need? I was just looking at the calendar and couldn't help but notice that your birthday is only a few days away! Crazy how time flies. Anyway, I just wanted to know if we were having sex on Thursday?"

-(Y/n) (L/n)

You pressed send and continued to scroll through your emails as per usual. No less than five minutes later, your door practically blew open when Levi stormed in, stormy eyes dark and clearly crankier than usual.

"Oh don't tell me you were just yelling at those poor-"

"Explain now." He snapped, slamming his hand down onto your desk. You didn't flinch, well accustomed to his fits of rage. However it was a bit concerning that it was aimed towards you.

"I...don't understand sir?" you were careful with your words as you looked up at him, once again swiveling in your chair to stand.

"The email (Y/n)" he sounded exhausted as he gestured towards your desktop.

“Oh...I know it was a bit of a long shot, but I had to ask.” You shrugged, still confused on why he was so upset. Levi growled and rounded your desk, he pushed you rather roughly back into your seat before shoving your chair aside and leaning over your computer. He clicked through your emails before opening the one that you had sent minutes prior. He reached back and hauled you back to your desk. His hand was gripping the back of your chair, causing the leather and wood to groan under the pressure he was applying. You looked up at him with concern written over your features. 

“Levi?”  

“Just read the damn email.” Levi growled as he glared at the screen. You sighed dramatically and turned your gaze to the screen, where you slowly and carefully reread the email. Levi watched your face closely as your eyes scanned the screen. You gasped when you realized that you had somehow replaced work with sex. You turned with a hand over your mouth to look up at him. 

“Levi I swear I didn’t-” 

“Oh no don’t double back on me now (Y/n)” Levi teased as he looked down at you with amusement sparking in his eyes. 

“Please you have to understand-” 

“No I understand just fine, you want to fuck your boss.” Levi hummed, hand still resting on the back of your chair. 

“It was a typo.” you huffed stubbornly, of course you thought he was attractive, but you had never dared cross that line. You were surprised that Levi was being so playful on this matter, usually he was a stickler about in office relationships. 

“Oh a typo.” Levi scoffed as he swiveled your chair to be facing him, you rolled your eyes trying to mask the flustered feelings that were threatening to come to the surface. 

“Yes a typo.” You confirmed as his hand slid off the back of the chair in favor of resting on the arm of the seat, effectively caging you in. 

“Well in that case...yes you can have Thursday off. But only if you get all that paperwork done before then.” Levi’s breath was fanning over your face, the lingering scent of tea and mint flooding your nose. 

“Consider it done.” You assured him as you crossed your legs confidently and leaned back in the chair. 

“And when I have the day off....we can go try out that new restaurant down the street.” You said boldly and Levi hummed in agreement. 

“No plans for Christmas Eve then?” Levi inquired as he drummed his fingers on the arm rest. 

“Levi...I don’t celebrate the holiday.” You couldn’t help but giggle at the way his face screwed into a confused expression. 

“You asked for it off though?” Levi said slowly, not understanding why you were being to difficult. 

“Yeah, my family celebrates it but...I just don’t really.” You shrugged and Levi glowered down at you. 

“That’s not confusing at all.” Levi huffed sarcastically and you rolled your eyes. 

“Maybe if you’re extra nice to me...I’ll tell you why I don’t celebrate the holiday.” You said with a sweet smile up at him. 

“You don’t have to, I don’t celebrate it either.” Levi shrugged as he went to stand, you reached out, hoping to keep him close. You snagged him by the tie and brought him back into your space. 

“So dinner on...Thursday then?” You hummed, tilting your head up to meet his eyes. 

“Yes, dinner...” Levi swallowed thickly at the feeling of you tugging on his tie. 

“Perfect. See you then.” You said, releasing his tie and turning back to your work. Levi let out a relieved sigh as he went to leave your office, glad to have settled that awkward ordeal, and even more excited for Thursday. 

[x0401x]

Jeweler Richard Fanbook Short Story #13

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Ramen Story

The voice of the owner as he said “welcome” turned into a mutter at the end, fading away. I could understand how he felt. With a light, cut-and-sew jacket draped over him, a blond, blue-eyed man had come inside, standing behind another man who quite literally had the air of a student. It wouldn’t be unreasonable to wonder if he was an actor. But we were just a party of two.

“Two people,” I indicated with a peace sign. We were guided to a table seat. There were no other people around. While we were at it, we gave them the meal tickets that we had bought from the vending machine outside. A couple of negi ramen.

“What a surprise. There’s always a long queue for this shop. So that’s how shops are like right after they open in a student district?”

In this shop, currently reserved to our exclusive use, I talked without restraint about all sorts of things – about the layout of the classroom building in my campus, about the hideout-like garden in the university’s premises, about my friends and even about my teachers. The shop’s atmosphere did that to me. The man who could well be the best listener in the world let me talk as much as I wanted, occasionally making an exasperated face.

“Here, sorry for the wait. It’s hot, so be careful.”

“Thank you, thank you.”

“You too, Mr. Foreigner. This is ‘hot’.”

As Richard replied with a “thank you, madam”, the old lady laughed fickly.

Now for the ramen.

Its soup was salt-based, warm steam wafting from it. That being said, it wasn’t as if there was anything special about it. We hadn’t added any ingredients, so it was a simple one. Fermented bamboo shoots, dried seaweed, fish cake and a large helping of green onions.

We silently put our hands together to thank for the meal, taking the chopsticks and parting them with a snap. I took the dwindled noodles, then opened my mouth wide and filled it with them. I tried to make as little noise as possible.

Delicious.

This shop’s ramen was simple, but it was a strong ally for a student’s cold pockets and quick-to-get-hungry stomach. It stayed steadily in your belly, resolutely reminding you for about three hours that you had eaten ramen today. And above all else, the animalistic joy of eating without thinking was more irreplaceable than anything else. Tasty food was great.

By the moment I was done with my very-IQ-lacking monologue of “thank you, o ramen; o ramen, thank you”, there was only a little bit left of the contents of my bowl. Still eating the green onion ramen without a sound, Richard looked at me with upturned eyes from his bended posture. Those blue eyes made me seriously wonder if there weren’t gemstones inserted in them.

“Hey, you got a moment?”

“As you wish. Whatever you please.”

When I prefaced it with, “This is serious talk – super, super serious talk”, he made a face that screamed, “You’re being too long-winded”, so I went straight to the point.

“I didn’t think you’d actually come eat ramen with me.”

I hadn’t imagined that the day would come when I could eat a bowl of ramen for 450 yen at a historical, cozy ramen shop in the student town with this beautiful man who usually only wore suits. I hadn’t at all. Even now, another side of me was still tilting his neck somewhere within my mind, wondering about “how things came to this”.

Ever since around the time I had started working part-time in Ginza, I had no sense of reality. Not even about the fact that I would later be going to Sri Lanka. No, of course, I was fully ready and had a Visa, so I was in a phase where all I had left to do was get on the plane and I was making the oh-so-busy Richard help me out with that, but...

Richard took a sip of the salt-based soup with the china spoon, then glanced at me. “So you were not expecting anything from me, is that it?”

“No way. On the contrary.”

When I said that I just didn’t think he would give me the OK, Richard’s lips curved in the shape of an arc, and after looking for napkins on the table, he realized that there weren’t any, so he took a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe his mouth.

“I value the accuracy of your palate. It is obvious that, if you have a shop you like, I would want to try eating there.”

“Thank you. And for remembering about it too.”

Soon after I had started working part-time, I was introduced to a stone called chrysoprase. I once laughed my butt off when I learned that the etymology of the fresh green-colored stone included the meaning of “leek” or “green onion”. The topic then changed into ramen, and we, the shopkeeper and part-timer who subtly had not yet thrown off reserve with each other, talked about liking green onion ramen, what kinds of toppings we preferred, and other such things. I had kind of thought that “it’d be nice to go have ramen with this guy someday”. Back then, to me, Richard was someone as far-off as the moon and stars that shone in outer space. Of course, he was still as resplendent as the moon and stars even now, but he didn’t feel as distant.

Once I was done drinking the soup up to it’s last drop, I heaved a small sigh. “That was delicious. Last time eating Japanese ramen and this one for a while, huh.”

“How about putting instant ramen in your suitcase?”

“I ain’t used to making those. I’m the type that goes out to eat ramen rather than making instant ones. But there’s curry roux inside. Weird story, isn’t it? I’m going to a curry culture zone, yet I’m taking curry with me.”

“Analyzing Indian and Sri Lankan curry by Japanese curry standards can cause serious stomach problems. Beware.”

I puffed out my chest, saying that I had properly prepared myself for this because he had already told me about it before, to which the beautiful man gave a little sigh.

“May I also talk about a truly serious topic?”

When I told him that didn’t mind it at all and that I wanted to hear it, Richard looked at my face directly. It made me nervous. What was he going to tell me, I wondered.

“I did not think that you would actually invite me out for ramen.”

“Me?”

“Yes. I honestly did not.”

“Why?”

As I kept on tilting my neck at that sentence, which you wouldn’t think would come from someone like him – who looked like just breathing was enough for him to get invited to eat out –, Richard spoke to me reticently. He told me that people were quick to come towards him, but there were also those who surrounded him from a distance, watching him without trying to shorten the distance between him and themselves. So this kind of thing also happened?

Looking back, I was also from the keep-a-distance group at first. But I sucked at giving up, and whenever something that made me happy happened, I would be overjoyed no matter how many times I remembered about it, so every time I recalled the chrysoprase talk, I would find myself thinking that I should invite him out for ramen. It just so happened that the desire for this “someday” had amplified as the number of times that I thought about it increased, and I had finally voiced it this spring.

The shop was tiny and had a bit of a mysterious scent, but it was truly delicious. It would be closing this spring. I was concerned about what to do if he declined it with an awkward face, but the response I got after speaking up was a “When will it be?” without a moment’s delay.

“Was it okay to have invited you?”

“What do you think?”

“Well, I was just thinking I was glad that I invited you, but...”

The reply was a short-range smile. That slightly tired face with no sense of uneasiness to it was bad for the heart. But I was gonna get used to it. I had to.

“Still, was it really all right? That I was the one you had a meal with for the last time at a shop that you have fond memories of, I mean. Would it not have been better to do so with the friends that you always ate with?” Richard asked.

Hmm. So he was gonna bring that up, huh?

“Well, well, thank you very much for your superb consideration. But I’m glad it was with you.”

“Is that so?”

“I’m glad it was with you. Not anyone else; with you.”

I had learned many lessons even in just four years of university, such as that things were shifting, everything kept changing over and over, the green onion ramen shop would be gone, I would be leaving for Sri Lanka in the near future and there was no telling how my life was going to be from now on. But this jeweler was a man who knew very well how to cherish a memory.

Only to people like that did I entrust the things I didn’t want to forget.

Bidding a courteous farewell to the elderly shopkeeper and old lady employee, we exited the shop. Cars rushed on the Yasukuni Avenue. Kasaba during holidays was so quiet that it felt like a different world. As the wind softly blew, the cherry trees planted along the street shook and their pale pink petals scattered about.

“That was delicious, huh~. You got any plans for later?”

“I am going to help Saul with chores. We are not boorish enough to engage in business talk after just eating ramen.”

I stole a peek at his profile as he started chewing on a mint gum. The beautiful man brushed cherry blossom petals off his golden hair. He offered me one of the white gums, asking if I wanted to eat it.

I probably wouldn’t forget this sight. Even if that ramen shop was gone, even if my address was no longer in Tokyo.

Richard tilted his head a little, as I was still staring at his face even after accepting the gum. “Anything the matter?”

“Aah, sorry. Your beauty was like you’ve come from another world, so I spaced out.”

I then changed the topic, saying I was going to think about what to have for dinner or something. There were still lots of shops that I wanted to visit while I was still in Japan, though they were all set-meal and chain ones. I didn’t think I was able to hide my melancholy, but he’d probably act like he didn’t see anything. I was grateful for that.

In the middle of our walk to the train station, I looked back at the cityscape one last time and wordlessly offered a moment of silence to it.

Thank you for everything; I’m off!

[jawritter]

When The Lights Go Out

Chapter 4

Summary: Life hasn’t been your best friend lately, you lost your job, and are on the verge of losing your apartment. Who knew when you decided to join a Sugar Daddy app that your best friend suggested ina last ditch effort to save your apartment, and not end up on the street, your first and only client would turn your whole world upside down.

Pairing: Mobster!Dean Winchester x Virgin! Reader

Word Count: 2846

Series Warnings: Mob level violence, injured Dean, description of injury, creepy Godfather John Winchester, John is pretty much a double bag, escort services, virgin reader, lose of virginity and all the insecurities and fun stuff that come with it, age gap (23 year old reader; 40 year old Dean), angst, unrequited/requited love?, language, smut, unprotected smut.

Chapter Warnings: Shy!Reader, angst, John is number one douchebag, talk of escort services, language, I think that’s it y’all.

A/N: Beta’d by @deanwanddamons! Thanks so much love!! Please don’t copy my work!! Feedback is golden! Hope you all enjoy this one!! It’s gonna be a little bit of a slow burn y’all, but just hang in there!

(This fic is based on this request: Could you do a Dean x reader where she is 23 and lives alone in her apartment, she gets fired and can loose her house, her friend tells her about a sugar daddy app, she makes a profile and Dean 40, contacts her, she is virgin and don’t offers sex, Dean is billionaire business man and needs a girl for his business parties,the reader is really shy, blushes a lot, they fall in love, he takes her to a trip and makes love to her on a private island, could it be a series?)

Want more? Check out my masterlist!!

***MASTERLIST***

***SERIES MASTERLIST***

“Relax, you're gonna be just fine.” Dean said soothingly as he stood in the doorway of your small apartment bathroom, watching you fuss over your makeup. 

Giving him your best bitch face in the mirror, you check your hair one more time before turning to him, letting your arms fall to your sides in a huff. 

“Well, I guess it’s gonna have to do, because this is as good as it’s gonna get.” you tell him, fighting the urge to throw up, scream, and run away all in one. 

True to his word, Dean had stayed at your place all night, and even though you hated to admit it, you did feel a little more comfortable around him now that the two of you had spent all of last night, and most of the day, together. 

If you were being honest, you weren’t sure what you were feeling as a whole. It did feel nice to cuddle with Dean last night, and it did help you a lot that he now knew you were a virgin, and didn't fire you from this strange job thing you had between you, or laugh in your face, but he was still a Winchester, and you were still in way over your head. 

If you fucked this dinner up today, you were both fucked, and that wasn’t something to take lightly.

Dean crosses the floor in one, maybe two strides, picking you up as if you weighed nothing at all, and sat you on the sink in your bathroom before slipping between your knees, his large hands on your waist in order to keep you from falling off, and your hands making their way around his neck to stay balanced. 

“I want you to do me something,” Dean said, leaning down and catching your lips in his in a swift peck to get your attention. “Stop worrying so fucking much!”

Leaning your head down on his shoulder, you closed your eyes and attempted to take a deep cleansing breath. You knew you were overthinking this.All you had to do is sit there and look pretty, much like at the party Friday night. 

Dean had gone over the “details” of your relationship over breakfast this morning, and now, at least, you had  a story of how you met. 

Dean had said since you were an accountant at JPMorgan, he would tell the family that he’d met you on one of his basic runs to the bank, and gotten your number.You were a few dates in, and had only been dating close to two months, which would explain the fact that you don’t know each other very well, and cover up the fact that you were still a little awkward around each other in some aspects. 

As far as the lack of job now, Dean said that you picked up a job as an editor for a local publishing company, and worked from home so that you could study graphic design on the computer. Something you always wanted to do. 

Dean also told you that he could help get you on at the publishing company to work from home reviewing different transcripts next week, so that everything would be legit. He also promised to pick up the slack in whatever money you needed, so that you would want for nothing, seeing as he was technically still your client, even though this had taken a turn far surpassing escort services, and client, clientele relationships. That ship sailed the moment that you had to be introduced to John fucking Winchester. 

“I just don’t want to fuck this up.” you tell him, searching his mossy green eyes as he searched yours. 

“Pretty girl, you’re not gonna fuck this up. Everything is gonna be just fine, just follow my lead, nothing bad will happen, and I have already told you, I will pay you very well, you know that. “

Nodding your head, you let Dean give you another peck on the lips before helping you down off of the sink, and lacing his fingers in your own, leading you towards your apartment door, and down to his car that was parked on the street. 

When you came to a stop you couldn’t help but drool over the sleek black ‘67 Impala that was waiting for you both there. Dean gave you a smirk as he opened the door, his features shifting to an almost playful, boyish smirk that seemed to wash away some of the years that he held so close to the surface, yet so out of reach. 

“You like?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at you playfully. 

“Dude, she’s beautiful!”

“She’s my Baby,” he said, helping you off the curb and into the car, shutting the door, before jogging around to the  driver’s side. 

Baby purred to life, as Dean turned the key in the ignition, and pulled onto the busy New York street. Reaching over he grabbed your hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. 

‘You can do this Y/N,’ you thought to yourself, ‘just act natural.’

God, you hoped you weren’t lying to yourself, because if you fucked this up, there was no word in any language that would describe just how fucked you were.

-------------------------------

A short drive later, and Dean was turning onto an expansive estate in Upstate New York. Rolling hills with green grass, a long paved driveway, and a large house that looked more like a castle sitting on top of a hill greeted you as Dean pulled up in front of the house, and put Baby in park.

“Okay sweetheart, you ready?” Dean asked, giving you a reassuring smile as he put his hand on the door, ready to open it.  

“As I’ll ever be,” you tell him in what you hoped was a confident tone. Dean smiled at you, giving you a peck on the cheek and whispering in your ear.

“It’s already show time Y/N. People are watching and there are cameras everywhere, but it’s okay, I’ve got you, and I’m not going to let anything happen to you remember that.“

Nodding your head, you lean over and boldly give him a peck on the lips, which caused a grin to spread across his face. His eyes sparkled as he kicked the door open, and made his way around the car to open your door. 

You weren’t even out of the car all the way when Sam came to a stop in front of the two of you with Jessica in tow. 

“Dean, Y/N, It’s good to see you again.” Sam said, greeting you warmingly and Jessica smiled at the two of you. You managed to give Sam a tight, nervous smile as Dean pulled you closer to him. 

“Where is everyone Sammy?” Dean asks, turning Sam’s attention away from you, and to his older brother. 

“Out back in the garden. Dad said he wants to have dinner out there. He’s been in a mood all day, you know how he gets. He’s not happy about that deal that didn’t go over so well this week with you, so get ready for that.” Sam warned, and Dean let out a heavy breath. 

“Yeah, I figured as much.” Dean said, as he and Sammy started making their way towards the garden in the back part of the estate with you and Jessica in tow. Jessica gave you an encouraging smile as you both rounded the corner, and you wondered just how nervous you looked to her. 

You didn’t really have time to  speak to her before the booming voice of John Winchester crossed the lawns, as John, Rufus, and another man in a ball cap came into view. Rufus excused himself, heading towards the other side of the house, as the four of you approached the long table that was already set with plates, beers, and wine. 

“Dean, I was wondering where the hell you got off to when you got home from that job I sent you on, I should have known this pretty little thing would have had something to do with your disappearance.”

You blushed deeply as you hid slightly behind Dean, wishing John would find another target, and just leave you alone.

“Easy old man, you're gonna scare her off, and then I’ll be down to the only girl amongst all you boys.” Jessica chided, as she flopped down at a chair at the table. 

“Jessica, so nice of you to join us this evening.” John said, giving her the side eye before turning his attention back towards Dean, who was helping you sit down in a chair before taking a seat next to you, Sam sitting down next to Jessica.

“So boy. What the hell happened?” John asked, jumping right to business as waiters appeared out of nowhere and started plating food for everyone at the table. 

“He didn’t like your terms, so I executed the order you gave me before I left.”

“You could have at least tried to change his mind.” John said, taking a bite of his food, eyeing Dean like a wolf that was eyeing his pry. You hated the way he looked at Dean. Sure you didn’t know much about their business, but you certainly didn’t feel Dean deserved the way John treated him.

“That’s not really a conversation for dinner Dad,” Sam said, stepping in for his brother, “Dean’s the best we got. If he said the deal didn’t fly, it didn’t fly, it’s that simple.”

John gave Sam an irritated look, but didn’t press the issue.

“Oh, Y/N, where are our manners, so wrapped up with business and all that I almost forgot to introduce you to our guest! This is my friend Bobby. He’s going to be opening up a garage in the area, so he’s here scouting property, and Bobby, this is Y/N, Dean’s new girlfriend."

Bobby gave you a smile and a nod, but said nothing, letting the conversation fall away a little as everyone tucked into their food. What conversation did flow was a lot lighter. Sport, cars, family members that John hadn’t seen in a while.If you didn’t know better, they almost felt like a normal family. Almost. 

One thing you had to say for sure was that you did very much like Jessica.She bit no bones with the large, dangerous men at the table around her, and had no problem putting each and every one of them in their place if they needed it. Especially John. She was like Sam’s personal pitbull, and you made a mental note to make sure that you stayed on her good side. 

Soon enough the dinner was over, and Bobby had excused himself, saying he needed to get back to work, leaving only you and Jessica with the Winchesters. John wiped his face, and threw his napkin down on his empty plate in front of him, his eyes dancing across the table at Dean and you, a smirk that would make the devil blush on his face, as his dark gaze stuck on Dean. 

“Sammy, why don’t you take Jessica in the house and do something to entertain yourselves, I want to have a word with your brother and Y/N in private.” John said, and you saw Dean and Sam exchange a confused look as Sam and Jessica got up from the table, making their way towards the house. Dean shifted closer to you, lacing his fingers through yours to stop your hands from shaking. 

Whatever John had in mind to discuss with the two of you, you had a feeling that this was going to be uncomfortable at best, and humiliating at worst. 

When Sam and Jessica were no longer outside, John turned his full attention to the two of you. 

“So, Y/N. How long have you been seeing my son?”

Swallowing hard, you try to speak past the lump in your throat, your voice coming out a lot smaller than you would have liked it to.

“About two months.”

John nodded, biting his lip and running his hand over his beard. 

“Two months, hmm. So I assume you know by now the line of work our family does.” 

Dean made to say something, but the distinct sound of a gun cocking behind you made you both stop dead in your tracks. Your shaking became visible, but Dean stayed calm, giving you a reassuring squeeze. 

“She knows in theory, but she doesn’t know any details.” Dean said, completely unbothered by the gun that was pointing at his back.

“Let the girl speak for herself Dean.” John said, leering at his son from across the table.

“I don’t know a lot sir, nor do I want to.” 

John nodded his head, chuckling to himself before reaching in his pocket and pulling out his phone, throwing it down on the table in front of you. The picture of Your Sugar Daddy app on full display. Your eyes went wide, and your mouth went dry. Even Dean sat up a little straighter next to you.

“You two want to cut the bullshit and explain this, because you know I don’t like to be lied to Dean.” He said, his voice dripping with venom. “Did you bring a fucking whore into my house Dean? To my dinner table?”

“No.” Dean said, eyes locked on his father.

“Then what the fuck is she doing on the site son?”

“It’s not like that.” Dean said, shifting in his chair.

“Really, because there are DM’s on this account asking her to escort you to your brother’s party last Friday night. Did you think I wouldn’t do a background check boy?”

Suddenly your brain that had turned to a mush of fear started working, an idea hitting you like a lightning bolt. 

“Roll play,” you blurted out, and both men looked at you with shocked expressions, before Dean’s became slightly amused. 

“That’s right father, it’s just, roll play, nothing more.” Dean said, licking his lips sensually, throwing his arm around you, and running his teeth over your ear, sending a visible shiver down your spine that landed somewhere deep in your belly.

The shock faded from John’s face, and pure amusement took its place as he clapped his hands together, throwing his head back in a laugh as the man with a gun behind Dean disappeared. 

“I’m sorry you two. For a moment I thought you were actually an escort.” John said, still chuckling to himself.

Dean gave a tight laugh, and you blushed deeper than you ever have in your life.

“Well father, my sex life isn’t something I like to brag about, I like to keep what happens in the bedroom between the two of us.”

John nodded, still looking very amused, but you thank any God that was listening that he bought it. 

“Speaking of your bedroom, that’s something else I want to talk to you about.” John said, and Dean sat back seriously in his chair.

“In order to keep your girlfriend safe, and keep the high table off of your ass, I want your girlfriend to move onto the estate with you.”

Your eyes bugged out of your skull, and Dean stiffened next to you.

“Dad, this is, sudden, I’m not sure that’s necessary. We’ve only been together two months.”

John raised his hand, stopping Dean mid sentence.

“It wasn’t a request. I expect you to have her completely moved in by tomorrow morning. I know you said she doesn't know a lot, but a little is too much these days.” 

You didn’t know whether you were going to cry or pass out, but John seemed to have sensed your upset state. Placing a hand on your shoulder as he came around the table that made your skin crawl, you leaned in closer to Dean.

“It’s for your protection Y/N. Trust me. Also it won't be so bad here! Most women would give up everything to find themselves in your shoes! Now Dean, take her and get her settled in, you can go and help her collect her things tomorrow.”

With that John left the two of you both sitting alone as the dark sky spread over the expansive lawn.

For just a moment you thought you were going to succumb to tears, but Dean’s hand around yours, lifting you from the table, and leading you through the house that would now be your home kept you grounded and in character.

Dean said nothing, just led you through the overly done halls, and rooms filled with expensive furniture. 

 You got to his bedroom. It was a large room with a fireplace of its own, the same expensive furniture that lined the whole house, and a huge king sized bed. With the door safely closed, you fell into his arms,letting the tears wash over you, and he let you cry it out, picking you up, and laying you down on the satin sheets that covered the bed. Shushing you, and kissing the top of your forehead. 

“I’m sorry sweetheart, I’m so sorry.”

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[jeonjeonggukenergy]

Anti-Hero

summary ~ in search of wine at a party that’s so not your scene, you run into jungkook, the weeb from your film class, and become determined to learn just how much he lives up to his big reputation.

pairing ~ jungkook x reader

genre ~ fluff, smut (coming in ch3!) - college!au

wordcount ~ 2.3k

warnings ~ pretty much n/a, mentions of drinking and light smut

a/n ~ v excited for these lil dorks! i thought about combining this with the upcoming chapter but it felt right on its own and i wanted to go ahead and post an update for yall haha. ch 3 will most definitely have some serious smut to look forward to 👀 thank yall for reading, i love and appreciate any form of support or feedback so so much, so feel free to msg me or send me an ask abt whatever you want! 🥰 hope u enjoy this chapter!!!

previous: chapter 1 ~ next: chapter 3 | chapter 4 (coming soon!)

~ read on ao3 ~

CHAPTER 2 ~ cowboy bebop & chill

You couldn't stop thinking about Jungkook. Every time you brought the enamel of your favorite mug to your lips, teeth knocking the rim as you exhaled to cool off your tea, it called back the click of his earrings in your mouth. Whenever you reached behind your ear to tuck away the hair you'd impulsively cropped to your chin this year, it hit the same spot you'd sucked into a bruise on his neck and you shivered. Even your slight headache thanks to the shitty vodka from the pregame reminded you of the wine you'd sought out from him in the first place and never fucking got to drink. 

You found yourself reading over your responses to each other's discussion posts from your film class, trying to find any more justification for this sudden crush than the drunken flirtation that mortified you as soon as you remembered it sober. He did seem to like your directness...but you could easily ascribe that to his similarly loosened-up state. Scanning through your reflections on The Shawshank Redemption and Casablanca, you painstakingly overanalyzed every smiley face and "I loved that part too!" Could he have been into you at all before this? Or had he just eyed you for another quick fuck at a party? Shit, what if he hated you for working him up and then leaving? If he wanted to, you knew he would have easily found someone else to finish the night with. But what if he still held it against you? The image of him bitterly turning aside to find another girl in the crowd, with your hickey still fresh on his jaw, turned your stomach more than you wanted to admit.

Shaking your head with a grounding exhale, you reminded yourself that whoever else he did or didn't hook up with was none of your business. Plus, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy and probably didn't hate you in the first place. Wow, the bar really was so fucking low. Maybe that was part of the reason you were never that bold with boys. Every classmate you'd fallen for so far at college had remained innocently unaware of your feelings, likely because you never worked up the courage to clearly express them. You hadn't even been trying this time, though—this semester had been so busy you'd barely had time for your friends, much less crushes. And now your one blowoff class had become your biggest distraction.

Jungkook, a communications & media major, couldn't afford to lose as much focus in this class as you. Normally near front-and-center, he sat all the way in the corner of the last row, wary of imaginary stares burning through the hopefully-opaque-enough curtain of his hair. Even the risk of zoning out staring at the back of your head stressed him out less than the thought of you doing the same to him.

You walked into class through the back right entrance today so you'd pass Jungkook in the front row, though you could have gone straight to your usual left-side seat from the main door. Knowing you'd never summon the courage to talk to him, you still couldn't help wanting to see his face. You didn't know just what you were looking for—some kind of confirmation or dismissal that would let you just move on with your dry-ass life—but any reason to catch a glimpse of Jungkook was a good one. Today, though, he sat far closer to the entrance than you'd expected, and his proximity stopped you in your tracks a few feet behind him. Eyes dragging down the sculpted form under his soft black sweatsuit, your stare traced the veins in his forearms to reach the hands in his lap. Catching a half-page cartoon ass in your view of the manga he gazed at intently, a snort-laugh escaped you, the sound setting him on high alert. He snapped the book shut, spinning around with eyes wide and still-long hair an understandable mess for a Monday.

"I'm so—"

"I'm so sorry!"

You both shoved out the words at the same time.

A pause swelled between you, eye contact maintained as your mouths fluttered open and shut like fish. Even awkward and off-guard like this, he was just so damn pretty. It felt unreasonable for him to seem as flustered around you as you were around him. Finally, you spoke again, solely to force the conversation forward and put you both out of your misery.

"W-what do you have to be sorry for? I'm the one who, like—ugh, I was drunk, I'm so sorry, I never would have been so, yknow, if I was sober, like that's not me I promise, I really didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or—"

"No-no-no-no-no!" Jungkook cut you off, dismissing your barely intelligible apology. Before you could cut him off in return and continue, he held up both hands between you, his eyebrows knit together in a pleading expression. "Are you kidding me? Seriously, I feel so bad, I was kind of drunk too, I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable! Please, you have nothing to worry about, it was, uh...I was...good...if...you were." He grew shyer as he continued, drifting off as a hand reached back to rub his neck. A light laugh. "You did make me have to keep my hair long for another few days, though. It's gotten so annoying to take care of, I was planning on cutting it right after the costume."

This admission perked up all your earlier curiosities about him, and a cautious smile spread over your face as Jungkook unconsciously reminded you that he was, in fact, a total dork, rather than the fuckboy you'd irrationally feared him to be.

"Wait, hold up," you snorted again. Gently. "You're telling me you grew out your hair for three, maybe four, months...for a Cowboy Bebop costume?"

"Hey, it was free and way less lame than a wig," he defended himself. Crossing his arms over his chest, he fidgeted uncomfortably, face blushing into a grin as you continued to giggle at him.

"You are such a fucking weeb," you accused lightheartedly.

Jungkook furrowed his brows back together, an anxious hand grazing the spot where you'd marked him again. "Well, you recognized my Spike costume, at least," he pouted. "You're not all innocent."

"I watched one episode with my friend, and it was dubbed," you downplayed. "Isn't watching dubs instead of subs a crime for real anime fans?"

"Actually," his eyes lit up at your rhetorical question. "The dub of Cowboy Bebop is excellent. It's pretty universally considered better than watching the OG with subs. You're right though, that is the general rule."

"Oh man, who knew." Looking down, grinning, you tried to hide how endeared you were by his earnestness. "Well, it was pretty cool, not gonna lie. I guess I kind of get the appeal."

"Would you want to start watching the rest sometime? That's one I just never get tired of," he blurted, then blushed, closing his mouth and working his lips between his teeth as his eyes stayed wide and on you. Jungkook's heart accelerated in his chest, a fist opening and closing at his hip as he tried to decide whether he regretted taking a chance on the question.

You instantly diverted all your mental energy from hoping he couldn't sense your attraction to massively overthinking your response. This was a "Netflix and chill" kind of invite, right? If he wanted you, of course you wanted him, but you had to be sure before you did something else stupid and risked having to find another discussion board buddy.

"Um...yeah, sure," you accepted. "I have to ask, though, do you mean, like...Cowboy Bebop and chill?" You raised an eyebrow, trying to look bolder than you felt. "Or...Cowboy Bebop and just...Cowboy Bebop?"

"I..." Mirroring your playful grin, Jungkook shrugged, not wanting to look like a fuckboy if he answered with the first option but also wondering—were you actually interested in watching this anime with him? The possibility puzzled him, the same way it confused you how he could go bold and then back to his shy weeb-ass self within seconds. You shrugged too, with an anxious exhale of a laugh.

"That was...weird to just say like that, sorry. We can just see where it goes, whatever you want," you backtracked, full of faux-nonchalance. The Google Calendar schedule on your phone suddenly became very interesting. "We could do another day if that works for you, but I'm free after this class once I write my discussion post—I don't have any other homework or meetings today for once."

He nodded quickly, eyebrows up. Swallowing, Jungkook saw the opportunity to show a little more initiative and seized it. "We could do that together even, 'cause we usually jump off each other anyway. So you can come over right after class if you want." He glanced up and to the left for a quick mental inventory. "Oh shit, wait, but I seriously need to clean my apartment first, can we do more like dinner time tonight? You can just come over for ramen or takeout if you want, or eat first or whatever."

"Yeah, that's fine!" you agreed warmly. "Ramen and homework, two birds with one scone. I should probably, like...get your number? So you can send me your address when you're ready or something?" You didn't want to sound too desperate, especially since you knew he was used to it, but you found yourself weirdly excited to experience something he so obviously loved. If you got dicked down too, even better, but you were definitely willing to wait on that part, especially now that this first sober conversation had restored your inhibitions. He had this slightly shy sweetness about him that just made you want to make him happy somehow. You wanted to see more of his cheesy little smile. You wanted to hear the bright laugh that occasionally rang out at the most inappropriate times, during Citizen Kane or attendance. You wanted to watch his light pink lips fall open in bliss as you kissed down his sensitive neck to the trim of his worn-in hoodie...

"Yeah sure, here." The quick touch of his hand over yours snapped you out of your thoughts as he took your phone, ready to type in his number, and—

"Wait, did you say 'two birds with one scone'? Not 'one stone'?"

You blushed furiously. Somehow him calling you out on your quirks embarrassed you more than the indecent daydream he'd interrupted. "Okay, so I saw this tweet a while back where they said 'feed two birds with one scone' to replace 'kill two birds with one stone,' I think it was just some vegan troll being all like 'don't talk about killing birds!' but it stuck with me because I just really fucking love scones."

"You...really fucking love scones?" he repeated in slight sarcasm, eyes down on your phone. You grew even shyer, but continued.

"Yeah, I bake a lot and they're my favorite thing to make. The flavor possibilities are endless and they last for days so I just keep them on hand for breakfast and snacks and to give out to friends. And they go with tea, which is my other favorite thing." Ooh, was he a tea person? Should you bring some tonight? Something earthy, to go with your ramen. Your go-to green sencha, or maybe chrysanthemum? Chamomile?

Jungkook held your phone back out in front of you, but waited silently for you to notice, enjoying the view of wheels turning in your head as you pondered tea pairings. This was the you he was used to, daydreaming in class and going on tangents as dorky as his in discussions. Even from a distance, he'd noticed you consistently gave off a vibe somewhere between absentminded professor and grandma, and this confirmation made you even cuter to him. But the hair still falling over his ears wouldn't let him forget his new physical proof of another side to you.

You finally collected your phone with a mumbly "Oh right, yeah, cool, thanks," that you prayed sounded more chill to him than it did to you.

"I just texted myself, so I have your number too now, and I'll just send you my address when I'm ready, and, uh...yeah!" he rambled a bit in response.

You nodded, confirming. "I'll see you tonight!"

"Yeah, see you tonight."

Jungkook watched you walk to your desk, silently admiring your ass and allowing himself only a moment to savor the memory of half of it filling his hand. A strange nervousness tingled through him. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about you all weekend either, and now he had a chance to get closer to you than ever before. He hoped, more than he could remember hoping for anything else, that this would go well, one way or another. He had no idea what you wanted with him, but you had him questioning everything he'd thought he wanted. Easing open his laptop, he pulled up your last discussion board response to him, signed off with a smiley face but backwards.

I like the way you think. (:

He turned his head to read it right-side-up, letting his face scrunch into a smile you wouldn't see.

Meanwhile, though the film thrilled you, you struggled to stay facing forward for the duration of class. You suspected the plot of Rear Window was simply unsettling you, but you swore you could feel Jungkook's eyes on your back. No, he was probably actually watching the movie as usual, or reading his manga if not. You were definitely just being paranoid. Definitely. Probably. Right?

next chapter 

[bigfootwrites]

A Jewel Beneath The Moonlight [Reposted Anniversary]

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

AO3

@today-in-fic @mypanicface @improlificinsarcasm @enigmaticxbee Please let me know if you’d like to be tagged in this

- - - 

CHAPTER SIX

Embarrassed, anger swirling through her, Scully storms out of the pool, throwing open the doors on her way out. She ignores the looks she gets for her actions, for the way the doors bounce off the walls and startle a woman nearby. She doesn’t care, she just needs to get far enough away from Mulder and all things first class. She barely acknowledges the crewman passing who barks at her to get back to her own deck, Scully gladly goes, climbing over the now locked gate.

She’s done. Done with all of it; the dinners, the people, Mulder. He can live in his sad fake world with his sad fake fiancé. In a few days time, she’ll get off this boat and never the two shall meet again.

His words still ring in her ears. His words, his father’s words, whoever’s words- she doesn’t care, they’re all the same- the same closed minded people who don’t give a shit about anything other than themselves.

But Mulder wasn’t.

She pushes that thought away, ignoring the truth and forcing herself to mould Mulder to be like everyone else. If he did care about her he wouldn’t be worried about what his father thinks.

Why did it always have to come down to what father’s thought of their children?

She finds herself in the galley before she realises, a room completely crowded with people doing nothing with their lives and it angers Scully even more, this whole ship does, every person on it. She’s sick of crowded rooms, of seeing the same people every day.

The novelty of things wears off eventually.

She spies Charlie in the corner, happy, laughing with a group of boys he’s befriended. This journey had given him the freedom to just be a kid, to not have to worry about finding a job or the constant response of “No, you can’t work here”, “No, we haven’t got any jobs free for you”, “No, you need more experience”. He hadn’t won much in the terms of a job, either.

Seeing him now, Scully is envious. Despite the hardships, he was still free to be a child, they could go home and Ma wouldn’t push him to find a job and here, he could laugh with as many people as he wanted, hopelessly flirt with as many girls as he wanted and there would be no consequences, no rules or hearts broken because of a stupid mistake.

Not in the mood for company, Scully leaves the galley, about to head into her room and shut the world away for the rest of the trip before a familiar little voice stops her.

“Dana!”

Scully turns to see a little girl, blonde curls bouncing behind her, bound towards her.

A smile passes across Scully’s face at the presence of Agnes, momentarily forgetting her sadness and anger, she kneels to the girl’s height.

“Hello,” Scully says. “Are you feeling better now?”

Agnes nods her head, her blue eyes bright and cheeks rosy with colour, so much better than the day before.

“You helped me be better,” the girl says. In her hands she holds a brown box and extends it forward towards Scully. “I wanted to give this to you, to say tack sjalv…That means thank you in Swedish.”

Scully takes the box from Agnes, her thumbs slipping under the lid and opening it. A dancer dressed in traditional Swedish clothing appears spinning around as music plays from the box.

A music box.

Scully smiles, warmed by the girl’s gesture of thank you. She looks from the music box to Agnes, the girl’s smile radiating happiness, proud of her gift.

“Are you sure?” Scully asks, thankful for the gift but also having first-hand knowledge that they didn’t carry much and what they did carry was something extremely special to them.

Agnes nods. “It was Mama’s but Papa said we couldn’t keep it anymore, it’s too much space.” Her smile falters at that and Scully knows that it was either to be given away or sold to a stranger.

“I’ll take it Agnes,” says Scully and the girl instantly cheers up. “I’ll look after it and won’t let anything happen to it.”

Agnes happily nods and gives Scully and hug before running off back down the corridor.

The music box in one hand, Scully opens the door and sets the box on the table, a wee bit happier than she was before.

 It’s strange how yesterday she was sat in a great big hall surrounded by shallow-minded people, eating food she could barely pronounce and today she is sat on the end of the bench eating mash and beef.

Well, eating being the desired action, she more than just picks at it.

She should probably eat it. All those times when she was younger, when she just wished there had been a slice of bread in the house remind her that she should eat food when she can, and eat all of it because who knows when the next one would be?

Her mood had lightened up with Agnes’ present but it hadn’t taken long for it to fall back down when she was alone. Maybe isolating herself wasn’t the best idea.

She can’t decide why this whole Mulder thing had gotten to her so. A similar thing had happened before, Scully had got in too deep with someone she shouldn’t and they had left her standing at a train station all night, never showing up themselves.

Whilst it had hurt to be humiliated, to walk back home with her tail tucked between her legs, she’d gotten over that situation fairly quickly and she’d done more than just dance with the man.

Scully tries not to think about the reasons, she was supposed to be blocking Mulder from her mind anyway, no dwelling on him.

“Decided dinner with your own kind is better then?”

Scully looks up to find Charlie opposite her, a smile plastered across his face from his ‘joke’. Sure, hilarious.

He sits down on the bench across from her. “I found your wee English fella before,” he tells her. “Well, he found me actually, jumped over the gate and all,” Charlie finishes with a smile at the memory.

Scully just frowns, why would a man who told her mere hours ago that he wanted nothing more to do with her go out of his way to talk to her younger brother?

“What did he want?”

“He just asked if I’d seen you, which I replied I hadn’t since the party and whatever glimpse I’d gotten of you before you ran out this morning.”

“I was with Agnes.”

Really, Scully doubts she’d spent no more than ten minutes with the lass but she wasn’t about to admit to her brother than she’d been lying in her bed depressed all day.

“Anyway, he said if I saw you to tell you to meet him by the mass at dinner time, he’ll be there.”

Scully thinks for a moment, calming the butterflies that fly in her stomach. Just what was Mulder playing at?

“He also said that you didn’t have to go if you didn’t want to, but something told him you will.” Charlie frowns, staring at her for a moment and Scully feels incredibly awkward.

“What happened between you two? You were getting along at that party last night.” His frown chances into a sly, knowing smile.

Emboldened, Scully pushes her bowl out of the way, leaning forward so her face was mere inches away from her brother’s.

“You can wipe that smile off ye face cause ye don’t know anything.”

She pushes herself away, standing up from the bench.

“You’re gonna go?” Charlie asks, leaning back also.

Scully nods.

“Can I have your food?”

Without a word, she pushes the bowl in Charlie’s direction. Curiosity and nerves blooming, she disappears off to find out what games Mulder wants to play.

 A chilly breeze blows across the deck, the sun almost setting in the distance. It looks beautiful, the orange and purples that paint the sky. It’s clear, the islands just off in distance visible. There’s no one out, every one off in the halls eating dinner, a perfect time Mulder chose.

Scully sees him near the mass just like he said, hunched over and leaning against the rails. At first she thought he’d be sitting on them, not unlike their first meeting. Despite her confusion, her curiosity, and the slight annoyance at his ever changing mind, she smiles at the memory.

“Are you always so moody, then?”

At the sound of her voice he turns, almost surprised to see her there.

“You came?” he asks.

Scully nods, “I did. I almost had second thoughts leaving the dinner hall but I thought I’d give you the benefit of the doubt.” She walks closer to him then, shivering in the slight chill, a mischievous smile flittering across her face. “So long as I’m not distracting you,” she almost whispers.

And while she smiles he does not, instead pain and regret etched on his face as he looks down at his feet.

“I shouldn’t have said that,” he apologises. “I just…I feel bad for everyone involved in this, even Phoebe, she…she’s a lot but she doesn’t really deserve this.”

There’s a moment when Scully wonders if they’ll ever be able to have a conversation that doesn’t include Phoebe’s name in it but she thinks back to Mulder’s earlier words, how their relationship was complicated, so no, she doubts they ever will.

“What are you trying to say, Mulder?”

He looks up at her then, almost shy. “I guess I’m trying to say that I want to do this. You and me. Us. If that’s what you want?”

Is it? Her anger at him casting her aside, at choosing his family over her, they weren’t friendly feelings. The need to see him today, the speak to him and spend time with him, that went beyond friendship, too. She’s known him less than three days and even in that short time span she can’t think of the moment when they overstepped the friends line.

She doesn’t think he knows either.

“You tried to kiss me when I walked you to the gate yesterday. Did you mean it?”

“I did,” he admits. “I wanted to but you stopped me so I thought maybe you didn’t and then…then before you said we were just friends so why the change?”

“Because you pissed me off,” she tells him, if they’re going to tell the truth they may as well both be truthful. “Because your father is right, I am a distraction.” She walks that little bit closer, now only a foot or so away from them both being in each other’s personal space.

“Does that bother you?”

Scully thinks about that. ‘Distraction’ maybe isn’t the nicest word to use for someone but in this moment she doesn’t care what some little person who seems as far away as the islands around them are, thinks she is.

“No,” she finally answers.

Mulder smiles and slowly outstretches his hand towards her.

“I want to show you something, Distraction.”

Scully smiles at the little nickname and takes his hand. Mulder leads her to the rails, places her where he was just standing.

“Step up onto the rails,”

Scully looks at him cautiously. “What? Are you planning on us both jumping off together or something?”

Mulder ignores her joke. “Just do it,” he says softly.

Grasping the heaviness of the situation she does as she’s told, stepping up on the first rail. She lets go of his hand to grasp hold of the mass, holding onto it for dear life as her feet wobble on the rail. With both of Mulder’s hands freed, she feels him take hold of her waist, holding her in place and instantly she feels a bit more secured.

“Are you sure we won’t get into trouble for this?” Scully asks, suddenly feeling cautious about any eyes that could be watching them.

“Why would we?” Mulder asks, incredibly close to her ear. “We’re not doing anything wrong.”

Correction: this whole step they’re taking is incredibly wrong but Scully decides not to dwell on that, instead basking it in, in the thrill of doing something that she shouldn’t be once more.

“So what am I supposed to be seeing?” she asks, turning towards him.

“Hang on a second.” He takes one of his hands off her side and uses it to cling onto the hand-rail, pulling himself up onto the bottom rail Scully stands on. She can feel every inch of his warm body pressed up against her, and still in her light and playful mood, she pretends to adjust herself so her entire body brushes against his. In response, the hand holding onto her clutches her tighter.

“Stop it,” he tells her, less lightly than before and Scully stops, allowing herself to just lean about into him.

“Look down at the water,” he tells her and she does so.

At first there’s nothing, just the waves caused by the ship as it ploughs on to their destination but then she sees it, a little speck of grey that appears in the air and disappears again. And another one. And a third.

“I see it!” she shouts, as three dolphins jump in and out of the water one after the other.

A smile passes across her face in happiness and delight, watching the creatures appear and disappear. This is what he wanted to show her and it doesn’t matter that she’s seen dolphins before, doesn’t bother her that it isn’t something more special, this is enough, just watching them jump in and out of the water, the cold chill of the wind against the front but the warmth of Mulder behind her, it’s all she can ask for. Slowly, everything fades away; the presence of people tucked behind walls, the view around her and the sun that continues setting in the distance, the ship, and its rails that she stands on and finally even Mulder disappears. Her eyes close and she’s warm and happy, free of all worries and stress. There’s no start or destination, it’s just her and the wind and the warmth.

Her surroundings come back soon, Mulder being the first thing to return to her. Scully opens her eyes again and looks down to the sea, the dolphins having gone. The spell broken and she misses their presence.

Weightless and carefree, she turns around in Mulder’s arms, taking her cold hands away from the mass and rail and presses them against Mulder’s warm chest, warming them up.

“Happy?” he asks quietly.

Scully nods. She looks up from her hands to find Mulder’s face inches away from hers. There’s a bit of a height difference between them like this and she steps onto her tip toes, clutching onto to Mulder to hold onto to as she presses her lips against his, once again her surroundings floating away around her.

She’s glad this is their first kiss. The one on the way to the gate would have been drunk and rough but this is sweet and perfect and much, much nicer.

It doesn’t go beyond that, as much as she wants it to be further it’s fine as it is, there’s more time for that later, anyway.

She pulls away, eyeing him nervously but something else catches his eyes. Frowning, his hands climb to her neck, slipping inside her collar to pull out her cross.

She looks at it from where he holds it between them.

“My mammy gave me it,” Scully explains. “My older brother tried to sell it one time but I didn’t let him. Instead I hid it and told everyone I lost it, until it was time to leave and I started wearing it again.” She unclasps it, handing it to Mulder to look at it. “I don’t know why I wouldn’t let them have it,” she wonders almost to herself.

“It’s yours. It means something to you.” She watches as he runs his thumb over the slim lines of the cross.

“I guess,” Scully agrees, staring at it. “It would have fed us, though.”

She watches him continue staring at it and it’s almost like he’s disappeared inside himself, frowning and thinking as he continues to stroke and hold the necklace.

He looks to her, his eyes searching hers and an almost pleading look on his face.

“You can say no,” he begins, before stopping to swallow nervously. Scully waits, interested in what he’s about to ask her. “Can…can I draw you wearing this?” She’s about to answer with a yes before he cuts her off. “Just wearing this?”

[incorrecttowerofgodquotes]

A Loud Night

This is a small preview into the fic I’m writing. This won’t appear in story and Bam’s gonna be the main character, but I wanted some experiencing writing this setting.

It was time for the night shift at Hansung’s Diner, the most boring thing of all time. At least, thats what Ehwa thought. She had no problem working during the day when she had classmates to talk to and gossip to overhear, but during the night shift many shady characters popped up. Whether it be truck drivers or people from out of town, Ehwa simply served them and walked away. The times where she wasn’t serving were occupied with cleaning the diner or browsing her phone. That’s exactly what the first two hours of her shift were made of. Wash the tables, take orders, carry food out, and then go on Twitter or Instagram. She had just finished serving an old truck driver when the door to the diner opened with a bang.

“Ugh, I feel like shit.”

“Don’t lay on me asshole!”

“Khun, calm down.”

A rowdy bunch had made its way in. Four boys from her grade-Khun, Bam, Shibisu, and Hatz-had arrived. Not an ideal group to talk to, but she supposed it was better than nothing. Judging from their smell and the time of night they arrived, Ehwa surmised they had just come from a party. Shibisu seemed to be the only one who was actually drunk, but Hatz and Khun were a bad combination. And Bam...being around him was awkward. She still remembered the time when she had a crush on him, a simple childhood crush that never went anywhere. She kissed him once during a game of Spin the Bottle. While young Ehwa almost died of happiness, current Ehwa almost died of embarrassment every time she thought of it.

The four of them took a booth in the far back and Ehwa counted down from ten before walking up to them. Khun and Bam were sitting pretty close to each other, but then again those two have always been touchy. Shibisu was slumped over onto the table while Hatz half-heartedly rubbed his back.

“Good evening. May I take your order?” Ehwa asked them while holding a notepad.

“Look at that, we got ourselves a cute little waitress.” Khun teased. Ehwa flushed red. Did he really still hold a grudge over that kiss?

“Shut up with those remarks or I’ll be the one cooking your food.” Ehwa retorted. She didn’t enjoy putting herself down, but if it got Khun to shut up she didn’t care. He put up his hands in a mock surrender and started laughing.

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll take a french toast and Bam…” he turned over to his friend.

“I’ll have pancakes if it’s not too much trouble.” Bam said.

“And what will the drunkard want?” Ehwa asked.

“French toast as well I guess. Also bring him a coffee. He’s only had beer in his system the past seven hours.” Khun said.

“Aren’t you gonna ask what I want?” Hatz grumbled.

“You always talk about how you don’t like eating food with too much fat or sugar so I thought you wouldn’t anything.” Ehwa said. Hatz was one of those overly athletic types, always stressing over what was good to eat and what was not.

“I get hungry too! Just give me an omelet or something.” Hatz ordered. Ehwa scribbled down on her notepad and left the table to their own discussion. She tore off the slip of paper she wrote on and handed it to the chef. It was around 15 minutes later she received the food and balanced it on her tray. Carrying orders over for the past year have trained her not to stumble or tilt the tray. For someone from a esteem family like hers, this detail would go unnoticed, but Ehwa took pride in that fact.

“Here’s your order.” Ehwa stated while putting the food in front of their respective owners.

“You almost looked like a real waitress then. Next time try balancing a tray on your head.” Khun joked. Ehwa kicked his shin while holding the cup of coffee over his head. After that he immediately quieted down. 

“So, who hosted the party?” Ehwa asked. She did a quick look around the diner and figured that nobody needed help at this time. 

“Serena this time. Were you not invited again?” Hatz asked. The comment hurt, but it was also a simple fact. Ehwa wasn’t invited to many parties, not ever since she began working at the diner and getting roped up in “gang activity” as the locals called it. To interact with “those people” was a disgrace. However since her mother and aunt never cared about who she interacted with, she didn’t care what others thought either.

“I was invited. But as you can tell I have to work tonight.” Ehwa said.

“Your mom makes enough money. You don’t have to work.” Khun stated.

“I may not have to work, but I’d rather get a headstart in life unlike you guys.” Ehwa retorted. Khun scowled at her, which made Bam let out a tiny laugh.

“How’s Elaine? I haven’t heard to much about her for the past week.” Bam asked Ehwa. Why was it when anyone wanted to know about Elaine they went to her first. Whether it was her friends, Elaine’s family, or the police, everyone assumed Ehwa knew everything the older girl was up too. Though maybe it was for good reason, but Ehwa tried her best to hide that part of her.

“I don’t have a leash on that girl. She hasn’t been here in three days.” Ehwa answered.

“Maybe she finally got put down? Wouldn’t surprise me-ack!” Khun yelled out in pain as Ehwa kicked his shin hard. He was started to make a rebuttal but the fury on Ehwa’s face shut that down instantly. Suddenly she heard the ring of the door behind her.

“Speak of the devil-or should I say wolf?” Khun remarked. Ehwa looked behind her and saw Elaine coming in with Alphine. The older girl was wearing a leather jacket and tight blue jeans. She had flattened hair probably cause she was wearing a motorcycle helmet just before then. Their eyes briefly met before Elaine and Alphine sat at a booth closer to the door.

“Excuse me, I have a customer to serve.” Ehwa stated before turning around to walk away.

“I bet food’s not the only thing she’s gonna serve.” she heard Khun snicker. Ehwa thought for a moment of turning around and beating the blue haired man with the tray, but she’d rather not appear in such an insightly manner. She walked across the dinner and headed towards Elaine’s booth.

“Good evening. May I take your order?” Ehwa asked.

“Do you always start with that bland response or is it just for me?” Elaine joked. It was when she spoke that Ehwa realized she missed the sound of her voice. The deep yet gentle tones it carried was like music to her ears. Not to mention now that she was closer to Elaine she saw just how handsome her face looked and how brightly her eyes sparkled. Ehwa pulled herself out of her thoughts by reminding herself customers, specifically Khun, were still there.

“It’s part of my job. You can take it up with Hansung if you don’t like it.” Ehwa stated.

“No, I like it when you’re on the job. Especially since I get to see you in uniform.” Elaine smiled. A blush made it’s way onto her face and her legs felt weaker than usual. Ehwa never liked the silly waitress uniform she was made to wear, but if Elaine liked it then maybe she could like it too.

“I’ll have an omelette.” Alphine spoke up. Ehwa pulled her eyes away from Elaine’s and onto her notepad. She began scribbling the order down and waited for Elaine to answer.

“I’ll have pancakes and sausage. A coffee as well.” Elaine answered. After more writing, Ehwa headed towards to the cook to place in another order. Immediately after giving the order, Ehwa walked back to Elaine’s booth. She felt Khun’s stare directed at her back and she’d bet money he was smirking.

“You haven’t come by in a while, everything okay?” Ehwa asked.

“Well, Hansung told me it’s bad for business if I come by during the day and I didn’t want people talking bad about you, so I’ve been coming at night. Though since you weren’t working night shift the past few days we missed each other.” Elaine explained. Elaine wasn’t one to follow rules or suggestions, so the fact that she did for Ehwa’s sake...it made her weak all over.

“You don’t have to do that. Feel free to come by whenever I’m working.” Ehwa said. Elaine smirked and poked Ehwa’s thigh. Ehwa let out a squeak and backed up a bit. She heard laughter from the booth in the back and now regretted not performing tray assault.

“We’ll be out of here after we eat.” Alphine stated. Ehwa felt her spirits dampen a bit. She wanted to talk to Elaine for a few more hours, even being in her presence was good enough for Ehwa. Elaine noticed Ehwa’s demeanor change and gave her another poke.

“We can talk later tomorrow. If you wanna go for a ride with me.” Elaine suggested. Ehwa smiled and gave a small nod.

“I’d love too. Then I guess we can talk tomorrow. I’ll get your food and-” Ehwa was cut off by Elaine shoving a ten dollar bill into her hand.

“I’ll give your tip early. Since you were having a conversation with the guys in the back, you better go finish it.” Elaine winked. Ehwa looked at the crisp bill with admiration before putting it into her pocket. Elaine was her best tipper, she didn’t need to give money since her being there was enough, but she’d never turn down more money. Ehwa went back to the guys’ table with a neutral face.

Khun was smiling like a Cheshire cat while Shibisu was still passed out. Bam seemed to have gotten closer to Khun, resting his shoulder against the bluenette. Hatz was the only normal one in their group Ehwa surmised.

“How much money did she give you?” Khun smiled.

“Why do you care?” Ehwa asked?

“I was just wondering what amount of money-” Hatz and Bam both moved to block his mouth but he dodged their hands and finished his sentence “got her special services.” Ehwa saw nothing but red and raised her hand. The next day Ehwa had her pay halved for assaulting a customer with a tray.

[rt8815]

Christmas 2020

This fills the “Fix a plothole” square on my CM Bingo card.

Again, no clever title

WC: 2,100

The first scene is mostly unnecessary, but ask me if I care. Spoiler alert: I don’t!

I couldn’t find a picture or GIF that fits, but this one is cute.

Out of all the reindeers, you know you’re the mastermind

Run, run Rudolph, Randolph ain’t too far behind

Run, run Rudolph, Santa’s gotta make it to town

Santa make him hurry, tell him he can take the freeway down

Run, run Rudolph, ‘cause I’m reelin’ like a merry-go-round

McKinley sang along with Chuck Berry, pulling cookies from the oven.

“What would you like for your first Christmas, my littlest love?” she asked Sophie.

The five month old babbled at her mother, shaking her arms. If she weren’t too young for it, McKinley would’ve sworn she was dancing to the music.

“You’ll want for nothing, certainly! Aunt Penny alone will spoil you rotten, but that’s her job as your fairy godmother, I suppose.”

She smiled wistfully at the memory of Sophie’s birth, how Penny’s godmother-hood was assumed from the moment they announced Baby Reid’s impending arrival, and how utterly mortified Penny had been to learn, birth center bedside, that she would be co-godparenting with Luke.

McKinley considered him as her brother as much as she considered Penny to be her sister. Not only had the four hung out together from the start, Luke had also looked after her the month she and Spencer weren’t speaking to each other, and he was instrumental in getting them back together.

How do you not make such a man your child’s godfather?

Sophie began fussing to be nursed, so McKinley scooped her out of the highchair and carried her to the couch.

Buzz-buzz

A text came from Spencer, asking if she was free for a video chat. Once she powered up her laptop, she sent a quick ‘Yep.’

His face appeared, the picture slightly wobbly until he situated his phone on the kickstand.

“Hey there! How are my two favorite ladies?”

“We’re great,” she replied, turning Sophie in her lap to face the camera. Securing her with one hand on her torso, McKinley gently grasped Sophie’s arm to kiss her hand and wave it at Spencer.

“Who’s that, Sophie? Who’s that handsome devil?”

“Stop,” he mumbled, blushing at her suggestive tone.

“What?” she continued, ignoring his hands slashing across his neck. “You’re gorgeous...irresistible...delectable.”

Spencer’s face graduated to an even deeper pink. “Anyway, takeoff is in 20 minutes and I wanted to see you both before switching to airplane mode.”

“You’re on the jet?” she asked flatly. “Oh God, everyone heard that, didn’t they?”

“Hey, Twist ‘n’ Shout,” Luke winked as he slipped past Spencer to the bathroom.

McKinley facepalmed.

“I tried to warn you.”

“Hush.”

Spencer chuckled. “Is everything ready for tomorrow?”

“Yep,” she replied, grateful for the change of subject. “Just a few dishes left to cook in the morning. Y’all bringing your sides?”

“On it.”

“My pie ingredients are ready and waiting.”

“I’m baking my casserole tonight.”

McKinley sighed in relief. She and Spencer offered to host the family Christmas dinner this year, since Rossi had left to spend the holidays with Joy and Kai. It didn’t make the most sense because their house was rather small, but everyone got on board regardless. The others contributing to the meal eased her anxiety a bit.

They chatted a while longer, and everyone took turns fawning over Sophie, who really started demanding lunch.

“Guess I better go,” McKinley sighed.

Spencer nodded, blowing kisses to his girls.

“See you in a few hours. Love you.”

“We love you too. Say ‘Bye-bye, Daddy.’”

Sophie gurgled as the video chat ended.

…

The tree was lit, the house all decorated, and the smell of roasted meats and vegetables permeated the air.

Spencer eyed the mini doughnuts McKinley made just for him.

She nudged his hip. “Don’t you dare!”

“Awww.”

“Go on then, man-child,” she rolled her eyes. “It is the holidays, I suppose.”

His pout slid into a smirk, tongue darting between his lips. “Actually, I think I’ll wait for dessert until tonight.”

“Spencer, there’s a child present.”

Sophie gazed at them, absentmindedly gnawing on a teething ring.

Ding-dong!

“That’ll be Penny. I hope I did a good job on these vegetarian dishes!”

“I’m sure they’re delicious,” he said reassuringly as he walked to the door.

Penelope hobbled in, laden with gift bags and all decked out in her Christmas best.

She deposited the gifts under the tree, then gave Boogie a quick pat on her way to McKinley.

“Gimme gimme gimme,” Penny ordered, making grabby hands at Sophie.

“Hello, angel,” she cooed. “You know you’re not getting her back until bedtime, right?” Penny informed the couple as she left faint lipstick prints on Sophie’s cheeks and forehead.

“You know that means you’ll be changing any diapers, right?” Spencer replied.

“Small price to pay.”

Everyone trickled in over the next hour, Luke being the last. Penny handed over Sophie with only slight reluctance, perhaps because he seemed to be in a sour mood. 

His scowl dissolved when he held Sophie, breaking into a joyful grin.

“¡Feliz Navidad! ¿Cómo estás, Nena?”

She settled in her uncle’s arms, squeaking happily when he nuzzled her fine, curly hair and kissed her temple.

“Is Lisa driving separately?” McKinley asked, hoisting a massive plate of pheasant and quail off the island. Maybe she went a smidgen overboard.

Luke stiffened. “She's working another shift at the ER,” he replied, never looking away from Sophie. “Told me to tell you she's sorry she couldn't join us.”

Everyone else shared brief, tense glances.

“I'll put together a plate for you to take home for her. Let her know we missed her.”

“Sure.”

“Wine, anyone?” Spencer offered, breaking the awkward silence.

Most of the evening passed smoothly, with everyone sharing child-friendly stories of past Christmases (Henry and Michael were there, of course!), passing around and feeding Sophie, and reading a (sadly) abridged version of A Christmas Carol.

And then Luke felt the need to snidely comment on Penny’s boyfriend’s absence. It was a relatively new relationship and kind of soon to drag each other into their friend groups.

Spencer and McKinley alone heard him in the kitchen, since the rest of the group were chatting excitedly in the den, waiting to exchange presents.

McKinley wrenched open the back door, seizing Luke by the collar. “You, with me. Now.”

She steered a tipsy Luke onto the back porch, locking the door behind her.

“Are you insane? It’s 30 degrees out here!” he growled, swiping at her keys, but McKinley stuffed them down her bra.

“Good! We can make this quick, and maybe you’ll sober up as a bonus. Say it and we can go back inside.”

“Say what?”

“How much you hate that Penelope’s with someone else.”

Luke snorted, though he flushed with embarrassment. “That’s ridiculous. Why would I -?”

“Because she’s not with you!” she exclaimed, her voice shrill. “You have feelings for her and you are kicking yourself for not acting on them in the beginning.”

He laughed incredulously. “I do not have ‘feelings’ for Penelope.”

“Why else would you have discouraged Phil from pursuing her?”

“How the hell do you know that?” he asked, taking a step back.

McKinley threw up her arms. “I knew Phil and Lisa from volunteering in the rehab wing, remember? One morning the spring after he was murdered, I ran into her at a coffee shop following her shift in the ER. We talked about him, how much his death shook us, and then she said, ‘It’s sad he never had the chance to be with Penelope. They’d have been a cute couple.’”

Luke swallowed hard.

“And I found that interesting, since I distinctly recall you telling Penny that Phil hadn’t asked about her. Lisa told me you also said, ‘You’re no match for Penelope Garcia.’? Bro, you got it for her baaad.”

“Did you mention any of this to Lisa?”

“Don’t you think she’d have confronted you if I had?” McKinley countered, rubbing her arms for warmth. “You think Lisa hasn't noticed how frequently you hang out with me, Spencer, and Penny even when she’s not working? Do you think it’s a coincidence that she’s missing all these parties?”

His face hardened. “Are you suggesting that she’s -”

“Cheating? No! Miserable! You two are miserable - don’t deny it!” she warned when he started protesting.

“Luke, you won’t admit out loud that you’re unhappy with Lisa or that part of the reason you jumped into the relationship was to forget Penny. If you did? Well, then you’d be the most awful person on this porch.”

McKinley breathed in the frigid air before continuing. “So, I’m gonna give you an out.”

“How are you gonna do that?”

“By saying something that’s even more awful.” She stared pointedly at the falling snow, voice wavering.

“Like what?”

“Sometimes I hate being a wife and Mom,” she spat venomously. “Sometimes I wanna pack up my old tiny house, drive off and never look back.” She clamped her hands to her mouth, surprising even herself with her confession.

Luke gaped at her for the longest moment, lips parted in shock.

He slumped against the wall. “I shouldn’t be with Lisa, I should be with Penelope. I love her.”

McKinley threw her best ‘No shit, Sherlock’ face his way.

“You serious?”

“In my darkest hours, yes. I love Sophie and Spencer so much, but you remember how much I loved playing live music? I never see Taylor and the gang anymore since I quit The Five Doctors, and it’s been almost a year since I picked up my guitar.”

She leaned into her wall, raking through her hair. “Every day I scramble to meet deadlines at work, then here it’s cooking, cleaning, laundry, feeding and bedtime. I’m a single parent for weeks at a time. It never lets up. It’s really hard, Luke.”

“Have you talked to Spencer about -” he stopped short at the glare on her face.

“Right, that’s not fair of me.”

McKinley retrieved her keys. “Horror of horrors, we have to be adults about this. I need to adjust to my new normal and you need to talk to Lisa, because if you keep avoiding the subject, it’ll blow up in your faces.”

“And Penelope? I’m not sure what to say to her. I mean, does she even feel the same way about me?” He cringed at how junior high that sounded.

“Luke, if you wanna know how Penelope feels, you have to talk to her."

They discreetly returned to the kitchen, where Spencer was pouring cocoa for everyone.

“Presents, presents, presents!” Michael chanted.

Soon the den was drowning in a sea of wrapping paper. At some point, JJ switched her phone to video because the kids were putting on quite a show. Amid the excitement, Sophie squirmed in Penelope’s lap and stretched her arms in Spencer’s direction.

“Had enough Aunt Penny for tonight?” she asked, handing her over. “Okie-dokie. I’m marvelous but I’m not Mommy or Daddy.”

Sophie studied her father’s face intently, vocalizing softly. She suddenly reached up, patting his cheek.

“Dah-dah.”

The room fell silent.

McKinley gasped. “Did she just…?”

“She did,” Spencer whispered in awe. “Her first word. Yes, sweetheart, I’m your Daddy.”

Everyone watched the three huddled together in a private family moment, elated beyond description for their friend. He had waited years for this and he deserved every happiness.

…

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Luke froze, hand hovering by the doorknob. “Uuum, home?”

“Four glasses of wine? You’re not safe to drive. You’re sleeping on our couch.”

“She’s right, Luke. Besides, the weather’s picking up.”

He couldn’t argue with that: the snowfall obscured the street, it was so thick. To be honest, he didn’t want to go home anyway.

McKinley carried Sophie to the nursery, pausing at the hall closet.

“Hmmm, why not?” she muttered to herself.

Once Spencer found blankets and pillows for Luke, he went to help tuck in Sophie. The sound of plucking and twanging caught his attention. Peering into the nursery, he was met with a precious scene.

McKinley stood by the crib, tuning her guitar. Spencer remained silent, not wanting to disrupt her. Slowly, she began softly playing “La Vie En Rose,” speaking the lyrics since she couldn’t actually sing.

...Give your heart and soul to me

And life will always be

La vie en rose

“It’s great hearing you play again.”

“I’m kinda rusty, ” she grinned sheepishly. 

“Nonsense,” he corrected, pulling her into one of those dizzying kisses.

Up close, Spencer could see the exhaustion in his wife’s eyes.

“You’ve done a lot today,” he noted as he rubbed her back. “Let me run you a bath, and then I can read you to sleep. How’s that sound?”

McKinley sighed contentedly. “Perfect.”

---

@illegalcerebral @dreatine @cynbx @cmbingo

[itslight-ishred]

Valentine’s Day Dance

Okay, so I’m a couple hours late on this, but I made it through all the distractions to finally bring you my first completed fic in over a year! This is my gift to @mlm-benvolio​ for the RvB Valentine’s Day gift exchange and first time posting one of my works to Tumblr. Enjoy. (will fix formatting if needed) @rvbgiftexchange Ship(s): Grimmons w/background Docnut and Locoboose and mentioned Tuckington 1,800+ words    "Dude, if you don't ask him out, I'm not talking to you ever again."        The lanky red-head gave out a sharp, fake gasp at those words, closing his locker and holding the non-robotic hand to his chest and faking a hurt expression. "You wouldn't. Who else would I talk to?"        "Wouldn't I?" This led to a full two minute stare-down between them both before a taller boy came by and picked up his older brother, squeezing him tight.     "Tucker! I just asked Loco to the Valentine's dance!"        "Okay, if Caboose can ask Loco, you can totally ask Dex," Lavernius gasped out, struggling to get out of his adopted brother's tight grasp. "Seriously, though, what's taking you so long? We all know you like him. Well, except maybe Dex himself."    

   Slinging his bag onto his shoulder, Richard just thought this over a bit as the three headed for the student parking lot. Passing through the commons, they noticed Franklin hugging Frank tight, but not nearly as tight as Michael had done to his brother. The blond noticed them and quickly broke the hug, dragging his boyfriend over to them. Before he could even say a word, Richard stopped him.    "He just asked you out to the dance?"        "Yes!! Has Dex asked you yet? Cause then we could go suit shopping together!" As usual, his younger brother was way too excited about these things than anyone had a right to be, but Franklin had always loved dressing up and going to parties.         "Dude, you don't need to go out and buy a whole suit for this. Not like it's prom," Lavernius told the junior. "Just pick something nice you already have. And can someone please tell Rich here that there's no way Dex would turn him down?"        Franklin's head perked up at that, looking his older brother dead in the eyes. "Rich, if he doesn't say yes, he's an idiot and in denial. He's been over for dinner more this year than the last three combined."        "I rest my case. Now c'mon, I've got a baby who's probably driving my dad up the walls."        Once out in the parking lot, Richard looked around for Dexter's old beater that was in this horrible, bright orange with the doors painted an even brighter yellow. Apparently having sensed his rising anxiety, F.I.L.S.S. started playing music from his relaxation playlist through the headphones around his neck that were connected to his prosthetic arm. "Thanks," he muttered to the AI before speaking up to get his younger brother's attention, giving the keys an underhand toss. "I'm gonna go find Dex. I'll be home in time to make dinner, promise." All of the other teens smiled at him as he jogged off, going up and down the rows to hopefully beat Dexter to his own car.        Thankfully he'd made it just a couple minutes before the shorter senior came over, drinking a soda that he'd gotten from one of the vending machines. "Oh, hey, man. Not goin' home yet?"        "Told Franklin I'd be back to start dinner. Wanted to hang out with you a bit." Dex raised an eyebrow at this but just shrugged, unlocking the car and getting in. It didn't take long for Richard to realize they weren't going to the middle school to pick up Kai. "Uhh. . . ."        "Relax, she's spending the weekend with some friends at a sleepover since our parents are out of town."        "So you're staying home alone? All weekend?"        "Yep."    Somehow this felt like the perfect opportunity to finally suck it up and ask him. No Kai around to spy on them, and nothing embarrassing to try explaining to their adopted parents. So far, so good. When they got to the Grifs' house, both teens kicked off their shoes and put their backpacks by the door, Richard setting up Halo 12 while Dexter went to the kitchen to grab some drinks and some chips. He made sure the red head was getting a thing of carrot juice, while he grabbed another soda for himself. "So, what's up? Normally you give me a heads up before showing up at my car."     "Eh, just didn't wanna hear Franklin talk my ear off about matching suits with Frank or whatever. Also hoping to avoid having Tucker call me to complain how stupid it is that he can't invite Wash to the dance. Pretty likely he'd also complain about Caboose not shutting up about asking Loco out."     "Are those two actually dating or . . . . ?"     "Dunno. But they're definitely going to the dance together." They sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to play a couple practice games of capture the flag before deciding whether or not they wanted to do an online match. "So, uh, are you going with anyone? If at all?"     "Maybe? No one's asked yet, and I'm not sure anyone would really wanna go with me. You going?"     Richard just shrugged before recoiling a bit at a sudden, sharp pain in his arm. "Ow! F.I.L.S.S.!"     "My apologies. I must have hit a wrong nerve trying to move the fingers."     The taller teen glared down at his metallic arm for a second, going back to their game and attempting to continue the conversation. "Been thinking about it. Had sort of an idea who to ask. Besides, Sarge'd want me to go to keep an eye on Franklin anyway."     "Good ol' Sarge."     Feeling the AI in control of his arm in the back of his head and ready to send more shocks up his arm, Richard took a deep breath. "Do you wanna go to the dance? With . . . . me? Maybe? You don't have to, y'know, but if you want, it'd be nice. But you don't have to!"     "Dick?"     "Yeah?"     "Course, dumbass. Who else would I go with?"     About an hour later, the lanky teen found himself back home and in-between on steps in cooking dinner, Franklin bouncing in place as he sat on the counter, watching impatiently. "So?"     "So what?"     "Did you ask him?"     "Did Rich ask who what?" Sarge asked, coming into the kitchen to see what his boys were talking about.     "Richard asked Dexter to the dance this Valentine's Day," F.I.L.S.S. spoke up for the boy, knowing he was too nervous from earlier still to hold any sort of conversation.     "Bout dang time, son. You been fawnin' over him for the last four years now. How late's the dance s'posed ta go?"     "11:30 the latest," the blond teen answered back, their dad just nodding, knowing he could trust them both to not stay out too late.     Later that night, Franklin had texted Lavernius the good news, and the two proceeded to gush over this new development together, the older of the two saying he was afraid they wouldn't ask each other out until well after they graduated in a few months. The next few days were then spent with both of them trying to pick out a classy outfit to the dance, Lavernius saying he'd probably have to take Dexter shopping if the man had any hope of looking decent. So by the time the dance was there, their entire group showed up dressed in black slacks(minus Franklin who was in white with Frank), and they all had their own solid-color button-ups.     Loco and Michael tried splitting their time between the dance floor and eating snacks, while Franklin couldn't sit down from sheer excitement. Richard was too awkward to even attempt dancing, so he was glad to hang back and have some snacks with Dexter, making sure the shorter male didn't get the shirt or pants Lavernius had bought too messy. Speaking of which, he hadn't seen the darker skinned teen since getting into the main hall. This wasn't going to end well. . . .     "So, probably brought this up sooner, but why did you ask me here? I mean, we're not dating or whatever Loco and Caboose are."     "And you call me the dumbass. . . . I kinda thought it'd be obvious? I asked you out to the Valentine's Day dance. Should be pretty self-explanatory."     Dexter nodded a bit, eating a few more bites of his snacks. "True. But I wanna hear you say it."     Now Richard's face was starting to turn a similar shade of red as his hair, if just a shade darker. It wasn't a nearly full-body blush like Wash was known to get from time-to-time, but it did make his freckles blend together a bit. Just as she had last week, F.I.L.S.S. threatened to shock him again if he didn't speak up soon. Her personality had been really weird since Thanksgiving, he'd have to talk to Dr. Church about that.     "I- I like you, okay? I missed you a lot after you had to leave, and then you came back and I thought things'd be like when we were kids again, but it wasn't, and it still isn't, which I think is okay, y'know? We still bicker a lot sometimes, but it's not like when we were little. And you're always there for me when I need it, and you didn't hate me when you found out about me being a boy. Still can't believe you outed me in bio, though. I know, it was an accident. But you're my best friend, and I don't think I would've wanted to ask anyone else to come with me." Taking a deep breath, he started calming down a bit. "Honestly, it was probably a good thing you had to leave cause I think even when we were kids I had a crush on you. And I don't think I could've sorted that out on my own if you were still living with us."     "Huh. Good to know. I like you a lot, too. Thought about you the whole time I was gone. I mean, hard not to, considering you're why I was able to get my skin grafts. So even though you weren't around, you kinda were?" Side-eyeing the other, Dexter noticed the blush had gotten darker "So . . . are we dating now?"    "I think so? If you want to, anyway."     "Cool, guess I can finally do this," the heavier teen said, more of to himself, before leaning over and kissing his now-boyfriend, able to feel the heat radiate off his face from how flushed he was. It was at that moment that a bright flash got their attention, making them look up and see the overhead balcony where one Lavernius Tucker Church stood with his phone out, cheering in triumph.     "Finally! I've waited four years for this!" he cheered before running off to find his younger brother for safety.     "Wha- Tucker, no, I wanna dance with Loco more!" the younger boy tried telling him, as he tried climbing up his back and onto his shoulders. Lavernius just reassured him it'd just be for a little bit, to protect him from Dexter.     "Okay, Tucker's officially the group dumbass now."

[scullysexual]

titanic au | multichapter-au | au | multiple parts | historical au | msr | mature | ao3 | 6/13 | @today-in-fic​ |

For Mulder, a wealthy English-bred socialite who’s had everything given to him since birth, the Titanic is shipping him off to a prison, a life he no longer wishes for or wants. For Scully, an Irish stranger from the lower class, it offers a new life, a future she can truly envision in America. What if the universe put them on the same path to achieve those dreams at the cost of life? 

Chapter One.

Chapter Two.

Chapter Three.

Chapter Four.

Chapter Five.

- - -

A JEWEL BENEATH THE MOONLIGHT: CHAPTER SIX.

Embarrassed, anger swirling through her, Scully storms out of the pool, throwing open the doors on her way out. She ignores the looks she gets for her actions, for the way the doors bounce off the walls and startle a woman nearby. She doesn’t care, she just needs to get far enough away from Mulder and all things first class. She barely acknowledges the crewman passing who barks at her to get back to her own deck, Scully gladly goes, climbing over the now locked gate.

She’s done. Done with all of it; the dinners, the people, Mulder. He can live in his sad fake world with his sad fake fiancé. In a few days time, she’ll get off this boat and never the two shall meet again.

His words still ring in her ears. His words, his father’s words, whoever’s words- she doesn’t care, they’re all the same- the same closed minded people who don’t give a shit about anything other than themselves.

But Mulder wasn’t.

She pushes that thought away, ignoring the truth and forcing herself to mould Mulder to be like everyone else. If he did care about her he wouldn’t be worried about what his father thinks.

Why did it always have to come down to what father’s thought of their children?

She finds herself in the galley before she realises, a room completely crowded with people doing nothing with their lives and it angers Scully even more, this whole ship does, every person on it. She’s sick of crowded rooms, of seeing the same people every day.

The novelty of things wears off eventually.

She spies Charlie in the corner, happy, laughing with a group of boys he’s befriended. This journey had given him the freedom to just be a kid, to not have to worry about finding a job or the constant response of “No, you can’t work here”, “No, we haven’t got any jobs free for you”, “No, you need more experience”. He hadn’t won much in the terms of a job, either.

Seeing him now, Scully is envious. Despite the hardships, he was still free to be a child, they could go home and Ma wouldn’t push him to find a job and here, he could laugh with as many people as he wanted, hopelessly flirt with as many girls as he wanted and there would be no consequences, no rules or hearts broken because of a stupid mistake.

Not in the mood for company, Scully leaves the galley, about to head into her room and shut the world away for the rest of the trip before a familiar little voice stops her.

“Dana!”

Scully turns to see a little girl, blonde curls bouncing behind her, bound towards her.

A smile passes across Scully’s face at the presence of Agnes, momentarily forgetting her sadness and anger, she kneels to the girl’s height.

“Hello,” Scully says. “Are you feeling better now?”

Agnes nods her head, her blue eyes bright and cheeks rosy with colour, so much better than the day before.

“You helped me be better,” the girl says. In her hands she holds a brown box and extends it forward towards Scully. “I wanted to give this to you, to say tack sjalv…That means thank you in Swedish.”

Scully takes the box from Agnes, her thumbs slipping under the lid and opening it. A dancer dressed in traditional Swedish clothing appears spinning around as music plays from the box.

A music box.

Scully smiles, warmed by the girl’s gesture of thank you. She looks from the music box to Agnes, the girl’s smile radiating happiness, proud of her gift.

“Are you sure?” Scully asks, thankful for the gift but also having first-hand knowledge that they didn’t carry much and what they did carry was something extremely special to them.

Agnes nods. “It was Mama’s but Papa said we couldn’t keep it anymore, it’s too much space.” Her smile falters at that and Scully knows that it was either to be given away or sold to a stranger.

“I’ll take it Agnes,” says Scully and the girl instantly cheers up. “I’ll look after it and won’t let anything happen to it.”

Agnes happily nods and gives Scully and hug before running off back down the corridor.

The music box in one hand, Scully opens the door and sets the box on the table, a wee bit happier than she was before.

 It’s strange how yesterday she was sat in a great big hall surrounded by shallow-minded people, eating food she could barely pronounce and today she is sat on the end of the bench eating mash and beef.

Well, eating being the desired action, she more than just picks at it.

She should probably eat it. All those times when she was younger, when she just wished there had been a slice of bread in the house remind her that she should eat food when she can, and eat all of it because who knows when the next one would be?

Her mood had lightened up with Agnes’ present but it hadn’t taken long for it to fall back down when she was alone. Maybe isolating herself wasn’t the best idea.

She can’t decide why this whole Mulder thing had gotten to her so. A similar thing had happened before, Scully had got in too deep with someone she shouldn’t and they had left her standing at a train station all night, never showing up themselves.

Whilst it had hurt to be humiliated, to walk back home with her tail tucked between her legs, she’d gotten over that situation fairly quickly and she’d done more than just dance with the man.

Scully tries not to think about the reasons, she was supposed to be blocking Mulder from her mind anyway, no dwelling on him.

“Decided dinner with your own kind is better then?”

Scully looks up to find Charlie opposite her, a smile plastered across his face from his ‘joke’. Sure, hilarious.

He sits down on the bench across from her. “I found your wee English fella before,” he tells her. “Well, he found me actually, jumped over the gate and all,” Charlie finishes with a smile at the memory.

Scully just frowns, why would a man who told her mere hours ago that he wanted nothing more to do with her go out of his way to talk to her younger brother?

“What did he want?”

“He just asked if I’d seen you, which I replied I hadn’t since the party and whatever glimpse I’d gotten of you before you ran out this morning.”

“I was with Agnes.”

Really, Scully doubts she’d spent no more than ten minutes with the lass but she wasn’t about to admit to her brother than she’d been lying in her bed depressed all day.

“Anyway, he said if I saw you to tell you to meet him by the mass at dinner time, he’ll be there.”

Scully thinks for a moment, calming the butterflies that fly in her stomach. Just what was Mulder playing at?

“He also said that you didn’t have to go if you didn’t want to, but something told him you will.” Charlie frowns, staring at her for a moment and Scully feels incredibly awkward.

“What happened between you two? You were getting along at that party last night.” His frown chances into a sly, knowing smile.

Emboldened, Scully pushes her bowl out of the way, leaning forward so her face was mere inches away from her brother’s.

“You can wipe that smile off ye face cause ye don’t know anything.”

She pushes herself away, standing up from the bench.

“You’re gonna go?” Charlie asks, leaning back also.

Scully nods.

“Can I have your food?”

Without a word, she pushes the bowl in Charlie’s direction. Curiosity and nerves blooming, she disappears off to find out what games Mulder wants to play.

 A chilly breeze blows across the deck, the sun almost setting in the distance. It looks beautiful, the orange and purples that paint the sky. It’s clear, the islands just off in distance visible. There’s no one out, every one off in the halls eating dinner, a perfect time Mulder chose.

Scully sees him near the mass just like he said, hunched over and leaning against the rails. At first she thought he’d be sitting on them, not unlike their first meeting. Despite her confusion, her curiosity and the slight annoyance at his ever changing mind, she smiles at the memory.

“Are you always so moody, then?”

At the sound of her voice he turns, almost surprised to see her there.

“You came?” he asks.

Scully nods, “I did. I almost had second thoughts leaving the dinner hall but I thought I’d give you the benefit of the doubt.” She walks closer to him then, shivering in the slight chill, a mischievous smile flittering across her face. “So long as I’m not _distracting _you,” she almost whispers.

And while she smiles he does not, instead pain and regret etched on his face as he looks down at his feet.

“I shouldn’t have said that,” he apologises. “I just…I feel bad for everyone involved in this, even Phoebe, she…she’s a lot but she doesn’t really deserve this.”

There’s a moment when Scully wonders if they’ll ever be able to have a conversation that doesn’t include Phoebe’s name in it but she thinks back to Mulder’s earlier words, how their relationship was complicated, so no, she doubts they ever will.

“What are you trying to say, Mulder?”

He looks up at her then, almost shy. “I guess I’m trying to say that I want to do this. You and me. Us. If that’s what you want?”

Is it? Her anger at him casting her aside, at choosing his family over her, they weren’t friendly feelings. The need to see him today, the speak to him and spend time with him, that went beyond friendship, too. She’s known him less than three days and even in that short time span she can’t think of the moment when they overstepped the friends line.

She doesn’t think he knows either.

“You tried to kiss me when I walked you to the gate yesterday. Did you mean it?”

“I did,” he admits. “I wanted to but you stopped me so I thought maybe you didn’t and then…then before you said we were just friends so why the change?”

“Because you pissed me off,” she tells him, if they’re going to tell the truth they may as well both be truthful. “Because your father is right, I am a distraction.” She walks that little bit closer, now only a foot or so away from them both being in each other’s personal space.

“Does that bother you?”

Scully thinks about that. ‘Distraction’ maybe isn’t the nicest word to use for someone but in this moment she doesn’t care what some little person who seems as far away as the islands around them are, thinks she is.

“No,” she finally answers.

Mulder smiles and slowly outstretches his hand towards her.

“I want to show you something, Distraction.”

Scully smiles at the little nickname and takes his hand. Mulder leads her to the rails, places her where he was just standing.

“Step up onto the rails,”

Scully looks at him cautiously. “What? Are you planning on us both jumping off together or something?”

Mulder ignores her joke. “Just do it,” he says softly.

Grasping the heaviness of the situation she does as she’s told, stepping up on the first rail. She lets go of his hand to grasp hold of the mass, holding onto it for dear life as her feet wobble on the rail. With both of Mulder’s hands freed, she feels him take hold of her waist, holding her in place and instantly she feels a bit more secured.

“Are you sure we won’t get into trouble for this?” Scully asks, suddenly feeling cautious about any eyes that could be watching them.

“Why would they?” Mulder asks, incredibly close to her ear. “We’re not doing anything wrong.”

Correction: this whole step they’re taking is incredibly wrong but Scully decides not to dwell on that, inside basking it in, in the thrill of doing something that she shouldn’t be once more.

“So what am I supposed to be seeing?” she asks, turning towards him.

“Hang on a second.” He takes one of his hands off her side and uses it to cling onto the hand-rail, pulling himself up onto the bottom rail Scully stands on. She can feel every inch of his warm body pressed up against her, and still in her light and playful mood, she pretends to adjust herself so her entire body brushes against his. In response, the hand holding onto her clutches her tighter.

“Stop it,” he tells her, less lightly than before and Scully stops, allowing herself to just lean about into him.

“Look down at the water,” he tells her and she does so.

At first there’s nothing, just the waves caused by the ship as it ploughs on to their destination but then she sees it, a little speck of grey that appears in the air and disappears again. And another one. And a third.

“I see it!” she shouts, as three dolphins jump in and out of the water one after the other.

A smile passes across her face in happiness and delight, watching the creatures appear and disappear. This is what he wanted to show her and it doesn’t matter that she’s seen dolphins before, doesn’t bother her that it isn’t something more special, this is enough, just watching them jump in and out of the water, the cold chill of the wind against the front but the warmth of Mulder behind her, it’s all she can ask for. Slowly, everything fades away; the presence of people tucked behind walls, the view around her and the sun that continues setting in the distance, the ship and its rails that she stands on and finally even Mulder disappears. Her eyes close and she’s warm and happy, free of all worries and stress. There’s no start or destination, it’s just her and the wind and the warmth.

Her surroundings come back soon, Mulder being the first thing to return to her. Scully opens her eyes again and looks down to the sea, the dolphins having gone. The spell broken and she misses their presence.

Weightless and carefree, she turns around in Mulder’s arms, taking her cold hands away from the mass and rail and presses them against Mulder’s warm chest, warming them up.

“Happy?” he asks quietly.

Scully nods. She looks up from her hands to find Mulder’s face inches away from hers. There’s a bit of a height difference between them like this and she steps onto her tip toes, clutching onto to Mulder to hold onto to as she presses her lips against his, once again her surroundings floating away around her.

She’s glad this is their first kiss. The one on the way to the gate would have been drunk and rough but this is sweet and perfect and much, much nicer.

It doesn’t go beyond that, as much as she wants it to be further it’s fine as it is, there’s more time for that later, anyway.

She pulls away, eyeing him nervously but something else catches his eyes. Frowning, his hands climb to her neck, slipping inside her collar to pull out her cross.

She looks at it from where he holds it between them.

“My mammy gave me it,” Scully explains. “My older brother tried to sell it one time but I didn’t let him. Instead I hid it and told everyone I lost it, until it was time to leave and I started wearing it again.” She unclasps it, handing it to Mulder to look at it. “I don’t know why I wouldn’t let them have it,” she wonders almost to herself.

“It’s yours. It means something to you.” She watches as he runs his thumb over the slim lines of the cross.

“I guess,” Scully agrees, staring at it. “It would have fed us, though.”

She watches him continue staring at it and it’s almost like he’s disappeared inside himself, frowning and thinking as he continues to stroke and hold the necklace.

He looks to her, his eyes searching hers and an almost pleading look on his face.

“You can say no,” he begins, before stopping to swallow nervously. Scully waits, interested in what he’s about to ask her. “Can…can I draw you wearing this?” She’s about to answer with a yes before he cuts her off. “Just wearing this?”

[mymariahcarey]

Cuz I Love You

a/n: I wrote this in 30 minutes, it’s not beta’d. If it gets a good response I’m planning to do one in Patrick’s POV.

summary: David, newly obsessed with Lizzo, reflects on some fond memories with his boyfriend while listening to her music.

word count: ~1.3k

rating: T for language

He wasn’t trying to be a cliché. David has always been ahead of the times in terms of fashion, celebrity gossip, taste and trends. However, being stuck now in Schitt’s Creek for several years has unfortunately kept him a little behind on the current music trends. 

Needless to say, the first time David Rose heard Lizzo he had two reactions. He loved her powerful lyrics and how she absolutely didn’t care about societal norms. He was also so ashamed to have not caught this trend before it was cool.

He tries not to listen to it, out of sheer protest, but at this point her music is so big it has made its way to even Schitt’s Creek. Patrick, bless him, has been playing it in the store. Alexis too, while she does yoga in now, mostly her bedroom. 

He does however have an almost surprising attachment to one of her songs, really all of them, but one in particular. 

There is something so familiar about the lyrics. 

Never been in love before, what the fuck are fucking feelings for?  

As he arbitrarily moves things around on their merchandise tables, he watches Patrick flip through inventory sheets with those stupid fucking rubber thimbles on his fingers and thinks, how true those words once were.

Not once in his life has David felt the way he does about Patrick. Hell, he’s never had a relationship last this long. He’s known Patrick two years and his fondness for his quick witted partner has only grown. 

David feels like his first assessment of Patrick was probably more spot on than he first thought. “You’re either very impatient or extremely sure of yourself,” he had said.

That’s exactly how Patrick treats this relationship.. He was impatient to get things rolling, after the failed attempt at keeping things slow. And he is extremely sure of himself. He’s never been slowed down by his inexperience with men, more often than not he’s the one taking charge of their more intimate situations. 

Once upon a time I was a hoe, I don’t even wanna hoe no more.  

David, though not overly fond of referring to anyone as a hoe, has to again, agree with the goddess herself. His past relationships were anything but monogamous, at least as a whole. Whether he was moving from person to person, or the person he was with was cheating on him. It’s had never been steady, it’s never been  safe.

Until Patrick. 

Patrick is a safe haven David didn’t even realize he needed. David isn’t sure he’s ever had one before. Maybe his childhood Nanny Adelina. When he and Alexis were children, she was around more often than his parents.  

It wasn’t that his parents aren’t great. They have always been accepting of every life choice, venture and experiment, but in their own way. While supportive, it wasn’t like their emotional connections were strong, until the lost everything that is. 

Patrick is safe in every way. David doesn’t have to hide behind sarcasm, bravado, and fashion. While all those things are apart of him, he is more tender and sensitive with Patrick. 

It’s in the small quiet moments. The sweet kisses on his temple, the way he lets Patrick be the big spoon, even though David is the taller of the two.

Once, while having an unexpected heart to heart with Patrick, a few tears even escaped his eyes, though he was still quick to brush them away. 

It’s the way David attempts to do more of the domestic chores around the apartment. He takes the trash out, washes dishes after Patrick cooks them dinner. He may not show anyone else that side of him, but he’s positive he couldn’t hide those things from Patrick is he tries.

Tryna open up a little more, sorry if my heart a little slow.  

Slow, for sure, but steady if he did say so himself. He was ready to move in with Patrick, and maybe slightly disappointed that Patrick hadn’t meant the apartment was for the both of them. It’s not like David wasn’t at Patrick’s most nights though. 

David has to admit though, things have been a bit strained between them since Patrick moved into his apartment. Not enough that he’s worried things are going to end. It’s more like they’re really getting into more of the, what David assumes, is the normal tension people have in serious relationships.

They bicker a little more, and where before this would have caused David to panic and assume he was screwing it all up, they find a way to work through it. They got through the jealousy of the housewarming party, the extreme competitiveness of the baseball game, and just recently, the meeting of the parents.

He is a little unsure if things are going to progress. They’re still not officially living together and honestly, David’s not sure what the next logical step is. Marriage and living together are probably the steps most people would take next, and those are, surprisingly not as anxiety inducing as David once thought they were.

I thought that I didn’t care, I thought I was love impaired.  

David’s mouth takes up it’s signature small crooked smile as he thinks back to his first few interactions with Patrick. Insisting that a guy, gay or not, in straight legged mid-range denim couldn’t be interested in him. That somehow being reaffirmed in his own mind when his ex, Sebastian Raine, came to town. While furthering David’s interest in Patrick, further proved to David that he was far below the other man’s standards.

…Now I’m crazy bout to tat your name.

David chuckles softly about how crazy he is about Patrick and the thought of how wrong he had been about the other man’s feelings.

“What’s so amusing about healing crystals?” Patrick asks, breaking David’s trip down memory lane. 

Waving his hands in an awkward gesture and then shrugging David replies, “Maybe I was… getting healed. You did leave a bit of a, how would you put it, disgusting bruise on my lower back this morning.”

Patrick chuckles, a soft blush spreading across his cheeks. 

“Speaking of mornings… I was thinking maybe we could close the store tomorrow. I know it’s a bit last minute but it’s been awhile since we’ve been out. I was hoping to take you on a picnic.”

“Well, you know you don’t have to convince me to close the store. You do however have to convince me to eat outside with bugs and dirt,” David answered, his nose scrunching up like it does when someone mentions something unpleasant.

Patrick, coming around the counter and making his way towards his boyfriend smiles. “Alright, how about we leave around 11. Not too early. Maybe I’ll pack some of the fancy cheese,” he finishes, leaning his hip against the counter David has been working at.

“Mmm… I guess maybe that sounds fun,” he breathes, distracted by how close Patrick is now. David leans forward, his lips an inch from Patrick’s, “Make it noon, and you have a deal.”

Closing the distance and kissing his boyfriend softly before retreating, “Then it’s a date,” Patrick says with a big grin. 

But baby, I don’t know what I’m gonna do, I’m crying cuz I love you.  

This lyric of course, pops in his head after a very stressful and taxing hike his boyfriend made him take that next afternoon. It pops in his head after carrying his boyfriend on his back for the last leg of their journey, after David assures he does indeed want to spend this time with his boyfriend, no matter how much he may hate the activity.

It pops in his head as he looks down at his now fiancé, down on one knee, calling him the love of his life. David is indeed crying. He cried as soon as he realizes what Patrick is doing, as Patrick tells him he’s the love of his life. He sobs as he looks in the long velvet box, revealing four perfect gold rings to replace his silver ones and the love of his life assures him he means it. 

“It’s a yes. I love you.” 

[honeymoon-changb]

And I love you.

A Johnny scenario.

genre: fluff, i guess, failed attempt at comedy

A/N: idk why i’m putting this here lmao i’m not a legit author but yea i wrote this a whileeeee ago in notes on my phone and just found it again and decided to post it cuz i didn’t have the balls to share it before; it’s kinda cheesy but i guess i was feeling all fluffy about John ay also pls note English isn’t my native language so if you see any grammar errors etc - that’s why. Anyway, enjoy y’all (if anyone reads this at all lmao wishful thinking)

  Haechan was sat cross-legged on the living room couch, a big Lion King mug in one of his hands (that’s Taeyong's latest purchase) and his phone in the other one. In sheer attempt to kill the boredom of the off-days, he boy was watching one YouTube video after another as he took loud sips of a warm beverage. Not a pleasant scene for those who get easily irritated by slurping or munching sounds, mukbang haters. You have just finished washing up after the downside of hot-cholocate drinking culture - which was the prepration process - and made your way to the living room, where honey-skinned boy was now joined by the roomies TY Track and the-1-and-only Johnny. You stood in the back, unnoticed, and listened.

"You made hot chocolate for yourself only?" the friendly giant said in a sulky tone.

"Y/N's the one who made it." Haechan replied, not even bothered to grace Johnny with his gaze.

"For you only? Y/N, since when is Haechan your favorite!?" Johhny screamed, not realizing how close you were. You coughed to get their attention, before opening your mouth.

"Huh, psh, pffft, my-my what? How dare you accuse me of favorism, I dOnT have a favorite?" you winked at Haechan, who, what a surprise!, was actually blessing you with his attention. In response to your purposefully over-the-top dramatic acting, Mr. John Seo played heartbroken.

"AH! I can't believe you. All these nice things you've said to me, they must have been lies, and I was but a fool who believed to be someone special in your life!" he cried out, almost literally.

"Oh, don't you call me a liar, now, mister!" you replied, waving your finger at the boy. "Look... if I was gonna make enough hot cocoa for y'all, we'd need a barrel of milk." you added, less dramatically, to actually make this conversation into something more than just jokes on jokes.

"I didn't even know we had cocoa powder?" Taeyong spoke, to whom you replied:

"You didn't. I got some on my way here."

"What for, if you're not gonna make any for us..." the tall jokester said, or rather spat under his breath as if he didn't really want you to hear. Oh, but you did. Before you could reply to this snarky remark, though, a wild Mark appeared, joining this pity party.

"It smells like heaven in here." he said, with the typical, cutesy Mark smile on his face.

"Must be the hot chocolate ONLY HAECHAN is drinking." Youngho, the saltiest child on earth, said.

"Yum, I'd love some hot cocoa." Mark said, unaware of how long this convesation has been going on and how annoyed, yet amused you were feeling, especially because of John's pricesless commentary. And he just had to go on.

"Ya, tell me about it, man..." he looked at you, eyebrows furrowed, hands placed on his chest and he really did look hurt, the little actor. "I just feel so saaaaaad... like there's a hole inside of me and hot chocolate is the only things that could ever glue the pieces my broken heart together." he cried out again.

"Oh, oh, I get that feeling, too." what came as surprise, Taeyong played along.

"Yeah, and it seems like only YOU have the power to heal us, to put us out of our misery, Y/N." Seo continued. Mark must have caught up on the game, as he joined in, saying

"Have mercy on us, Y/N!" You felt like you were going out of your mind, dealing with these whiny boys who were now all gathered around you, staring at you with big pouts on their pretty faces.

"Oh MY GOD, you guys are driving me insane!" you snapped, loudly laughing (and maybe lowkey dying inside). "Yes, fine, okay, AL-RIGH-TY-YO! I will fill your whiny asses with my heavenly hot-cocoa, but boy do I pray that it'll not only glue your bRoKeN piEcEs together, but your mouths as well." you shook your head left to right at them.

"THANK YOU" Johnny said, fake crying. You were almost convinced he’s about to fall to his knees and repeat himself, but luckily for eveyone witnessing, he didn’t. You shook your head at him even more intensely.

"On one... no... on two conditions, though." all three of them looked at you intrigued as to what they'd have to do to have you bless them with your original-family-recipe hot chocolate. "First, since you're all outta milk, you have to go get some at the store and by some I mean multiple boxes because there's so many of you all living under one roof, you damn plague..."

"Sounds fair." commented Mark.

"...and two..." you smirked. "...two, you have to praise and compliment me in 3... 2... 1... Go!" And the boys did as they were told, which made it quite difficult to actually make out what the sweet words were, even harder when Haechan joined in after you confirmed he could get more hot chocolate. But then everything went dead silent as Johnny's raised voice delivered these four words,

"and I love you."

It wouldn't be that big of a deal if it weren't for the fact you two have never exchanged this confession before, as you were dealing with the friends-turned-lovers type of situation, never actually calling each other boyfriend or girlfriend, hell, never really discussing your feelings, just enjoying each other's company and all the benefits that came with it when different needs arose. The momentary silence contributed to the air becoming suffocatingly heavy with a mix of anxiety and a dash of awkwardness, as you were caught off guard with this sudden avowal of feelings, and the confessor himself appeared to be unsure. Not unsure of his feelings, as you would have thought, because it's not like you didn't care about one another in this way. He must have felt unsure of why these words rolled off his tongue in a middle of such commotion. He panicked and decided it was best to flight from the scene, and so he pretended to be called by Jaehyun. You decided to act as well, so you made the decision to get the milk in the supermarket yourself.

"Mark, Mark, let's go to 7-Eleven, the milk isn't gonna buy itself, now, is it?"

"Aye, sure." Mark replied hasily, stuck in fluster over this incident. He now was continuously wondering about all of this. He obviously wasn't with you guys all the time, so he didn't know whether you ever confessed before or what was truly going on between you - obviously, since you never talked about what you felt for each other with one another, why would you with other people. This was something no one could know but you, and the way things got so awkward just a minute ago enhanced his confusion. He wasn't sure if it was okay to talk about this or if you wanted anything but, so he kept quiet. But man, did you wish he'd start a conversation... This silence forced you to stay in your head, feeling a little panicky. You, too, felt unsure and uneasy at this moment. You surely cared about Johnny and spending time with him was truthfully you favorite way of pushing through one day after another, but love... has always been something that confused you a little, because what even is love? Too many people threw this word around like it was nothing, so how does one figure out whether it's something serious or something you can say just so lightheartedly like you��re talking about your favorite cereal? Your lifelong history of having a hard time trusting and opening up to people wasn't helping in this situation at all. And since Mark wasn't going to intiate the dialogue, you decided to do so, before you dig too deep into your anxious thoughts.

"What's your favorite music video you've done so far?" you asked to somehow break the silence, and by him raising his thin brows, you could tell he did not expect you to do so. He laughed, brushing his hair.

"Hm, that's a good question, why don't you answer it first so I can think of my answer."

"What's my favorite MV of NCT's?" you asked rhethorically, since you knew that's what he meant, so you proceeded to share the response before he even nodded in reassurence. "Gotta be the rough version of Limitless. I love the retro style too much, I love everything about it."

"Yeah, that's a good one!" he cheered. "Me, I think for now I'm gonna have to say "Boss" 'cause we got to go to Ukraine to film and that's a travel destination I never thought of visiting, but it was beautiful and so interesting."

"Ahh! I've watched the behind-the-scenes and, not gonna lie, I felt a little jealous. I love to travel." you responed.

"You do?" he continued, to which you nodded. "If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?" You squinted your eyes and held your fingers up to your chin, expressing you're thinking of an answer in movie-like manner.

"Right now, I'm feeling like... Hawaii." you finally said. He seemed so interested in your answer.

"Wah, it'd be so cool to go there some day."

"Yea, it's like a piece of paradise on Earth."

Unexpectedly, this converation initiated by you made the grocery shopping escapade the most pleasant one you've ever gone on, and Mark accompanied you even after you came back to the dorm and started making the crazy amounts of world's most comforting drink for the bunch of sulky idol kids you were so thankful to have become friends with. The living room was now filled with more members than before; sounds of a video game played by Yuta versus WinWin could be heard over a heated conversation happening between Doyoung and Jaehyun; Taeil sat alone at the dinner table, scrolling intensely on his phone; even Renjun and Chenle, who must've escaped the Dream dorm to hang out at their hyungs' place, were there, leaning over the couch behind Haechan who was still messing with his mobile; and Taeyong just joined, with a slightly-shocked expression on his face as he saw so many people gathered in one medium-sized living room. It’s like everyone was there... except for your Johnny - and that struck you with anxiety. Finishing your duty as the hot-chocolate-assosiation head chef, you poured the drink into all the cups you could find and with help of your convo-partner, served it to the others by placing it on the large dinner table and having Haechan shout "HOT CHOCO Y'ALL" as he saw you put the trace down. You went up to Taeyong to ask about Johnny jist to have him lead you to their shared bedroom, where you found the target sat on the bed, looking quite distressed.

"I made you an extra-large cup of hot cocoa so if you don't come out to join the party, it'll just turn into cold cocoa." you said with a smily expression. "And most likely end up being consumed by Haechan anyway." You made your boyfriend laugh for a second, but that quickly turned back to the colon-slash emoji expression. It was the image of someone who's seriously bothered by a mess of thoughts. And everyone knew what it was all about. He sighed before opening his mouth, letting a fistful of words hastily fall out.

"Look, I know it was so wrong or weird to say that, especially so randomly and under such circumstances and I don't even know why it came out of my mouth right then and there, and then I made it even worse by panicking and stupidly escaping, like what kind of pers-"

"And I love you, too." you cut him off, finally returning the confession. It took him by surprise, but it was a pleasant one, like when you r mum is the only person to call you on your birthday but then it turns out it’s because your friends were busy throwing you a secret birthday part. And you didn't just say those words because you felt you were compelled to do so. You meant it, as you figured it out just two minutes ago, when you stood in that room filled with too many people you dearly care about and yet felt some sort of emptiness, because he wasn't there. He appeared to be at a loss of words, which was a rare occurence for Johnny Seo. He was just smiling, looking at you, and you felt so sure now, you were in love."I always felt nervous when we kissed on those days where I'd think too much about the meaning of love, or what it should be like, what the movies and books have taught me, and how maybe I'd never be ready to open up, be this or be that, how I may ruin it all one day, this friendship, because I was careless enough to let myself cross this line and engage in romance. You see, I've never been with anyone before and it's not like I never had the chance to date, it's that I convinced myself it's better to be alone, because being with somebody is too hard, too risky, too complicated and I hated the idea of that... but it isn't like that at all with you. It's just so easy with you, on those days where I don't let my thoughts enhance the fire that lits up my anxiety, on those days where we just kiss through smiles and I feel the goddamn butterflies, it just feels so right. You and I, it feels so right, and I figured that it could be like that on all days, if I just let myself go, and it's so hard because I like control and I wired myself to believe I'm better off alone because that way I can't end up getting hurt, but for you I'd try and for you I'd take the risk. And now I realize that all of these things mean I'm, in fact, in love with you, and I love you." The raw monologue turned out better than you thought, almost free of stumbling on your own words. He listened to you so intensely through all these words, watching your lips move and your eyes wander. Without responding, he got off the bed, stood up and slowly walked up to you, gazing into your eyes for what seemed like too-long of a moment, before he finally spoke, now with calmness in his voice. No more awkward rambling.

"The only time or reason I ever felt nervous was not knowing if you feel the same way. But now I do. I always felt at ease with you, it is just so right, like you said, I just feel so happy when I'm around you and these days I'm happy a lot with the life I'm lucky to be living, but you are a different kind of happiness... and that's how I knew. And, so, I love you." Now you were the one who couldn't say anything. Your gut was burning up and a shaky smile was glued on your face."Oh, and also, when I'm horny, I can't think about anyone else but you anymore." he added and you burst out laughing, him alike.

"Couldn't let this scene be all-too-serious, could you." you laughed.

"Nope." he said, with a goofy smile on his lips.

"Well, I think all that needed to be said, was, and I don't wanna rush things... but there's luke-warm cocoa to be drank..." you joked, too, making him laugh once again. The abolute U-turn this conversation took was just the perfectly accurate image of your relationship - almost never too serious despite serious feelings."I swear, if Haechan drank it, I'm gonna beat his shawty ass." you added as you turned around to open the door and make your way to the busy room.

"Babe, I think you're shorter than him."

"No, the proper response is 'Of course I'll help you beat his shawty ass up, babe'" you sassed as a reply.

"Sorry, I'll note it down and do better next time, mademoiselle."​

[weelittleweasley]

Roommate | Sweet Pea x Reader

Prompt by anon: You’re Toni’s roommate at college, but when her friends from her hometown decide to pay a visit, you meet a handsome stranger who takes a keen interest in you.

Request status: Open!

Warnings: underage drinking, profanity

You walked across the quad of Carnegie Mellon, you take a moment to absorb how truly beautiful the campus is. You worked hard to end up here and all of the hard work was definitely worth it. Now, you attended one of the nation’s most prestigious universities. You had just left your 10 AM lecture, heading back to the dorms before you hear your name being called out.

“Y/N!” You turned around to see your roommate, Toni, running towards you, backpack secured over one shoulder. “Hey,” she breathed out, tucking her faded pink hair behind her ear. “How was your lecture? Mine was god awful. I don’t get why Mellon makes us take a computer science class even though more than fifty percent of the school isn’t a computer science major. I’m criminal justice!”

Smiling, you laugh at Toni. Toni was such an incredible roommate. She had come from a small town called Riverdale while you came from a large city, Philadelphia. Although you came from two different worlds, the two of you couldn’t be anymore alike. Toni was so sweet and considerate, but had an attitude and a fiery nature when she needed to. Not to mention, she cooked you both dinner when you didn’t feel like eating crappy cafeteria food. “Better than last weeks. I feel like some professors could make their lectures thirty minutes shorter if they just took out half the adjective they use,” you sigh, turning right to enter your dorm building.

In your dorm room, Toni heats up some leftover boxed mac and cheese from last night’s dinner as you pontificate about how your dating life is. It seemed that you were perpetually single. Every party you went with, you flirted with a guy who flirted back, but after you guys made out or hooked up, that was it. It was like he fell off the face of the Earth. You were becoming a little hopeless at this point. “Am I just that revolting that no guy wants to talk to me?” you ask before shoveling a spoonful of Kraft into your mouth.

Toni rolls her eyes, “Oh shut up. Any guy would be lucky to have you on their arm. And I told you that the frat guys are all assholes. They don’t look for girlfriends. They look for a hook up and someone who can give them test answers.” You laugh at her comment, knowing that she is probably right. “Also, remember that my two guy friends from home are coming over next weekend.”

Sitting up, you say, “Right, I almost forgot. What were their names again?”

“Sweet Pea and Fangs,” she replies as you lift an eyebrow. “That’s what they like to be called. They’re Serpents. They don’t want anyone to know their real identity except for the ones who they are the closest to.”

You smile, teasing her. “Do you know their real names?”

Toni knows what you’re doing. “Nice try and it’s not gonna happen. When they get here, just be yourself. Don’t try to impress them. The two of them are complete dorks despite their looks.”

Soon enough, the next week rolled around after a few tests and multiple lectures later. You sat in your dorm room, folding fresh laundry, waiting for Toni to arrive back with her two friends from home. You had to admit, you were a little nervous to meet her friends. You wanted them to like you, of course, since you and Toni had grown so close as not only roommates, but friends. Them not liking you was like a family not approving a boyfriend or girlfriend.

As you tucked sweatpants away into their respective drawers, the door swung open and laughter filled the dorm room. “There she is,” Toni smiles. “Y/N, these are my friends, Sweet Pea and Fangs. Guys, this is my roommate and my saving grace, Y/N.”

She gives you a side hug as you shake hands with Fangs. His hair is jet black, neatly gelled and combed. He wore a neat flannel and jeans cuffed with motorcycle boots. He sent you a smile, “Nice to finally put the name to a face. Toni never shuts up about you.”

It was sweet to hear that Toni talked so highly of you. You were sure she had revealed some embarrassing things about nights out, but you didn’t mind. You weren’t gonna see Sweet Pea or Fangs all the time. “All good things I hope.” You turn to Sweet Pea. He is about a solid foot taller than you, but his presence in the room makes him appear taller. His hair is greasily gelled compared to Fangs, but carries the same raven hair. He wore a plain navy t-shirt and jeans, but the thing that stuck out the most to you was the double headed serpent tattoo on his neck. He was compelling to look at. The way his lips turned into a small smirk made your heart rate skyrocket. “Hi,” you finally manage to speak. 

“Hi,” he replies. “Let’s be honest. How much is Topaz paying you to be her friend.”

Toni punches him in the arm as you tease back, “Not enough.” This causes Sweet Pea to laugh, taking the moment to check you out in your yoga pants and your college sweatshirt that was far too big on your small body.

The four of you created small talk before you excused yourself to grab more laundry that was drying downstairs. Almost immediately after you exit, Toni says, “Pea, I swear to God, if you try to fuck my roommate tonight...”

Sweet Pea rolls his eyes, “She’s hot! And who says I was tryna get ass tonight? Maybe I just wanted to talk.”

Toni gives him a look. “Since when have you ever just ‘wanted to talk.’ I’ve known you for almost fifteen years, Pea. I’m not an idiot.”

Fangs nods. “It’s not that hard to tell when you think a girl is hot. You get that weird look in your eye and you start to smirk. It’s really creepy, to be honest.” Pea slaps his arm for that comment. “I’m being honest!”

“That’s besides that point,” Toni interjects. “Just don’t try to screw her and then leave her. She’s not into that and she’s had it happen to her multiple times before.”

Pea shakes his head and he gets a little disappointed that someone who looked like you would be treated that way. But hopefully, Pea could do some convincing tonight to show you that not all guys are like that.

Later in the night, you sat at you desk and make shift vanity, applying a few coats of mascara to your lashes as Toni brushed her hair. “Are you sure that we don’t have to bring any drinks? You sure that the guys have a stash there?” Toni asks you again, wondering if she should bring the bottle of Malibu she has had hidden in her sock drawer.

Looking at her, you simply state, “We are girls, Toni. Ladies drink free at frat parties. Sweet Pea and Fangs on the other hand should bring something if they plan on drinking tonight.”

Toni laughs, “Oh, don’t worry. They brought a whole stash from Riverdale.” You chuckle at her comment before there is a few knocks on the door from outside, most likely the guys. “Y/N, you ready?” Toni asks as you grab your phone off its charger and scurry outside along with Toni and her friends.

As you walk off campus to the frat house, you can feel Sweet Pea’s eyes on you as you chat with Fangs. His eyes darted to your bare legs as you wore a black leather mini skirt and off the shoulder top, mentally cursing why you had to look so damn good. It was just gonna make resisting the urge to want you even harder to fight. He knew that solely by the way you looked, you would have guys swarming you tonight and Pea didn’t like that. He had only known you for five hours and he didn’t even entertain the thought of another guy having his hands on you.

When you arrived to the frat party, you and Toni got in for free, no hassle. But Fangs and Pea had to cough up ten dollars each. The frat house wreaked of beer and weed, the two scents not mixing well along with the smell of sweaty, dancing bodies. You waste no time in heading straight to the bar and mixing up vodka sodas for you and Toni. “What are we drinking to?” Toni asks you.

You thought for a second. You usually toasted to good grades, a hot date, or money for food. But tonight was different. “To having a good night with good friends,” you smile at her and then to Fangs and Sweet Pea who have managed to snag beers. The four of you clink your red solo cups together before sipping from them. The ratio of vodka to club soda was way off, causing the vodka to slightly burn your lips as you sipped from the cup, but you shook the feeling away.

The party is like any other party you have been to. People drink way to much and dance poorly to Kanye West songs that blare out of the sound system. You have already lost Toni and you pray to God that she isn’t hooking up with someone without telling you. Fangs has joined a beer pong game which leaves you and Pea to your own devices.

The two of you stand away from the crowd, but it’s hard to hear each other over the music, so you go outside. “I feel like my ear drums are blown out,” Sweet Pea rubs his ear as you laugh. “How loud does music have to be for it to qualify as a frat party, my God.”

It was a little awkward silence between the two of you before Sweets says, “Alright, I wanna know a little bit more about my best friend’s roommate besides the fact that she’s cute.” You lightly blush at his comment. “What are you majoring in?”

“Forensics,” you tell him as he widen his eyes. He wasn’t expecting that. “I know a little odd, but I wanna go into crime studies. Any type of law enforcement at state or national levels.” Sweets is clearly impressed by you. “There’s just so many crimes that are pushed on the innocent and I wanna help end that.”

“That’s cool. Toni is really passionate about that stuff, too,” he says.

You nod your head. “That’s how we met at accepted students day. Man, she would not shut up about it.” Pea laughs. “I love her though. She’s a great friend.” 

He shakes his head. “You’re definitely right about that.” You take another sip of your vodka soda. The more you drink, the more attractive Sweet Pea seems to get if that was even possible. His dark even glimmer faintly under the porch lights of the frat house. They carry this eerie seduction that makes every hair on your body stick up. “Not to sound invasive, but uh, Toni has told me you don’t have the best history with guys.” You physically cringe at his words. “Why, if you don’t mind me asking,” he says more as a statement than a question.

Shrugging, you say, “I don’t know. I just can’t seem to do anything right. I mean every time I’m looking for something more than just a hook up, guys run away. But when I’m looking for a hook up, every guy is taken. It may be because I have awful timing or I’m just that revolting.”

Sweet Pea gives you a look, knowingly. “You’re fucking kidding me, right?” You don’t say anything and finish your drink in your hand. Why you were having this conversation was beyond question. “Look at you. You’re a smoke show,” he compliment as a rosy hue rises to your cheeks. “The guys are stupid as shit if they think twice about talking to you.”

“Thank you,” you tell him. “But I’m just saying that this is the shit that happens. It’s the way it is. No guy will ever find me hot enough to ask me out, nevertheless kiss me. I mean, Jesus Christ, is it that hard to just walk up to someone and-”

You’re cut off when Sweet Pea’s lips are on yours. His lips are hot on top of yours as you slowly kiss him back, wrapping your arms around his neck. He pulls you closer as you press your lips against his harder. You open your mouth, allowing his tongue to enter your mouth, his mouth tasting of a cool mint. You tangle your fingers in his hair, getting lost in the sensation about how good his mouth feels as he presses hot, open mouth kisses down your neck. “Shit,” you breathe out as Pea cuts you off again, kissing your mouth harshly, pulling your bottom lip between his teeth. You lightly smile before connecting your lips again.

But before you can continue, a voice speaks, “Are you guys done yet? Fangs and I have been waiting to challenge you two to a game of pong.” Looking up, you see Toni in the doorway, brows raising, telling you that she will definitely be asking you questions about this later tonight.

“We’ll be right in,” Pea speaks for the both of you, dismissing Toni. He reverts his attention back to you. “And you were saying before?” his words tease you as he squeezes your hips.

Smiling softly, you reply, “I stand corrected.” 

[absolute-barbarism]

Rain and Shine (yet another self indulgent OC whumpfic)

(Read here on AO3!

Seth and Danny have been taking care of Cas' daughter all night. When he finally comes home, she's not the only one they have to look after.)

Babysitting was a task ill suited to the two 27 year old children that were Castiel's most trusted employees. But due to a too recent death following a recent adoption, time and money didn't allow for Mary Poppins. Instead it was Seth and Danny at his disposal, occasionally Charles or Jolene when they were looking to skip real work, only to be reminded of the cruel reality that handling Alice was more work than handling a PCP rage or hostage negotiation. Battling her over bedtime this night was a little mixture of both, although by little after one in the morning, she had managed to remain silent in her room for more than half an hour. Neither were keen on risking the creak of the bedroom door to check in on her.

"Is it dumb to say I thought babysitting might involve more, like...sitting down?" Unlike Danny, still rigidly seated upright in the rocking chair despite having been in Castiel's house more often than his own apartment, Seth was sprawled out on the couch like he'd just gone ten rounds with a four-foot ninja. Which wasn't exactly wrong. "She acts like a little angel whenever Cas brings her into the station. What gives?"

"Separation anxiety?" Danny suggested.

"Anxiety my ass, you saw the grin on her face when she ripped my favorite T-shirt. Even Claire never caused this much trouble whenever my mom left me in charge."

"She was also a teenager."

"You weren't this rambunctious when you were Alice's age."

Danny scoffed, tipping his head back against the cushion of the chair with his eyelids dipping closed. His smile was infectious; Seth grinned back and peered over the arm of the sofa.

"What's so funny?"

"You definitely were."

"Was not."

"Were too."

"Was not times infinity times infinity times a thous-" The front door opened without warning. Both of them straightened up, Danny as much as he could in the position he was already in, and with every fiber of their being they prayed Alice wouldn't wake from the noise and make all their hard work look like nothing. At least Castiel had the sense to come home quietly when she was supposed to be in bed.

He usually had that sense. This time around, he let the door shut hard behind him and ditched his coat onto the floor, too literally wrapped up in his own arms to bother hanging it on the rack. For a man who kept his heart in the back of his sock drawer, he sure wore it on his sleeve now. Visibly distressed, he stumbled into the coffee table as though a thin layer of ice covered his skin and kept him from moving well, although under the light once he properly entered the living room, that didn't look too far off.

Danny said, dumbfounded, "You're soaked."

By now they knew him well enough to be prepared for a mild "Thank you, I hadn't noticed" in return. That was exactly what caught them unprepared when he said nothing at all beyond a simple nod, determined to get his shoes off before his socks froze themselves onto his feet. The task was just as hard as he made it look. Because his fingers were painful to move, he could only helplessly shuffle out of them and nearly hit his back against the wall in the process, thankfully steadied by Danny once he'd broken out of his astonished trance.

The save was sadly irrelevant. Whether they already made too much commotion or Alice simply sensed that her father was finally home, she was up and out of bed in seconds, dashing down the stairs calling "Daddy! Daddy!" like they wouldn't have heard her already. The moment Castiel lifted his gaze from his shoes, Seth already had his hands up in defense.

"We had her in bed. She's just a light sleeper," When Castiel still hadn't spoken a word, he added over his shoulder, "Go n' grab him something dry to wear. The hell happened to you?" Alice's yelling had stopped, but her excitement hadn't. She watched the two from behind Danny's leg until he left to find a a clean shirt, then stood herself in front of them with the presence of a first responder to an emergency.

"Did he get shot in his femoral artery?" Then, tugging on Seth's sleeve, "Hey, is my dad gonna die?"

"Good vocab for a six year old, amiright?"

Castiel switched out his dry sweatshirt from Danny graciously, mumbling a thank you that got lost between the hoarseness of his throat and stuffiness of his voice. "I missed my train. The car's in the shop, so I took one to work and I thought I could make it back by its last run but I'd completely forgotten to file my last report, and by the time I got to the station, it was down for the night. I couldn't call anyone because my cellphone battery was dead and I didn't have my charger on me, so I just walked home."

Uncertainly, Seth said, "Yeesh, take a breath."

"You walked all this way in the rain? Why didn't you at least go back to the office and get someone there to drive you?"

"I just..." Castiel sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "...I didn't feel like it. I just wanted to get home as soon as possible."

"Cover him with blankets! He'll get frostbite!" Alice ran out to grab the whopping two woolen throws her little arms could carry and brought them back with her eager expression quickly diminishing. He hadn't been shot, but the solemn weight that hung in the air was making her uncomfortable, enough to know it was time to be quiet. Cautiously, she wrapped the two blankets over Castiel's shoulders after Danny had led him over to the couch to sit, looking to her two sitters for guidance if not some kind of explanation she could understand.

It was too silent for anyone's comfort. When even Danny wanted to speak up just to banish the oppressive tension, something had to be sincerely wrong. But Castiel stayed quiet like he didn't even notice, and crushed under all his exhaustion probably didn't, until Alice took it upon herself to crawl into his lap. His frown cracked from an amused laugh as he stood her up by the shoulders, feet balancing on his thighs.

"Were you sleeping?"

"Yes, Daddy."

"You promise you were?"

"Yes, Daddy."

"That's my girl. You gotta go back to bed now, though."

Alice gave a sour look and sat herself down stubbornly onto his lap again, but she was no match. Castiel scooped her up and made the trip upstairs, thankfully without slipping over his soaked pant legs, and had disappeared up there for over twenty minutes before Seth and Danny had to wonder how long saying goodnight could take before it became counter-intuitive to actually sleeping.

He came back down in dry clothes soon enough, but with no one left to put a smile on for or make him smile, it was clear just how beaten down he felt. Whatever had him this tired, it couldn't be chalked up to this one bad night alone. When he took his seat on the couch again, at the very least hoping to stay put for a while, he thought he might have fallen asleep on the spot before Danny came in from the kitchen with a mug in his hand. "I shouldn't-"

"It's just tea," Danny assured him. "It'll warm you up."

The heat from the mug seeped into his palms with a warmth he wanted to sink into entirely, but he couldn't. His body was frigid and he didn't have the energy to thaw himself, or so much as move anymore. Seth gave an awkward laugh, saying to him, "You scared the shit outta us when you came in. I thought we were gonna have to ward off some kinda icicle monster."

Castiel whispered, "This would be so much easier if Maggie was still here..."

Silence loomed over them again. Where Danny stood motionless, parting his lips with nothing truly helpful to say, Seth recoiled from the shared pain but shook his head.

"Don't talk like that," he insisted, "You can't. It's not gonna do anybody any good." Whether Castiel believed him or not, he couldn't just not think it. She always knew what to do no matter how hard things got, and dear lord things had gotten hard. If he could talk to her just one more time, even that would be enough. But he couldn't. He couldn't talk to her, he couldn't warm up from this biting cold and he didn't know if he could keep going like this. "We're still here, right? And we're gonna get through all'a this together, ain't we?"

It took too long for Castiel to nod convincingly. Seth heaved a sigh and went to wrap another blanket over his shoulders, patting them a little too harsh. "It's not like you're doing a bad job, Cas. It's hard, but...that's what we're here for. Me n' Danny and just about everybody else, we're not about to let you freeze yourself to death in the rain or quit sleepin' cold turkey."

"Speaking of which, it's late," Danny mentioned. "You ought to at least try to sleep."

The very idea of it made Castiel skeptical- he wasn't able to sleep well before he had a kid- but if he was going to collapse into a pity party, he might as well do it lying down. Supported by Danny's arm around his back, he ditched the mess of shoes and mud in the living room and more or less fell onto his bed face-down, instinctively fighting sleep as it slowly crept over him. He turned to his side.

"Did she behave today?"

"She was an angel," Seth said. "Didn't give us any more trouble than she did last time."

"Last time you said you were going to sue her."

"Little less trouble than that today, sir."

Castiel smiled faintly, turning his face into the pillow. He was lost and scared without Maggie, but though she was gone, the rest of his world was sleeping safe and sound upstairs. "She ate all her dinner? Didn't hide her vegetables again?"

"Jesus fucking Christ, you're harder to put down than your own six-year-old. Go to sleep."

Seth didn't need to tell him twice. He'd already started to drift off before he'd finished talking, floating atop a sea of reassurances and doubts.

At least, as was his final thought, he was floating.

[bigherosixfeels]

Aunt Cass Goes Out REVIEW

SPOILERS BELOW

All I'm gonna say here is that Hiro should be careful what he wishes for. 

The episode begins with Hiro and Baymax flying in a rush as a timer counts down from thirty. The duo nearly hits a building and flies through a subway to rush home. The timer was, in fact, a microwave because Cass is popping popcorn for movie night! The two have barely managed to make it home on time, but Hiro is hiding their suited up forms with the sliding door in his room. His excuse is putting on "movie clothes" and knowing that Baymax is with him, she tells him to hurry up. "What are movie clothes?" Wouldn't we all like to know. 

The next day, Hiro, Baymax, Fred and Gogo are in line at Krei Tech. Krei has invited the richest people in town to attend a presentation that will prepare to have worries disappear. Fred is going to represent his family since his dad can't go. Among these wealthy people are Binky and Richardson Mole. Richardson starts to flirt with Gogo and claims his ears were burning because he thinks she was talking about him. Baymax confirms that his ears aren't burning, but are overproducing earwax which has him running away. Gogo and Baymax share an mildly awkward high five. 

Everyone is getting name tag ID's, but since Baymax isn't wearing clothes, he scans his ID and shows it on his body. As they all get into the presentation room, Hiro is explaining to his friends that his aunt almost discovered his identity. This hasn't been the first time and her almost finding out is becoming a problem. Recently, she almost discovered Hiro making repairs in the garage when she decided to come in to work out. Gogo thinks he should tell her (thank you!), but Fred argues that he shouldn't reveal his identity to anyone (except to a man servant or sidekick). Hiro agrees with Fred, believing that Cass would never let him out of the house again if she knew. Richardson attempts flirting again from afar and that gives Hiro the idea to set up Cass with someone. Gogo thinks Hiro should stay out of her personal life, but he thinks dating would be good for her. 

The presentation begins and after a brief slideshow of Krei showing off how rich he is, four ninjas swoop down in attack mode. This initially has Hiro, Gogo and Fred on their feet, but not to worry. It's all part of the presentation! An invisible force attacks the ninjas and keeps them down with nets. Krei properly introduces The Buddy Guard™. It's a floating, little robot which is oddly cute. Not only can it protect, but it's also "the friend you can depend on". Buddy is a drone that can counter any attack. If you don't want Buddy to be shown, he can turn invisible due to flexible display technology. The flexible display tech can make him appear as anything he wants or nothing at all. Getting your own Buddy can be pre-ordered. 

After the presentation, the four go up to Krei with questions. Hiro wants to know how the programming safeguards are and his answer makes it clear that Buddy is not as safe as it could be. So yeah, if Buddy glitches he could easily turn on someone. 

Krei goes back to his office and and invisible person follows behind. He was followed by the man who created the flexible display tech; Mel! He's not thrilled that his tech isn't being used for fun things like hiding people at surprise parties. He doesn't want it to be used to hurt others, but Krei assures it's to defend people. Mel demands for his plans back, but Krei refuses and locks his blueprints away. He then reveals that there are three Buddy Guards in his room and wants them to escort Mel out of his office. Mel declares that he hasn't seen the last of him. 

At SFIT, Hiro is on San Fransokyo Singles looking for a date for Cass. He doesn't think any of the guys are good enough for her. Fred thinks a guy with a mustache would be a good fit, but Wasabi argues that it's what's inside the mouth that makes the man. Honey Lemon thinks maybe Cass should pick for herself, but Hiro thinks she needs a little push since he needs a little space. Krei shows up in the nerd lab and admits there is a slight glitch for the Buddy Guards. Krei wants Hiro and the gang to make sure it's safe. If they do that, he won't tell the world that they're Big Hero 6. He's blackmailing them. 

As he turns to exit, Cass is entering the room and catches Krei before he falls. There's an immediate connection between them. Cass is stopping by because Hiro forgot his chemistry homework. Krei takes this opportunity to make a cheesy chemistry pick-up line. He also thinks 'Aunt Cass' is an enchanting name. Krei asks her out on a date later in the evening and she decides that if he can make time out of his schedule for a date, so can she. Hiro is not happy with this outcome, but Gogo remarks that he's getting what he wanted. 

The evening has arrived and Hiro is unhappily pacing in the cafe. Krei shows up at the door with flowers and Mochi angrily meows at him. He realizes this is the third time he's seen Hiro today and Hiro states it is, but not the charm. Krei asks if Cass is ready and she presents herself in a beautiful, purple dress. He compliments her and gives her the flowers which happen to be the rarest tulips in the world. They bloom every twenty years and are "very expensive". As they leave, Cass tells Hiro to put the flowers in water and he drops them in the toilet. I happily applaud this. 

Hiro continues his pacing in the living room and discusses his worries on the date going well and eventually marrying. Not liking the idea of Krei being a potential future uncle, he's off to make sure that won't happen. 

Meanwhile in the nerd lab, the gang is checking out the Buddy Guard. Wasabi confirms that it wouldn't take much of a glitch to scramble the programming. Fred shows up with some Noodle Burgers and drinks. He sets the drinks on a toolbox and immediately knocks them over. Some of the soda spills on Buddy, causing him to malfunction into attack mode. He turns invisible and begins shooting lasers at the group. Fred suggests using ketchup packets to fight it and this works out well now that they can kinda see the robot. They smack the bot down and it turns visible again. 

Cass and Krei have arrived at a classy restaurant. She hopes he has a reservation, but instead he cuts the line and they allow him in. Smooth (not). Hiro and Baymax are following closely behind and decide to get in from the back. Baymax gets a chef to open the door and he distracts him long enough for Hiro to sneak in. 

The date has begun and Cass is shocked at the prices that Krei was hoping she'd notice. She says that chicken doesn't cost so much since she serves chicken fingers at the cafe. Krei believes now that chickens have actual fingers (or toes) and Cass decides on ordering fish. 

Outside of the restaurant, an invisible force opens and closes the main door. Gee, wonder who that could be...

We cut back to the gang who have discovered that Fred spilling the drinks caused Buddy's threat assessment program to short out. Now knowing how dangerous the drones are, they have to make sure Krei won't sell them to the public. 

Back at the restaurant, Cass and Krei are discussing their shared interest in origami. Krei demonstrates his origami skills with an hundred dollar bill and makes a crane. I'll admit, I'm impressed by this. Cass then takes the bill and turns it into Krei himself. Krei likes this because he's "literally made of money". Hiro, who is spying on them, manages to get under a food cart and as their dinner arrives, he trips the waiter and food spills onto Krei's outfit. Krei is seconds away from having him fired, but stops short to not look bad on his date (kinda late for that, but at least the poor guy doesn't get fired). He even gives the guy the origami version of himself and tells him to "buy chicken toes". Cass thinks the gesture was sweet of him, but points out he has food all over him. 

Krei goes to the men’s room to clean himself up. During this process, Mel reveals himself and states he'll be needing his key card. He's got rope with him so...yeah he ties Krei up and leaves him in the bathroom. He then puts a flexible display tech around his face to change his appearance to look like Krei. Not knowing it's a different guy, Cass comes over and says he cleaned up nice. Mel tries to leave, saying something came up at the office and Cass questions if she's being ditched. Mel attempts leaving again, but Cass wants to at least be taken home. 

Hiro speaks to Baymax through an earpiece and notes that Krei is acting weird. Baymax, who is still outside, scans "Krei" and says he looks normal, but his DNA is different. Hiro decides to investigate the bathroom and he finds Krei tied up and duct-taped in one of the stalls. Removing the tape, Krei tells Hiro that he took his key card. Hiro now wonders who's with his aunt. With Baymax in his carrier, Hiro and Krei are on the road on Tadashi's moped. Hiro contacts Gogo with the earpiece to let her know that a Krei impostor has Cass. As they follow the limo, he instructs Gogo to get the others and meet them at Krei Tech. 

In the limo, Cass asks what's so important for him to go to his office in the middle of the night. Mel says it's a surprise and he expresses his love for surprise parties which freaks Cass out. She has no idea this isn't Krei anymore and Mel continues to turn her off talking about something that could turn you invisible so you could have an ultimate surprise party. He says he gets too exciting talking about things and that surprise parties are a "rich people thing" that she wouldn't understand. 

He arrives at Krei Tech and successfully grabs the folder with his blueprints, but Big Hero 6 and Krei are right behind him. Krei grabs the blueprints back, but the team explains that he can't sell the drones and why. Krei reluctantly agrees on delaying the shipping until they're fixed. Krei then activates two Buddy Guards. Mel hides behind Fred, but his grip is ticklish to Fred and he accidentally breathes fire which causes the fire sprinkler system to go off. Three more drones become active and all of them are now in attack mode. They turn invisible and begin attacking. 

Honey Lemon and Gogo are the first to be caught in ropes. Wasabi uses Krei's computer to attempt hacking into the Buddy operating system in order to turn them visible. The rest of the team provide cover for him as Krei attempts to leave, but a Buddy hits him and now he's tied up too. Fred gets tied up as well, followed by Wasabi, so he continues to type with his chin. What he does is sort of a success. You can now see the drones, but they all look like Krei's face is floating which is both hilarious and disturbing. Baymax punches one of the bots, but another gets Hiro tied up. This causes Baymax to be distracted and he gets tied up too. Multiple times. Mel runs out of the office and is being quickly followed behind by the remaining drones. He's going to lead them right to Cass.  

As Cass waits for Krei, she shows the limo driver pictures of Mochi sleeping in different places in the house. The sight of the floating Krei heads has the driver running out of the limo as Mel enters it. Cass gets in the drivers seat and steps on it. She wants to know who he is and why he's being followed by Krei heads, but he assures it's a long story. Things like this are the reason why Cass doesn't date. 

In Krei's office, Wasabi moves close to Hiro and activates his plasma blade. Hiro moves close enough for his ropes to get loose and him and Baymax are off to save Cass! Cass is continuing to get away from the Krei heads, but it's no use. Mel feels bad for impersonating her date, but he thinks being in the car with her feels right. Cass would rather focus on driving. Hiro and baymax have caught up to them and Baymax crushes two drones into each other. The other drones appear normal again. Cass catches a glimpse of Hiro and Baymax in the limo's mirror and waves a thank you to them for the help. She still has no clue who they really are. The remaining drones are right behind them and Hiro jumps onto one. He's holding on for dear life and they float in the air. The drone goes higher and flings Hiro into the air, but he grabs right back on. The Buddy Guard is about to smack right into a Krei Tech billboard, but Hiro lets go and Baymax saves him right on time. 

Cass thinks they lost all the drones as she drives into a more nature oriented area, but one drone is left. Her and Mel make a run for it as it bursts through the windshield. In case this is the end, Mel introduces himself to her, but Cass doesn't care. As the drone is ready to attack, one of Baymax's rocket fists punches the final drone into a tree. 

The cops show up and ask if Krei wants to press charges on Mel. He absolutely does which doesn't please Cass. She thinks he's a weirdo, but he also told her why he did what he did and isn't happy that he used Mel. Nonetheless, he's still pressing charges. Mel makes himself invisible with one of his flexible display tech blankets, but you can still see up to his shins. So yeah, he gets arrested. He asks if Cass will visit him, but she won't However, she does allow him to write to her. 

The next day, Hiro is in his room fixing up the rocket fist. Baymax asks if Hiro will find another date for Cass and Hiro says no. He realizes that her personal life is her own business and doesn't understand why he got involved in the first place. He's reminded of why when Cass almost catches him holding the fist as she cleans the windows outside. He drops the fist, causing it to launch, but luckily Cass doesn't notice. She waves at them both and tells them to get ready for movie night. The rocket fist falls on the floor and Baymax shows Hiro a shirt that says FILMZEIT. The end. 

This episode was really entertaining!

I honestly expected the date between Cass and Krei to be extremely terrible, but it actually didn't go as bad as I thought. There were short-lived moments where Krei didn't act like a horrible date, but yeah he's definitely not a keeper. He's way too in his head about being rich. I thought their first interaction with each other went well. They were mutually into one another, but they're hardly a decent match. Cass is a single, independent woman who knows she doesn't need a man! I liked that they both like origami though. 

Cass was just so good in this episode. I love seeing more of her and she did awesome driving that limo. She was so relatable showing that limo driver pictures of Mochi. She still doesn't have a clue that Hiro and Baymax are a part of Big Hero 6, but I'm hoping she'll eventually find out later on in the series.  

I like how because Hiro knows how Krei is, he didn't want her to date him. It's just really sweet seeing him protective of his aunt. 

Krei was decent in this episode. I actually liked the way he flirted with Cass at first and like I said, he had his moments where he wasn't all that bad on the date. Regardless, he likes people knowing that he's rich and he would have gladly had that waiter fired if Cass wasn't watching. He also has a history of releasing products way too early on which isn't good for his company. The Buddy Guard is an impressive piece of tech and I'd love to see it later on when its glitch is fixed. 

There wasn't really a villain in this episode which is fine! The Buddy Guards simply have a glitch that needs to fixed and Mel was only angry that his invention wasn't being used for fun. It was great to finally meet Mel, but I doubt we'll be seeing him again anytime soon since he's in prison. Who knows, he may sneak his way out and surprise us all (see what I did there?) 

Also, Richardson flirting with Gogo caused me to verbally make a noise of disgust. 

On a scale of one to ten...I'd rate Aunt Cass Goes Out an 8.6!