#clooney is there too

[eldrai]

simple things [Hotchgan]

2.7k words, fluff, Hotch/Morgan. Also features Clooney the dog. For @masterwords :)

It was a bad night. 

Three hours after they had gone to bed, Derek was snoring beside him but Aaron was wide awake and staring at the ceiling. The pain was swelling and rising like the tide lapping at a shore, receding but never gone. Nausea wasn't far behind. He had hardly managed dinner.

He wasn't going to sleep – even fitful sleep should have happened already if it was going to – so he rose without waking Derek. A shower might make him feel better but he lacked the energy and real desire for one; his heating pad would have the same effect for much less hassle.

He didn't turn on the lights, didn't need to, and he had a faint headache growing anyway. That was what he hated the most about the flares, that they affected him in ways it had no real reason to. Aaron blinked into the dark of the living room and the movement in the corner became Clooney, lifting his head up from where he was curled in his bed.

"Hey, boy," Aaron whispered. Derek didn't let him up on the bed all that often, owing to the sheer amount of hair Clooney produced, though the couches were fair game. And he was never a dog to avoid a cuddle. 

It wasn't a surprise when he was followed by quiet footsteps as he scooped up the heating pack and microwaved it in the kitchen, running on autopilot. Clooney brushed against his legs and stood looking up at him. He didn't mind being watched when it was Clooney, and though he'd never admit it, there was a sense of security which came with living with a guard dog.

Aaron stopped the microwave before it beeped – Derek was a heavy sleeper but that he wasn't in bed would be enough reason for him to come investigate any noise – and took the heating pad to the couch. He stretched out, the fabric cool after hours of turning over in bed, and held the pad over his abdomen. The heat seeped through and he groaned in relief. Sleep was far away but relief from the pain was more than an adequate silver lining. 

He reached for the remote and flipped on the TV, lowering the volume as far as it would go before he could no longer hear it. The half of the channels which weren't playing terrible infomercials had nothing which caught his interest, and what he did recognise in their recorded shows he found himself too drowsy to focus on. Aaron let something play anyway, because it was a distraction even if he wouldn't remember any of it later. 

Clooney whined, a quiet rather sad sound, and jumped up to join him. Aaron chuckled and shifted his legs to allow the dog room to curl up between them and the back of the couch, a warm ball of fur. Clooney laid his head on Aaron's knee and blinked at him with dark eyes. Sometimes he thought the dog had a sense for it, when he was hurting. He'd be slower, gentler, and he'd even leave Derek's side for Aaron—a feat for a dog with a clear favourite person.

Then again, for all he was spoiled by both of them, Clooney had his own experiences of pain. Aaron remembered the first time he'd come over to Derek's, and how Clooney had curled up in the ground by Derek's feet, watching his every movement as they talked. How conversation was easy with Derek in a manner it had never been with other people. They rarely got the chance to be the two of them without distraction and Aaron, who found himself longing just to keep talking, saw the opportunity and leant down to let Clooney sniff his hand—the dog had given him the once-over already—and gave him a slow stroke. He was a large dog, the black fur on his back fading to tan, with large ears sticking straight up. "German shepherd?"

"Yeah," Derek said. "Ex K-9. Give him a scratch behind the ears, he'll love you. He's a softy really."

"They do get hip problems, don't they?" Aaron had mused, taking in the low slope of Clooney's back. It seemed better than others he had seen. He wanted to kick himself—what sort of conversation was that —but his only other option had been was to ask if Derek grew up with dogs and, aside from already having heard him say he hadn't, would inevitably lead to questions about his own childhood.

"He's working line," Derek said, thankfully unperturbed by what Aaron thought to be a strange statement, "but he got himself shot right—" He pressed his fingers into the fur over Clooney's hip. "—about there . The vet says he's good as long as we keep up his physio."

"Oh," Aaron had said. Clooney walked fine, without the faintest trace of a limp. "What happened?" 

Derek sat back, his arm along the top of the couch. "Well. I get a call from my mom and she's saying Derek, there's this dog they've been training …" 

In the end, Aaron had not gone home. Conversations were had and drinks were drunk and they'd woken in the morning to Clooney curled up at the foot of the bed.

Aaron lay with his head half fuzzy with tiredness, watching without seeing the television, stroking Clooney's soft fur and holding the heating pad in place. When it had cooled, warmed only by his body heat, he was still hoping that he might fall asleep and getting up would ensure he couldn't. He leant over and deposited it on the coffee table, then lay on his back. Let the narration on a documentary talk him to sleep. 

It didn't, but when the pains made a sharp return, Aaron's hands came to knead his abdomen, pressing down as if that would stop it. Clooney raised his head. 

"It's okay," Aaron murmured. "Lie down."

Clooney padded further up the couch, sniffing at Aaron's shirt, and with a remarkably human glance at him, lay carefully on him. His warm weight draped across Aaron's chest and stomach, head on his paws, and he closed his eyes with a contented sigh. 

Aaron stroked him, a much easier motion with Clooney up close, and there was something unexpectedly soothing in the simplicity. The softness. He let his own head fall back against the arm of the couch and closed his eyes too.

Though there was none of the disjointed jerkiness of waking up and falling asleep again to indicate that he'd drifted off, Aaron spent a long time there, resting his eyes if nothing else. It was more than he got some nights.

The next time Aaron opened his eyes, the room was bathed in a silky purple light, creeping from late night to earliest morning, and he sighed. There went the hope of getting much sleep. He never did nap well and it would throw him off for tonight if he did drift off during the day.

Clooney lifted his head at the sound. Aaron glanced out the window at the clear weather. Glanced back at the hopeful brown eyes of a dog who knew it was near the time for a W-A-L-K. He wasn't in any fit state to give Clooney his proper exercise but some fetch before Derek took him out wouldn't hurt. 

"Go on," Aaron said. Clooney's ears perked up. "Go get your ball."

Clooney jumped up to pad down the hall for it and Aaron stretched out, the burn in his muscles painful but satisfying after lying still for so long.. He'd barely managed to sit up before Clooney returned, the mauled tennis ball held in his mouth and tail swishing the ground as it wagged. Despite his excitement, Clooney circled on the spot, waiting for him to get to his feet. It was the same thing he did with Derek on walks. The leash was a formality, because he never went far without looking back at them, checking they were with him.

Loyal breed. Loyal dog. 

Aaron let a strained sound slip through his teeth as he stood, pressing his fist into the worst of his pain. In some ways it was a blessing to be up so early, when there was nobody around to hear. A certain freedom in being allowed to be in pain. Just Clooney, tilting his head, eager eyes wide. And he wouldn't tell. 

"Good boy," Aaron said, scratching the top of Clooney's head, who gave a pleased huff and padded over to the back door.

Briefly considering stopping to find gloves or his jacket, Aaron figured the morning air wouldn't do him any harm and slid the French door open. It was a nice house; he could imagine a lot of life, people gathered in the living room, scattered across the deck, out on the lawn. The old deck chairs Derek claimed vehemently he was going to get around to pressure washing were in exactly the right spot to catch the sun in the early afternoon, stay warmed through into the evening. Aaron had a habit of falling asleep in them and he found he didn't much mind. 

His face stung. The air was sharp enough to prickle him with cold needles and he stood for a moment adjusting to it, rubbing his hands up and down the goosebumps on his arms, letting it wash over him like a baptism. His head was a little clearer, the pain a little more distant.

Nobody else in the garden. Him and Clooney and the few birds beginning to rouse with the sun. 

Aaron sat on the top step, lowering himself with a grunt. The grass was wet with dew beneath his feet. Behind him came Clooney's nails tapping the wood in his impatient excitement, and Aaron stroked the dog when he pushed beneath his arm and stood with his front paws planted firmly on the lip, gazing out at the yard.

Clooney's nose was wet as he pushed it into Aaron's palm, standing in front of him with his tail moving even faster.

"Drop it," Aaron said. Calling it a ball was honestly a stretch, but it was more solid than a lot of things Clooney sunk his teeth into. The first time he'd gone with Derek to walk him, the frisbee was nothing more than a twisted lump of plastic after they were through. But he was all gentleness as he let the ball fall into Aaron's hand and sat on the grass on his haunches. 

The first throw was a lazy thing but Clooney sprinted after it like his life depended on it, a blur of quick limbs and fur. There was something entrancing about his movements, Aaron thought. Either that or the sleep deprivation was starting to get to him. 

And then Clooney was back in front of him, the swish-swish-swish of his tail over the grass as Aaron leant down to retrieve the ball. He straightened up, felt the twang in his back, the omnipresent aching in his stomach. It hurt but there were worse things to hurt for than this. 

He threw the ball. Clooney raced after it. His warm breath ghosted over Aaron's  fingers every time he returned the ball, nudging his hand as if to remind him. 

They settled into an easy rhythm. The gentle breeze ruffled Aaron's shirt and his hands were going numb, mottled white and bright red. It wasn't that cold; it was his circulation doing what it usually did. Even as a kid he'd always be the first one out on the playground to start feeling the chill, to have his hands curl stiff and red, whether he had gloves or not. Nowadays it scares medical professionals into constantly checking his distal pulse and gets Derek to yelp when he brushes his feet against him in bed. He'd take that.

He wasn't sure how much time they had spent outside. Just that the sky had faded through the purples and reds into the amber of the sunrise. Clooney was no less enthusiastic about the fiftieth throw than he was the fifth and Aaron, aside from being unable to really feel his hands, wasn't in a rush to finish. Through the fog of exhaustion, a simple throw required no extra focus. He didn't have to concentrate. Didn't have to focus on the pain when he could let himself slip into the simplicity of fetch with Clooney.

"Morning," Derek said. 

Aaron almost jumped. He twisted around where he sat and blinked at Derek, similarly barefoot and underdressed for the cold, who held a steaming mug in each hand.

"Morning," Aaron said. Clooney whined and he picked up the ball again.

"You weren't in bed," Derek said. As he came closer, there was the rich aroma of the herbal tea blend they kept for the bad nights, and a familiar fresh coffee. The tea had been a gift from Penelope at first, except they found it helped temper some of the milder symptoms and they kept plenty tucked in the back of a kitchen cupboard. Neither of them had figured out what it was that was having that effect and it wasn't exactly unpleasant to drink — at least to Aaron. Derek got the coffee. As much as he craved it during the flare ups, when he was exhausted down to his very bones, the caffeine inevitably made things worse. The less of it the better. 

Derek passed him his tea and lowered himself to sit on the steps, close enough for their arms to rest comfortably together. The mug was warm in his hands but the warmth in his chest was entirely different. "Thought it might've been a bad night. Did you sleep?"

Aaron let his head rest against Derek's shoulder, which was evidently answer enough. He sighed and pulled him closer, taking advantage of the proximity to  plant a kiss on the top of his head 

"It's been a while since it was bad," Aaron reminded him. Derek always worried more about it than he did, had since the start of it all. He wasn't content with the pain, no, but he met it with a sense of resignation and the consolation that it'd only be a few days before the flare died down. Derek rarely voiced his exact concerns but Aaron surmised they were about what would happen if they didn't. 

"I know," Derek said. "I just…"

"Yeah," he murmured. When he took a tentative sip, his stomach didn't protest at the tea. "Thanks."

Clooney dropped the ball expectantly at their feet and Aaron tossed it to the end of the yard.

"Aren't you cold?" Derek said. 

Aaron glanced at his fingers, which were slowly returning to their normal colour from the milky white they had gone. 

"I don't think so," he said, shifting the mug to one hand. "They don't feel—"

" No ," Derek said. "Aaron—"

He pressed the back of his hand to Derek's cheek with a laugh; Derek pulled away with a hiss which dissolved into his own laughter too. "So that's the thanks I get, huh."

"You asked."

"For some reason, I was worried," Derek teased. Clooney returned to them, panting, and dropped the ball in Aaron's lap. He picked up the battered tennis ball. "How long have you been out here?" 

"Not long," he lied. "I was on the couch for a while with Clooney but I wasn't getting any sleep, so I thought I might as well."

"He gave you the eyes."

"He gave me the eyes," Aaron said.

Derek laughed, his leg knocking against Aaron's. "Yeah. Deadly."

"I can see why you said yes."

When Clooney came bounding back to them, Derek scratched behind his ears, stroked his face. "He's a good boy," Derek said. "Couldn't say no once I met him." 

Aaron reached to fuss over the other ear and Clooney stood basking in the attention, his tail wagging furiously.

"How are you feeling?" Derek asked. "I was gonna get breakfast started, are you…?"

And when Aaron thought about it, he realised that despite the feverish feeling which came with no sleep, he was more hungry than he was nauseous. "Hungry," he said. "Yeah."

Derek straightened but Aaron laid a hand on his knee before he could get up. 

"In a minute?" Aaron said. I love you .

They had things to do and they would have cases to solve come Monday, but for just today, there was time to watch Clooney. Just sit with a warm drink and Derek by his side. Let the world pass them by for a little.

"Yeah," Derek said, understanding in his eyes. He relaxed back into the stair, against Aaron. I love you . "Yeah. Okay."

[galacticsuperstitions]

the minds of a lab at three different points (LONG rambling under the cut)

I am constantly in awe of the analyses people put out about Arknights on this website. I feel like my own interpretations are somewhat lacking as a result, but I was confident enough to post this, at least. I've had this idea for a long time now, I think since Lone Trail released, but I've only been able to make the time for it now.

Rhine Lab has so many fucked up elements and people involved in it that it's actually impressive. They were really gunning for "most unethical scientific consortium" reward. Really, though, it's just the result of Kristen gunning for her parents' wishes. All of the directors want something and all of those somethings are different.

Things I want to mention or just feel proud of (allowing myself this because of how long this took):

-I was originally planning on crossing out Saria's surname to reflect that we still don't know what it is in canon, but I don't know why whoever has this poster would do that, so I just kept it in. Hermon refers to Mount Hermon, which Saria's name apparently derives from. Technically, her name here is the same thing twice. Oh well.

-I don't know who this poster belongs to. It's just in some Rhine Lab tech's personal desk, I guess? Doesn't explain the doodles, though. Maybe they were bored and feeling spiteful about the potential job insecurity of your boss being comatose in space.

-I realized only while making this post that I made Saria's, Muelsyse's, and Jara's doodles reference Kristen, yet Kristen's only references herself and her parents. Completely unintentional, but appropriate nonetheless.

-I am so happy with how the poster came out. It makes up for how hard I had to fight Canva for it to come out like that. Here it is in full if you want to look at it closely for whatever reason. (writing an actual description for this thing was fun!)

-Andenate doesn't actually have a face under the sticky note. That's why he's still Mike Wazowski'd in the poster png. I didn't feel like drawing one since it wouldn't be shown in the finished pieces anyway. His jacket is just the same as Magallan's.

-Ifrit's picture board was a literal last-minute addition. It's why the images are sketches rather than being in the lineless style of the poster. It feels fitting, though, so I'm keeping it that way. Seeing Ifrit all grown up and doing so well in Lone Trail was wonderful. There's something in her being happy and healthy and also surrounded by not just her loved ones and friends from Rhine Lab, but also people outside of it. She's cultivated her life to be as fulfilling as she wants it to be, and while there is still room to grow, she has plenty of support and insight from others for it to do so. I may be misrepresenting her a bit (the sleepiness doesn't help), but man. I love Ifrit. She's so cool.

[old-skyguy]

Look.

Ace Attorney fandom.

I know why people don't like Turnabout Bigtop. I am among the people who dislike Turnabout Bigtop.

But I GET why people like the case. I'm not going to be one of those annoying people who just blindly dump on it because I hate those mfs too.

Thing about Bigtop isn't that it sucks. Thing isn't the weird grooming stuff (though that is a huge part of it). It's not that it could've been good.

It's that - in my personal OPINION - it could have been *great*.

I think it had the potential to be one of the best third cases in the trilogy. It had everything; a fun and goofy setting fit for a pretty dang goofy lawyer game - where the environment itself had jokes and quips and one-liners and mishaps and tomfoolery written all over it, it had the previous case introducing a very interesting and important plotline that gave background for one of the more well-loved characters while also introducing an equally fucked up and lovable new one who was a child forced into a shit childhood of naivete in a CIRCUS with another character who was very naive and childish - whose interactions could have been funny and cute and reflective of said shit from the previous case (seriously she becomes such an important character in the 4th case, WHY would they not include her in this one for some character development? How did they fuck up letting a CHILD explore a CIRCUS?? That would have made the interactions flow MUCH better).

They had a pretty good, sympathetic killer imo, a morally dubious victim, an asshole of a client (who was pretty flat admittedly in-game, but I like his weird, topsy-turvy reasoning for it in the anime. Also, I think Max being kinda a dick would have bode well for the themes of Farewell since most of his clients up to this point have been like...nice? Not nice, but sympathetic, but him having to defend someone who's innocent but a prick would have shown him that just because someone is an asshole, doesn't mean they deserve to suffer for it and that they have the potential to grow as people, which is almost a complete foil to what Matt was. Ultimately, I would have loved the contrast of them as clients and I think it would have also served as character development for Phoenix, especially with his low-empathy tendencies).

They just didn't think that far ahead. They just didn't execute it well enough. They just decided to make three of the adult characters fight for the hand in marriage of a teenage girl. (Bat's part of the story was actually kinda good if he was just YOUNGER, I think him doing that for Regina would have been a stupid thing someone in the circus would do to impress their crush. Damn you Ace Attorney and your weird treatment of underage girls!!)

It just flopped and that's ok.

Even though it kinda sucked, it can still mean something to me.

Also I'm a Moe Curls apologist. I liked him, shut up.

[noonieboonie]

"I promise you, if I had all this to do over again, I'd have never let you down. It was always more fun when we did it together, anyway."

Fantastic Mr. Fox

1970 | Roald Dahl, 2009 | dir. Wes Anderson

[jazzdailyblog]

Dianne Reeves: A Voice of Resilience, Jazz, and Timeless Artistry

Introduction: In the pantheon of jazz vocalists, Dianne Reeves holds a unique place. Her voice, filled with emotional depth and technical brilliance, has been captivating audiences for decades. Reeves’ career has spanned generations, yet she has consistently maintained relevance by evolving her artistry without sacrificing her identity. Whether she’s delivering soulful ballads, fast-paced bebop,…

[cctinsleybaxter]

ryan having defunctland on his theme park podcast is so fucking embarrassing it would be like me telling robert gottlieb fun facts about catch-22

[wyldblunt]

i rly loved reading the tags on my other commander profession post so here's another one!! ranger specific this time: to what extent do you work your rangers' pets into their lore? do they actually own/have a bond with one of every species you have unlocked for them ingame? do their pets travel with them? do they have stables or kennels or something at home?

[ladysophiebeckett]

celebrities telling biden to step down....its july u dipshits. it's too late. u have to stand behind that old man and if u have to weekend at bernie's him come november and so on, then you fucking do it. dems shouldn't have let this happen in the first place but they did it anyway. so now you gotta keep going. oh well.

[spoonietimelordy]

talking about money, in France we have this class in between the middle class and rich people which I don't feel like exist in English despite most mildly famous people being part of it. We call those people "aisé", it's not the high end of being middle class, it's above that, but it's not rich rich yet. Rich people will always be fine, they will always have the money to live comfortably even if they loose a lot of money to a bad investment. That's what separate them from "aisé" people, "aisé" people do not live pay check to pay check, they can own multiple house and go on vacations multiple times a year without a thought, but they also can loose it all. I'm putting in this category people like doctors and owners of successful companies who don't come from generational wealth, as well as a lot of nationally famous actors, those kind of people.

To me, a really poor person, those people fell rich, because they are in comparison to me. But I feel like the distinction is important because those people are not the people who hoard money, those people are the ones who actually can loose everything in a blink. And putting those people into the same socio-economic category as rich people (without even talking about ultra-rich people), reinforce the idea that rich people have worked to deserve their money and that they're not that rich actually. And it's because we lump together 2 different social class. And yes it's easy to confuse those 2 because they often interact and are in the same circle, but economically they're not the same.

[dicapiito]

Can white celebs, shut the fuck up about replacing Biden? It’s clear they don’t want to pay their fair share of taxes but to think that the average American should be subjected to their first world bullshit is peak white privilege and peak Main Character Syndrome.

All celebs trying to dictate what Biden ‘ needs to do’ really need to lose support from their fans. Project 2025 isn’t a joke and all they can contribute is a clear complaint that they don’t want to pay their taxes.

Anyway, vote Biden in November because these celebs are already relocated and own homes in other countries and they won’t do anything for anyone should Project 2025 happen.

[breserker]

summer means windows open means i want to watch murder she wrote again (it's such a summer show for me) and it means my neighbors have to deal with me screaming old dead actor names every 40 minutes. "RENE AUBERJONOIS!!!" "JOHN SAXON!!!!!" i should get a fucking job (i have a job)

[etcnnante]

actually i have to talk about how vital yossarians sexuality is in catch 22 and how, despite how the hulu show is the best adaptation of the novel, still manages to almost completely ignore it in favor of the infidelity between yossarian and scheisskopf’s wife. which, is still a vital plot point, but to favor that almost completely over the relationship him and the chaplain share has me insaneeeee especially because of how prevalent homosexuality was among all branches of the U.S. military due to how young and inexperienced many of the drafted men (and women) were. like he CONSTANTLY calls orr a very handsome and attractive man, the most beautiful out of the entire battalion. it’s wild to me that it is never explored bc of geo.rge clo.oney’s homophobic ass

[neonsbian]

im gonna watch the other oceans movies so i can say w good authority that oceans 8 is the best one 🫡

[kindalikerackham]

what the HELL IS THIS

I FEEL LIKE I WAS TRANSPORTED TO 1999

[lilbit-of-kizzy]

So my mom and I (finally) finished watching ER

The whole thing, all 15 seasons, and I....I am so sad??

Like I remember we were all bawling when it finally ended back in '09 but....we've been rewatching it for so long now....I just backed out onto HBOs home page and it's gone..."you're next episode of ER" isn't there anymore and I'm just kinda heartbroken 😅

And it made me realize that I haven't seen the end of an era like this in SO long...so long! When was the last time you watched something for years and years and it had a satisfactory ending? It wasn't dragged out past it's prime, it ended when it needed to?

Many many people have written essays worth on why being able to binge watch is ruining episodic media (and why it doesn't need to do that) so I'm not gonna write another. I'm just going to encourage you to go watch ER. You can stream it all on HBO (and maybe hulu? Don't hold me to that lol) and you can still easily buy some of the DVD sets, I bought the whole series box set for like $100. Go watch it and see how a TV show OUGHT to be handled

Ofc it has it's flaws, even some major ones (takes place from 1994-2009 and covers some pretty serious issues we're still dealing with today!), but there wasn't a single night, the entire 15 seasons worth, that mom or I said "I'm just not feeling ER tonight let's choose something else"

You get to see where a lot of actors got their start, there's a lot of fun guest stars and "blink and you miss it" roles from pretty famous people (Chris Pine throws up in the background at one point lmao)

It can be gory, it can be heartbreaking and frustrating, but it's a hell of a good show

[wyldblunt]

probably gonna bring lorelei to the rp thing tonight... :3c or maybe someone else i gotta sit in front of the character select screen and think. but just probably not glyn lmao 💀 i love bringing him everywhere but he's hard to rp with.... it's ooc for him to spontaneously involve himself w other ppl's conversations/etc so it's hard to find ways to jump into the action w him PLUS even if i do, he's so fucking MEAN that it's nervewracking to write his interactions esp w ppl i don't know :') it's fun to write him being a dick to my ocs/characters i already know well/with my wife in rps etc but having him coming out swinging being a bitch to other ppl's ocs is tooootally different and it makes me too nervous