#for one thing; when I signed up I just spotted the members desk; walked in the backdoor up to the desk; and gave them money

[medicinemane]

It's amazing how quickly you can make someone turn on your company by making a stupid and insulting move

Force me to go through the front door and scan my card when I have backdoor business that never needed a card before (what? ...I was going to somehow... sneak in and... purchase things with a borrowed card? ...which I totally can't do from the front door after scanning it?)

Or like... twitterify your layout right after your users give you a bunch of money just cause they like you, and then refuse to walk it back

...or all the other things companies do that just kinda piss people off and then they refuse to acknowledge maybe it sucks and is stupid cause "hey, the customers didn't leave"... yeah... yet

[oceantornadoo]

quiet hours (john price x f!reader)

there is a power dynamic but it’s discussed, price is a major simp, some time jumps

—

price’s office couch. a brown and beaten thing, a comfortable touch on the side of his desk. john himself had never used it, but kept it from the office’s last occupant, a buffer in case someone tried to cross over to his side of the room. that was, of course, before you.

it started when your leg was injured. he let you prop up your leg on the couch and somewhere during the twenty minute mark of your conversation, you fell asleep. any other solider and john would have reprimanded them, tossed them out, but you looked so peaceful, soft lips parted slightly. he left you a note, come back anytime, not wanting to risk the sting of rejection to his face.

it became your ritual. you didn’t sleep well at night but as a high ranking SAS member, you had some freedom in your daily schedule for occasional naps. he liked hearing your soft sighs as he worked, going so far as to keep a silk pillow for you when he heard you complain about your hair on leather. you chatted or you didn’t, always leaving with a small smile and “thanks, cap.”

even the rest of base knew 3-5pm were quiet hours, a small sign posted on his door. the couch wasn’t big and with the angle of the door, most people didn’t even realize you were in there when they popped in to ask a question. john guarded you like a dragon with his jewels, chewing out recruits for being too loud, never explaining your presence to anyone.

right now, you were sound asleep, your small sighs like john’s personal soundtrack to heaven. simon had knocked silently, asking some important question about an upcoming mission, and john huffed with annoyance knowing he had to leave you. he got out of his chair, carefully so it wouldn’t squeak, and made his way over to you. squatting down, he rubbed a gentle hand over your face, tracing your relaxed cheekbones and brow. “sweetheart, i have t’ go. be back in few.” you whimpered, eyes fluttering, half drunk on sleep. “you’re leaving?” he shook his head, leaning in so his forehead touched your own. his hand slid towards your neck and brought you closer, practically a kiss. the comfort of it was delicious and you let out a contented sigh. “jus’ for a bit. go back to sleep, bub.” he peeled back, evaluating what kind of captain he was. apparently not a very good one as he kissed your forehead before getting up, the skin on skin contact rushing through his bones like electricity.

simon was waiting patiently outside, his relaxed look menacing to the passing recruits. he fell into step with price easily, walking towards their favored meeting spot. “tellin’ her soon?” john shook his head, dragging an exhausted hand down his face. tell you what? that you were strong and lovely and the most gorgeous creature he’d ever seen, on and off the battlefield? that the only way he slept at night was imagining your own sleepy sighs? that for some idiotic reason, there was a ring burning a hole in his sock dresser? “too soon, lieutenant.” simon huffed, the glint of a smirk under his mask. “been half a year, cap. jus’ sayin’.” john fought the urge to run back to his office, to make sure no one bothered you. “she’s just sleepin’ there, nothin’ special.” simon side eyed him, noting the stress lines and crow’s feet on his captain’s face. “i’ll tell johnny ‘s nothin’ special then. heard he’s interested.”

john prided himself on keeping his emotions in check. it was one of the revered traits of his captain position, the glue to the team. in that moment however, stopped mid stride at his lieutenant’s words, shoulders bunching and fists tightening, he wanted to kill half his team. “you will do no such thing, lieutenant. that’s an order.” simon clapped him on the shoulder with his short barking laugh, amusement dancing in his eyes. “roger that.”

—

“i don’t know gaz, do you really think he likes me?” gaz had popped in to price’s for a question but you were there instead, half awake and confused. he liked the couch too, tucking himself at the far end and pulling your socked feet into his lap. “‘ve never seen cap let anyone else sleep here. if that’s not a sign, don’t know what is.” you rolled your eyes, keeping them on the ceiling. “well i’ve been sleeping here almost six months and got a forehead kiss to show for it.” gaz froze, his hands stilling on your ankle. “you’re takin’ the piss.” as if. “am not! happened fifteen minutes ago and i’ve been overanalyzing it since.” gaz tried to reason how two of the smartest people he knew were such idiots. “darling, you’re practically married now. i’ve never seen-“ the door swung open, john’s strides minutely faltering when he saw gaz on the couch. “back to work, garrick. close the door behind you.” gaz acknowledged him with a nod and suddenly price was in his place, drawing your feet on the top of his legs.

“everyone wants a piece of you, don’t they?” it was nonsensical, what he murmured, almost to himself. you pressed your feet into his thigh until he got the memo, strong hands circling your ankles and pulling them into his lap. “what do you mean, cap? gaz was just visiting.” he hummed a non reply, fingers tracing the scar of where your foot injury used to be. “this all better?” your brows furrowed at the change in topic, nodding your head on instinct. “right as rain, sir.” his thumb, callused and strong, was pressing into your ankle now. it was like john was in a trance, fully focused on your worn socks, refusing to look at your face. “how long have you been sleepin’ here with a perfectly fine foot, sergeant?” your mouth dropped, confusion clouding your brain. “i- bout four months, sir. i sleep better here than my own bed.” he finally turned his head, his dark blue gaze searing into you. “why’s that?” it was barely loud enough for you to hear it, croaked out with a herculean effort. “because you’re here. i don’t, don’t really know why. you’re comforting and safe and smell nice…” you trailed off at the last bit, cheeks warming in embarrassment.

john tucked himself in and laughed, the air from his lungs brushing over your ankles. you answered with a small giggle, still unsure about your blunder. “whole time it was my smell keepin’ you here. way to kill a man’s ego, sweetheart.” you grinned, sitting up on your elbows. you pressed your foot into the side of his face, forcing him to look at you instead of his lap. “it’s you, john. keeping me here.” the temperature dropped, his ministrations froze. all you did was look, your eyes wide and pleading. begging him to just see, see why you kept coming back like his own personal lapdog.

you were moving, john tugging you closer by the ankles, strong hands moving up your calves until the rest of you was right there. he fixed the awkward angle by leaning down, one hand propped near your head, the other coming down to stroke your cheek. “say it’s true.” his eyes were still searching for something, so rare for you to see your captain look so unsure. “this couch isn’t even that comfortable so trust me, it’s true.” you had hoped humor would lighten the situation but your murmured truth made the air heavier, your heaving chest almost touching his own. “i’m too old for you.” you rolled your eyes. “you’re like four years older, get a grip.” he pinched your cheek, muttering cheeky under his breath. “i’m your captain.” your own hand came up on instinct, fingers finally touching the beard you dreamed about. the strands were soft but slightly scratchy, like he had a routine he occasionally forgot. “you’re john price. anyone who knows you knows that you won’t give me special treatment. i’ll run extra laps everyday.” your fingers were exploring now, thumb running down the bridge of his nose to the top of his lips. you both shuffled without realizing, your legs on either side of his torso, cradling his hips. his forearms bracketed your face, caging you in.

“i don’t love lightly. no friends with benefits or any of that bullshit.” you drew him in closer, one foot on his lower back until your pelvises kissed. “good. i want a man who can commit.” whatever he had been looking for, he found in your wide eyed gaze. “i’m…out of excuses.”

the kiss wiped out john’s memory of any kiss before it. it was slow and possessive, a claiming. six months of you just out of his reach would drive any man to this point, john reasoned. that’s why he took his time, exploring every angle and pressure point, searching for those breathy sighs you always made. he didn’t have to do much - one nip of the lip and you were singing for him, melting into his arms. you wrapped them around his neck, pulling him deeper. by this time next year, i’m proposing. john let the thought grow wings and fly, content to explore your touch as he wondered about white wedding cake and matching rings.

—

years later, no matter how you both decided to decorate your new house together, he insisted on a brown couch for his office. something hideous and comfortable, not matching the decor at all. something just for the two of you.

- -

price intimacy brainrot (i’m PMSing)

[violentdelightsandviolentends]

Honey Girl. Chapter Nine.

Chapter One. Chapter Two. Chapter Three. Chapter Four. Chapter Five. Chapter Six. Chapter Seven. Chapter Eight. Chapter Ten. The Playlist. Series Masterlist.

Chapter Synopsis - You and Bucky are holding it together. Until you aren’t.

Pairing - DadsBestFriend!Bucky Barnes x Female Reader - soulmate au

Warnings - cursing. hospital setting. talk of illness/health issues. panic attack.

Word Count - 3k

Authors Note - I probably sound like a broken record, but… thank you all so much for your patience and support. couldn’t do it without you. can you even believe that next chapter will be chapter ten? thanks for sticking with me. sorry for this rollercoaster of a chapter. there is still more to come - don’t worry!! <3

as always, if you enjoyed this, please consider reblogging!! reblogs are the only way to circulate my writing, which generates more of it. feel free to send me a comment or an inbox, too!! thanks, my loves!! <3

Masterlist. Inbox.

You don’t remember the journey.

One minute, Bucky’s grabbing your hand and bundling you into the passenger seat of his truck, buckling you in as your hands shake. The next, he’s undoing your seatbelt, telling you that you’ve arrived as he puts the car in park. You don’t recall speeding across town and into the city. You can’t even think back to the roads flying past in a blur as your thoughts run at a hundred miles an hour.

The only thing that’s on your mind is your Dad.

You and Buck take the stairs two at a time, hands clasped together tightly. When you reach the reception desk, you try to speak, but nothing comes out. Your words have dried up, dissolved and evaporated into thin air. Your soulmate saves you, once again.

“We’re here to see a family member in cardiology. Can you tell us where to go, please?”

The receptionist looks up at you both, before nodding her head in the right direction.

“Follow that hallway, then through the double doors and up the stairs. Go left, and you’ll see the sign.”

You’re on autopilot, heading straight towards the doors. Bucky follows you quickly, throwing a chaste but genuine thanks to the lady behind the desk as he goes.

“Baby,” he calls after you when you reach the top. “Baby, hold on.”

You spin around, looking up at him with glassy eyes. Your bottom lip quivers as he tucks some hair behind your ear, fingertips brushing your cheek gently.

“Take a breath, please. You’re gonna faint before you get there.”

You inhale as deeply as possible, your lungs only filling to half capacity. You grab onto his hand for a second, squeezing as hard as you can.

“Okay. Breath done. Let’s go.”

You take off down the hallway, leaving Bucky to jog after you. Finding the big blue sign that reads Cardiology, you storm through the doors, looking around frantically. You spot Room 4 and head straight into it.

The room is all white, clinical and clean. There’s sunshine beaming through the window, but it doesn’t seem to warm the space. It’s cold, almost ominous. It makes it hard to breathe.

The bed is empty, crisp sheets tucked tightly into the plastic sides. Your Mom is sat in the chair beside it. She looks small, swallowed by the blue material.

“Mama.”

You don’t recognise your own voice. It’s choked and strangled, foreign to your ears.

She practically jumps up, striding across the room to wrap you in her arms. Inhaling the familiar scent of home, you hug her back as tightly as you can.

“Where is he?”

“He’s in surgery.”

You breathe a half sigh of relief. You’d feared the worst, when you’d walked in and seen the empty bed.

“What happened?”

Bucky’s been leaning against the door frame, watching you both carefully but giving you space. The tone of his voice is calm, collected. He’s holding it together for you.

“I honestly couldn’t understand it all. They were telling me so much information so fast.”

She sits down in the chair while you and Bucky perch on the edge of the bed, facing her.

“It was supposed to just be an appointment, wasn’t it?”

She nods.

“They did the EKG and weren’t happy with the results, so the nurse put us in this room while she waited for the Doctor. Then the Doctor burst in, talking about blockages and bypasses and emergency surgery.”

Her hands are trembling, neatly manicured nails being picked at repeatedly. Bucky reaches over and links his fingers with hers, all grounded and reassuring.

“They put him in a gown,” she continues, “and all of a sudden they were wheeling him away. I can’t even remember what I said, or if I said goodbye or I love you.”

“Mama, you will have said I love you. I promise you that.”

“She’s right, Lori. You will have said exactly the right thing. You always do.”

She squeezes his hand gratefully, taking a deep breath.

“The Doctor said he had a blockage, and they were worried about blood clotting. That’s why they rushed him in. The nurse said she’d update me when she knew anything, but I haven’t spoken to anyone yet.”

“I’m sure he’ll be back soon. You know what Jack’s like,” Bucky laughs. “He’s the toughest guy I know.”

She smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom, freshen up a little. Call me if a nurse comes in, won’t you?”

You nod, clasping her hand tightly for a moment.

“Promise, Mama.”

She stands up carefully, inhaling before leaving the room. Your posture instantly crumbles, faked bravado leaving you as soon as she’s out of view.

“I’m so scared,” you whisper.

Bucky hears it clear as day.

He slides closer to you, wrapping both arms around your frame. Pressing a kiss into your hair, he runs his fingertips up and down your spine gently.

“I’ve got you, baby. You’re allowed to be scared. But everything is going to be okay. I know it will be.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better,” you mumble into the cotton of his shirt. “It should, but it doesn’t. That scares me, too.”

Bucky traces the features of your face gently with his thumb, his ocean blue eyes never leaving yours. He dances his finger over the slope of your nose, your cheekbones, the curve of your lips. His skin is warm and calloused against yours, polar opposite to how cold you feel.

“I’m your soulmate,” he murmurs, “but I’m not a miracle worker. Fuck, I wish I was. There are gonna be some things that I can’t fix for you, no matter how badly I want to. We just have to ride them out together, sweet girl.”

You nod, leaning in to rest your head against his pounding heart.

It still beats to the rhythm of your name. Even after all this time.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

You don’t jump apart when your Mom walks back in.

Upon first glance, the picture is simple - a girl being comforted by her Dads best friend. A hug. Reassuring words.

If you look closer, the image becomes a little more complicated - her fingers tangled in the front of his shirt. His hand cradling the back of her head. Familiar lips softly pressed to her temple.

Any other time, someone might question the sheer intimacy of the moment. But not now.

Now, all focus is drawn to the nurse in sky blue scrubs that appears in the doorway.

“You’re all Jack’s family?”

You all spin to face her, nodding frantically.

“Thought so. He’s out of surgery, and he’ll be brought up here shortly.”

“Is he alright?” your Mom asks, standing up. You can physically see the tension rising in her body.

“He’s doing okay. The Doctor is going to come up and talk to you a little about some… complications. But he’s okay.”

The reassurance at the end of the sentence doesn’t make any of you feel any better. You’re stuck on the word complications.

As if on cue, your Dad is wheeled in, all laid up cosy in crisp white sheets. He has oxygen tucked up under his nose, tubes and wires attached to his hands. He looks fragile, which is a state you’ve never seen him in before. Usually, he’s larger than life, braver than a bear, with a booming laugh that can make anyone smile. In this current moment, he looks like a little boy again, put to bed softly by his mother on a school night.

They get him situated as the Doctor approaches the three of you, huddled by the chair to stay out of the way.

“The surgery went well. The blockage has been fixed, and hopefully shouldn’t reoccur. We’ll put him on medication for the future, blood thinners most likely, to prevent anything further.”

Your Mom nods, lips pressed together.

“The nurse said there was complications?”

Bucky’s voice is low and careful, the timbre of it reverberating next to you.

“We ran into some trouble with the anaesthetic. We struggled to wake him for quite some time, and then his blood pressure completely bottomed out. We managed to get him steady again, but it was a little touch and go for a minute.”

Your Mom sits down slowly, holding onto the arms of the chair with taut knuckles.

“Your husband is going to be just fine, ma’am. We’ll manage any future worries with meds. Some people just don’t respond well to anaesthesia, especially if they’ve never had it before. We’ll monitor him over the next few days, keep him under observation just in case. But it looks positive. I assure you.”

She inhales, leaning back and exhaling the breath.

“He’ll probably just sleep it off for the rest of today, so don’t worry if he’s barely conscious. His body has been through a trauma, and he needs some time to recover.”

You all nod, Bucky’s hand reaching out to squeeze yours momentarily. He subtly presses a kiss into the nape of your neck, as if to melt the tension away.

You all breathe a collective sigh of relief.

“If you need anything, there are always nurses walking around on this floor. They’ll call me if necessary.”

She smiles before leaving, picking up her clipboard as she goes.

“Thanks, Doctor!” Bucky calls after her, making both you and your Mom laugh softly.

The three of you remain still for a while, scared to make any sudden moves. Eventually, Bucky stretches his legs.

“I’m gonna grab some coffees. The usuals?”

You both nod at him.

“Be right back. Call me if you need anything.”

You can’t take your eyes off him as he leaves. You miss his warmth instantly.

“He’s a good guy,” your Mom whispers to you from the chair, where you’re perched on the armrest. She’s watching him go too.

You hum in agreement.

“He looks out for you.”

You hum in agreement once again, albeit this time a little quieter.

“You guys are close, these days.”

You inhale calmly.

“Yeah,” you murmur. “He’s got my back.”

“He likes you a lot.”

Before she can continue, your Dads eyes flutter open slowly. You both jump up, standing on either side of his bed.

“Hi, honey.”

“Hi, Dad.”

He blinks rapidly, trying to adjust to the harsh lighting.

“How you feeling, tough guy?”

He smiles softly, and the relief that fills your body is so overwhelming, you feel as if your legs might give out. You hold onto the metal bars of the bed for support, praying you stay upright.

He groans a little, throat hoarse.

“Water?”

Your Mom puts the straw in his mouth, nodding in approval as he sips.

“I’m good,” he croaks. “Got my girls with me.”

You both laugh.

“Jack, as much as I’d love to be your girl…”

Bucky is stood against the doorframe, keeping a careful distance from the family moment. Your Dad chuckles, shaking his head.

“You’re the prettiest one, Buck,” he says with as much conviction as he can muster. You all can’t help but laugh even more.

“How you feeling, honey?”

“Fine. Tired, though.”

“The Doctor said you’d most likely just sleep it off all day. Go back to sleep, if you want to. We’re right here.”

He nods, closing his eyes instantly. Your Mom settles back in the chair as Bucky hands her a coffee. He goes to give you yours, but you place it down on the side table.

“I’m gonna get some air. Be back in a minute.”

He gives you a look that says are you sure?, but you’re already out the door, not glancing back.

“She doesn’t like hospitals.”

Bucky nods in recognition, but can’t focus on anything except the severe levels of rising anxiety in his chest.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

You can’t find your way out, and it’s making you panic more.

You’re throwing doors open, running down sets of stairs. Eventually, you see an exit, and barge through it with no regard for your surroundings. You’re at the front of the hospital, somehow making it to the main entrance.

Your lungs feel like they’re burning, white hot heat filling them with each weak inhale that you manage. The world is turning, suddenly, the entire axis of the Earth shifting on its head. Gasping, you grab onto a railing, desperate to just take a full breath and calm down.

The more you try to breathe, the worse things seem to get. It feels like the non existent walls are closing in, claustrophobia settling into your weary bones. Your legs buckle as your surroundings spin.

You don’t even register the impact of your knees hitting the ground, nor feel the pain that follows. You’re only minutely aware that you’re even on the floor because you can feel the warm tarmac underneath your palms.

Suddenly, there are two strong arms wrapped around your middle, pulling you into a solid chest. You relax against it, tired of fighting.

“It’s me, baby. Shit, it’s me.”

The voice is panicked, almost frantic in the way it hits your ears. There’s a hand stroking over your hair, strumming over your cheekbone, squeezing your shoulder. You wonder for a second if anyone has ever died from something like this. You feel as if you’re pretty close.

“You’ve got to start slowing your breathing, honey. Can you hear me?”

You think you nod. You assume you do, because the voice continues.

“Put your hand on my heart,” he says as he does it for you. “Just like that. Can you feel the beat of it, underneath your palm? It sounds like a drum, right? One two, one two, one two. Can you focus on it?”

You try to hone into the sound. You think you might be able to distantly feel it, where your hand meets his shirt.

“How about if we create a pattern together? And we’ll both follow it? Like this.”

The voice tilts your chin upwards, so you’re looking into his eyes.

“Bucky,” you choke out.

“Breathe when I breathe, okay? In, and out,” he inhales and exhales. “In, and out. There we go, atta girl. In, and out. You got it.”

You stay collapsed on the sidewalk for what feels like hours, breathing when he tells you to. You focus your vision on his ocean blue irises, finding your home in them. Eventually, you feel like you’re somewhat filling your lungs, and the world stops spinning.

“There she is.”

You drop your head onto his chest, warm tears soaking into the material of his shirt.

“I’ve got you, sweet girl. I’ve got you. You’re okay. You’re safe.”

You finally let yourself relax, sagging against his body as he holds you close.

“Fuck, you scared me. Are you hurt?”

You don’t even know the answer to that question yourself.

Bucky starts checking you over, looking for any visible injuries. When he reaches your knees, he inhales sharply.

“Shit, baby. We’ll have to get some antiseptic on these grazes of yours. You’ll have some badass bruises tomorrow, tough girl.”

You realise, slowly, where you are. You’re on the sidewalk outside the hospital, sat on the floor, wrapped in Bucky’s arms. You try to stand up too quickly, and wobble backwards.

“Woah, easy. There we go. Come sit over here with me.”

There’s a wooden bench not far from the entrance, tucked in between a hedge and a flowerbed. You take a seat, surveying the bloody mess of your knees as you do.

“They look worse than they are, baby. Promise. We’ll fix them when we go back upstairs.”

You rest your head on his shoulder as he throws an arm around you and tugs you into his side.

“What’s going on in that head of yours, hmm?”

“Don’t like hospitals,” you whisper. “Never have.”

“Is there… any particular reason? Or is it just one of those things?”

“Spent a lot of time here when I was younger,” you admit quietly. “I was kind of a sick kid. Had my own set of issues. Lots of appointments and stuff.”

Bucky nods against the top of your head, pressing a kiss into your hair.

“You never mentioned anything.”

“Didn’t think it was relevant.”

He hums.

“I’m sorry,” you confess. “For causing a scene. Being dramatic.”

“Honey,” he scolds. “You’re not dramatic. We’ve all got our fears, the things that make us tick. I promise you, no one thinks you’re dramatic. You feel how you feel, and that’s okay.”

You sigh in defeat, pulling your knees up under your chin.

“I think I was holding it together until I saw he was okay. When I knew he was fine, I just… crumbled.”

“That’s a perfect reflection of your character, you know. Keeping it together for everyone else.”

You chuckle dryly.

“Maybe. I suppose.”

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

The two of you sit outside for a while longer, breathing in the fresh air and revelling in each others embrace.

“We should probably go back up. They’re going to wonder where we are.”

You go to stand up, but Bucky pulls you back down onto the bench.

“Honey, wait. There’s something we need to… talk about, before we go.”

You turn to face him, and instantly tense up. He looks worried.

“Buck, what is it?”

“I… I don’t know what we’re supposed to do. Or how we’re meant to handle this. I really, really don’t know what the best angle is here.”

“You’re scaring me,” you say as you cradle his face. His scruff tickles your palm, and any other time, you both would have laughed.

“Before I came down to find you, your Mom raised a question with me.”

“… which was?”

He takes a deep breath. Exhales it shakily.

“She asked me how long you and I have been soulmates.”

tag list part one

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[coldfanbou]

More Than A Bath

I mixed things up a little with a soapland theme. I hope y'all enjoy

Length 2.7K

Nako x Mreader X Kazuha

You look up at the sign and take a deep breath. There were murmurs that she worked here, but you didn’t think it was true. You click your phone and check the time: 10 pm. The shop is supposed to be open now. You walk up to the door and step inside. The front room was decorated in such a way that it looked like a casino. To your left was a man behind the counter wiping it down. “Welcome! I haven’t seen your face before. Is it your first time here?” 

You nod your head, “It is.”

“Welcome to the Royal Flush. We offer great relaxation for men after a long day's work. We have a few options here, starting at thirty minutes and going up to two hours. That said, you can extend it up to another two hours.” The man motions to a blank board behind him before turning around. “My apologies; I forgot to turn this thing on. Just a moment.” He goes under his desk, flicking a button, causing the screen to light up with pictures of women on playing cards. You couldn’t see anyone who looked like her, though. He motions to the screen. “As you can see, we have many ladies available to help you. You can choose any one of them for your time here. Or if you’re feeling lucky, you can play the roulette.”

“What’s the roulette?” 

“I’m glad you asked, sir. The roulette is a wheel that gives you the chance to get two women for the price of one and even enables some that are usually reserved for special customers. The price to play is a little higher than choosing from the board, but if you hit the jackpot, you get two women for four hours. At worst, you’re paying a little more for our basic thirty-minute service, but at best, you’ll have the best night of your life. All you have to do is predict the space the ball will land in. What would you like, sir?”

You consider the chance the rumors were true, and she was just for special customers. “I choose the roulette.” After taking your money, the man smiles and asks you for a number. You choose the number she had ended up with on the show, six. The screen behind the man changes to a roulette wheel, and he begins the game. The ball on-screen moves around the roulette wheel, and while you don’t have high hopes for getting it right, you hope you’ll at least get something good.

As the ball begins to slow down,  you see it coming up on your number. Time slows down as the ball approaches the number six spot and swings past it one more time before coming around again. The ball loses momentum as it hits one of the ball deflectors, and miraculously, it plops into the six slot. The man smiles at you, “How rare.” He says, a slight amusement in his voice. “Congratulations, sir, you’ve hit the jackpot. You’ll be allowed to choose two women to help you relax and choose from our special menu. That being said, not everyone is in, so you’ll have limited choices.”  The screen behind the man changes again to show different women than before, and immediately, you spot her. Nako was working here. You continue to look at the boar, seeing other idols on it. Some of them greyed out to show they were unavailable. 

“How do you get them to come when they’re so busy with other activities?” 

“They need to relax too. All things considered, they come here pretty often. So who would you like?” You look back at the board, seeing other Japanese idols like Twice’s J-line and members of Le Sserafim. 

“I’d like Nako and Kazuha.” 

“Great choices. Here is your room number. They’ll be there in a moment. You may take the elevator to the top floor.” You give the man a nod and head to your room. Thoughts run through your mind. You never expected to find out that idols would work at some place like this. You hadn’t even considered what you would do now that you were faced with meeting Nako and Kazuha. 

When you get to your room, you tap the card the man gave you and step inside. It was a fully furnished apartment on the inside. You walk further in, seeing the view from your floor. You could see block after block of the city from your room. Wanting to look at the other rooms, you first come across the bathroom; poking your head inside, you see the usual inflatable you had seen in porn and notice the giant bath behind it. The floor was all tile, with a drain in the corner of the room. You check the other side of your room, seeing it was just a bedroom. Checking through the dressers, you notice sex toys and condoms, among other things. 

You hear a small beep from the front and head back to the living room to see Nako and Kazuha standing there. What’s immediately noticeable is their lack of clothing. Both are wearing just their bra and panties, only after you notice their hair being up. You gulp, nervous and unable to say a word. They give you a small smile and wave, obviously used to being seen in their state. Nako takes the lead, walking up to you and wrapping her around your back. “Take good care of us.” She says, her head on your chest. She shines a smile your way before letting you go. 

Kazuha pats the short woman’s bottom, “Would you like to get started, sir?”

“I would.” 

“This way, then.” Kazuha grabs your arm, pressing it against her modest breasts as she leads you to the bath. Nako grabs your other arm. Kazuha turns the water on for the bath, and the pair begin to strip you down, working quickly. 

“Oh, look at this.” Nako teases as she pulls down your pants. Your bulge was obvious to everyone. She runs her small hands along it before kneeling and rubbing her face against it. “Ah, it’s been so long. Kazuha,  aren’t you excited?” She says, looking at the younger woman. She grabs Kazuha’s hand, placing it on your crotch. “It’s big, huh?” Kazuha’s cheeks turn red, and she looks away from you, embarrassed. “Let’s get these off.” Nako tugs at your underwear until it finally comes off, your cock smacking her forehead. She’s stunned for a second but quickly laughs it off. Her small hand struggles to wrap itself around your shaft. “You are big!” She exclaims with a huge smile on her face. You groan as she strokes your shaft. While Nako plays with your cock, Kazuha takes off the little clothing she has, unhooking her bra and tossing it near the door before stepping out of her panties. Your attention quickly returns to Nako as you feel her tongue running back and forth over your cock. 

“Ah, Nako.” You moan, feeling your knees get weak from the sudden pleasure. She giggles before continuing. 

“We should get you in the bath,” Kazuha says as she strips Nako of her bra. “Don’t you think that’s a good idea, Nako?” Nako has a slight frown on her face but agrees, letting you go to remove her panties. Kazuha leads you into the tub, stepping in to test the water. The tub was wide enough to comfortably fit the three of you, with Nako on one side and Kazuha on the other. The shorter woman couldn’t seem to keep her hands off you. She reached for your cock, stroking it slowly as she pressed her tits into your arm. Kazuha sees what Nako is doing and joins in, turning onto her side and cupping your balls as she drags her nipples along your arm. You’re eyes are glued to Nako as she steadily moves her hand along your shaft. She plants her lips on yours and speeds up. You grunt in response, struggling to do much else. Your hand wraps around Nako, squeezing her tit and making her moan. Her devilish smile grows as her grip on your shaft tightens. Kazuha begins to whisper into your ear as you focus on Nako. “You’ve got Nako wrapped around your finger. Did you know she’s on birth control? You can cum inside her all you’d like.” Kazuha’s sensual voice continues, “I’m on birth control too. I wouldn’t mind if you gave me a few creampies either.” 

Your cock begins to twitch in Nako’s hand. “Don’t cum so quickly. We’re just getting started. Kazuha and I still need to wash your body. Maybe we should use the mat. You’d like that, right? It would mean we get to use our entire body.” You nod along and get out of the bath with Nako and Kazuha. They place you on the inflatable mat. Nako grinds on your leg, lightly moaning as she stares at your cock. Kazuha had gathered water and soap to clean your body before seeing Nako enjoying herself. She huffs and puts everything on the floor before getting behind the petite woman. 

“Nako, you’re forgetting your job. We’re supposed to be making the customer feel good.” She says, grabbing Nako’s small breasts and squeezing them. The short woman throws her head back and moans. 

“You don’t mind, do you?” Nako asks as she grinds on your leg. “I just need a little release.”

“Nako, you’re being a slut in front of our customer,” Kazuha responds, digging her fingers into Nako’s skin.

“I’m a slut. I’m a slut,” Nako cries. “I don’t think I can wait any longer.” She breaks free from Kazuha’s grip and moves up to your crotch, rocking against your cock. Nako quickly raises herself and slams herself onto your cock. You fill the room with moans as you cum as soon as you’re buried inside Nako. You’re not the only one, though, as Nako cums with you. Feeling your warm cum flood into her cunt, Nako slowly grinds against you as she moans. Nako moves her fingers along her clit, rubbing it in small circles. “Ah, so full. I feel so hot, Kazuha.” You feel Nako’s cunt milking your cock. She was tight, her walls squeezing you with a lot of force.  Your eyes are glued to Nako, watching as she pleasures herself. You don’t notice Kazuha fingering herself as she watches Nako. She’s groping herself and pushing her fingers deeper into her cunt as Nako begins to move again. Nako leaves just the head inside before swallowing your cock in one movement. You stifle your moan while Nako lets hers fill the room. “You’re so big. Look here.” Nako says, pointing at a bulge. She presses on it; you grunt, realizing the bulge was because of you. Nako begins bouncing on your cock, moving at a steady pace as she gets used to your size. She holds your thighs and throws her head back as she moans, noticing Kazuha standing there. 

“Come on, Kazuha, join us. You’ll be in heaven.” Nako says, humming in bliss as she slams herself down, moving her hips to please both of you. Kazuha gets beside you, taking one of your hands and moving it toward her now aching cunt. “No, Kazuha ride him.” Nako says as she continues to use you. Kazuha looks at you, her face bright red, before nodding. She silently positions herself over your face, trying to lower herself gently. She was taking a little too long for you, and you decided to pull her down. Your tongue pushes past her wet lips, diving inside her. You felt Kazuha squirm on top of you; she placed her hands on your chest as she let a river of moans flow out from her. “It feels good, doesn’t it? Just wait until this is inside you.” Nako tells her coworker as she rubs the bulge. Kazuha's breathing quickens as she feels your tongue lapping at her walls. She struggles to keep herself up. Nako sees her friend struggling and lifts Kazuha’s head before kissing her. “I love seeing you like this.”  Nako seems almost drunk on the pleasure she’s receiving; she plays with Kazuha’s tit, attaching herself to her nipple and swirling her tongue around it.

You dig your hands into Kazuha’s waist, keeping her in place. She began to grind against your face, the pleasure making her go crazy. The pleasure from you and Nako was pushing her toward the edge. She started to whimper as she closed in on her climax. “I don’t want to…I don’t want to cum yet.” She whined as she came. Kazuha’s body twitched as she came, her body rocking uncontrollably. Nako smiled, loving the sight of Kazuha cumming on your face. You lap up her sweet nectar, making the younger woman shiver before she falls to the side. 

“Can you give me a taste?” Nako asks as she leans in. You were more than willing to share, pushing your tongue into her mouth. You sat up and grabbed Nako’s waist. You held her for a moment before moving her up and down your shaft. She began to groan as you took control of her. You rammed every inch into Nako’s small body, enjoying as her cries of pleasure came more often and eventually turned into whines. “I’m going to cum. I’m- I’m cumming!” Nako screamed as you continued to use her. Your cock began to twitch inside her cunt, and you told her to get ready for another creampie. “F-fuck, do it cum in me,” Nako whined as you impaled her on your shaft and shot your cum into her. Nako’s walls clamped down around your cock, rubbing the head and making you want to go deeper. Your cum flooded Nako’s pussy, leaking out of her before you even pulled out. You take a good look at Nako, the blissful expression on her face, the drool running down her cheek as her mind goes. 

Nako collapses on you, her cunt still squeezing your cock long after your orgasm ended. You lift her off and turn to Kazuha. She was face down on the floor, still recovering. Your eyes move down her smooth back until you notice her shapely bottom. You get behind her and stroke your cock, getting yourself ready for another round. 

With your other hand, you grab Kazuha’s waist and lift her ass. You press your cock against her entrance and slowly push yourself inside the young woman. “Ah, you're stretching my pussy,” She groans weakly. Kazuha manages to get her arms under herself and push her face off the floor. She looks over her shoulder to see you pushing yourself inside. Kazuha’s walls welcomed you, snuggly wrapping around your cock as you rested inside her. You were close to cumming, sensitive from your last orgasm. Still, you pushed onward, beginning to thrust into the young woman, your pace picking up. You have to dig your fingers into Kazuha’s waist to keep her from moving. As you’re pounding away at her body, you can’t help but look at Kazuha’s beautiful ass; you pull back your hand and slam it into her soft ass. She yelps from the hit. A handprint begins to form because of the force used, but Kazuha begs you to do it again. 

You drive your hand into her ass again. She moans this time, loving the pain. Nako comes around, lying on the inflatable mattress and looking at Kazuha. Her fingers playing with her clit as she watches. You’re getting turned on by having Nako watch you and begin to move faster, slamming yourself into Kazuha without a second thought. The young woman’s moans become louder, and her walls clamp down around your cock. You were both nearing your climax. You couldn’t hold it any longer and buried yourself inside Kazuha, filling her womb with your cum. Your orgasm triggered hers. As soon as she felt your thick cum fill her, Kazuha arced her back and came on your cock. You could hear Nako teasing Kazuha, but her words were muddled as you focused in on the image of Kazuha’s back.

When you start to regain yourself, you hear Nako’s voice. “We still have three hours, Kazuha. How are you going to last that long?” Nako pinched the younger woman’s cheeks. “Are you going to make me take him the whole time? I don’t mind, but you have to be professional.” Nako turns her attention to you. “Why don’t we head for the bedroom? We can take Kazuha with us. She loves watching.” You nod your head, ready to spend more time with Nako.

[muffinsin]

hi muffin!!! i'm sorry to bother you, but i have a question. could you write about how the dimitrescu sisters would react if they had a secret admirer who leaves them various gifts. i'm not forcing you, have a nice day!!!

Hey, hon! :) Absolutely, what an adorable prompt!😚😊 have a lovely day, everyone🙌

Let’s get into it ;P

Masterlists

Bela

Having lived decades, nearly a century even, having an admirer is certainly no new concept to her

It feels as though hundreds have tried over the years, trying and failing to court her, whereas others succeeded and were taken from her far too soon again

A secret admirer, however?

That’s new

The first thing she finds; a white envelope on her office desk with a red rose pinned to it

Ah, romance? Or a mere prank from her sisters

She isn’t too sure, allows herself to indulge in her own curiosity though as she gently takes the rose, only to realise:

Whoever left it, they’ve plucked out every single thorn

How…thoughtful

Bela tries to tell herself she isn’t interested in romance, that it’s a stupid, useless concept that just isn’t for her

That it’s something only naive, younger people dream of

Such as Daniela

Certainly not her, no. Certainly not Bela!

Still, she reads through the envelope, keeps the rose in a vase on her desk

She locks the envelope in her drawer, hoping her sisters won’t find. Or even worse yet; her mother

While she loves and is utterly devoted to Alcina, the mother of three can be very…protective

She would, without doubt, hunt down this secret admirer that could never possibly be worthy of her precious eldest

Bela can’t help but think…what if you are?

What if, someday, there was one worthy of her?

Someone to love her, too?

Even when she doesn’t love easily herself

A few days pass and she forgets about it, almost

Then, a small package on her bed

A box, a rather cheap one that tells her this was likely one of the staff members, one unable to afford rich fabrics and items

Still, she finds herself smiling a little at the scribbles at the sides, the small hearts and flies drawn messily on the brown box

She closes and locks her door, ensuring she’s on her own when she sits on the bed and opens the box, at last

Inside, a book, a light blue-green tone to it

She holds it gently, feels her cheeks heat up as she reads the title

The cover shows light blue and white hearts- literal ones, not the ones drawn by many maidens and her younger sister

Then, in beautiful font;

Frankenstein

She tries not to admit the blush on her cheeks, even to herself

Only mere days ago has she talked about the book, spoken about how badly she wants to read it, complained how the duke just hasn’t had it in store for ages!

Now, it’s in her hands and as she opens it, another envelope, signed only by “-♡︎”

She reads through it, her heart skipping a beat and her flies buzzing a little wilder than she’d like to admit

This time, she holds the envelope close to her chest as she curls up on her bed and begins to read

And lastly, a more expensive gift, many days later, and many envelopes left in her room in-between

She just finished her bath, her beautiful hair wet, her bare skin glistening in the dimly lit room, a towel wrapped around her still as she walks back out the attached bathroom and into the

Then, she spots it

The red dress on her bed

She looks around immediately, checking- hoping, that her secret admirer might just still be around

But the bathroom is empty, as is her room, her private maid having just left mere minutes ago

Dropping the towel, she gently picks up the dress

A more expensive material, certainly

Whoever her secret admirer is, they must have been working hard recently to afford such a thing

She feels her cheeks heat up

While her youngest sister would be over the moons at the item, the dress, Bela is taken aback by the fact someone must have worked so hard to get something for her

To spoil her

Her!

Her, who has everything already

Her, who holds the dress close like a treasure known to only her

She holds it in front of her mirror, smiling a little to herself when the reads the note in the envelope that falls from the sleeves

“A beautiful dress for a beautiful woman. I know it will suit you, and I shall lie awake envying the fabric caressing your soft skin”

She blushes a sweet pink, a sharp contrast to her pale skin

She wears it the next day, then, hoping to uncover the person who has her so very interest

She yearns to meet you

Cassandra

One would think Cassandra’s brutal and sadistic nature keeps most at bay

That no one would dare approach her, would be foolish enough to fall for her

And one would be wrong

Throughout her life, she has bedded and been with many lovers

No, not lovers

Playthings

She’s had admirers come and go

Some, she’d play with, others she would ignore, others she would dispose of immediately

Unlike her sister, though, Cassandra finds being admired and being wanted is fun

Of course, she finds being feared is better than to be loved

But, the many admirers coming her way, practically offering themselves up for her…it’s fun

Satisfactory

Only does she never quite feel intrigued, never eager to make her pets last

As such, what most of them get is a fun night they might normally never forget, only to awaken with a sickle stuck in their back and their throat slit open

Normally, they approach her, or send her shy looks and giggles until she takes them

Precisely that is why Cassandra finds herself so confused when she returns to her room one day and something has changed

All the weapons messily sprawled out on her floor are laid on her bed now, cleaned, sharpened, polished

A note is laid out on top of one, with a small, new dagger laid across it

She picks it up, admiring its sharpness and the strong leather handle

Certainly a neat little gift

Almost, she would think it’s from Bela or Mother even, but knows neither of them would clean her weapons for her

Then, she reaches for the note, finding it signed mysteriously

“- ♡︎”

What the…?-

While she finds it a little odd, Cassandra forgets about this soon, far too distracted playing with her new dagger

Then, however, another gift appears

This time it’s left on the threshold to the dungeons. All know those are her regions!

She finds a torso lacking its limbs there, a dagger pinning a note into the back of it

Looking at it, she finds the strange signature again

“- ♡︎”

She prods at the torso with her fingertip, licking her lips

Still warm, too!

When she notices no one around, no one that could have done this, she shrugs it off and lifts the torso easily, biting into it and moaning at the taste

She certainly doesn’t need anyone to hunt for her,

but still, she enjoys it, finds herself liking this gift more than many other things

When another gift is left for her, more attention and affection is given to her, she almost snaps

While her family receives somewhat boring body parts for dinner, the heart is placed on her plate, the blood and sauce covering it making up a shape

“- ♡︎”, unsurprisingly

She demands to know who has done this

She can’t take her own curiosity, must know who you are

But with the staff too fearful to give her useful answers, she’s left guessing still

And, lastly, another gift

A rose, seemingly preserved in metal, beautiful and elegant

It’s left in the armoury for her to find, this time

She holds it to her gently, her fingertips tracing the metallic leaves and petals

The thorns are sharp, and she smiles in delight when one catches her finger and draws dark blood from her

Glancing around, she sucks at her bleeding fingertip, a light blush on her cheeks

She so badly wants to know, so badly wants to get to know the person doing all of this

Your gifts prove- you know her, know what she values and enjoys

Like the huntress she is, she searches everywhere, tries to hard to pick up any scent on, but none lingers on it

She’s certain, she will find out eventually, can’t sleep, can’t rest

She needs to know

Daniela

Out of the three sisters, Daniela is the one with the most lovers, by far

At the same time, hers rarely last more than two weeks at most, contrasting the many relationships her sisters have had and lasted in for months and years

Daniela, being naturally flirty, has many admirers

And she loves it

While some fear her, she still finds most trying to flirt back, eager to be with her for various reasons;

Either, her beauty. It’s no secret most that return her advances do so in hopes of fighting the loneliness in the castle and to indulge in her body

Others hope to gain something by being with the young woman

And others do genuinely feel for her, or believe so at least, yet never last

Through the pink-tinted glasses she has, the world seems beautiful, romantic, loving

Many don’t understand so

Many of her admirers fall due to this

You, however, stand out

You make her curious, immensely so

Daniela first finds a strange, red box sitting snuggly on her bed one day

Large, almost too large to contain something small only

Of course, this has her feel curious

When she opens the door eagerly, almost shredding it in her excitement even, she squeals at what she finds inside

A brown, fluffy teddy bear!

She picks it up immediately, giggles at the scent of roses clinging to it

As she lifts the stuffed animal, though, she notices a little white card slipping from it

She reads the signature, a little gasp coming from her lips as she realises:

She has a secret admirer!

A secret one…of course, this immediately makes her wonder who you are

How exciting!

How unique!

She sleeps with the bear each night, holding it and more of her stuffed animals close

She wonders: does her admirer smell of roses, too? Like the bear?

When she finds another card, with a poem, right by her door the next morning, she swoons

Again, it shows the little heart by the signature

“- ♡︎”

Even while trying to figure out who her lover could be-

while hiding both, the bear and the note from her overprotective family

- Daniela can’t help but daydream of what you could be like

Giddy, she wonders whether you’re watching her; whether you’ve ever talked to her

Whether she knows you

The next gift is a bouquet of flowers, left with her favorite book and the signed note at the library

She giggles out loud, spinning in a circle and smiling to herself as she smells the roses

How sweet!

How romantic!

Again, she looks around and tries to pick up your scent, pouting adorably when she just can’t figure out who her secret admirer is!

She’s sure, she will find out eventually

She simply has to

A few days pass, and she receives more gifts, more notes

Little poems, love notes

Little compliments that make her blush shyly and look around curiously, her cute, golden eyes wide in wonder

All signed by the mysterious, sweet heart

She keeps all the notes in her room, giggling to herself when she re reads them with a pink blush on her cheeks

Her very own secret admirer!

Another present, a little while after

A box, small and delicate, waiting for her on the bed in the morning

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she feels a little excited at the thought her soon-to-be lover must have been here

Opening the box, she finds a beautiful piece of jewellery

A necklace, gold with a beautiful green gemstone

She smiles widely, inspecting the gemstone lovingly

It almost looks like the one of her necklace! A matching piece, almost

Eagerly, she puts it on, smiling and swarming to the mirror

It really does look perfect around her neck!

[pfhwrittes]

for ✨♥️🗡 anon.

a little drabble for the retail hell au. all fluff, no TWs needed i think. female!reader. "love" used as a pet name and john calls the reader a "good girl".

pairing(s): john price x female reader, simon riley x female reader (or even john price x female reader x simon riley if you squint)

600ish words; barely edited again.

-- it’s been a slow start to your shift on the checkouts. your manager for some reason has overscheduled the team, so you’re drifting between the customer service desk which is already covered and the checkouts which is fully staffed. truth be told, you're a little bit confused. you’ve never seen this many people working on front end. you make another slow circuit from the checkouts, offering to take carol off for a break if she wants to, and up to the customer service desk where you chat with megan for a few minutes before a customer wanders over with a bit of receipt paper. 

you’re on your way back to the checkouts when john gestures you over to join him and simon where they’ve been watching the checkouts discreetly from the end of one of the aisles. 

“y’look bored as fuck” simon states matter-of-factly when you join them. john rolls his eyes and sighs at simon’s bluntness before shooting you a small smile.

“what he means to ask love, is if you’d like to do a job for us?” john’s still smiling at you and you’re very briefly distracted by the way the skin around his eyes crinkles. you wonder if he knows you’ll say yes to anything he asks if he shoots you a smile. probably not. he’s got most of the store a-flutter for his blue eyes and old-fashioned charms as it is. 

you twist the bottom edge of your gaudy orange apron between your fingers as you fight against your initial reaction of yes sir, anything you want! and the more sensible approach. 

“what’s the job?” you ask, flicking your eyes over to simon who as always looks like he’d rather pull out his own teeth than be standing on the shopfloor. despite his gruff manner, you quite like simon. he’s funny underneath the front he puts on in front of customers and members of management he doesn’t respect. 

“babysittin’” simon fires off with a completely straight face, folding his massive arms across his chest. you get the impression that he’s trying to look more imposing that he already does. all it does is pull the slightly dusty black polo top he’s wearing tighter over his massive chest.

“babysitting?” you repeat dumbly. you fidget with your apron again and turn your attention back to john hoping that you don’t look as flushed as you feel. 

“i was hoping you wouldn’t mind givin’ simon a hand in the warehouse today, love.” john explains. 

“‘specially considerin’ your prick of a manager’s fucked up the schedule.” simon adds with a scoff. “man couldn’t fill out a rota even if the only thing he’s gotta do is sign his fuckin’ name on the top.”

you press your lips together to stop yourself from smiling at simon. he’s right, after all this isn’t the first time your manager has mucked up the schedules, but you won’t give him the satisfaction. he spots the way you tamp down on your smile and his lips tick up in a brief smirk in response. 

john reaches up to scrub his hand over his beard and your attention is caught by the way he purses his lips. you miss the glimmer of mischief in his eyes as he clears his throat and you look away hastily to look over at the checkouts. 

“so what d’ya think then? gonna give us a hand? hm?”

you nod quickly, aware that carol is glancing over and shooting you a dirty smirk that you hope john and simon haven’t seen yet. 

“good girl. follow us then.”

and well, who are you to disagree when john places the flat of his hand on your lower back just above the apron strings and simon becomes a long line of warmth at your side as they walk you towards the warehouse.

[kimbappykidding]

Part One and Part Two.

You were at work and things were completely normal until two young girls approached you as you cleared a table. "Does this guy come in here often?" one of the girls asked and she showed you a photo of Wonwoo. You froze wondering what to do before figuring you should just deny it. "I don't think so...why do you know him?". "Kinda...we're friends with him" the other girl replied. Considering they were a good 10 years younger than Wonwoo, you figured they were lying and were just really passionate fans. "Ahh well if I see someone like that I'll let him know his friends are looking for him". The girls ordered drinks and took a seat, clearly in no rush to leave. You figured they were deciding to do a stake out and snook off as soon as you could to try and call Wonwoo but he didn't pick up. He was due to come over after work too and you texted him trying to warn him not to come but got no response. As the time got nearer you began to panic until your friend suggested you just go tell him in person. "You know where he works" Mari said but you hesitated. "Isn't that too full on? I just show up?". "Considering you're telling him there are fans sitting here waiting for him I don't think so". You frowned "you think?". She nodded "what else is the plan? Try and notice him before they do?". You knew she was right but paused "what about you? Will you be okay?". Mari smiled "it's 7:30, I think I can handle the one or two customers so go! I'll close up and sort everything". "You're the best!" you cried and then rushed to go tell Wonwoo before he left to come to find you. You made your way to Wonwoo's building quickly but slowed down when you saw the entrance. You’d never visited before and it looked so fancy you worried they wouldn't let you in. If you'd known today you'd be coming to Wonwoo's work you'd have worn something nicer. You pulled self-consciously at your top and walked inside. There was a huge elevator on the other side of the room and a man at a desk who you apparently had to go through to get there. You walked over to him and asked which floor Seventeen were on. He asked who you were and you explained you were Wonwoo's partner and there were some fans waiting for him at your cafe where you were due to meet. "If you can't let me up I understand but if you could just get a message to him that'd be great". The man shook his head "no you can go see him" and gave you the floor number and some directions. All you had to do was sign in and then you were on your way. The elevator doors opened and you made your way down the hall but didn't know where Wonwoo would be. There was a receptionist's desk but it was empty given the time. You walked down a corridor but needed passes to get into most rooms so you were stuck. You tried Wonwoos phone again but got nowhere. You were wondering what to do when a nice woman appeared. She was apparently a make-up artist and when you explained you needed to warn Wonwoo about something she led you to him. He was in dance rehearsal and she told you to just go in. "But can I disturb him if he's in rehearsal?". She smiled "don't worry they're never too formal. Just go on in". You nodded and looked through the door. You couldn't see anyone but could hear voices and with a sigh you pushed the door open.

You blinked as the studio was a lot larger and brighter than you expected. There were lots of guys in the room and they were all doing slightly different things. Some were dancing whereas others were just sat down talking. Several paused as you walked in and stared. Luckily you spotted Wonwoo straight away and awkwardly pointed to him in explanation to the guys staring at you. Wonwoo had his back to you and was talking with another member with long-ish hair. As you got closer the man next to him paused and said something. Wonwoo turned and saw you. He looked surprised but automatically smiled when he saw you which was nice. "Y/n!" he said "I didn't get the time of our date wrong did I?" hugging you. You shook your head "no I just came to warn you, some of your fans are at the cafe". "What?" he asked "did they bother you?" taking your hand. You shook your head "no they didn't seem to know about us they were just looking for you. So I didn't want you to just walk into that! I tried calling you but got no response". "That's my fault I'm afraid I called no phones" the guy next to you said and Wonwoo smiled "Y/n this is our leader Scoups, Scoups this is Y/n". "Lovely to meet you Y/n" Scoups said shaking your hand and you smiled "lovely to meet you too wow so you're in charge of everyone huh?". Scoups laughed "kind of. I don't get to make big decisions or anything, I mainly just keep all of them in line" he said gesturing to the guys. You turned to look at the rest of the members and they rapidly all pretended like they hadn't been staring at you. You smiled "that sounds like a full-on job". Scoups smiled "a little and your boyfriend is the worst!". Wonwoo objected, bickering with his leader and you laughed seeing the interaction. "Thank you for coming all this way to tell me" Wonwoo said turning back to you and you shook your head "no problem, I was actually pretty nervous to disturb you at work". Wonwoo shook his head "not at all you're welcome here any time...speaking of do you have to get back to work or would you like to stay here a wait for me?" Wonwoo asked "we only have 30 minutes left and we have a pretty nice break room". You paused "would you mind if I stayed?" and Wonwoo shook his head "of course not! Let me take you to the room". He led you from the studio and across the hall into a nice room with sofas and games. Three guys were in there chatting and they all froze when they saw you. Wonwoo led you further into the room towards them "hey everyone this is Y/n. Y/n this is Joshua, Jun and Vernon". They all said hello and you smiled at them trying to memorise names. You could tell they already knew who you were by the excited looks on their faces but pretended you didn't notice. "Y/n is going to chill in here for a bit while she waits for me" Wonwoo explained and the trio nodded "cool, it will give us a chance to get all the dirt on you" Joshua said and Wonwoo shot him a look before turning back to you. "Okay so there's a coffee machine right there...wait let me make you one". You laughed "it's okay I can do it myself". "Are you sure?" Wonwoo asked "because you are my guest and I don't want to...". "Go!" you told him laughing "I don't want to get you in trouble with the choreographer". Jun laughed "Hoshi? He's a softie, you just give him a cookie and all is forgiven". "Really?" you asked Vernon looked at Jun “what sort of special treatment are you getting?” which made you all laugh."Are you sure you don't want me to do it?" Wonwoo asked adorably and you gave him a light push "go! I'm literally a barista so it will be just fine" and reluctantly he left. Promising you he'd be back soon. You smiled at Wonwoo's members feeling slightly awkward before going over to the coffee machine. You managed to work it out and found Wonwoo's members waiting for you. "Hey, so you work at the cafe around the corner right?" Vernon asked. You nodded and Joshua smiled "I know they broke the rules recently but Wonwoo scoped that out as his place ages ago". "He did?" you asked and Joshua nodded "he said it was his place to go unwind so none of us were allowed there". You laughed "no wonder he came in so often". "To be fair I think we can safely say it wasn't the peace and quiet that kept him coming back" Joshua said with a smile and you blushed. "So are you from Seoul originally Y/n?" Vernon asked and you all chatted, getting to know one another. You were very impressed to learn Vernon and Joshua were both half-American and that Jun was Chinese. You'd always wanted to live abroad but had never been brave enough. You were just discussing your different school lives when Wonwoo and all the other members appeared, clearly all getting ready to do home. Not all of them had spotted you yet and two were messing around pulling at each other's shirts when they spotted you sat there and froze. "There a girl" one of them said and Jeonghan laughed "yes Dino, that's Y/n". "Wonwoo's Y/n?" he asked making you and Wonwoo blush. "Yes" Wonwoo said coming to stand behind you "if anyone else hasn't met her yet this is y/n, Y/n this is...everyone" he said looking at the room. All the guys turned to stare at you and you laughed "I will do my best with names". "Don't worry about it" Scoups assured you when Joshua shrugged "we should probably introduce ourselves". A cute member you learnt was called Seungkwan declared it a wonderful idea and had everyone go around the room and say their name. It was a lot to take in but they all seemed so friendly and nice that you appreciated the gesture. Afterwards, they all broke off to get their stuff and Wonwoo reappeared beside you "ready to go?". You nodded and he led you from the room, your hand lightly in his. "See you tomorrow" he called and you nodded "bye everyone". "Bye y/n!" several of them called in unison making you and Wonwoo blush all over again. On the way out Wonwoo turned to you "so...was that okay? I was worried about overwhelming you with all the members but you did amazing". You smiled "thanks but they were all super nice and welcoming...Joshua mentioned you banned them all from coming to my cafe huh?". Wonwoo looked down "I might've...". You tutted "do you know how much money 13 coffees comes to?" making him laugh. "I'm kidding of course" you said "but did you really do it just so they would leave you alone?". Wonwoo paused "I might've also done it so they'd stay away from you...I know it's immature but I didn't want any of them meeting my crush in case they beat me to asking you out or something" Wonwoo admitted "plus I was worried you might like them better than me". You shook your head "impossible! You'll always be my favourite customer" and Wonwoo stopped walking and turned to you "I will be huh?". You stared up at him with the height difference but didn't let that make you falter. "Of course" you replied gently grabbing his coat and Wownoo smiled "I like being your favourite" and kissed you. Later that night you were sleeping soundly next to Wonwoo but he couldn't sleep. Already fans had connected him to your cafe, how long before they connected the two of you? Carats were pretty good but what if they decided to boycott your place to punish him for dating? Or if tons of people swarmed to hear about him? This was your business and he didn't want you getting hurt for dating him. The obvious thing to stop that from happening was to break up with you but he didn't want to do that. He was really enjoying his time with you and could see this going somewhere. So he decided to ask for some help from his publicist. "How long have you two been together?" his publicist asked a few days later. "Well I've known her for just under a year and we've been dating for nearly 4 months". The publicist froze "that's it? You're looking for protection for a girl you’ve only been with for 4 months?". Wonwoo nodded "I know it's a little sooner than usual but like I said fans are working it out and I really likely Y/n. Plus her business needs protecting so it's not just her but her livelihood too". The publicist sighed "fine, ill draw up a contract and bring it to you later this week". "Thank you!" Wonwoo said and immediately felt better. Now he just had to explain it to you without coming on way too strong. Wonwoo used to meet you after work but he hadn't been near your cafe since the fans went there. He missed it because he'd obviously been a regular at your cafe for a while. You brought him snacks and the coffees he'd missed but it wasn't the same and he missed it...but he liked you coming to his work. He felt like a kid but he got excited when he saw you walk past the window and felt special having you waiting for him. He'd always come straight to you for a hug and kiss after training and was surprised because he never usually liked pda but with you, he didn't care who was around. Today he was a little nervous because he had the contract in his bag. He walked into the break room and saw you sat there with a coffee and one for him. You'd also brought brownies which the guys were happily tucking into. Scoups saw him first and smiled "Wonwoo on behalf of everyone I want to thank you for dating Y/n". You looked around for him and then smiled when you saw him which melted Wonwoows heart. "The pleasure is all mine" he said wrapping his arms around you and you put your hands on top of his. You looked up at him and smiled again "hi". "Hi" he said and leaned down to peck your lips. "I need to grab my stuff and then I'll be ready" he said and you nodded "take your time". Walking home Wonwoo was chatting with you but he was also worrying about how to bring this up. How to mention to you just a few months into your relationship your identity had to be protected? You never really asked him about being famous and when he was with you it was like he was normal. He thought he was hiding his worry well but apparently not. The first thing you did when you got home was look at him and frown. "Are you okay?' You asked and Wonwoo paused "what why?". "You just seem...nervous" you said. Wonwoo laughed "how can you do that?". You shrugged "I guess I just know you so well" smiling before going serious "so you're not?". "It's nothing to be worried about I just have something to discuss with you" he explained and you nodded leading him to the kitchen. You sat down at the table and Wonwoo got out the contract. "So I know you don't think it's a bit deal but those girls coming to your cafe to ask about me got me worried" Wonwoo said. You sat forwards "aww Wonwoo you know we'd never tell them anything about you" you replied and Wonwoo paused. You thought he was worried about himself? "Y/n I don't care if they find out things about me but I don't want them to hurt you. That's what I'm worried about". You paused "hurt me? What makes you think they will?". "Well if they've spotted me there then they might work out we're together and start behaving badly. Harassing you or even targeting your cafe". You frowned "okay..." a little concerned and Wonwoo hurried on "that's why I got my publicist to draw us up this agreement. What it means is if any of the big magazines get photos of us or any rumours they won't publish it for 3 years. It basically protects us and keeps up quiet from the public. They can't touch your identity and it's not everything but it's something". You nodded "and you really think I need this? People will really care about me and my store?". "Definitely" Wonwoo said "the more I can protect you the better" and you blushed "okay then where do I sign?". Wonwoo felt so much better after you signed the contract but now you were the one who couldn't sleep. You called your friend Mari on the way to work not able to wait until she got in and explained the situation. "That's so sweet" she said and you nodded "it is but this has never happened to me before, I've never dated someone famous...is this a big deal or do all partners sign this sort of thing? I just can't work out if it's a big step and I should make a bit deal out of it or if it's nothing. Is it something Wonwoo does for all his past girlfriends?". "Why does he have a lot?" Mari asked and you pause "no he only had 2 before me but still". Mari frowned "I'm nearly here so hold on". Wonwoo had given you a copy of the agreement and even emailed it to you so you'd have it. You showed it Mari and she nodded "yeah this is way more than that one law lecture I attended but there's a name and number at the bottom right". "Yeah his publicist". "Well just ring her up and ask" Mari said. You paused "what just ask her if my boyfriend had done something super cute for me?". "Well not in those words exactly, maybe just ask if this is usual for celebrity romances and if there's anything else you have to sign. Make it sound like you're just being diligent". You weren't sold but as you had no other ideas by the end of the day you decided to go for it. You called the publicist and she explained this wasn't usual but Wonwoo had been adamant at protecting you. When you hung up you were super moved and were so touched Wonwoo had gone out of his way to protect you...however Wonwoo's publicist also rang him after your talk and he was having a different reaction. "I've totally freaked her out" he panicked. "Getting her to sign a contract when we're not even 5 months? What was I thinking?" he cried. Joshua and Mingyu tried to calm him down. "You don't know anything yet, this might all be okay" Joshua said and Mingyu nodded "yeah just wait to speak to her before panicking. Worst comes to the worse you just explain you wanted to protect her that's all! Y/n's not unreasonable you won't lose her over this". Wonwoo nodded but he was still nervous. Wonwoo wasn't due to see you until late the next day. He didn't sleep at all that night and knew he couldn't wait until the evening to see you. So he woke up early and walked to your work which he knew was reckless and silly but he also knew you got in before 6 am every morning and hopefully nobody would be around. The door was obviously closed so he went around to the side and knocked. It opened a few seconds later and you were there in an apron covered in flour. "Wonwoo?" you asked "what a nice surprise! I'd hug you but I'm covered in flour". "It's okay" Wonwoo said going in for a hug anyway. You pulled him inside and smiled at him as you towelled off your hands "so what brings you here? Want a coffee before work?". Wonwoo shook his head "no actually I've got something to ask...Y/n did I scare you off?" Wonwoo asked and you paused "what? Why?". "With the contract" he said "I know you rang my publicist". You paused "yeah I did...". Wonwoo stared at you "and? I know a contract seems like something huge at 4 months but I promise I was only trying to protect you". You shook your head "woah Wonwoo I wasn't scared by the contract". "You weren't?" he asked and you shook your head "no, I rang your publicist because I wanted to know if it meant something". "Meant something?" Wonwoo asked and you nodded "I've never dated anyone like you before and I didn't know if this was standard procedure or something really sweet. Turns out it's the latter". Wonwoo paused at the way you were looking at him and nodded "oh...". "Oh" you smiled "she said she'd never written one that early before but you were insistent I had to be protected. That you really fought for me". Wonwoo blushed "I...don't want to hurt you in any way". You smiled "I believe you and want to thank you" you said wrapping your hands around his waist "I always felt safe with you Wonwoo from the very start and I really like you". Wonwoo smiled "I like you too...that's why I was so worried that I'd messed this up". You shook your head "not at all and I'm sorry I made you worry". "It's okay" Wonwoo said but truth be told when he was this close to you nothing bothered him. You were looking up at him with so much admiration and care Wonwoo sighed "I think I'm in love with you". You blushed but the smile that quickly spread over your face put Wonwoo at ease almost instantly. "I love you too" you said and kissed him. You'd felt strongly for Wonwoo for a while but to actually hear him say that he loved you was insane. You'd never fallen for someone this quickly and considering everything crazy surrounding the two of you, this just felt perfect. You never wanted to stop kissing Wonwoo and the feeling was mutual. Wonwoo picked you up and held you closer to him. You wrapped your legs around him for support and were both completely lost...until the door Wonwoo was leaning you against flew open. He only just managed to gather you into his arms and stop you from falling. You gasped and turned to see Mari there. "Ew Y/n right in front of my breadmaker?" she cried. Mari grinned to let you know she was joking "so you two look happy". You both blushed "yeah we are" you smiled and Wonwoo nodded slightly telling you, you could tell your best friend. "We just said I love you for the first time" you explained and Mari screamed running to hug you both. "That's amazing I'm so happy for you! Also Y/n I totally knew you were in love with Wonwoo". You gasped "what? how?". "You always paused and did a small sigh just before you said his name which is totally your tell. She acted like she was in some k-drama" she told Wonwoo who smiled. "I see you got far with the cupcakes" she smiled looking at the half-filled cupcake cups "I'll finish these off for you" and with a wink she left the two of you alone. Wonwoo smiled watching her go "is Mari dating anyone?". You smiled "no why? Are you interested?". Wonwoo chuckled "no I was just thinking she'd be great for Mingyu" and you grinned "funnily enough one of the first things she told me about your group was omg Y/n there's this 8-foot god in his group! So I think she'd be up for that". "Good" Wonwoo smiled and then he started staring at you with a knowing look on his face. "Don't give me those eyes, if you kiss me again I'll never open on time". Wonwoo nodded "fine I won't tempt you" with a smile "I should probably get off, it was risky for me to come here". You shrugged "I don't care, you're welcome here anytime you want" and Wonwoo blushed "thanks Y/n, we still on for this evening?". "Of course!" you cried and Wonwoo smiled "okay I'll see you then, bye...I love you" making you beam. "Bye I love you too" and you waved to him as he left. The second he'd gone you let out a happy sigh. The hot gamer boy loved you and you loved him...things were good. That night was Joshua's birthday and you and Wonwoo arrived at the party together. The boys welcomed you warmly and kept teasing Wonwoo making him blush adorably. "Did you draw up a contract that stops us from going to Y/n's cafe so you can have her all to yourself?" Hoshi asked and Wonwoo went pink. "No but don't tempt me" he replied and you laughed. "I get you can't go in case people figure you're dating but doesn't that mean we're fine to go?" Scoups asked. The8 nodded "yeah and if anything that wouldn't take the heat off you two so we should all start going to Y/n's cafe!". "Then it's decided, Monday lunch we head to Y/n's" Joshua said before winking at Wonwoo "only joking". The guys began to chat with you and Wonwoo tuned out just enjoying everything. He felt really happy. He was healthy, he was a good job, he had amazing friends and he was in a stable relationship with a woman he loved who loved him back. He suddenly felt like he was in some sort of fairytale and he never thought his life could feel like this...that everything would just slot into place so perfectly. When he tuned back in you seemed to be having some sort of test. "Okay and what's my name?" Woozi asked and you nodded "Woozi". "And mine?" Jun asked. "Jun" you smiled and went down the whole line correctly naming them all. The boys cheered when you finished and you blushed adorably. Wonwoo took your hand and pulled you into his side "okay yes she's amazing not leave us alone...you're hogging her attention!". The boys laughed but left you alone. You looked up at Wonwoo "thanks for coming into my cafe, I have no idea what made you choose mine out of all the ones on the street but you've made me really happy". Wonwoo smiled "are you kidding me? I should be thanking you! It was the best decision of my life...you're the best decision of my life" he said and you blushed. "The feeling's mutual cute gamer guy" you said and kissed him just as the fireworks went off but neither of you noticed. You had one another and that was all that mattered.

[mewnekoice-mecha]

Brainrot idea for a small Isekai Shadow moment. This is just something I thought would be funny

@zumbieve

Shadow couldn’t believe he let Amy talk him into doing this. The thing in question, Helping a Cat mobian sing a song for the local fundraiser, normally he would have no problem saying No. However the fundraiser is for Helping kids with chronic illnesses, he……may have caved in quicker than usual.

“Thanks again for doing this Shadow, it really means a lot.” The cat mobian, Lily, told him.

Shadow closed his eyes for a moment before turning to her. “Don’t worry about it.”

They were waiting backstage for their turn to perform. Shadow was a little annoyed at himself but decided to let it go just this once, however he is confused on why Amy insisted on putting makeup on him.

His eyelids had a bold red covering them, and his eyes were lined in red as well. He will admit, its not a bad look just different.

Meanwhile, in the audience

“Amy what’s so important that you practically dragged me here?” Sonic asked confused and a little annoyed since he hadn’t seen Shadow all day.

Amy just looks at him smug, “ You’ll Thank Me for This later, just wait.”

Sonic rolled his eyes but settled down. “If you say so ams.”

~

The fundraiser was well underway, and Sonic had to admit it wasn’t bad. The music, food and entertainment wasn’t a complete joke, but he was still confused on why he *needed* to be here. He was about to leave when he heard something shocking.

SHADOW?!?!!!

~

“For the next performance, it’s a duet with the lovely Lily and her partner Mini Shadow.” The mayor announced before leaving the stage.

Shadow glared at the mayor for the mini comment, as he and lily come onto the stage.

Lily spoke to the crowd, “ Hey everybody hope you’re having a blast. The song we’re about to sing is an original one by me and shadow here. Have you ever fallen for someone that people told you was bad news, then this one is for you. HIT IT BOYS.

~Morally Grey (April jai ft. Nate)~

Lily Shadow

The crowd cheers as the stage goes dark. Lily is sitting at a desk *talking* to a mirror.

He's got blue eyes, crooked smile

Knows that he drives me wild

Can't help myself

No I'm not in denial

I know he's no good for me

But when he gets down on his knees

*She turns to the crowd*

He's so eager to please

Knows the right frequencies

Worships me slowly

Tells me I'm his only

They say he's morally grey

What can I say?

Grey's my favourite color

Oh oh

*She smiles softly at the crowd as they cheer, one of the audience members even held up a I love you sign*

Grey's my favourite color

Oh oh

They say he's morally grey

What can I say?

Grey's my favourite

*Shadow strolls up behind her and *talks* to the crowd. Sonic could hardly believe his eyes, Shadow was on stage and he looks AMAZING. He had to shake his head to knock that thought down so he could pay attention*

*Shadow stares over the crowd with a heated look and smirk*

What can I say?

No, I don't pray

But for your body, I'll worship

*Screams erupted, mainly from the female audience. As he sweeps his heated gaze over the audience, he spots sonic and decides to mess with him a little. So he purposely walks towards him as the crowd screams. He reaches sonic and tilts his head up using his hand*

Boy, don't be afraid

My love's a grenade

Just be a good boy, you can take it

*Sonic blushes brightly and almost faints. Several women DID faint*

Call me insane

But for you, I was made

I'd burn the world down if it'd make you feel safe

It's you that I crave

And nothing compares to your taste

*Sonic checks out mentally and doesn’t even realize that Shadow had moved away. When he finally gets his bearings the performance had ended*

~

“Well,” Amy said looking all for the world extremely pleased.

Sonic turns his wide eyed stare at her. “You were right.”

She smirks, “I know I am, honestly if this fundraiser wasn’t for chronic illnesses, I doubt I could have gotten Shadow to agree.”

Sonic hums, “ Hey Amy.”

“Yes, Sonic,” she replied.

“Catch me,” that was all he managed to say before flat out fainting.

[meet-me-in-the-pouringrain]

The Phoenix And The Rocket

Chapter 2

Chapter 1 Here.

Thank you all for the love on the first chapter <3 makes me excited to write. Hoping for weekly updates as I finish 2nd year Uni off but we’ll see. Atm I think there is roughly 8 chapters so very short and sweet but I have a habit of extending things so we’ll see!

Emily Prentiss, at the insistent of her therapist, signs up for a trauma ‘dumping’ site. She never expected that her Dump would connect her back to her old boss and the man she’s been in love with for over ten years.

Also the man she’s absolutely furious at for leaving.

As always : Credit goes to @lonelychicagos for the prompt :)

Edit : Since publishing I have been made aware that the term ‘Trauma Bonding’ is actually an abuse tactic and doesn’t mean ‘bonding over shared trauma’. Would like to make it clear that was a very strong mistake on my part and I apologise deeply for any offence.

Chapter 2

It was week and a case later that Emily realised her laptop had a notification sitting on it, a reply lie in waiting 20 minutes after her initial contact. Feeling guilty but overpowered by intrigue, the woman settled down on the jet, the laptop balancing on her knee and excitement in her chest.

Her seat partner, the insufferable David Rossi, eyes her with sneaky, glinting eyes. "Something you wanna share with the class, Prentiss?" He goades, smirking.

Emily glances up, scowling, as the rest of the team all turned attention onto her. "Excuse me?" She frowns.

"Oh she avoided the question" Tara pipes up.

"Now she's rolling her eyes" Spencer joins in. "That implies that she's hiding something"

Memories of Spencer and herself teasing Morgan a lifetime ago took Emily by surprise. Her jaw clenched and her laptop shut.

"I want everyone's paperwork on my desk on Thursday" She snaps, irritated to high heaven. Her eyes rolled again at the sound of Luke's childish indignation and JJ's proclamation of "I'm innocent!." Briefly, she wondered how the hell Hotch coped. Her irritation flared up at the thought of that man. Her anger at his abandonment still ever present.

Logically,  She knew she had no right to be pissed especially after two years. There was an argument for the fact that she had abandoned this team twice. And she has a habit of walking away when she doesn't get her way, a fact that both Strauss and Barnes had to find out the hard way.

But she was so angry. She had a comfortable life in London, a boyfriend that was nice enough and a job she enjoyed and that paid well, yet she packed it all up in a moments notice for him.

And she didn't even get a fucking thank you.

No, he just thrust all this responsibility on her shoulders and left, expecting her to pick up the pieces.

He expected her to soothe Penelope's anguish at losing another family member, be Dave's drinking buddy again, be Spencer's parental figure that no one addresses, be JJ's sister, and control two practical strangers in Tara and Luke.

God, he was a bastard.

Emily muses over that all on the drive home, fingers tight on the steering wheel, from the jet. Thankfully, the case drew to a close on a Friday giving her leeway to leave. She's still seething as she enters her apartment and re-boots her laptop.

'Meow'

"Hey Serg" Emily mumbles, pouring a generous glass of red wine.

The feline trots out of his hiding spot, happily. Emily and Penelope share custody of the pet now, He had recognised her during a girls night at Penelope's and threw a hissy fit as much as a cat could and had refused to leave her side. She physically melted and her friend gave her permission to take her cat back.

As it turns out, her little shit was a huge shit for other people.

But Emily couldn't do that to her so now they trade off whenever there's a case and she has to leave town.

"Pen drop you off, buddy?" She smirks, stroking his head. The cat purrs happily at her attention, making her laugh. He jumps to her lap before she can place the laptop on her so she awkwardly types with one hand. She loads up her conversation, cringing at the date left below RocketRacoon's sentences, and sighs. The poor man was probably waiting on her reply for ages before giving up.

Sergio suddenly freaks and hisses at the laptop, batting the screen angrily.

"Woah!" She exclaims, moving him away. He hisses again, eyes narrow, before hauling off with a feral screech. She stares after him as he bounces up on his scratching post. "Freak" Emily states at him, confused. She shakes her head and takes a gulp of liquid courage before typing again.

On the other side of the country, in Lakewood, Colorado, Aaron Hotchner slams down a cardboard box. His forehead was slick with sweat and his chest heaves with heavy breathes.

"You know, You could help" He mutters absentmindedly to his son. Jack sat playing video games in the living room tv.

"I could" Jack nodded. "I don't wanna though."

"Max"

"...."

"Max!"

"....."

"JACK"

"Yes dad?"

Jack turns, an expression on his face that mirrors his fathers. Since they got the word that Scratch was gone, Jack had reverted back from Max Hortenal. He refused to answer to his false name from his father, only reluctantly accepting it from school and friends. It was hard on Aaron to accept this change, habitually calling him Max.

Aaron glares at his son, jaw clenched. "Go and get the bait from the truck please." He orders authoritatively.

They'd just come back from a fishing expedition. In his retirement, Aaron had picked up Golfing, Running and Fishing as hobbies.

He loves the mundanity but sometimes he finds himself imagining he's chasing after an UNSUB while running. Or fishing out evidence to help a case rather than a sea bass he lets go after a picture.

The golfing is just fun.

Jack comes back in, gingerly gripping the bucket of worms in his hands. "Here." He snaps, holding it out. With an eyeroll, his father takes the bait and deposits it in the garage. "By the way, your laptop just pinged." Jack tells him, closing down his game. "I'm gonna go shower."

Aaron nods, wishes him a goodnight because he knows Jack will conk out straight afterwards, and heads towards the device. He figured after two days of no reply from Phoenix that he wasn't going to get one, chalking it up to intimidation and so he was confused as to what notification he had received. He grabs his glasses from his pocket, resenting that time certainly wasn’t on his side, and settles them on his face as he squints at the screen.

Surely by now his trauma dump would have been buried by others; He even saw Katie Jacob’s at one point when he checked for Phoenix’s question. He wished the girl well before blocking her so she didn’t question him anymore.

So imagine his surprise when the message was indeed Phoenix, apologising for the late reply.

PhoenixPren : So sorry! I didn’t see this reply, I travel a lot for work and was out of town!

Aaron breaths out a sigh, raising his eyebrows in acknowledgement.

RocketRacoon: I’ve been there, it’s okay.

Emily smiles and quirks an eyebrow of her own at the fast reply. With a purse of her lips, she types again.

PhoenixPren : You travel for work too?

RocketRacoon : Used too, Retired now.

PhoenixPren : Ah. Lucky. I gotta pay the bills somehow.

Aaron lets out a tiny laugh while Emily cringes at herself.

PhoenixPren : Anyway, you said you’re up for questions? Is that still on the table or have I ruined my chances?

“Fucks sake Emily, you’re not flirting with him.” Emily scolds herself, putting down her wine. Sergio mewls angrily at her as she speaks, still pissed at the laptop for some reason. “Weirdo” She insults her cat, swinging her legs to rest on her couch.

Aaron thinks about it for a moment, casting his mind to the day he’s had. He pulled Jack out of school, his son having a bad day the day before, and whisked him off to go fishing. At first, Jack seemed to hate life because he was forced out on a canoe in the lake but soon found himself laughing and enjoying time with his dad. He had forgotten about the day before entirely as he watched Aaron fight with a Bass and nearly go overboard. Aaron enjoyed it too, getting his son out without the worry that there was a serial killer lurking around the corner, ready to finish was Foyet started all those years ago.

He shrugs as he types.

RocketRacoon : Sure, Why not? What would you like to know?

Emily grins in excitement before it fades and she swallows, typing out what she wanted the answer to for weeks.

PhoenixPren : I guess there’s just one question really. How do you do it?

Aaron breathes out again, pulling back from his computer. He frowns and clicks on her profile, finding no story to tell. The only information he can see is that the person he was speaking to was a woman in her early 50’s. She had actually wrote ‘fuck off’ in the age section but then imputed in the ‘fun fact’ section that she went and saw Siouxie and The Banshees for her 18th birthday in 1987, placing her in her early 50s.

Phoenix had a story, one that she wasn’t willing to share. If he had to profile her (and boy was he almost giddy at the opportunity) he’d guess she was coerced into the website like himself, and searching for courage to write her own story.

RocketRacoon : One day at a Time. There’s high points and low points, you’ll have Good days and Bad days.

Emily blinked as the advice came through.

“You’re gonna go weeks, months even” Hotch tells her softly as she sits across from him on the plane. It was only those two, he duped her into entering early. Just to check on her. “Feeling fine and then you’re going to have a bad day. “ He stared at her with such intensity that she almost finds herself being pulled in. “Just let me know when you do.”

Shaking her head out of that memory, Emily blinks back water and sighs.

It takes her a while to type out the response, so long in fact that Aaron begins to exit the conversation, deciding that he’s in a good enough mood to read a few tales of the site. Phoenix catches him last second though.

PhoenixPren : Thank you.

He sighs again, reading the little two words over a few times.

RocketRacoon : You seem like you need more than advice

Emily tilts her head now, scrunching her face up.

PhoenixPren: Excuse me.

RocketRacoon : Sorry for the bluntness. Most people are on this site as a form of therapy- to share stories and make connections. I checked out your profile, What’s your story?

He didn’t know where that boldness comes from but something in his gut told him to keep that conversation going. Should Spencer be here, he’d probably rattle off a factoid about natural instincts. He grew nervous when Phoenix didn’t reply, or the little typing bubble didn’t pop up and was about to apologise again when she simply sent a shrugging emote.

PhoenixPren: Too much to tell, sorry Rocky.

RocketRacoon : RockET and mine wasn’t? I’m always here to talk if you need, Phoenix.

Emily licks her lips and picks up her wine again.

PhoenixPren : Does this mean we are TraumaBuddies now?

Aaron smirks, shrugging as if Phoenix could see him.

RocketRacoon : If you would like that. I’m very intrigued by you.

Emily swigs the last of her wine.

PhoenixPren : Buckle Up, Rocky. You’re in for a ride.

Word count :1834

Tag list : @lonelychicagos @84hotpockets @serqueljisbon @loriprentiss @velvetblackness

If you would like to be added or removed from the tag list just shoot me a dm!

[female-buckets]

Brianna Turner knew something was up when her bedroom door flew open around 7 a.m. CT Thursday and her mom rushed in, waking her up.

It wasn't bad news, however.

"BG's free! BG's free!" Turner's mom yelled.

Still in bed and hardly awake, Turner wasn't sure what she was hearing.

"Am I dreaming?" she asked.

Then the Phoenix Mercury forward opened Twitter and saw national outlets confirming the news that teammate Brittney Griner had been freed from Russian custody after 294 days in a high-profile U.S.-Russia prisoner exchange.

"I honestly thought I was dreaming still," said Turner, who's staying with her parents in Texas while she's back from playing overseas in Turkey. "I was confused. Like, it was utter shock.

"I hopped on social media, we turned on the TV and, yeah, all the news stations were like, 'Breaking news, Breaking news.'"

Turner's grandmother actually saw it first, calling as soon as she saw Griner had been released. "So, thank God my grandma was up early watching the news," Turner said.

She quickly took a screenshot of a reporter's tweet confirming Griner's release and sent it in a group chat to fellow teammates Kia Nurse and Shey Peddy with the message: "Oh my gosh guys." As word broke and eventually spread throughout the day, many members of the Mercury franchise had similar reactions. Tears were shed, mouths dropped agape, texts were sent. Lots of texts.

In Phoenix, Mercury president Vince Kozar also awoke to the news when the second of two calls from future Hall of Famer Diana Taurasi finally roused him. The first thing Kozar did was cry.

"To say it's been a cloud doesn't even really capture it," he said. "I think I probably feel like everybody feels -- tremendous relief. It's certainly a celebration. I guess a little bit of disbelief waiting for it to fully hit.

"I didn't know the next time any of us were going to see her again."

Kozar fought tears as he sat at his desk at home writing the statement the Mercury would eventually release, and when he saw Phoenix Suns star Devin Booker share the statement on Instagram. He eventually made it to the office at Footprint Center around 10 a.m. MT. He had work to get to: among other things, ensuring Griner has everything she needs for her return to Phoenix -- the city, not the team -- whenever that happens.

"We're not thinking about basketball," Kozar said. "Our main concern is her, and -- as I've told people before -- if she never plays another game of basketball, another minute of WNBA basketball again, we will still love her and care for her all the same, and nothing about how we feel about her or what she means to us, or this city or her family or any of that will change."

Outside the Footprint Center, however, were few signs of the Griner news. A maintenance crew was putting up lights around palm trees. A man shot video of the BG42 sign adorning the outside of the arena. Suns employees streamed into work mid-morning after a loss to the Boston Celtics the night before.

Two groups of Jehovah's Witnesses greeted folks as they walked by on the sidewalk and offered them pamphlets. Outside the arena is one of their regular spots to post up because of the heavy foot traffic. They figured out Griner had been released when a local news crew arrived and started interviewing people on the street.

But by and large, it was business as usual in downtown Phoenix. People strolled through the plaza in front of the arena while others got in a mid-morning run. Lunch hour was just beginning. And a few Griner fans made their way to the arena.

Danae McKnight is a 33-year-old who moved to Phoenix three years ago from Florida with her wife. They knew no one in the area and bought Mercury season tickets as a way to find a community, McKnight explained while standing in front of a Black Lives Matter mural that features Griner on the side of the Footprint Center. McKnight said they watched Griner be "unapologetically herself."

"That's something that a lot of people, including myself, struggle with," said McKnight, who wore a "We Are BG" T-shirt. "It took me years to figure out who I was and to accept that, because there's so much fear with the LGBT community and coming out that you feel like you have to hide yourself or you feel concerned.

"... Just the confidence that she has, and she just knows who she is and she just wants to be that and it's inspiring. It's taught me that it's OK to be me."

McKnight bawled when her wife told her Griner was coming home, and knew she wanted to come to the Footprint Center.

"It just felt like the right place to be," McKnight said choking back tears. "This has really impacted me a lot more than I thought it would. I'm married and I can only imagine my wife being away from me for almost 300 days, and it's really personal to me."

Turner is in Austin, about 90 miles from San Antonio, where Griner landed at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland on Friday. She wants to give Griner space and privacy as she adapts to her old, yet new life.

Turner joked that she's close enough to drive over and wave at Griner through the gates.

"I'm sure hopefully in a few weeks I'll be able to maybe talk to her, figure something out," Turner said.

Kozar, who had over 300 unread text messages by lunchtime, also is hoping to see Griner "soon," but only on her timeline, whether it's in Arizona or in her home state of Texas.

"I and everyone around here who just has been desperate for nine months to give her a hug is going to follow her lead on when she wants to see people and when she wants to leave the house and when she wants to go to the grocery store and when she wants to go to a Suns game," he said.

The mood around the Mercury's and Suns' offices was celebratory all day, Kozar said. The Mercury players and coaches he talked to throughout the morning were experiencing a combination of disbelief and joy. Their teammate, their friend who they had talked about, lobbied for, campaigned for for almost a year, was on her way home.

"When you talk about missing a family member, missing a piece of your culture, missing a piece of someone who you have a personal relationship -- she's made you laugh, she's made you feel better, she's picked you up, she's helped you connect with other people -- we've been missing that," Kozar said. "So the idea of that returning, completely separate from basketball, is just really, really joyous."

When Kozar talked to Mercury coach Vanessa Nygaard on Thursday, she had just finished physical therapy to treat a back injury she suffered while surfing. When he mentioned her "poor back," Kozar said Nygaard responded: "Nothing hurts today."

While the focus is on Griner's safety and well-being, and helping her readjust to society, her basketball future wasn't too far from Kozar's mind. One thing Kozar learned through all the letters he and Griner exchanged was that it wasn't just her freedom, family and friends that were taken away from her. So was, as she calls it, hoop.

"We'll follow her lead, we'll do whatever she wants," he said. "Part of the joy that she's brought to people is how she plays and the way she plays and who she is when she plays.

"And I'd be lying if I didn't say there was some kind of anticipation or excitement about the idea that everyone would get to experience that again, but that's not what matters most."

[bluepenguinstories]

Remoras Full Chapter LXXVIII: Island in the Sun

When I thought I had alone time with Ray, I tried confiding with him.

He was in the back, seated at his desk. His usual hangout spot. He enjoyed the occasional peace and quiet, and was able to gather his thoughts. We often sat together and chatted about this and that. Just whatever happened to be going on. We’d rub each other’s backs, get high, and take naps, sometimes on the other’s lap.

Before I spoke up, I looked around every corner. Paranoia just wasn’t my style, but I couldn’t help the sense of dread Aion and Ananke’s presence brought.

After seeing no sign of them, I said:

“Hey. About what those two said –”

“About them being members of The Flashbulb?” He looked up and asked. Even though he wore a dull expression, his eyes shone just the same as when he was in a more delightful mood. I knew I wasn’t dealing with the frazzled, cabin fever Ray.

“Yeah. Do you think they’re dangerous?”

“I don’t know,” he shook his head and groaned. “Aion is...I’d like to say I know him well enough, but that’s simply not true. I think he took not being known as a point of pride. Guess now that he’s here, that pride is biting me in the ass.”

“Heh,” I chuckled and sat on top of the desk. “Just when you think you know a guy…”

“I don’t know much about The Flashbulb itself,” he continued, “besides what Tony told me. He sold them as being small fry, but you saw Remora’s reaction: dead serious.”

“Yeah, but she’s the type to take most things seriously, even if she doesn’t think things through all the time,” I pointed out.

“Same could be said about you.”

“No way! I’m still carefree!”

We both laughed, but that laugh was short lived. That feeling of dread wouldn’t leave.

“I can’t help worrying about the presence,” I admitted, “I fear they’re up to something. Didn’t I tell you about how I met Dr. Faust before?”

“You did. I didn’t take the time to visit, but I appreciate the information you sent me. I trust your judgment, hun. I’ve felt like they were up to trouble the moment they walked in. I just wish I had more of a gauge on Ananke. I know even less about her than I do Lucky.”

“Well, if Aion makes being unknown a point of pride, Ananke seems to do it effortlessly. Although she was the one to admit to her former affiliation when Aion was reluctant to do so.”

“Now why would she do something like that?”

“Maybe she doesn’t see it as something necessary to hide,” I suggested.

Ray opened his mouth, but before he could speak, a familiar figure emerged from around the corner. Sharp-dressed in a striped suit and white gloves, with his combed-over brown hair (and the black undercut).

“Oh look, it’s the lovebirds!” Aion smiled wide, as if he had just got done laughing hysterically at one of his own jokes, “hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

Ray and I gave each other a knowing glance. When I looked back at Aion, I smiled back.

“Not at all! Hope you’re enjoying your stay!”

His expression turned sour.

“Yeah, let’s cut the crap: I know you two were talking about me. Don’t you know that’s rude?”

Ray slipped something in the back of my jeans pocket as I leaped off of the desk.

“Sorry, force of habit. Ray and I have a tendency to talk about anyone who stays with us.”

He scoffed, though it seemed like he was trying to attempt a chuckle, maybe to save face.

“Well, you know, there’s no need for secrets. I’m an open book, after all! Just as me anything!”

His smile returned, but I wasn’t convinced.

“I may have to take you up on that offer later,” I said before walking away.

The night the triple A team arrived, Ray and I discussed them once already. We were laying in bed that night and under thick, orange tartan covers.

“Looks like your old friend finally showed up,” I opened up the conversation.

He turned over away from me. Taking the opportunity, I stroked his small back. On the dresser across from the bed was his fake arm. Most of the day, he wore it around, but in private, he’s long confided how burdensome it actually was. He would say things like, “it’s clunky and I can’t really hold things well with it. It’s easier to just use the one arm than try to bother with it.”

Even if most were unlikely to care, he still wore it around in front of others out of some sense of pleasing others. He would never admit to being concerned about what other people thought of him, but he still liked to conduct himself in a palatable way.

“It’s so weird,” he groaned, followed by a soft sigh as I stroked his neck.

“I can only imagine.”

“I’ve known him as a con artist, a drug dealer, a thief, and a pleasure seeker. He always did like making up fake symbols and implying there was more to him, even when he’d admit there wasn’t truly anything there. That fake amusement park didn’t surprise me in the least. But hearing how he had a secret lair in the mountain full of esoteric information, I just don’t know what to make of that.”

“Neither do I. I’m just hoping the information on angels can help solve our Cronus problem.”

“Was it really enough?”

I didn’t reply. I couldn’t, because I just didn’t know. Rather than being optimistic about our problems being solved, it just seemed like Aion and his entourage brought with him more problems.

“That’s not the only weird thing. So many years...why now?”

“You asked that before. I’d say there’s probably a reason, but I just don’t know what.”

“It’s hard. You never really knew him. Then again, I can’t really say I knew much more.”

Such a conundrum.

I sat in the dining area at a stool next to the bar area. I had poured myself a glass of whiskey. It would soon have one of two effects: either calm my nerves or fire them up. I couldn’t really say which I needed more right now, but hopefully the whiskey would know what I needed. I took a sip: strong, bitter, almost like swallowing hot coals. My face twisted and my lips puckered.

“Aw, fuck it,” I rasped with a smile, and downed the shot glass in one swift gulp. That’s how it was meant to be drank anyway, right?

I gut up and poured myself another shot. While doing so, I looked around to see love in the air: Calen and Cael at one booth, Remora and Demetria at another. Several rows down sat Cybele next to the ever-sorrowful Achlys. I couldn’t tell what they had discussed the other day, but already it seemed like they were well acquainted. They held each other tight while Cybele took a moment to wipe away Achlys’s tears. Behind them were Prosperina with the head of a sleepy Hecate resting on her shoulder. Prosperina’s eyes were darting around and her face was red.

Our eyes met.

I downed my second shot, then shrugged, as if to say, it’s your relationship, own up to it.

Honestly, I didn’t know if they were in a relationship or not. Same went for Cybele and Achlys (doubtful when they just met, but apparently Cybele slept with Nemesis when they just met too. Maybe Cybele had more game than I thought). Calen and Cael probably were.

“Love is in the air, all except for mine and Ray’s. All because Aion keeps interrupting us. Then again, maybe I should stop focusing on him so much,” I said to myself.

“Indeed. You should focus more on me,” uttered a low, passionless voice.

I was startled so bad that I leaped where I stood and dropped the shot glass, watching it shatter across the floor.

“Fuck!” I panicked. I knew I’d need to sweep that up. That could wait, though. I looked up to see Ananke stood in front of me with a black tank top on and golden straps.

“Did you get the liquid courage you needed?” She asked, glancing down at the floor.

“C-Can...can you not?!” I huffed in a near-shout, the nerves dancing around me. Oh, the heat sure was rising now. I wasn’t drunk (it would have to take at least two more shots for that) but I sure was something.

“I can not.”

“I would like some privacy! Can you PLEASE respect that?”

“Very well,” her eyes flitted and she turned away, “but be aware, I’ll be awaiting you soon.”

Ugh. Of course. If it wasn’t Aion, it was her. Just what was her deal?

Once she was out of sight, I grabbed the nearby broom and dustpan from the closet and scooped up the broken glass. Each shard carried with it a distorted version of my reflection. Almost like I was walking through a house of mirrors.

I ducked behind the bar and checked the note Ray slipped into my pocket. I unfolded it and read:

“They may listening in on our conversations. Try talking with others, and hopefully they can relay things back to me.”

Looks like I wasn’t the only person paranoid. What a relief.

I put the note back in my back pocket.

Well, may as well put that advice to use.

It wasn’t an ideal situation, but even if we had to work through a middleman, the need for discretion was vital.

When I stood back up, I watched Cybele get up and shake Achlys’s hand.

“I should probably head back before it gets dark. Do you want to follow?” She offered.

“I would love to, but I don’t want to be a burden,” Achlys said with her weepy voice.

“You wouldn’t be a burden at all, besides, I’m sure Nemesis would love to meet you, too!”

Achlys looked down.

“I don’t know. You’re the only person I’ve felt this good around despite my sad state. Anyone else...feels like too much. Ah! But sorry! I don’t mean to harbor such troublesome feelings!”

“It’s okay. I don’t think she’s such a bad person, either, though.”

“I’ll think about it,” Achlys said and began to sob once more. She blew her nose into her thick, gray woolen sweater.

“Well, talk to you later!”

Cybele waved away, then left.

I should have seen her off, said something. We were pretty close, right? Or at least, I thought so. Ah, but I suppose at the time I figured it was fine: after all, she was making more friends, and might even be starting to have a love life. That’s cause for celebration, right? I didn’t need to interfere with that all the time.

But I would like to grill her about it later, I made a mental note to do just that.

Witnessing their farewell gave me another thing to note: who other than Ray had knowledge on Aion and Ananke? Why, Achlys, of course! She’d at least be able to tell me something.

I approached her and her foggy eyes turned to me. That too filled me with dread, but I should have known better: hearing what happened to her made me more sympathetic than anything else. Being afraid of her sight was just disrespectful, wasn’t it?

“Hey. I don’t think I’ve taken the time to chat with you yet. How are you doing?” I asked her.

She looked down and closed her eyes.

“I scare you, don’t I?” She asked, while tears still fell through her closed eyelids.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m used to such a reaction. I’m glad it’s just that, and not that you start crying because of me.”

The urge was there, I wouldn’t lie, but I think the whiskey was working to hold back any tears that could have escaped me.

“Don’t worry, I don’t cry so easily.”

“Neither did I,” she replied. “Most people look at me in fear, pity, or sorrow. Cybele is the ‘pity’ category. But for some reason, I don’t mind that from her. I feel...lighter, because of her.”

“Hey, I’m happy for you. I’m glad she’s having such a positive influence.”

She opened her cloudy eyes and tried to work up a smile. Her lips shook, but before they could curl up, they fell back to a frown, and she sobbed harder.

“I’m sorry,” she moaned after wiping away her tears with her sleeve, “I’m glad to have her around. But it’s still not easy.”

“I can only imagine. Having to witness such an angel and all.”

“I know it was my fault...I just wanted to help.”

“Hey. We make mistakes. Sometimes ones that affect us our whole lives. That doesn’t mean your life is ruined, does it?”

Ugh, I say that, but do I really believe that for her?

I leaned down and hugged her. She reached out and sobbed into my chest.

It was only a few seconds, and I didn’t know if she wanted to be touched, but after letting go, she looked up.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“You’re not a bad guy, are you?” I asked.

“Ah!” She jumped, startled, “I...I...I didn’t want to be bad. Truly.”

“No, I don’t have any reason to believe you are. Even though you came from that company, I don’t sense any malice from you.”

“Still, I don’t want to be seen as a victim...I was warned, after all.”

“May I ask you something?” I sat down across from her.

“I don’t know. What?”

“What do you know of Aion and Ananke?”

“Ah...I’m sorry if you were expecting something. I only knew that they were studying angels right before I was transformed by one. They always seemed to keep to themselves and didn’t consider me important enough to reveal anything to me.”

I slumped down. Not the information I was hoping for, but I didn’t want to seem to disppointed.

There’s gotta be something...how come even the ones who spent time with them don’t know much?

“So you don’t know why they came over here?”

“Dr. Faust, he said he really wanted to see Ray. An...Dr. Paracelsus, she forced me here. If it were up to me, I’d have crawled into a cave and died there. I don’t know why they insisted on me coming along when they don’t care about me.”

“God...that man really is obsessed with my husband. Does he have no better reason to come here?”

“He probably does. I just don’t know what.”

“Damn it. I don’t usually care so much about new people. I like to think I’m friendly with anyone. But I swear, if those two wish harm on anyone here…”

“I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have minded helping if I knew more.”

“I bet it has something to do with angels,” I crossed my arms and growled.

“Ah!” Achlys perked up. Well, ‘perked’ was probably the wrong word, but it seemed like she had one of those “eureka” moments.

“What is it?”

“That would make sense. Knowing their research, that must be it.”

I got up. There was only one other person I could think to brainstorm with. It probably wouldn’t yield much more results, but it was worth a try.

“Thank you for spending time with me, Sunny. Truly,” she looked up.

“Anytime,” I told her, and had to wipe up a few tears of my own. Either she really did have an effect on me, or it was just hearing those words of gratitude that moved me. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever know.

Before I made my way over to Remora, I felt a clammy hand grab my arm. This time, I wasn’t startled in the slightest. I looked down and saw Hecate with her hood up and her bright eyes looking up.

“Sunny?” Hecate asked through yawns.

“Yeah?” I yawned as well. What could I say? Yawns were contagious.

“What’s Ananke’s deal?”

“I’d like to figure that out, myself.”

“She seemed interesting, but she told me I don’t practice real magic.”

That struck a nerve. What right did she have to diss someone as cute as Hecate?

“Your magic is the realest! Screw her!” Prosperina declared in Hecate’s defense.

“She told me that you’re the most interesting one of all, Sunny,” Hecate continued. “I asked why that was and she said that, ‘she’s not magical in the slightest, but she understands magic,’ what does that man?”

“Beats me,” I huffed. “She’s been eyeing me for a while. It’s concerning.”

“You know all about magic, too!” Proserpina came to Hecate’s defense as well.

“Thanks. I don’t doubt my abilities. I was just confused why she would say your name, Sunny.”

“She must find me pretty important!” I remarked and tried to grin about it. I wasn’t used to having so much focus put on me, and if Ananke didn’t irk me, I might have been more pleased about the attention.

“She said you were the most important one here.”

My face tightened and turned red.

I brushed my hand in front of my face.

“That’s simply not true. Remora’s the most important, I would say. Even besides Remora, there’s Demetria, who’s racked up more victories than I have. Although maybe I had similar stories to tell in my prime. I can’t remember. Then there’s Ray, who gives everyone a home and formulates plans. He’s really good at mediating conflict.”

“Do you have self-doubt?” Hecate asked.

I was taken aback.

“Not at all!” I gave a haughty laugh. “I’m fine with my position! I’m carefree! I go on adventures! Do I really need anything more?”

I said that, but my chest tightened. I couldn’t blame the whiskey, as I only had two shots.

I couldn’t even help Remora when she was dealing with Nemesis. In the end, she settled it herself.

Whatever. There was no need for such insecurities. It didn’t fit my image.

“Don’t worry,” I told Hecate, “whatever’s going on with that Ananke woman, I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”

Again, I said that, but I wasn’t even sure what I was supposed to figure out.

My only other lead right now: Remora.

I approached their table.

Yet another couple I was going to have to interrupt.

I’m happy for you two, really…

They were seated together, both eyes closed, hands on the table and connected. Their heads were resting on each other. Despite the gap in height, they made it work somehow. It really was an adorable sight, except…

God, if all you couples are going to do is nap, couldn’t you have done so in bed? Why go out here to rest?

I clapped my hands together real fast and the two jolted up awake.

“What the hell, Sunny? Do you know what time it is?” Demetria rubbed her forehead with her palm.

“Yep! It’s mid-afternoon! Still plenty of daylight!”

Remora stared down at the table. There was a plate with a half-eaten sandwich. She looked rather disoriented.

“Do you think the sandwich is still safe to eat?” She muttered.

“Yeah, you’re probably fine. You can even take it with you.”

“Huh? Take it with her?” Demetria blinked and looked around, “what do you mean? Where is she going?”

“Not sure yet. Remora, do you know anywhere we can talk in private where we won’t be listened in on?”

“Is this about what I think it is?”

“What? What do you think it is?” Demetria asked.

“Sorry, Dem. Can I borrow your girlfriend for a bit?”

“Borrow...her?”

“Yes. I’d like to talk to her elsewhere. If that’s okay with you two.”

Demetria puffed her cheeks and blew out hot air.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

“I won’t be long,” Remora smiled and ruffled Demetria’s hair. Her arms flailed about but she didn’t really seem to mind.

Remora got up and took her sandwich with her. What a relief.

We each grabbed jackets (well, Remora was already wearing one, so she just doubled up). My jacket was a thick yellow and blue polka dot one made from goat hide, while hers was a thin, dark purple rubber jacket, underneath of which was a bright orange felt jacket. We headed outside where we were met with bright, blue skies. Even with the blankets of soft, white snow mixed with the hard stone and small patches where grass grew, it was fairly warm given the climate.

“So, you have a place in mind?” I asked while walking behind her. She took bites of her sandwich and didn’t answer until the sandwich was almost gone.

“I do. I can’t promise we won’t be followed, but I’m confident we won’t be listened in on.”

“That’s half-reassuring.”

We continued on. In the distance I saw the cliffs where Khaldaia was hidden inside. There was also the hospital in full view. I wasn’t sure how much longer we were going to go. I couldn’t see any particular place in the distance.

“Can you turn around?” Remora asked.

“Oh, sure.”

I spun around until my back was turned to her. I looked around, checking around the hospital, the cliffs, and big hills. No sign of anyone. Not a silhouette, nor outline.

There’s also not any sign of Aurora’s train. I miss her and her crew even though they showed up to Hera’s party.

“See anyone?” Remora asked.

“Not as far as I can tell.”

“Good. That doesn’t mean there isn’t anyone out there, but I’m less concerned if you can’t see them. And if anyone tries a sneak attack, you should be able to see them coming a mile away.”

“What if they have a gun?”

“Huh. Never considered that possibility.”

Fwoosh! I heard the sound of sliding metal.

“You can look now,” Remora informed me, and facing her again, I noticed that there was a small hole.

“What is that, a half-made igloo?”

She squinted.

“No. It’s more like a burrow. Come down, there’s a ladder.”

She went down first, and I followed after. It was pitch dark, and I imagined all the creepy crawlies that could have been lurking, whether in the dirt or the stony ground. I knocked on the wall next to the ladder and heard a metallic clank.

Once down, she flicked a switch on one of the walls. It lit up to reveal a soft orange glow which shone above a queen-sized bed with two soft, white pillows, and a lion-print blanket over the mattress. Beside it, was a nightstand, and against one of the walls was a dresser.

“A bedroom?”

“Yeah.”

Unlike the silver, metallic wall that rested behind the ladder and along the ceiling of the burrow, the floor itself was wood tile, as was the wall of the bedroom.

“You know, we could have gone in one of the rooms of the basement back at the diner. Had I known this was what you had in mind, I’d have just gone downstairs.”

“Too risky. The walls here are soundproof. No outsiders should be able to hear us.”

“What’s this place for, anyway?” I asked. It was clearly a bedroom, and nothing else. That much I knew.

She walked over to the bed and sat at the edge of it. She leaned herself against one of the boards that made up the bed frame. I noticed that the headboard, behind the pillow, was carved with a heart shape in the middle.

“Good. Just how I left it,” she smiled to herself before looking up. “Ah. About this room...while I like you guys and see myself still staying there for the time being, I’ve grown to miss living on my own. I don’t yet have the materials to rebuild a house for myself, but I had just enough for this little room. Whether I build something above ground or add to this, I’m not yet sure. I was also thinking, when the time comes, I’d like to see if Demetria would live here with me.”

She’s planning on leaving sometime in the future? I mean, I know it’s right for her, and she’s always been pretty independent. Not exactly the best cook, but she did fine enough on her own for a while as far as I can tell. Gee, I’m going to miss seeing her every day.

“I’ll still visit every day,” she said, as if she heard my thoughts, “I also don’t know when I’ll be ready to move in here. I’ll probably make an announcement when I’m ready.”

“Wow. I’m impressed. And that’s super sweet about wanting Demetria to stay with you. Look at how far you’ve come,” I held my arm out and gave her a thumbs up.

She nodded.

“It would only be fair to ask her.”

“You really love her, don’t you?”

“Yes. Just as you love Ray.”

“Well...this isn’t about him…” I looked away and gave an awkward grin.

“Isn’t it? I figured you were concerned about that Aion guy. I imagined you must be jealous of the attention he’s been giving your husband.”

“I admit, there’s some jealousy. But you’re only half-correct: I’m worried that Aion and Ananke might be up to something dangerous, and that something could very well put us in harm.”

“You figured that out?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t trust those two, either. Knowing what I know about The Flashbulb, a former member is nothing but bad news. Two former members are even worse news. They may put up a harmless facade but I doubt either one are to be taken lightly.”

I was glad that Remora saw the same signs that I did, but that didn’t ease my worries as much as it should have. There was still that sinking feeling of dread.

“What do you think they could be up to?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I doubt it’s on such a small scale, but if it something huge, I can imagine us being collateral.”

“What kind of people are Flashbulb members? I only heard about them once or twice before. It’s a world I’ve never even stepped foot in.”

“They’re mad scientists who see the world as a program to tweak and test around, with no concern for any consequences. After all, what consequences are there when you can just reset time?”

“That’s hard to visualize.”

“Don’t worry about the image. Although the organization is no more, even former members are something to be wary of. Some may be innocent, even victims of circumstance. But many are sure to uphold the same goals that they had while in the company. That man, Aion, claims to fit into the latter category.”

“What about Ananke?”

“I can’t get a read on her. I feel it’s safer to lean on the ‘dangerous’ side until proven innocent.”

That didn’t give me any more confidence than I had before.

“I keep telling myself that I need to figure out what they’re up to so I can put a stop to it. But so far all of my leads have been crumbs at best, and the answer’s not coming to me on my own. I feel like I’ll fail, that I’ll be too late, and lose again. If that happens, I’d still be as useless as I’ve always been.”

“What’s this about being useless?”

“It’s true, isn’t it?” My fists shook. It wasn’t cold down there, but I shivered just the same. “When we went adventuring to get away from Nemesis, she still found us and you two still fought. It was too early, and almost ended in disaster. I couldn’t make things right with my daughter even after trying to. It was too little, several years too late.”

“Are you kidding? If you hadn’t punched her out, I may have died earlier. True, I still ended up fighting her a third time and almost losing my life on my own, but I’m grateful that you stepped in. As for your daughter...I don’t know. Those kinds of things are complicated. It’s still important that you tried. Isn’t that what you told me? Not to mention, I saw you talking things out with Achlys. She may have been a former member, but she seems less on the dangerous side, and I think she appreciated what you did.”

“Still, anyone could have done those things.”

“Who cares about that?!” She shouted and I took a step back. I wasn’t used to her raising her voice.

I blinked.

“Remora? Are you mad?”

“I just hate to see you being like this.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s just as I said, though: who cares if someone else could have done what you did? It’s the fact that it was you who helped, isn’t it? Besides, that’s not even wholly true: Demetria couldn’t hit that hard. Tigershark, maybe, but I doubt Nemesis would have wanted to fight at all if Tigershark was there. Ray definitely couldn’t hit that hard, and at best he’d try to talk her down. True, I still fought her with you there, but she’d have wanted a fight sooner or later, I just opted for sooner.”

She continued:

“Ray could have helped Achlys with his words, but he’s been just as stressed as you have. That you talked to her is what matters.”

“I just feel like I’ve done the least out of everyone. Then there’s Demetria who’s racked up many accomplishments. I am proud of her, but also...I just wish that I was doing more.”

“Look, Demetria is great. But she’s not the only person that matters. During our fight with Cronus under the diner, she couldn’t take him on her own, even though she wanted to. It was only through our combined efforts that we were able to do so. If anything, I’d say Ray did the least back there, save for some quips.”

“Thank you for saying so. I wonder if all these insecurities are because I’m getting older. I don’t think I have many more adventures left in me.”

“I don’t know what it could be, but I wish you’d stop. It doesn’t suit you. Do you think it suits you?” She looked up and smiled.

I chuckled.

“No, I guess not.”

We headed back up. Once we reached the surface, I stopped dead in my tracks.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and turned on the camera. Upon zooming in, I confirmed my suspicion: a hidden passage opened up along the cliff side where I entered Khaldaia. There was a golden glow emanating from the entrance.

Aion must be in there. At least if I can’t see him, I doubt he’ll see me.

“Sorry, Remora. I’ll catch you later. Opportunity is knocking.”

“Who?”

“I’ll tell you when I get back. Let me know if you find out any more information.”

“You as well.”

I ran off in the direction of the cliff sides and turned back to wave frantically in Remora’s direction. She gave a short wave in turn, then walked back in the direction of the diner/hotel.

I ran around the corner. I couldn’t tell how much noise I had made, but I could only imagine a lot: my heart pounding against my chest, my burning nerves, and the heavy footsteps as I sprinted my way there. All I could do was hope that I wasn’t heard, but that wasn’t even a certainty.

My back hugged against the wall. I slowed down my breathing until my heart returned to a more steady pace.

I closed my eyes. I could have checked my phone, but the sudden movement could have given me away. As such, I had no idea how much time had passed before I heard the soft, steady footsteps of someone leaving the entrance.

“Hey Ananke. What’s going on?” Aion’s slick voice echoed.

Is he on the phone right now?

I could only imagine.

“Wow. The device is on the island already? Damn, guess it’s really underway now. I will say, I feel rather cruel about it. Soon everyone will be going away. Say, where’s that island at, anyway? Oh, south from here, just off the shore? Cool. I could probably swim my way there, but eh...I don’t wanna. I think for now I’ll just go back to the hotel and pretend like everything’s still fine. Ray will be less worried that way, right?”

I flared up, and I swore I must have blown smoke out my nose.

Rather careless of you, Aion, I thought as he had just given away the game. If I could stop this device...whatever it was, then boom! Crisis averted.

I still waited at the corner until the crunch of his footsteps went from faint to inaudible. As soon as I could no longer hear movement, I peeked out and saw a faint silhouette of him all the way at the door of the diner.

Whew. Looks like I wasn’t spotted.

While sprinting toward the island, I started fizzling out. I leaned over and stopped to catch my breath.

I used to be able to sprint for days, I wanted to whine. But there was no time.

Or at least, I thought there would be no time. But despite still having much more ground to cover, I spotted a familiar brown and red striped train with its multiple cars skating about.

I jumped up and waved my hands around. The train turned in my direction and tooted its horn. A wide smile spread across my face as the train screeched to a halt just a few paces away from where I stood. It was close enough to catch a strong whiff of the smoky exhausts exuding from the steel trappings of the train’s head.

I ran around to the side and one of the carts slid open: there stood Aurora, legs spread, arms crossed. Her big puffy strawberry red hair, and her big chest, along with her raised chin gave her a commanding presence. Goofy as she may be, she really was a respectable bandit leader.

“Sunny! The hell you doing out here?” She demanded.

“I sure am glad to see you, Aurora.”

“Why, ready to join my crew?”

“No. When did I ever say I’d do that?”

Aurora puffed her cheeks and scowled.

“Fine, then, what do you want?”

“I need you to give me a ride somewhere.”

“What’s in it for me?”

“Nothing. You’d just be helping out a friend.”

“That’s sweet, but I got mouths to feed and places to rob. This isn’t the kind of train you board to hitch a ride on.”

“Please?” I leaned up close to her. Her cheeks flushed a sickly pink.

“Let’s leg wrestle for it. If you win, I’ll take you where you want to go. If I win, you gotta ditch that husband of yours and join my crew!”

“Really? Leg wrestling?”

“We couldn’t before because you had that knee injury, but we gotta prove whose legs are stronger!”

“I don’t have time for this…”

I reached my hands up to her cheeks and pulled her down and gave her a big, fat kiss on the lips.

“There. Now take me to the coast,” I commanded.

Aurora huffed and her cheeks turned a deeper read. After a few seconds of being breathless, she grinned and turned around.

“We’re heading to the beach!” She announced.

Her whole crew cheered from inside and I stepped into the boxcar.

The whole ride there, I’d poke my head out the window to see how much closer we were. Allison, the navigator of their train, handed me a pair of binoculars and I had been using them to check. Not to mention, the rush of air brushing against my frizzy air was pure bliss.

“So what do you need to go to the coast for, anyway?” Aurora asked as she stood over me while I sat at one of the booths in the train.

“There’s an island. Something’s on the island.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know. But I’ll find out once I get there.”

“I swear...you and your Remoras...is that a good name for your crew? Remoras?”

“I don’t mind.”

“You Remoras always going off of hints and hunches without ever looking into details. Well, I’d say the Remora Remora herself does, to an extent, but no, she doesn’t even do that all the time, does she?”

“Our group’s usually the type to go with the flow.”

“That’s a little dangerous, don’t you think?”

“What can I say? We’re dangerous people.”

“Tch. No shit,” she muttered, then yelled out:

“HEY. ANYONE GOT ANY POWDER DONUTS?”

“I do, boss!” Boomed the voice of a burly, bald man with an attire that I could only describe as a burlap sack.”

“Thanks, Frankie!”

When we reached the coast, the train skidded to a halt right before the icy beach. Just across from the beach, I saw a small, rocky landmass.

I jumped out from the car and raced out to shore.

“YOU OWE ME!” Aurora shouted from behind.

“Put it on my tab!” I yelled back before leaping into the water.

It only took a few strokes against the current before I landed on shore. All my clothes were soaked and I shivered with such a fury that I wondered for a moment if Remora ever shivered as hard.

I searched around for any such device. Behind the stone which protruded from this small thing that I wasn’t even sure qualified as an island, there were smaller palm trees with coconuts, and tall grass behind the palm trees.

“What the hell?” I whispered.

A tropical island in a frigid place like this?

Part of me was excited at the prospect and my mind went wild, like what if there was a hidden lair somewhere on the island, or there was a buried treasure besides whatever the mysterious device was.

Before I could search within the tall grass, however, a voice called out behind me:

“You just can’t help but interfere, can you?” It was a low voice, with some of the words blending together, yet I still heard it all clear as day.

I turned and saw in the bright blue sky a dark figure with mechanical limbs enveloping her. Said limbs were large, and just as dark.

“Nemesis?” I thought for a second, even though I should have known better. It didn’t cover the user’s entire body, and I blinked a few times before realizing I was staring at Ananke herself.

“Not far off. Her suit was a modification of her father’s. Mine was a prototype that would form the foundation of that very same suit.”

What? How does she know all that? And does that mean…?

Before I could finish that thought, she dived in with her fist toward me. I leaped out of the way just in time for her fist to land in the sand and the impact caused a flurry of sand to fly in every direction. I shielded my face and she charged at me, propelling herself forward with the blue flame which ignited the boots of her mechanical limbs.

I turned to the right side toward the jungle just in time to pull out my trust whip: Stella.

I flicked it at her, but to my surprise, she just swatted it away.

“Did you expect to poke me with such a thing?” She chuckled out a deep, low laugh.

“How? It’s an angel weapon! It should have damaged your suit even somewhat!”

“Ah, but you see, this suit is purely mechanical. I should know, I built it myself.”

She kicked her leg up and I tried blocking it with my own, but the weight of the machine attached to her struck me much harder and I almost fell to the ground.

I flicked Stella and watched it transform into a baton. I tried to hit her with it, only for her to catch my wrist before the baton could even touch her, and she pushed me into one of the palm trees. My spine and the tree met each other in a heavy, unholy glory.

I forced myself back up, propping myself up with the baton, wincing all the while.

“So we’re fighting so I can’t get rid of the device, huh? Is that it?”

She tilted her head.

“I said already that you’re the most important. It only stands to reason that you should be the first one dealt with.”

“So what? I know too much, and now you gotta kill me?”

I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t say I’ve never been in such situations, I just didn’t expect to be one today of all days.

“Kill you? No. Just deal with you.”

As if I wasn’t confused before, she just had to make it worse.

She readied her fist, and this time, Stella transformed itself into a pair of knuckle braces. Our fists met at the same time, but even with my added protection, she was forcing me back down. I dropped to one knee, but refused to yield as I leaned in and pushed my way through, using my other arm to support my fist.

“It...doesn’t matter...no matter how much of a disadvantage I’m at,” I tensed up and tried to get as many words out as I could, “I will find that device!”

She smiled and let show a few of her thick, gray teeth.

“The device is right behind you,” she said before activating the booster on the soles of her boots and knocked me back to the ground.

Rather than simply fall onto the ground, however, I felt a rush of air, and my heart started making leaps and bounds. It reminded me of those dreams where I’d fall off a cliff or go skydiving without a parachute. Except here, I didn’t even feel like my body was moving at all.

I closed my eyes, but it did me no good, as I ached so desperately to scream. But while my mouth forced itself open, I could do little more than gasp for air.

That was the last thing I remember before coming to.

When I awoke, I was still lying on the ground. I opened my eyes to see a dark, purple sky.

Not only that, I shivered on the icy sheet of the arctic tundra.

“Huh? I’m back here?” I asked in a hoarse voice.

I picked myself up and noticed Stella was still attached to my knuckles. As I stood, I saw Ananke in front of me, this time in a dark gray parka with her hood up. In her hands was a black briefcase.

“What’s going on? How did I get from that island to back here?”

She stood silent for a moment before answering.

“You are in a separate timeline. I was able to alter the coordinates as well.”

I felt like crickets were hopping across my skin, especially my face.

“You’re...you’re joking, right?”

She shook her head.

“The plan was for you to get sucked into the time travel device alongside me. That you listened in on my conversation with Aion only made things easier for me.”

“So that conversation was bait, is what you’re telling me?”

I looked around. I didn’t see the tall hotel that was once a diner, or even a hospital or that small mountain range. It could have just been that I was in a different place, but there should have been some kind of landmark, right?

“Why would you do this?” I asked.

“Aion considered you the greatest threat to what is to come. I wished to enter an alternate timeline since the beginning. It just so happens that I could afford one little favor and bring you along.”

“Take me back. Now.”

She shook her head again.

“That won’t be happening. I hold the device and I intend to keep it in my possession as it’s necessary for my own plan.”

“But I can’t stay here! What about Ray? Remora? Demetria? Tigershark? What about them?”

“Consider this an act of mercy: soon, they will all die. By being here, your life is effectively spared. I didn’t have to bring you along, but I thought you of all people would understand the meaning behind the act. I may have been wrong.”

“But you said Aion considered me a threat! So if I can return, I can stop it, right?”

She turned away.

“Time to make some new memories. As for me, I’ve got somewhere else to be.”

I tried chasing after her, whether it be a futile attempt to pin her down and wrestle the device out from her hand or what, but before I could take a single step forward, her briefcase unfolded and the mechanical limbs covered her once again. She soared off into the air before I could so much as touch her.

She disappeared into the night sky without any way of knowing where she could have gone off to.

I dropped to my knees.

It still didn’t feel real to me. I expected that I would soon get up and find the diner/hotel once again, and everyone would be there. But even with the icy night chill and my still-damp clothes, I couldn’t bring myself to move. Not even a single tear moved from my eyelids.

[eternaldeviants]

Alley Cat and Street Rat - Chapter 1

Kokichi/Kaede, Kokichi & Dice, Kokichi & Angie, Kaede & Shuichi [Established relationship, Aged Up Characters, Miraculous AU, Thieves, Superhero AU]

Kokichi's life has been on a steady track for years, he goes stealing with Dice, he's dating Kaede, and he's been pretty good at keeping those two lives separate. When he ends up stealing some magical jewelry that grants him special powers, his life becomes a lot more interesting and his two worlds become a little harder to keep apart.

Shuichi's calm life seems to avalanche over night. It starts with a case coming across his desk about a group of thieves, escalates when he receives a strange present from his parents that give him strange abilities, and culminates when a supervillain calling himself Yokai starts terrorizing the city. As these separate problems combine into one when he takes up the mantle of a hero and learns the thieves he's chasing have the same abilities as the villain he's fighting.

Prologue

OoOoOo

"When are you going to introduce me to Dice?"

Kokichi raised his book so that he could look across the apartment to see Kaede was standing in the kitchen. He was hanging upside down off the edge of the couch, feet brushing against the wall where they were propped up on the back of the couch and his hair brushing the floor. Kaede still had her back to him as she focused on burning breakfast.

Well, Kokichi assumed that she would burn it because she was a terrible cook. She could rarely follow a recipe without trying to add something or getting distracted so that it ended up burned. The fact that she was keeping her eyes on the food would have been a good sign, but the fact that she had started this conversation meant that her mind wasn't really on it. He didn't mind though. They had poptarts in the cabinets that he could snag.

"I have introduced you to Dice," he replied. It was pretty much impossible for him to spend any significant time with someone without them colliding with Dice in some way. Dice were the most important thing in his life and while Kaede was steadily climbing higher on that list, she hadn't and likely wouldn't surpass Dice. 

Kaede turned to glare at him over her shoulder. "Only, like, three members," she said. Technically five, but he wasn't sure she had realized that he had long recruited some of their former classmates. Though if he really thought of it, all of Dice had met her by now, she just didn't know it. There was no way Dice would ever let their leader date, let alone live with someone that they hadn't met and vetted to some extent. She was at a bit of a disadvantage when it came to spotting Dice members though. There were a lot of people that came up to her all the time, either because she was a Hope's Peak alumni or because she was a famous pianist, and it was hard to keep up when you met that many people a day. Or so he heard. Kokichi was pretty good at remembering people.

"So, what about it?" he asked.

"Three people isn't all of Dice," she complained. "I want to meet everyone."

Kokichi sighed and closed his book, tossing it up on the couch beside him. "What for?"

"What do you mean, what for?" she asked, voice becoming louder with incredulousness. "Because they're important to you. They're practically your family, right?"

"They are my family," he corrected.

"So why wouldn't I want to meet your family?" She asked, fully turning toward him and putting her hands on his hips. Definitely going to burn those eggs, or whatever it is.

Kokichi sighed loudly. "Sounds like a lot of work, to me."

"Kokichi," she said in a scolding tone. She walked away from the stove, big mistake, and kneeled down so that she could look him in his eyes. A silly thing to do when he was upside down. His expression went from scolding to soft in moments. "I want to be closer to you. You want that too, right?"

Kokichi met her eyes and said, "Your food is burning."

The calm expression was immediately replaced with panic as she got to her feet. "No, the omelet!" She ran over to the stove and began fussing around with the pan, trying to save the undoubtedly ruined meal. 

Kokichi slid off the couch and onto the floor before rolling over and getting to his feet. "Poptarts are on the shelf," he told her helpfully.

Kaede gave him an exasperated look over her shoulder. "I don't want junk food for breakfast."

"And I don't want burned food," he said, walking to the cabinet and pulling out the box. "Guess our tastes are just too different."

"Don't eat that, she told him. "I'm going to make us a nice breakfast for once."

Kokichi gave her a flat look. "A nice breakfast of what? Cereal?"

Kaede frowned, looking back down at the mess in her pan. "Maybe it doesn't taste that bad?" she asked hopefully.

Kokichi looked her in the eyes as he ripped open his poptarts and took a bite of one. "Then you eat it."

Kaede made a sound of distress as she hung her head. Kokichi pat her shoulder as he walked by. 

"Better luck next time, sweet cheeks."

"Don't call me sweet cheeks," she grumbled half-heartedly. She knew by now that objections basically guaranteed that he would use the nickname again, but it was a hard habit to break. 

Kokichi watched from the couch as she scrapped the food from the pan, dropped it in the sink, and slowly trudged over to sit beside him. He held out his poptart for her to take a bite and Kaede sighed before doing so.

"See, it's not so bad," he said.

Kaede groaned and let her head fall onto his shoulder. He continued letting her take bites of his poptart

OoOoOo

It was mid-afternoon when Kokichi met up with Dice. They had a lot of meeting places within the city, the main one being in an area that had been dubbed Hideout Park. It was a completely normal park but after meeting there a few times, Joy had made a joke about it being their hideout and the name had stuck. It wasn't the largest park, but it was in a fairly busy area making their constant gathering seem very inconspicuous.

There was a path that ran through the park and a picnic table that sat to one side, known as the throne after he routinely used it as a chair instead of a table. Today was no different and Kokichi hopped up on the table as soon as he arrived. "Bow to your king!"

Joy was kneeling on the ground in a circle of dogs they were meant to be walking, trying to pet all seven of them with her two hands. She looked up at him, rolled her eyes, and continued trying to pet the herd of excited canines. Princess was sitting on the grass with one of the smaller dogs in her lap and she waved at him. Bishop and Ace both smiled at him, the latter trying to reach over Joy to hook leashes on dog collars.

"Hey boss," Bishop greeted.

"You're late," Ace told him.

"A king is never late," he declared. He looked around briefly to see if he could spot any of his other minions, frowning when he didn't. "Where's my good for nothing second?" he asked.

"Angie had a commission," Joy answered. "She took Raeve with her and Jack thought that he should supervise."

Kokichi sighed. "Typical." Angie, otherwise known as Brush once he had taken her under his wing, was more chaotic than she was reliable most of the time. Kokichi didn't need a reliable stick in the mud though, that's not what made her his second in command. No, he needed someone that could ride the same wave of chaos that he did, someone that was devious and reckless but not stupid. Lantern thought that he should be second in command because he was reasonable and usually tried to reign Angie in for that reason. The fact that he usually failed emphasized his lack of suitability to the role. 

"Did you need her for something?" Ace questioned. His bleached blonde hair stood up at a 90 degree angle, but rather than make him stand out, he looked rather normal among them. A lot of people bleached their hair and used too much gel. Bishop was big and round with a bald head, Princess was smaller than even Kokichi with hair so long it nearly trailed the ground, and Joy had bright pink hair with shaved sides. Comparing them, Ace seemed like your typical delinquent.

"Kaede wants to meet you all," Kokichi said instead of addressing Ace's question.

Joy's face lit up. "We get to meet the mistress?"

"Don't call her the mistress," he said. "That makes me sound like some sleazeball."

"What does she want with us?" Ace questioned.

"The usual," Kokichi answered with a shrug, looking at his nails. "Torture, interrogation, intimidation."

Ace's eyes widened. "Wait, really?"

Joy snickered. "No way. He's kidding."

Ace looked at Joy. "But are you sure? I mean, if she's dating the boss then..."

"If she was like Kichi then she would have already met us by now," Princess said. She looked up at Kokichi. "Right?"

Kokichi smiled widely at her. "Some minions are brighter than others."

"Hey!" Ace yelled.

Kokichi laughed as he hopped off the table. "Enough messing around. We've got a job to do!"

They all nodded, getting to their feet and handing out the dogs leashes until they all had the dogs that they could handle. Dice Dog Sitting services had been a successful endeavor for them since before he graduated from Hope's Peak and it was enough for them to scrape by. Of course, their other endeavors went a long way as well.

"Onward!" he exclaimed.

"Onward!" they echoed him.

OoOoOo

The minute Kaede reached the table where Shuichi was waiting for her she let out a loud groan. She let her body fall into the seat and dropped her head onto the table, not caring at all if she got a few stares from the other patrons at the cafe. She and Shuichi always chose to sit outside where the noise was more acceptable and years of dating Kokichi had made her less uptight about causing small scenes in public. The same couldn't be said of Shuichi though, who looked around nervously before he even addressed her.

"Um, is something wrong?" he asked.

"Today was a disaster," she told him. "Again!"

Shuichi's eyes still glanced around but he kept the majority of his attention on her. He really did worry too much about what others thought of him, she wasn't being that loud. "What happened?"

"I ruined breakfast."

"Well, that's not new," he said. When she lifted her head to look at him, Shuichi tried to swiftly backtrack. "I-I mean, um, did Kokichi complain or..."

Kaede sighed again, deciding not to comment on his less than delicate reponse. "No, but he never complains. And he still doesn't want me to meet Dice either!"

"Did he say that?" Shuichi asked and Kaede could tell by the way his eyes sharpened and his lips thinned that he would be offended on her behalf if he did. The thought actually made her smile, just a little.

"Not in so many words," she told him. "But he did change the subject." The fact that the subject changed to her burning food was irrelevant. She folded her arms under her and sulked just a little. It wasn't fair that he had a secret organization and wouldn't tell her anything about it.

Shuichi lifted his hand to his lips as he thought, a habit that he still hadn't broken all these years later. "Maybe he has a good reason that he doesn't want you to meet them."

Kaede frowned. "What reason could he have? These people are his family and I live with him now!"

Shuichi held up his hand, leaning away from her glare. "It was just a suggestion! I don't want to-"

Kaede leaned closer to him. "But you're a  detective, right? So detect something!"

Shuichi leaned further away from her. "Um, it doesn't really work like that."

Kaede sighed as she put her head back on the table. "Sorry, I'm just driving myself in circles here. Why doesn't he want me to meet them? Does he think they won't like me?"

"Well..." Whatever Shuichi was in the middle of saying was cut off by a scream. The two of them, as well as several other people in the cafe, stood up to look around for the sound. Several people were beginning to run past, though they still wouldn't see what was causing the commotion.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"It's a Yokai attack!" someone hastily spat out.

"What?" Kaede pushed herself away from the table as she got to her feet, trying to look toward what was happening. 

Shuichi put a hand on her shoulder. "Kaede. We should go."

Kaede noded. "Right." 

While the people around them were standing up and trying to lean over the cafe's rail to see what was happening, she and Shuichi went the other way toward the bathrooms.

Yokai, as he called himself, had been making random attacks on the city for a while now. No one was sure where he had come from, or what he wanted, but every time he made his move he was there and gone before anyone had the chance to do anything about it. 

That was, until now. Kaede looked down at the small winged brooch that was clipped to her shirt. "Do you think we should?" he asked softly. She looked up at Shuichi, seeing the same indecision on his face before he nodded.

"If we can do something, then... we should try," he said.

Kaede smiled at him. "You're right. See you on the other side." They went separate ways, him into the male restrooms and her into the women's. She briefly looked around to make sure the place was empty before ducking into one of the stalls. She took a few deep breaths to steady herself. "Alright, we can do this. Nooroo?"

Her kwami, a small purple plushie-like creature with large eyes and butterfly wings, floated out in front of her with a smile. "You'll be great, Master. I believe in you."

Kaede smiled back at it. "Alright, Nooroo. Wings rise!" There was a flash of light around her and she could feel the transformation as it spread over her. Once it was done, she opened the door and looked over herself briefly. She'd only transformed a handful of times before and she hadn't really gotten the chance to see how she looked any of those times. Red butterfly wings drooped behind her and there were wings on the side of her cap. She had a red mask over her eyes, with matching gloves and shoes, but her shoes and tights were black. The cane in her hand looked a bit more like a wand, a red butterfly emblem below the pommel.

Kaede only paused long enough to give herself a quick once over before she was pushing herself out the bathroom's window, and rushing toward where she heard the commotion. 

Shuichi was only a few steps behind her. He looked a lot less elaborate than she did, dressed all black with a button up shirt tucked into slacks, a black cap pulled low on his head, and black fingerless gloves. The only spot of color was the blue of his mask, his hair that looked wilder and fluffier than normal, and the dog ears peeking out from the sides of his cap.

Kaede gave him an encouraging smile. Even though he'd done this a little more often than she had, he was still far from being an expert. "We can do this," she told him.

Shuichi pulled on his hat, much like he used to in highschool. "I hope you're right."

OoOoOo

They heard the screaming before they got to the scene. There was a web of string covering the area, thin in some areas but thick and black in others. At least, Shuichi thought that it was string, before he was able to spot Yokai standing in the center of it all. The man was dressed in a loose, flowing white top and golden hakama trousers, a giant paintbrush strapped to his back. He had skin that was pure white like it was made of marble, golden pupil-less eyes, and long trails of black hair which were connected to the trails of string all around them. All around the area, he could see people being accosted by this sentient hair, grabbing hold of limbs or wrapping around necks.

"Oh no," Kaede said as soon as she saw what he did. "We have to save them."

"I'll rescue as many as I can," he told her. "You need to distract him."

"Right." Kaede set her sights on Yokai and jumped into the hair, the red wings on her back coming to life to help carry up to the top of the building where Yokai waited. 

Shuichi focused his attention on the first person he saw whose neck was being gripped by the hair. He pulled out his weapon, a small blue ball, and tossed it at them. It hit them and bounced back into his hand. "Fetch!" he called out and the person was teleported from where they were into Shuichi's waiting arms. The sudden weight brought Shuichi to his knees as he tried to hold up the person as they coughed and struggled to catch their breath, but he sighed in relief that the power worked like it was supposed to. He couldn't spare too much time though. He ran through the area, tossing his ball out at anyone that was in a bad spot and calling them safely to his side. 

Once he'd rescued everyone that was in immediate danger, he turned his attention to Yokai and Kaede. Yokai was brandishing his giant paintbrush as a weapon and Kaede was using her cane to deflect the blows. She looked far from confident though, slowly backing up from Yokai's steady advances as he rained down blow after blow.

"Why are you doing this?" Kaede asked. "Why are you hurting people?"

Yokai ducked beneath her guard and jammed  the end of his paintbrush into her stomach, making her double over. "I don't think that's any of your concern."

Kaede looked up at him, face contorted in pain. She still managed to fling her cane out toward his leg, causing him to hiss in pain. "It is my concern! I refuse to let you do whatever you want!" 

Shuichi ran to get closer to her, jumping from cars to streetlights to make his way up to her side. He tossed his ball at her once he was close enough, knowing the projectile would travel faster than he would. 

"Unfortunately for you, I wasn't asking for permission," Yokai said. 

The ball returned to Shuichi's hand just as he noticed someone else coming toward them. No, coming toward her. 

Shuichi didn't think, he just yelled. "Fetch!"

Kaede disappeared just as someone landed in her place, creating a crater in the top of the building. Kaede blinked several times in confusion as she appeared at Shuichi's side. "Wh-what?"

Shuichi turned his gaze back to the roof. While Yokai had appeared several times now, with ever changing abilities at his disposal, this was the first time that he'd ever had someone at his side. The girl was dressed in white, with brown hair that looped at the top to look like ears, a cat paw print on her top, and black and red paint surrounding her red eyes like a mask. She looked dangerous, the way she zeroed in on them and immediately took up a fighting stance, claws on one of her hands.

"Who are you?" Kaede questioned.

"Mauler," she answered curtly. "Don't get in our way."

"We're not going to let you hurt people!" Kaede responded. 

"Then you'll get hurt," the girl answered. She kicked a chunk of concrete that had been dislodged by her attack, sending it straight at them. Shuichi and Kaede separated as they dodged. Shuichi landed on the top of a nearby car, while Kaede took to the air. The onslaught didn't stop, as Mauler punched the ground once again and began kicking more debris their way. Shuichi quickly dropped down behind the car to take cover while Kaede dodged in the air.

Unfortunately, they had both forgotten about the web of hair loosely covering the area around them. Shuichi didn't realize that he was trapped until the strands tightened around his limb, binding his arms to his torso and causing him to cry out. "Ack!"

"Cerber! Ahh!" Her cry was cut off as the hair wrapped around her leg and dragged her from the air, slamming her into the ground below. 

"I feared that this would be a difficult task," Yokai said, standing at the edge of the building and looking down at them. "But it seems I overestimated you."

Kaede glared, trying to kick her leg free, but more tendrils were wrapping around her and closing around her other leg too. Her face was absolutely panicked and for a moment, Shuichi thought they were done for, that this would be their first and last attempt to use these powers, their Miraculous, for anything good. But then she cupped her hands together, a small light gathering in her palms, before she flung her arms out, releasing a small white butterfly. Kaede kept her gaze on Shuichi as the butterfly traveled to him, landing on his hair.

"Shuichi? Can you hear me?" Kaede questioned, her voice floating through his mind. He could see the white outline of butterfly wings around his face and her mouth wasn't moving, so this must have been part of her ability. 

"I can hear you," he thought back to her. "How are you doing this?"

"Part of my abilities are to empower others," Kaede said. "I can give you the strength to save us. What do you need, Shuichi? Show it to me."

Shuichi tried to think, what could he do to get them out of here? The problem was that Yokai could trap them too easily, they needed a way to be able to escape his web and then they could take care of the rest. He imagined the ability he would need.

"Alright. I can do it," Kaede responded to him. "Just trust me."

"I do," he answered confidently.

Kaede smiled at him and then she called out, "Metamorphosis!"

Shuichi could feel her power rushing over him and closed his eyes against the bright light it produced. He could feel his abilities becoming stronger and he instantly understood how to use them. He tossed out his ball and yelled, "Chase!" As soon as his weapon hit the ground, he was teleported out of the tangle of hair and to the location his weapon had landed. "We did?"

"Good job, Cerberus!" Kaede said. "A little help here?"

Shuichi was knocked over before he could respond. He looked behind him quickly, pailing as he saw Mauler standing over him. "Forget about me?" she asked. She held up the hand adorned with claws. "Clout," she said quietly, causing her claws to glow with energy.

Shuichi quickly scrambled backwards before tossing his weapon. "Chase!" he yelled in panic. Her claws were inches from his face when he vanished and a crater was left on the ground where her fist had landed. 

"You can't dodge forever," she told him.

No, he probably couldn't, Shuichi was very determined to try. He moved to put more distance between them, trying to avoid the web of hair as it lunged at him. When he was finally close enough to Kaede he tossed his ball out to free her. She slumped against him, giving him a weak smile. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet," he said. "I have no idea how to defeat them."

"I think I do," Kaede said. "We need to get that brush from Yokai. That has to be how he's using his power, right?"

"Maybe," Shuichi answered hesitantly. He couldn't think of anything else though and it would be easier to steal that than trying to take Mauler's claws. 

"Ah, Look out!" Kaede yelled, pushing them both to the ground just in time to avoid being barreled into by Mauler. The woman was fast, immediately getting back to her feet and raising her claws.

"Clout!" 

Kaede grabbed him around the waist and jumped into the air, out of Mauler's reach, her wings fluttering quickly as she struggled to keep them both in the air.

"Chase!" He yelled, teleporting them to one of the nearby buildings.

Kaede smiled at him, but it looked tired. "I think this power is taking a lot out of me. I'm starting to get a headache."

"Let's try and finish this quickly then," he said. 

"Yeah." Kaede took a deep breath, putting on a determined expression. They both ran toward Yokai, splitting up once more and Mauler leapt between them. "Stay out of our way!" Kaede yelled, hitting the girl with her cane. The hit knocked Mauler back a few steps, but she was running at them again quickly. "Go on, Shu- er, Cerberus."

"Right." Shuichi turned to run toward Yokai, teleporting to get to the man more expediently.

"That's a rather interesting ability your friend has," Yokai said, tilting his head to observe him. "Cerberus, was it? The two of you never properly introduced yourself."

"Cerberus and Red Wings," Shuichi said. "Not that you'll need to remember it for long, since you'll be going to jail soon."

Yokai laughed, low and sinister. "I doubt that." 

It was only the tilt of his head that alerted Shuichi to something coming toward him and he moved before he even saw what it was. A tendril of hair swept the area where he had just been standing and even after landing again, he wasn't safe. More and more tendrils swiped at him, trying to capture him. Shuichi was a bit out of breath trying to dodge them all while also trying to get into a position to throw his weapon. They caught up with him at the same time his weapon bounced off Yokai's brush, the strands tightening around his feet and causing him to fall.

"Fetch," he grunted, his hands tightening around the brush as soon as it materialized in front of him. 

Yokai began walking toward him slowly as the hair tightened around his legs. "I wasn't going to bother with trying to take your Miraculous," Yokai began. "But on second thought, both of your abilities would be quite useful."

Shuichi pulled the paintbrush closer, looking around as he tried to decide what to do.

"Let me guess... you look rather like a wolf and the name would lend itself an air of viciousness," Yokai said calmly. "But no, that doesn't seem right with your attacks. The dog Miraculous? Am I right?"

"Chase!" Shuichi yelled, throwing his ball, but Yokai's hand whipped out to catch it. 

"No, not this time," he said.

Shuichi took the moment of distraction to toss the paintbrush over the edge of the building. "Red Wings!"

Kaede leapt into the air, looking a bit worse due to the fight she'd been having with Mauler. Her hat had been knocked off and her wings looked a bit crooked, but they held her well enough to fly and she scooped the paintbrush into her arms. "Ah ha! Yes!" She grinned victoriously. "Give it up, Yokai!"

Yokai watched them both calmly as Mauler jumped to his side. "I could take her," Mauler said.

"No," Yokai said. "Let them have this victory. I learned some very interesting things this time. That's more than enough."

Mauler growled before nodding. "Fine." She backed up to the edge of the building before jumping off, shortly followed by Yokai. Kaede flew after them, looking around a few times before she turned to Shuichi. "I don't see them."

All at once, the web draped over everything disappeared, along with the brush in Kaede's arms. Shuichi blinked at his sudden freedom. 

"What happened?" she questioned, landing beside him and helping him to his feet.

"They must have de-transformed," Shuichi said. "I guess we were right and he couldn't control the ability anymore."

Kaede sighed. "That was way harder than I thought it would be."

"Yeah, I never would have guessed that being a superhero was that exhausting," he agreed.

"Ugh! We didn't even get to have lunch," she groaned. 

Shuichi chuckled. "I think we can give ourselves another hour, don't you?"

[typingtess]

“Callen!” Kilbride’s voice filled the office. “My office, now.”

“It’s his office now?” Sam pointed to the Mosley’s old space.

Seeing the cleaned off desk where Nell set up in Hetty’s area nine-months ago, Callen thought it just may be.

Walking into the office, Callen saw Kilbride finish his Starbucks. “I wanted a black coffee this morning. Not a difficult order. Pour the coffee into the cup, give me the cup.”

“Seems logical,” Callen had no idea where this was going.

“Except I was behind someone who was ordering a coffee float or some such thing. Blonde beans, milk, foam, shots of vanilla, whipped cream. Just go to a bakery and have a piece of cake so I can get my coffee.”

Callen really didn’t know what to say.

Kilbride pointed to the guest chair for Callen as he tossed the empty coffee cup into the trash pail under the desk. “Have you spoken to Miss Jones today?”

“No, do we have a case?”

“No. We also don’t have Miss Jones.”

“She didn’t sign the contract,” Callen was stunned for a second and then completely not. Nell was never staying.

“No, she did not. According to TSA, she and Beale flew out of SFO about an hour ago on their way to Tokyo.”

“Wow,” was all Callen could think of saying.

“That’s all you’ve got, ‘wow’?”

“I can see…” Callen started and thought better of it.

“What do you see Agent Callen?”

“Permission to speak freely, sir.”

“I’ve found that most of the members of this division of the Agency don’t have too many unshared thoughts.”

“She’s gone because of you, Admiral.”

The Admiral was taken aback. “This is my fault?”

“Nell took a leave of absence after her mother’s stroke. When her mother passed away, she put in her papers and had a good job in the private sector.”

“But she returned.”

“Hetty did that and didn’t really give Nell much of a choice. Nell was here out of an obligation to Hetty, to me and Sam and to the rest of the team.”

“An obligation she just walked away from.”

“No, an obligation she fulfilled. She was done with this office a few years ago. I know the new place where she was working was thrilled to have her.”

“You were keeping an eye on her.”

“Nell doesn’t need anyone watching over her as she reminded me of that yesterday. But she loved her mother and lost her, she was in a rough spot with Hetty, she and Eric were in a weird place. Nell bailed every member of this team out of a bad spot over the years. I wasn’t keeping an eye on her, I was making sure she had the life she earned.”

“Why did she need to remind you of that yesterday?”

“She was feeling a little pressured by you and I offered to push back.”

“And she said no.”

“To both of us, it seems.”

“Hetty spoke to me about Nell a few years ago. Hetty had plans for Nell.”

“But nobody asked Nell about her plans for herself,” Callen said. “Again, speaking freely.”

“Go on.”

“You’re a little easier to say no to than Hetty. I owe a lot of what I have professionally to Hetty. Nell may feel the same.”

“And I’m the interloper here.”

“Not the interloper. Just not Hetty.”

“The world can only really handle one of those. This office is going to need an operations manager. Are you or Agent Hanna interested in the position?”

“I won’t answer for Sam but no, I’m not doing the paperwork.”

“As your terse after action reports support,” Kilbride sighed. “I’ll be looking for a new Operations Manager.”

“Speaking freely,” Callen tried again.

“One last time.”

“You’re not bringing anyone in here. You’ve been in California for weeks. You’re going to be the next head of operations.”

“There’s only so many cruises and train tours a grown man can do.”

[clareguilty]

Gabriel Reyes/reader, a/b/o and The Works™

this is the third kinktober prompt for this year!!!

Gabriel Reyes/fem!reader | a/b/o, marking, biting, praise, all that jazz Rating: Explicit Word Count: ~3000

Jack Morrison was getting another medal.

It was everyone’s favorite joke at high command. It seemed like no one wanted to implement any serious policy or sign an actual resolution in favor of giving the golden boy of the Omnic Crisis another fancy award.

So Jack had been stressing himself out all week trying to write an acceptance speech that wasn’t passive aggressive, and you spent too long picking out a formal gown, and Gabe had sat on Reinhardt’s desk laughing and stuffing his face with carbs and fruit because his rut was due next week.

Jack took the teasing in stride and managed to come up with a speech that wouldn’t outright offend the Prime Minster of Russia. Everyone piled into the jet to Moscow with a garment bag and a carryon and a strong cup of coffee at four am the day before the banquet.

This was normal for you. In a world after the omnic crisis, head of Overwatch’s reparations department and mated to the commander of Blackwatch. You found yourself flown across the world dozens of times a year for negotiations and assemblies and ceremonies.

You and Gabe strapped in next to each other on the jet. “I haven’t seen the dress you picked out,” he nodded his head to the garment bag.

“I guess it will just be a surprise,” you purred.

He grinned and leaned in to kiss you.

“It’s too early for this,” Ana groaned from across the aisle. Gabe shot her a toothy smile and made sure to nip at the shell of your ear. You smacked his leg and shoved him back into his own seat.

The hotel was a beautiful historic waterfront building just across the bridge from the Kremlin in the heart of the city. The five of you piled out of the black SUV that had escorted you from the airstrip and made your way inside.

The hotel manager greeted you as well as an official from the Kremlin. Jack was the main recipient of ass kissing and pleasantries, so you simply smiled and nodded and shook hands wherever necessary.

The suite was entirely too big and fancy for a two night’s stay. You and Gabe poked around for a bit, but there were no fun secrets. You took the sitting room, and Gabe set up at the desk in the bedroom as you both buckled down on your work for the day. Gabe had operatives in Bolivia he needed to check in with, and you had a meeting with representatives in London.

He found you a few hours later slumped in the armchair with your head in your hands.

“They still being stubborn?” he asked.

“They won’t budge on anything,” you groaned.

“Change into something casual. Let’s go out for a little bit.” He was already in a hoodie and dark jeans, beanie sticking out of the back pocket.

You nodded and went to find a sweater.

Gabe’s impromptu date night in Moscow turned out to be a lot of fun. Ana and Reinhardt came to meet you at a bar for a little bit, and the two of you wandered around the city until sundown.

The next day was more meetings and frustration until you had to get ready for the banquet. You and Gabe slipped past each other in and out of the bathroom as you showered and shaved and styled your hair and perfumed and moisturized.

You shimmied into the dress half an hour before the car was due to pick you up. It was slim and black, sleeveless with one band that crossed over your collarbone and shoulder. You frowned when you realized it covered your matebite, but it wasn’t a big deal.

Gabe grinned salaciously as he zipped you up, unable to resist leaning down and nuzzling into your neck. “Cool it.” You shoved him off with a giggle. “I have to make it through a whole ceremony and dinner.”

He pulled on his jacket and the two of you made your way downstairs to wait for the car.

For some reason, the event coordinators split you into three cars. Jack rode by himself, you and Gabe in one car, and Ana and Reinhardt in the last. They looked intimidating in their dress uniforms, and you felt kind of ditzy in your sexy cocktail dress next to three enormous well decorated Overwatch officers.

The ceremony was only slightly dull, and you clapped at all the right spots and pinched Gabe when he looked like he was zoning out too much.

Dinner was much more enjoyable. You had been seated with people you knew from other events and assemblies, so conversation flowed well. A string ensemble played and a few people got up to dance or mingle once they cleared their plates. You caught sight of a British Parliament member speaking with a small group of tuxedoed men, and Gabe saw the determination in your eyes. 

“Go get him, sweetheart,” he kissed your cheek and pushed you towards the Lord. You excused yourself quickly and approached the older gentleman ready to push for your negotiations to take center stage in the Palace of Westminster.

The poor Lord was not expecting to be accosted by you at a banquet, but graciously listened as you explained your struggles in negotiating reparations in London.

“You’ve got some real fire in you,” one of the tuxedoes remarked as you shook the Lord’s hand and he scampered away sufficiently cowed. He had an American accent and shiny hair. He reeked of confidence and you knew it was a combination of his nationality and his status as an Alpha.

You cocked your head nonchalantly. “Takes a lot of persistence to get anything done in Parliament.” You knew he was probably referencing the fact that you, a tiny omega, had just approached a government official and demanded that he push for your cause, but you brushed it off. Most of the time people were respectful, but you still ran into pushback every now and then because of your status.

The American laughed, tossing his head back. “And wit to match!” A waiter came by with champagne and he snatched a glass to press into your hands. “What’s your name?” he asked, placing a hand on your back and guiding you back into the crowd of tuxes.

You tensed under his touch. This wasn’t your Alpha. It was extraordinarily rude to touch anyone without permission, especially an omega. But still, you had to be polite, so you introduced yourself.

“If you ever need any help getting through to politicians, you should give me a call. I’m on the UN Peace Council, you know? I was appointed during the crisis.” That information was probably supposed to impress you. It probably would have if you were anyone else.

You nodded politely, taking a tiny sip of champagne and glancing over your shoulder to look for Gabe. You had your own gripes with the UN peace council. Jack and Gabe butted heads with them nearly every other week.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” you smiled, attempting to turn and address the other men.

“Here,” the American pulled out his phone. “Let me get your number. Maybe we could meet up for drinks before we both leave Moscow?”

“Oh,” you found your escape. “I left my phone back at my table.” You turned to make your way back to Gabe and Ana, but the UN asshole grabbed your arm. You knew exactly what this was. This guy probably didn’t run into many omegas in professional settings, and he thought you would just go along with everything he said because he was some big shot Alpha.

Laughable. You were a high ranking member of Overwatch. A diplomat. The mate of Gabriel Fucking Reyes.

“Just put your number in and I’ll text you,” he insisted. You struggled out of his grasp and shot him the sternest look you could manage.

He laughed again. “I love how feisty you are!”

Clearly, everyone in the vicinity was also uncomfortable with the exchange. This was not the time nor the place to be asserting dominance over an omega.

Your blood boiled. You didn’t want to make a scene at Jack’s reception -- though he probably would have loved it -- but you were seriously about to deck this guy.

“Cariña,” a familiar voice washed over you and the effect was immediate. You leaned back into Gabe’s chest, taking a deep breath to slow your heart rate. “Jack was looking for you. He wanted to introduce you to someone.”

The American Alpha puffed his chest out, clearly ready to challenge until he took one look at Gabe.

“Commander Reyes,” he greeted. All of the bravado and pushiness was gone in an instant.

“Hello.” Gabe was stiff, clearly trying to hold his tongue. His arms snaked around your waist and he leaned in to whisper in your ear. 

“Would you hate me if we left right now?”

“Absolutely not,” you spun in his embrace so you could look up at him. His expression was stoic as always, but you could see the tension and the anger in his eyes.

You didn’t even look back as Gabe walked you to the table to collect your things. It was a little rude to leave without saying goodbye to anyone, and you weren’t sure if Jack had actually wanted to introduce you to someone, but Gabe looked ready to tear someone’s head off.

He stopped caring about decency the moment the car door closed.

There wasn’t a lot of room to maneuver considering how enormous your mate was in the tiny sedan backseat, but he pinned you to the leather seats and kissed you like his life depended on it. You wound your fingers into his curls, gasping as his hands slid under your skirt and up your thighs. The driver coughed, and you giggled at the slow whir of the partition motor giving the two of you some privacy.

“I can’t believe he touched you,” Gabe snarled.

You shivered both at the possessive edge in his voice and the disgusting memory of the other Alpha’s hand on your arm.

“Make me forget about him,” you whispered, hooking your leg around his hips.

He rose to the challenge. Super soldier strength shredded your lace underwear, dress hiked up around your hips. He pressed a kiss to the inside of your knee, trailing up your thigh at a torturously slow pace. He had barely sucked a mark into the skin when the car stopped. A glance out the tinted window showed that you were back at the hotel.

“Thank you!” you called to the driver in your terrible russian accent as you yanked your dress back down and teetered on your heels on the pavement. Gabe half carried you with an arm around your waist as you breezed through the lobby to the elevator.

The elevator was another brief attempt to continue. You managed to get Gabe’s jacket and shirt open before the door slid open and you were staggering down the hall.

He dragged you into the bedroom, pinning you to the bed on your stomach so he could yank down the zipper on your dress. He couldn’t keep his lips away from your neck. The moment your matebite was uncovered he dragged his teeth over the mark. A shiver ran all the way down your spine.

“You’re never covering this up again,” he growled, rutting against your hips clumsily. “I want everyone to see that you belong to me.”

The words made your stomach flip. You wriggled your way around onto your back, pushing your dress over your hips and to the floor. “You’re going to hit your rut early.”

He didn’t seem fazed. “I’ll just fuck you until we have to leave for the flight.”

You figured Ana, Jack, and Reinhardt wouldn’t appreciate Gabe in the throes of his rut on the flight back to base tomorrow, but they had probably experienced it before. You could only imagine how bad he was back during the crisis. The thought only made you wetter.

He must have sense the spike in arousal, because he settled more of his weight on top of you. “What are you thinking about?” he demanded.

“You. During the crisis. Alpha Commander Gabriel Reyes.” You trailed a finger down his chest. “Were your ruts worse than they are now?”

He smirked. “They’ve gotten worse again since meeting you.”

You pulled him in for a kiss, mustering the last of your coordination to get Gabe undressed. He made sure you were laid out comfortably on the bed -- grabbing a few pillows to place under your hips and head -- before sinking all the way inside you to the swell of his knot.

Gabe always fit inside you so well. The perfect stretch. And he filled you so deep when he knotted you. You knew that his ruts could get intense, and you would probably be exhausted and sore by the end of it. Still, you had been mated for a few years now, so you had figured out how to manage.

“You feel so good.” You closed your eyes and lost yourself in the situation.

“Don’t worry, baby. I’m going to knot you so good.” He rocked forward, teasing you with the stretch.

“Please,” you begged, nails scratching at the shaved hair at the back of his head.

He shuddered and set an impossible pace as he began to fuck you. Sometimes you forgot that you weren’t just mated to an Alpha, but to a super soldier. No one else could fuck you like he did.

“You want my knot? Want me to breed you full? Want me to remind you who you belong to?” His words were low against you skin as he kissed along your neck. One of his hands was rubbing your clit, the other holding your thighs open so he could reach deep inside you with every thrust.

“Yours,” you gasped. “I’m yours.”

His teeth found the unmarked skin of your neck, just above your collarbone -- opposite the side of where your matebite was. The skin was practically electrified, especially when Gabe was fucking you like this. He didn’t bite down, but the sensation alone was enough to have you coming on his cock.

“Fuck,” he growled. “That was so good for me, baby. You’re so perfect.”

“Do it,” you begged. “Bite me. Please.” It was a little unorthodox. Normally couples only exchanged one bite. A bite on both sides was usually the sign of a triad or a pack. But you had just been touched by another alpha and Gabe was fucking you so good and you wanted him in every way possible.

He blinked, trying to think through the haze of his rut. “You want that?” He didn’t even wait for you to respond. The thought alone had him spilling inside of you, and he pulled you onto his knot. His teeth found that same patch of sensitive, unmarked skin, and he bit down just as he locked inside of you.

Nothing felt better than coming to the sensation of being claimed. It was the strongest orgasm you had ever experienced.

“Fuck you’re perfect. My perfect little omega. You wear my marks so well. Everyone is going to know exactly who you belong too.”

You couldn’t respond. Too busy marking Gabe’s chest with hickeys and lovebites. He was too massive for you to reach his neck, but you would make do. You were still coming down off the intense rush of endorphins, and everything was a little fuzzy and felt just a little too good too much too fast. You had come twice in less than the span of a minute, and Gabe was only just getting started.

He soothed the aching bite, holding you close as you were locked together. His knot probably wouldn’t go down for a while, but he was less riled up than before now that he had satisfied himself somewhat.

“I love you,” he kissed the top of your head, rolling so you could lay on his chest.

“I-” You cut yourself off, blushed, and buried your face in his pecs. You would happily die there.

“Yes?” He was curious now. You weren’t usually shy with him.

“I’ve been working on something. It’s super embarrassing.” You didn’t look up.

He lifted your head, forcing you to meet his eyes. “What’s embarrassing? I just dragged you out of a dinner party at the Kremlin so I could fuck you. I think I’m the more embarrassing of the two fo us.”

You laughed and kissed his chest right above his heart. Mustering all of your courage, you found your voice:

“Te amo. Me encanta pertenecer a ti. Tú eres mi mayor alegría.”

Your accent was decent, but you had no clue if your grammar was correct. The words were unfamiliar and clumsy, even though you had practiced them a hundred times. Spanish was not a language you were familiar with, but you knew that Gabe had grown up hearing it. You wanted to try and learn for him.

He understood immediately what you were tying to say, and you could feel the rumble of his laughter beneath you.

“Don’t laugh at me!” you whined, smacking him lightly on the side.

“I’m sorry,” he grabbed your hand, running his thumb over your knuckles. “It was very sweet. I love you too.”

“I need a lot more practice,” you pouted.

He petted your hair, staring at you with a dopey, lovestruck expression. “I can’t believe you let me bite you again.”

You shrugged, feeling the pull and ache of the new mark in the motion. “We can let one of them fade.”

He smirked. “What if I like you like this?”

You bared your own teeth. “Can I return the favor?”

You weren’t expecting to rile him up, but the words were enough to make his cock twitch inside of you. “Fuck,” he groaned. “You good to go again?”

You nodded, pushing up to a seat so you could ride him. He grabbed your hips, holding tightly as you slowly rocked against him. You knew the pace was probably no where near what he needed, but you wanted to take your time.

He didn’t give you the opportunity, rolling to pin you beneath him again and dragging your hips up to his. “You wanna bite me? You better earn it.”

[apocalypticgargoyle]

okay okay could i request some nsfw with professor!techno giving a little extra praise to one of his students and asking to see them after class (presumably a bad grade of sort, but thats most certainty not the case). I love your writing by the way !! could i be <3 anon?? thank you so muchhh !!!! :DD

˚⸙͎۪۫⋆ welcome <3 anon ˚⸙͎۪۫⋆

im going fucking feral for this idea, thank you for gifting it to me. i- my mind went to dark academia!techno and i lost it. if y'all know me irl, you don't after this. also this techno fanart by EtecteraArt, if you don't have clear skin yet.

𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒. ⚚ 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫!𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨

pairing: professor!technoblade x fm!reader

± warnings: nsfw (minors dni), pure filth, professor/student, slight degradation, domination, minimal dialogue

It started out as shameless flirting for you. You’d wear the most revealing thing your closet held, crossing your legs and leaning over to pick up a pencil just so you could show him the curvature of your body. You’d tie your hair up or pull it away from your neck when you answered one of his questions, basking in the slight smirk painting his face as his eyes surveyed your movements. You chewed on the ends of your pens and wore a shade of lipstick you knew would draw in his attention. You were positive your fellow lecture members cast their eyes downward at you, believing he was giving you special treatment just because you toyed with him. 

You made sure to show him you knew what you were talking about and actively studying his assignments and works published by him. You were, in a word, hopelessly obsessed with Techno. This obsession led to his appraisal in class when you could fully grasp a more advanced concept he had posed. You didn’t even care about the other girls’ glared burning into your shoulder from behind you as he favored you over them. 

One day in particular, you came to class a bit earlier with a coffee for him in your hand. You stopped before entering, pressing your back against the outside wall beside the door as you heard a feminine voice cooing to him. You smugly enjoyed the tone of his voice as he countered their attempts to hit on him with a grace only a man like him could muster. He thanked the woman for coming in and told her that his office hours were open if she needed actual help on an assignment. You swiped your thumb across your bottom lip before smearing the hue of your lipstick against the white plastic lid of the coffee cup. It was barely noticeable, something only he would take note of. 

The woman exited the room, brushing your shoulder as she went past you. The two of you shared a look that could equate to two territorial wolves in a dispute. The only leverage you had was that he never shot you down, in fact, you noticed he usually enjoyed your under-the-collar comments. As you turned into the room, you noticed him lean back in his chair, running his fingers into his short pink hair and shutting his eyes slightly with a sigh. 

You chewed the corner of your cheek as you approached the lecture desk, his eyes prying open with a small smile as he spotted you. “Good morning, Professor,” you hummed, setting the coffee in front of him. He sent you a hint of a grateful look as students began to file into the room. You turned on your heel and walked to find your seat, swaying your hips slightly, only because you knew he was staring after you. 

As you settled in, you watched Techno bring the cup towards his mouth before his eyes darted to the edge of the lid. With the ghost of a smirk swirling into his expression, he looked up to make direct eye contact with you before pressing his lips to the spot and drinking from the cup. Your breath hitched, heat pulsing through your body at the slight gesture from him. You studied him as he swallowed, letting his tongue dart out to wet his lips as if he were further savoring the mild taste of you from the lid; something an outsider wouldn’t have noticed. 

You clenched your thighs together as you thought about his rejection of other girl’s advances while now he was practically eye-fucking you from across the lecture hall. 

That lecture had been an hour and a half of agony. Your tongue wettened as he twisted a pen in his hand absent-mindedly as he lectured on Eros, his eyes surveying your reactions as he’d quietly roll the pen in his fingers. You weren’t sure how he could have such an effect on you without even touching you. You knew the other girls were squirming in their seats as he sat on the edge of his desk, leaning his elbows on his knees as he answered questions towards the end. 

All you wanted to do was get out of the lecture hall and do what you always did after his class: shower in cold water and plan your next phase of attack. 

Techno had other plans. 

He called out your name at the end of class, meeting your eyes as he instructed you to meet him for office hours. You hear someone whine next to you, nearly making you laugh as you agreed. 

And that’s how you found yourself, pulling the door shut to his office behind you. He dug into a folder on his desk, setting a copy of your latest essay in front of him. Your eyes raked down his arms as he pulled his gold-rimmed glasses on top of his head and leaned over his desk, muscle tightening against the rolled sleeves of his shirt. “Come take a look at this,” he stated. Your eyes darted to the red pen marks, his handwriting only scripting praise on the first page. You knew you aced that essay before you’d even turned it into him. 

You smirked to yourself, dropping your bag beside one of his client chairs and mimicking his stance, planting your hands in the space between his. The size of him dwarfed you, making your mind race vulgarly. This was always how it was, you invading his personal space and him teasing you to go further. “What am I looking at, Professor?” You quizzed sheepishly, feigning innocence. 

You leaned your weight on one of your hands, the fingers of the other tracing closer to his large hand. He grabbed your wrist, pulling you just barely close enough to him that you could feel his breath. Your cheeks flushed, goosebumps spreading over your body. “You think I can’t see what you’re doing?” He needled, voice dropping an octave to send heat straight to your core. 

You gulped, practically tasting him he was so close to you. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Professor. But I could learn,” you avowed; your words barely above a whisper. For a moment, you truly believed he would kiss you, his breath cascading over your face with sweet hints of mint and the coffee you’d bought him. 

His lips barely brushed against yours before he pulled away, sending fire to burn in your chest and your knees to turn to jelly. He stood back, his eyes dancing with a mocking ego, knowing he had you on a leash. He lowered into his seat, pressing his back against the leather of his chair, fingers tugging at his collar to undo a few buttons as he looked at your shocked and submissive frame. He chuckled darkly as he eyed you. “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. You’re just a child,” he teased. 

You had half a mind to dig into your bag and sign over your ID to prove you were the opposite of his beratement. Instead, you let your breathing shallow, slowly walking around his desk. He tilted his head at you, watching you intently as you placed your hand on the back of his chair, and pushing him away from his desk. As you lowered to your knees, you allowed that hand to travel the length of his body. As your knees settled against the cold linoleum in front of him, you raked your nails down his thighs, making him chuckle softly, a sardonic expression flickering across his face. 

You sharpened your eye contact, your fingers nearly hooking around his belt loops. “Teach me then, Professor. Use me,” you practically begged, making Techno smirk, his hand moving to rest in the crook of your neck while the other supported his head. 

His fingers felt coarse against your skin, the feeling of him finally touching you nearly was enough to send you over the edge. You turned your head, pressing your lips to the inside of his wrist. “So needy. Like a lost puppy vying for my attention,” he mocked, gaze dancing from your lips to your eyes. “What would your boyfriend think of you like this? On your knees in front of a grown man.” His voice dripped with lust and restraint, yet he was completely calm and utterly in control. 

His thumb brushed against your bottom lip, almost mimicking your gesture from earlier as if he’d pictured your actions with his coffee lid. “I don’t have a boyfriend, Professor. And if I did, I doubt he would taste as good as you,” you muttered, silently signing over your soul to him. 

You could practically see the gears turning in his head as he debated what to do with you first. He pressed his thumb into your mouth, flattening your tongue with his finger pad. Your lips instantly closed around him, looking up at him with doe eyes. “Stop talking, pet,” he grumbled, the rest of his fingers angling your face closer to him and he leaned towards you. “If you’re going to beg like a toy, I’ll treat you like a toy,” he promised, making your heart flutter. 

He pulled his thumb from your mouth, only to wrap his hands around your throat, bringing your lips against his roughly. You moaned at the taste of him, wanting to swim against his tongue and give him your dying breath. He groaned into your mouth, kneading your bottom lip with his teeth. 

Techno tugged you to your feet, wrapping his hands around your thighs before pushing you on top of his desk. His hand slipped into your shirt, palming your breast while his other gripped at the flesh of your ass, pulling you closer to him as he ground his hips against yours. You tugged your hands through his soft hair, tugging slightly and savoring the moans he poured into your mouth. You wrapped your legs around his waist, wanting to alleviate whatever distance there was between the two of you. 

Your fingers moved to skim down his toned body, unzipping his pants and palming his cock outside of his boxers. His lips moved to dig his teeth into your shoulder, muffling his groans of praise as he ground against your hand. You panted at the loss of his lips on yours, digging your nose into the crook of his neck and inhaling deeply as he moaned your name. You were convinced you were trapped in one of your many daydreams involving him, but with each nip of his teeth sending a flush of pleasure to your core, you were reminded that he was in fact, about to ruin you. 

Techno pulled you off the desk, spinning you in his hold and bending you over the hardwood. You bit back a smirk as you heard him undo the rest of his zipper and discard his belt behind you. The anticipation of him made your knees shake as your hot breath drew clouds of moisture on his desk. His fingers pushed your skirt further up your hips, blunt nails dragging along the skin of your legs before gripping your hips. You felt him grind himself against your entrance, your mind already blurring with pleasure. He kicked your feet further apart. “God, I've wanted to do this for so long," he nearly growled, pressing a kiss to your shoulder blade before pushing himself into you. 

You moan, your body adjusting around his length, begging him for more. His hands gripped your hips, driving himself deeper into you, beginning an animalistic pace. You groaned out his name, one of his hands holding tightly onto your side to give himself more leverage. Your mind blurred, mouth hanging open slightly as your cheek was pressed firmly against the wood of his desk. 

Each of his thrusts sent a wave of pleasure coursing through your veins, as his deep, breathy moans hissed into your ear like a sinful symphony. His hand moved to thread his fingers through yours, giving you some kind of anchor as his large frame wreaked havoc on your body. You whimpered out moans of arousal with each of his movements. 

His teeth grazed against your neck again, dragging himself deeper into you. You picked your head up, reaching out one of your hands to grip the edge of the desk, hearing him chuckle behind you. His hand snaked around you to wrap around your neck, bringing you up a bit further as he pressed his lips to one of your flushed cheeks, probably basking in the beads of sweat dotting your hairline from his campaign. 

"Mark me," you begged. "I'm yours," you moaned, rolling your hips back against him. The satisfied moan that slithered from his lips sent goosebumps spreading against your skin. 

He dug his teeth into you, finger tightening around your neck and you knew the brushes he left would be enough of a sultry reminder to keep you wet for a week. 

He pulled you upward, pulling out of you only to put you back on his desk, pushing himself into you as you wrapped your arms around his shoulders. His lips melded against yours again, stealing your muttering of his name and replacing it with his hungry moans. 

You ground your hips into him, wrapping around him again as his lips moved to your neck, breath cold against the cold spots from his teeth previously and the thin sheen of sweat coating your skin. With the new angle and his hands digging into your back, your legs were beginning to shake, the tension he'd been binding was becoming too much to hold off. 

His hand tightened around your throat as if encouraging you to finish. He pulled your irritated lips towards him again, wanting to taste you as you went over the edge. 

After that day, you stopped dressing so provocatively. You could wear a turtleneck and padded jeans and you knew he'd still be looking. He knew what you looked like under those clothes: marked up from his teeth, quivering only for him. No longer was there shameless flirting, only glances that told you to wait for him after class. 

He was always hungry for you; whether it be in his car in a vacant lot, in his office to test his chair's range of movement, or in the bathroom of some random club you probably didn't have the qualifications to get into without him. It didn't matter, because he knew that you were his. 

You liked watching the other girls throw themselves at him like you had, mainly because he'd always praise you later with your lips around his cock. You were his favorite, his star student. In his eyes, you didn't hold a candle to the rest of them. 

[papergirllife]

Lee Jeno

'You ease Jeno's frustrations during a late night recording session."

Warnings : unprotected sex, cockwarming, generally quite fluffy.

Word count : 1.8k

You were in your pajamas at 1 a.m. in the morning, still in the company because your boyfriend is trying to record the best version of his verse in the recording booth a few feet away, his black denim jacket draped across your chest to shield you from the cold.

You were going through your own lyrics, making a few changes here and there to make sure the flow of the song suits you, working in a low volume to avoid disturbing Jeno, who was already getting antsy from this certain verse.

When you were done, you placed the pencil on the desk and got up from your seat, walking to the booth where Jeno had his handsome face in a frown.

“You okay, Jeno? Aren’t you cold in here?” you asked as you took his jacket off of you, draping it back onto his broad shoulders.

“I'm feeling fine, you should use it,” Jeno said shortly before he takes it off, putting it onto you again.

“But you're just in a tank, and you have to perform on stages very soon, you can't catch a cold,” you argued before trying to take it off once more, only to be stopped by Jeno’s hands.

“I'm fine, you're the one who's sensitive to the cold, I don't want you to get sick because of me, I didn't ask for you to be here with me, and still you showered and came back here to be with me, I'm sorry for eating up our time, I know I promised to have a night in with you,” Jeno said with a sad tinge to his usually cheerful eyes before reaching out for you, embracing you into his warmth.

“I know how important this comeback is for you, I wanted to stay here with you because I'm stubborn and that's on me, not you,” you said before turning your body to tuck yourself closer into Jeno, giving his bicep a quick peck before burying your head into his neck, the familiar scent of cologne filling your lungs.

Jeno let's out a chuckle at this odd but familiar action, you started doing this since the day Jeno had started working out on his arms more, every little thing he does you’d always be proud of it, which is why you're so different from everyone else, Jeno feels safe with you, the fact that the both of you absolutely adore each other irks his members out, but he doesn’t care, not when he only has eyes for you.

“I love you,” Jeno said without hesitation, it's always been like this for the two of you, saying these three words whenever you felt like it, communication between the two of you has always been good, though it hasn't always been like this.

There was a time at the beginning of the relationship where Jeno only knew how to show his love through actions, fearing that it may seem too pushy if he constantly speaks up about his emotions, being a guy and all, but your reassurance of loving to hear everything he has to say, as well as those doe eyes of yours that always have a hundred percent focus on him, had given him a sense of comfort, and so he now speaks whatever that comes to mind when he's with you, most often 'I love yous', it could be in the morning when you wake up, or moments like this where there are uncertainties in his head, you’re his rock.

“I love you too, Jeno,” you said it back before pulling away slightly to kiss him, pulling him closer again by looping your hands around his nape, playing with the strands of hair there as you bit on his bottom lip gently before feeling a sudden grip on your hip, a gasp falling from your lips just to give Jeno the opportunity to dominate the kiss, getting you right where he wanted you to be, under his control.

Jeno tasted like the chocolate mint balls he was having just now, a mixture of sweet chocolate and invigorating mint clouding your senses, the taste so addictive that you licked at his tongue just to taste more, but soon Jeno pulled away, noticing that you were running out of breath, your forehead lolled against his, a sign that he was all too familiar with.

“Slow down, baby, what's got you so worked up?” Jeno asked as he peppers kisses down your neck sloppily, he knows he can't mark you without your manager lecturing you, so he'll just have to manoeuvre himself to the valley of your breasts, popping open the buttons of your pajamas to reveal that you've worn a set that had no padding, the tips of your nipples would've been obvious it weren't for how loose your shirt was.

“Remember the last time we fucked in here? You had a writer’s block for stronger and 119, I want to be your muse again, Jen,” you reminded him as you trailed your hand at the hem of his tank, palming his abs that you go crazy over, you must be the luckiest girl ever, to find a guy who’s as hot as he’s talented in his career, not to mention the sinful things he does with those dancer hips.

Jeno chuckled at that fond memory, recalling Jaemin’s horrid expression when he found the two of you in such a state.

“You do know that this is ANL right?” gesturing at the lyrics on the stand.

“Which is a highly suggestive yet quite a fluffy song, we have to set the mood in order for you to actually gain some inspiration, no?” you said before you pulled off his shirt, throwing it somewhere behind you.

“Greedy aren't you?” Jeno said as he tips your chin higher to get a good look at you in the dim lights, admiring your swollen lips and the lust in your eyes, all because of him.

“Well, you can't pen my name down for these songs, the least you can do is give me a good fuck to remember it by,” you said with those seductive eyes of yours looking into his hooded ones before reaching down his pants, a jolt from his cock at your freezing hands.

“Whatever my baby wants, whatever she gets am I right?” Jeno said before manoeuvring you to your back facing his, letting your ass feel his hard on.

You placed your hands on the stool that Jeno previously sat in, arching your back for him to easily access the situation.

Jeno pulls your sweats and panties down hanging them onto the stand, you purse your lips at the sight, hoping that none of your arousal gets onto the surface, but before you could make up your mind whether to tell Jeno to place your clothing somewhere else, Jeno had spread your folds with two fingers, a hand coming up to swipe at your slit teasingly before pinching your clit lightly in between his thumb and index finger, combing a moan out of you, legs jolting at the sudden pleasure, you were always sensitive there.

“Fuck, baby, I barely touched you and you’re dripping wet, didn't know you were this worked up,” Jeno said by your ear, his voice a few octaves lower.

Jeno enters two fingers in one go, making you buckle your knees at the sudden intrusion, not expecting it so soon, the feeling of his rough finger pads reaching deep into you, searching for that one spot, and when he found it, it felt like the first taste of heaven, a whimper falling from your lips as you held onto the stool harder, preparing for what's to come.

Jeno thrusted his fingers in a moderate pace before sliding in a third, making a scissoring motion to open you up for his large cock.

When he deemed that you were wet enough, Jeno shoved his pants and boxers down to his knees, impatient for the warmth in between your legs.

Jeno positioned himself at your entrance, pushing in an inch before slamming himself into you.

“Fuck, Jeno!” you could feel how full you were now, and how he fits perfectly inside you, his tip dangerously close to your sweet spot, you just need him to move.

“Jeno, you can move now, please,” you begged, breathless as your mind is still registering the feeling of this euphoria.

Jeno clenches his jaw in concentration before pulling out of your sweet pussy slightly, before thrusting back in, starting a quick and shallow pace, the way your warm walls were clenching onto him was making him lightheaded from the immense pleasure, but he knows he has to get his shit together if he wants to actually finish up recording tonight.

Jeno grips onto your hips as he builds up his pace, pistoning his dick inside of you hard and fast as he hears your screams of pleasure, the sound echoing in this small booth, encouraging him to go faster as he gets addicted to this sweet melody.

You held onto the stool for your dear life as you felt the knot in your abdomen slowly unwinding, a sign that you’re nearing your edge.

“I'm gonna cum, Jen, cum with me, please,” you said before purposely clenching onto his dick.

“Fuck, baby, I’m not gonna last any longer if you keep doing that,” Jeno said in one breath, before focusing back onto chasing both your highs, a hand moving to your breasts to pinch your nipples with the perfect amount of pain, he knows how much of a pain slut you are for him, and that was exactly what pushed you over the edge.

You felt your body convulsing as you orgasmed, the knot snapping free as the screams of Jeno’s name tumble from your lips as you let Jeno continue.

Jeno came only a few sloppy thrusts, after you, biting onto your shoulder as he came, giving a few hard thrusts to ride out both your highs, and just so he could bury his cum inside you, letting both your juices mix.

When both of you were done, Jeno moved your limp body expertly on top of his as he took a seat onto the stool, him still inside of you, your head tucked by his left shoulder, picking up where he had left off just now.

“You're right baby, you really are my muse,” Jeno said before humming a tune, then correcting some errors on the sheet.

“Well, good to know I was helpful, now if you'll excuse me, I need to clean up,” you said before trying to get up.

Jeno's left hand grips onto your hips, restricting you from leaving.

“Stay for a bit, I'm finishing up soon, then I'll clean you up, I'm sure you’re too tired to walk now, get some rest,” Jeno said as he pats your head gently, something he does that oddly lulls you to sleep.

“Okay, just don't overwork yourself,” you said before drifting off to sleep on your boyfriend’s shoulder, your very own human pillow.