#for the chapters you'll have to wait an average of a month

[azraphels]

<let's go retrieve him> Liam did by turning around and having his back to Mason, who gestured a 'I would definitely like to beat you up right now.'

<Man, if we end up being eaten by Possessed nuns, I swear, I will haunt you in the afterlife, I will be your thorn in your side for the rest of your life>

<You already are, Mason!>

<and you think I'll be as kind there as I am here?!>

<Are you kind? I don't know, I absolutely haven't noticed>

<oh, Man, what's that supposed to mean! I'm not kind?! I'll never pass you math homework again>

<go ahead>

<could we go retrieve Theo without messing up in front of everyone?> Corey asked now tired.

[cjlouwho]

Under These Bright Lights

chapter 3

Excerpt:

As soon as the class had ended and Chimney and Hen began to head out, Buck headed over to Tommy, who was busy placing all of his supplies back into his duffel. “I don't know if you heard, but I'm scheduled to work eleven days in a row this week,” he said, folding his arms over his chest.

“Oh really?” Tommy asked with a raise of an eyebrow.

“Mhm. Not much downtime in this business.”

Wow. You know, I once spent a month up north fighting a two-hundred thousand acre fire and averaging four hours of sleep a day?”

Buck's face fell. “Oh, well, that's- um, that's a- I... Thank you for your service.”

Tommy couldn't help but snort out a laugh. “You're so welcome, Evan.”

“But you'll, um, you'll get tomorrow off, right? Because we're not on location or anything.”

“No, actually I get the pleasure of teaching this again tomorrow to a new cast member.”

“You're in the same- wait, what? Wh- What new cast member? We don't have a new cast member.”

[skylarmoon71]

Lex Luthor (Smallville/X-Men) AU - Fanfiction - Chapter 1

It was strange for the average person, but Lex felt like he was used to his life being in danger. So hiring new security at this point was a routine.

That's why he had the string of people in suits walking in and out of his mansion. His last option had to be the winner, he hoped. In truth he had a lot of good prospects. Maybe his reluctance came with his lack of trust.

If Clark had the credentials he would hire him in a heartbeat. He was probably the only person in the world he trusted with his life. Heaven knows he's been there for him on more occasions than he can count.

"Send them in."

His assistant nodded, opening the doors as the last interviewee walked in. The door closed behind them and Lex looked up, ready with questions, but the person standing before him made his brows knit.

It was a woman, if he could say that.

This person could not have been much older than Clark.

Yet she was dressed in a suit. brows furrowed. Face stuck in what seemed like a perpetual glare.

Lex did a double take, eyes moving to the resume before him.

(Y/N) Howlett.

"You served two years overseas?"

"Yes. I joined the army when I was eighteen. I returned a few months ago. My lieutenant said I should live a normal life. So now I'm here."

He's certain this could not be what he meant.

Not many people your age gravitated to the military. At least not in Smallville.

He had a list of questions, but it just felt awkward to ask. He wasn't sure how he felt about hiring someone who looked fresh out of college. You should have been pursuing other interests. Something that didn't involve the possibility of death.

"If you're worried you'll put me in danger, that's unnecessary. I know this place has a lot of weird occurrences. So my story shouldn't be that hard to grasp."

"Your story?" Lex asked.

"I can't die."

He just stared at you blankly wondering if you were just trying to bag the job. He couldn't help but smile.

"I appreciate the enthusiasm but this is a serious position and I-"

You stood, lifting your hand and when he saw your clenching fist manifest three metal claws, he stumbled out of his seat. You angled it towards your stomach and he panicked

"W-Wait stop!!"

The metal pierced your skin and Lex flinched when you barely even reacted. Your expression was neutral as the claws retracted and you unclench your fist.

"Like I said, I can't die. I'll be expecting my first check on time."

Lex was too speechless to speak. He swallowed, still glancing at your stomach as if waiting for you to collapse. You just fixed your suit, completely unbothered by the blood that dirtied your white shirt.

There was really only one thing to do.

"You're hired."

That's how you became his personal bodyguard.

Of course he still had his appointed head of security, but you accompanied him at all personal events and meetings. At first he wasn't sure how to act naturally around you. Especially after the discovery. He expected you to at least show some kind of unease, but your entire personality was unbothered.

The first time he saw you in action, he was at a conference.

"The room is secured."

You stepped to the side for him to enter the suite. He did so as you followed behind, closing the door.

"The senator and a few other politicians are going to be at the banquet. I'd advise that after your speech you have a few words with a select few and leave. A lot of people could care less for some of the political agendas of these rich idiots."

Lex was surprised at the language.

"You realize I'm one of those rich idiots."

"You are rich, but you're not an idiot. I've been around enough of them to tell."

He couldn't help but smile. If he could appreciate one thing, it was your bluntness and honesty. You weren't someone who held your tongue. Then again, you didn't really say much unless it had to do with his safety.

"I appreciate the compliment."

"It wasn't a compliment."

There was that bluntness.

He nodded, heading to place down his briefcase to go over a few matters before he called it a night. There was a connecting room which you insisted on, so he knew you would probably do another round through the halls before you decided to turn in. He made himself comfortable on the couch, letting out a sigh when there was a knock on the door.

"Room service!"

You were quick to answer the door, and in strolled a man with a trolley. He smiled, and Lex was about to make a request when you grabbed the man by the back of his head and slammed it into the tray. Lex jolted, and the door flung open, two more men walking with guns in their hands.

Lex barely saw you even draw your own before shots were firing. His body dropped to the floor and he heard the sound of shouts and bones breaking. A yell echoed and someone was thrown over the couch. He jumped in place when the man fell right in front of him, unconscious.

Face badly bruised.

There was another sound of metal connecting with bone. If the harsh bang was anything to go off. Another body landed over the couch and he scrambled to grab the gun out of the man's waist band just as you lowered. Lex had managed to free the weapon, pointing it right at your face. When he realized he cursed, lowering his hand.

"Good reflexes."

That's all you said and he just stared at you as if you'd grown an extra head.

"I almost shot you in the face!"

"Can't die, remember?"

He wanted to say more, but he couldn't really think of what he could say. You straightened, and he followed, looking at the scene. All three men were down for the count.

"I called John."

His head of security.

That was a good call.

"Police will be here soon. Let's get you out of this room. You're making that speech tomorrow whether these assholes like it or not."

You took his upper arm, about to lead him away but he halted.

You turn.

"How..how did you know?"

"I caught their scent earlier so I told John and I decided to keep an eye out just in case. They reek of gunpowder. I was worried they would attack in the open, but they were trying to keep everything on a lower scale. Hence the room service. Oldest trick in the book."

He couldn't believe it.

You'd literally saved him from an assassination with nothing but a scent that you supposedly caught. He had so many questions, but he figured he could do so in a room that didn't have unconscious assassins.

When he accepted your words, you gave a nod as you led him out.

Maybe that's when he realized that he shouldn't question your judgment. He supposed it was just hard to break certain habits. At the time he was just grateful he hadn't caught a bullet.

Just like that, your partnership continued. 

[tgmsunmontue]

It's all academic darlin' PART 8/10

PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 PART 5 PART 6 PART 7

Part 7 and 8 are Explicit. And nothing else makes sense without the first six parts but you do you!

Chapter 8 is 8k, each previous chapter was about 2k on average. Yeah. I'm not going to apologise however if you're expecting a short chapter you might want to get a drink and snack first?

PART EIGHT

            Jake snorts, god, he’s fallen for a giant dork. A hot dork. But still a dork. Who is changing into a different shirt which still, somehow, has fucking roosters on it. How many shirts with roosters on them did he own? How many shirts with roosters on them did one man need to own?

            “You get your sense of humor from Mav don’t you?”

            “Maybe. He’s probably going to want you to come to dinner you know?”

            “Sunday? Family dinner?” Jake asks, because that was one of the emails he’d received just this afternoon. Bradley looks at him, eyebrow quirked and Jakes wants to kiss him again, has no reason not to so he just does, leans forward and gives him a quick kiss. He means for it to be quick anyway, Bradley kisses him back though, chases his mouth when he pulls back slightly and he savors it, the whole experience so novel after months of nothing.

            “What, did he already invite you?”

            “Yeah. He sent me an email about two hours ago. Didn’t reply yet.”

            “Waiting for a better offer?”

            He hadn’t been, had wanted confirmation first that Bradley was who Jake thought he was. And now… well. Yeah, he’ll do dinner with Mav any night of the week. But…

            “Well, you did say you wanted to fuck with him…”

            “Oh my god this is perfect. Let him know you can make it. Then tomorrow I’m going to let him know I’m bringing my boyfriend –”

            “Boyfriend huh?” Jake asks, and he knows he’s grinning, cocky, but he feels like his blood has suddenly turned to ice.

            “Yeah… boyfriend. That okay? I mean, I don’t want to assume anything, but I haven’t exactly been emailing anyone else on an almost daily basis.”

            Jake sucks in a breath, reminds himself he has nothing to lose right now and maybe a lot to gain.

            “I... don't know what to do here,” Jake admits and Bradley glances at him, frowns briefly before smirking at him.

            “Pretty sure you've done this before.”

            “Fuck you,” he shoves at Bradley’s shoulder. “No. Not sex. I’ve fucked around plenty. I –  I don’t want to just fuck around though. And I’ve never… not fucked around.”

            He’d mentioned it briefly in passing in an email, can see a look of comprehension cross Bradley’s face, then he’s stepping into Jake’s space again, one hand cupping Jake’s jaw and Jake swallows, throat tight with nerves.

            “Well, you just got to keep on putting the effort in. Some days you'll get an A grade, and other days you'll scrape by with a bare pass...”

            “I don't want to fail,” Jake says, voice barely above a whisper.

            “I won't let you fail.”

            Jake’s pretty sure no-one can make promises like that, even if it’s a nice sentiment. Makes him feel like he maybe won’t fail.

            “Really?”

            “Really. I'm a very good... educator. And I’ll have a vested interest in you passing. Group project…”

            Jake huffs a laugh, shakes his head.

            “Well, I guess it's good I'm a good student. And you do come very highly recommended on Rate my Professor…”

            “Of course you looked me up…”

            “I’m getting very good at research.”

…         …         …

            Bradley takes them to a bathroom first where they can wash their hands, ignores Jake’s snarky comments about getting the premium tour of the mailroom, office and now the bathroom.

            “Okay, seeing as you actually want this tour…”

            “I’m actually interested. I haven’t studied in a while, but what you’re working on isn’t just purely theoretical to me. I can understand how it would be applied, which is pretty cool…”

            “I’m glad you think so…”

            He is glad, more than he thought he would be, that Jake seems genuinely interested. His first serious boyfriend had been in management, not at all interested in what Bradley was studying. His serious girlfriend had been a fellow engineer, smart as a tack, but her career had been more important than their relationship and Bradley had agreed with her, because he’d felt the same. Jake though… he can’t help but feel the little twist of hope uncurling in his gut.

            He walks toward the labs, set apart from the other buildings with heavy duty walls and a lightweight roof. He points out the machines, explains what they do and greets the technicians and students still working. Reminds his students that they have to take breaks, that it’s Friday; they need to have at least one-day off, that he will be checking the security logs. Half of them roll their eyes at him. He introduces Jake as his boyfriend, gets a few surreptitious thumbs up which make him grin.

            “Right, that’s the dime tour. All I can show you without firing up some of the machines myself and showing you some stuff. Which I’m happy to do, but uh, maybe another time?”

            “You have somewhere to be?”

            “Nope, just think I’d rather be sitting and talking with you over a drink instead of showing you where I work…”

            “You love your work. I wanted to see it. You can show me more another time, a drink sounds good.”

            “Did you drive?”

            “Nope, hitched a ride, then caught a trolley.”

            “So I have you at my mercy huh?”

            “You sure do.”

            The smiles they give each other are equally slow and he leans forward and captures Jake’s mouth with his own, lets his hands just come to rest naturally on Jake’s hips. Enjoys the sense of warm wet…

            “You should take you own advice and go home Bradley… or are you coming climbing tonight?”

            “Uh…” he pulls back from Jake to blink at Matthew, one of the technicians (and one of his climbing buddies) who is standing there smirking at him.

            “That’s what I thought. Have a good weekend!”

            “You too,” Bradley manages, ignoring the cackle that Matthew lets out as best he can. He turns back to Jake, wonders whether he should apologize for his friend’s behavior and realizes that Jake has probably experienced far worse friendly heckling from his own friends in the Navy.

            “Okay. What do you want to do?”

            “Mmm… what do we want to do. Right? A drink and some food would be good. But maybe some place quiet. And do you want to go climbing? Friday is your usual night right?”

            “Uh, yeah… But, well –” He’d rather spend the time with Jake.

            “You have a problem with me coming with you?”

            “You want to go rock climbing?”

            “I want to spend time with you and meet your friends. And it’s been a while since I went climbing.”

            “Yeah. We can do that. Uh…”

            “Yeah, I’ll need to borrow some clothes. Figured you be okay with that. I’m hoping you have something that I’m okay with, because to be honest, your shirt choices I’ve seen aren’t filling me with confidence.”

            “I’ve got plenty of clothes. You’ll be fine.”

            “I’m gonna withhold my judgement.”

            “How do you feel about me cooking?”

            “Well, you didn’t kill me last time…”

            “I just thought… I have food waiting to be cooked at home. And drinks. And if we go there then we have more time before I would usually leave for climbing…”

            “Sounds like a plan. Lead the way.”

…         …         …

            He follows Bradley, feels a little flutter when he grabs his hand to just hold it as they walk and he’s never had that before, and to have it suddenly, grasping his hand and giving him a wide easy smile throws him back to the memory of Bradley in the cabin, his smile and laughter and he marvels that he might get to have this. As Bradley drives he sends a quick email to Mav, accepting the dinner invitation for Sunday and he wonders how Bradley’s going to break it to Mav that they’re… together.

            “You didn’t mention to Mav that you’ve been emailing me almost daily?”

            “Nope. None of his business.”

            “Really?” Jake asks, because he’d kind of assumed Bradley would be the kind of person to tell his parents everything, but maybe he’s wrong about that. Clearly is, if Bradley thinks he can spring Jake being his boyfriend on Mav.

            “Really. We talk about a lot of stuff, but I try and avoid the subject of relationships because he is overly invested. Especially since he retired and I didn’t know he’d left you with a breadcrumb trail, but I was suspicious enough to not want to bring it up…”

            “Okay.”

            “He’d drop it if I asked him. Seriously. But if he thought there was even a small inkling he’s like a dog with a bone, will just keep niggling at it and I’ve just found it’s easiest for me to just… not raise it. I’m just going to drop it on him on Sunday. Okay?”

            “I’ll be there anyway, so I’ll just… follow your lead I guess.”

            “Hmm. Yeah… fuck. Actually, just wait a second. I need to send a message.”

            Jake shrugs, because it’s not like he has anywhere better to be. Bradley parks his car in the underground carpark and Jake watches other people entering the apartment building from their own cars, it’s clearly the end of the working week, all the civilians returning home after their nine to five jobs. He can’t imagine a life like that.

            “Okay… message sent. Let’s go.”

            They enter the elevator and Bradley holds it for a couple whom he clearly knows, making small talk about ending the week and the weather before he turns and introduces Jake.

            “This is Jake, my boyfriend. Jake, this is Adam and Penny, they live down the hall from me.”

            “Hey man, nice to meet you.”

            “Ah, you too,” Jake manages, but then they’re at Bradley’s floor and the couple are heading in the opposite direction. “Any particular reason you’re introducing me as your boyfriend to everyone?”

            “Desensitization. You can’t look surprised about me calling you my boyfriend when I introduce you to Mav.”

            “And how are you going to introduce me exactly?”

            “I’m still thinking about the best way… waiting for some backup.”

            “Backup?”

            “Mav’s… uh…” Bradley’s phone vibrates then and he grabs for it and Jake notices that the protective screen is scratched to hell and he’s pretty sure there is a crack in the case. “Oh thank fuck. Okay. Great.”

            “Everything okay?”

            “Yeah.”

            There isn’t anything more forthcoming but he can tell that Bradley’s working through something and he looks around the apartment, takes in the floor to ceiling bookshelves, covered in plants and books and a lot of fucking rooster figurines, the odd goose and plane also in place. He wants to ask, knows they must have stories behind them. Turns back to find Bradley still staring at his phone, tapping a knuckle against his chin and he looks forward to finding out if that’s a habit he has.

            “You’re phone isn’t broken, lost or in pieces… an improvement from last time I saw you.”

            “Yeah, all accounted for at the moment, I’ve been taking better care of it. Anyway, I need to tell you something. Because as much as I want to pull one over on Mav, I don’t want you to think that I’d do that to you.”

            Jake frowns, because Bradley is nervous, worried about something and Jake has no idea what it could possibly be. Then Bradley’s opening the fridge and offering him a bottle and he glances at it quickly, accepts and twists it open but doesn’t take a drink. Instead watches as Bradley pulls food out of the refrigerator and cupboards, lays out a knife and a chopping board and Jake wonders if he should offer to help or whether Bradley is further organizing his own thoughts as he organizes his working space.

            “Okay…?”

            “Okay. Right. So, I have two dads.”

            “Yeah, Nick Bradshaw and –”

            “No. Okay. Three dads then. Just… let me get this out. I was raised by Mav, and his… boyfriend. Partner. Except they were both in the Navy, so… not many people know who he is.” Jake keeps quiet, nods his head to show he’s listening. “As in, they know exactly who he is. But not many people know he’s with Mav. Or that Mav’s with him. He’s a pretty big deal. You know him.” Jake can understand now why this would make Bradley nervous.

            “So, you want to meet my other dad? Before dinner on Sunday? Because Mav will think he’s hilarious, getting one over on you by not telling you by the way, if that makes you feel better about me pulling any shit with him… I just got permission to tell you, because it’s the biggest secret I keep. And it’s not even mine.”

            Jake’s now feeling nervous, his mind running through all the different Admirals, because that’s what he’s getting from this. He’s learnt from not trusting his gut with Bradley and the photos that popped up the first time he searched his name. It’s going to be an Admiral that he knows. Holy shit. Simpson maybe? Bradley’s hands are flying, cutting and dicing without even paying attention.

            “Just tell me who it is…” Jake says, because waiting isn’t going to make it any easier. Bradley glances up and takes his expression in and clearly assumes that Jake is bracing for the worst.

            “Tom Kazansky. Admiral Kazansky. And I didn’t want that to come as a shock to you at dinner. Because he’ll be there. Mav seems to take weird pleasure in inviting people over for dinner, to meet his partner, and then just introduces him as Tom and of course everyone recognizes him…”

            “You other dad is the COMPACFLT?” Jake asks, just in case there is somehow another Admiral Kazansky he isn’t aware of.

            “Yes. That, uh, going to be a problem?”

            It’s the first time that Bradley has sounded even a little unsure about whatever this relationship is or might be and Jake pulls himself together. He’d admitted his own worry about this whole relationship maybe being his first ever and Bradley had reassured him. He wants to be with Bradley, not the COMPACFLT. You can’t choose your family. That type of thing. Right. Holy shit.

            “Uh. Fucking hell. It’s a bit of a shock but it doesn’t change anything at all. Uh. Does he know about… us?” Jake asks, because he assumes the COMPACFLT knows who Jake is, especially with the whole mission nearly two years ago. But Bradley hadn’t told Mav…

            “Well, he does now. He won’t tell Mav. You know, Mav talks about you all the time. All the Dagger squad to be honest,” Bradley says, and his face scrunches up then, like he’s thinking about something unpleasant. He’s gorgeous and Jake can’t believe he’s been calling Jake his boyfriend for the last couple of hours. He can deal with the COMPACFLT if he gets to keep that. “You’re not… freaking out?”

            “Nope,” Jake says, and he’s pretty sure he isn’t lying to himself. His mind is racing, because he saved Mav’s life. He’s just learnt that he saved the COMPACFLT’s partner’s life. That’s quite a lot to take in. He’s very glad he didn’t know at the time.

            “Great, because he wants to have lunch with us tomorrow. Brunch probably.”

            Blink.

            Blink.

            Blink.

            “Oookay…”

            This is not okay.

            “It’s fine, he’ll bring food here and cook. He’s the one who taught me to cook actually, not Mav.”

            “Huh. Yeah. That makes more sense…” Jake says, although the idea of Admiral Kazansky cooking anything has his brain shorting out. “Wait. You keeping me here until lunch tomorrow?”

            “I kind of thought I was keeping you here all weekend…” Bradley replies and there’s a promise and challenge in his eye and Jake grins, leans forward and kisses him, shoving thoughts of casually having lunch with the COMPACFLT as far to the back of his mind as possible.

            He can at least try and compartmentalize.

…         …         …

            “So, you still want to go climbing?”

            “Yeah, I’m probably going to skip the hike tomorrow, spend it in bed with this hot guy I just met…”

            “You met me months ago,” Jake grumbles, but there’s no heat in it and Bradley grins, kicks at his feet under the table they’re sitting at while they eat the stir-fry that Bradley had quickly made.

            “Actually yeah, I did. Want to explain why you were so… proper and polite? Because Mav asked what I thought of you and I said you were very polite and he just looked like I’d shaken the foundation of his world view. What was up?”

            “Uh, excuse you, I am polite.”

            “No. You can be polite. Some people are naturally polite, you’re polite when you choose to be. And you were choosing to be. With me. Why?”

            “Didn’t want to piss Mav off… or be rude to you.”

            “What, you thought Mav would think badly of you doing something a little… impolite? Mav? The man who only managed to stay in the Navy through the grace of his innate talent and Ice making sure they wouldn’t kick him out?”

            “Huh, makes a lot more sense when you say it like that. But no… I just. I was recovering from a car crash. Noticed you, but figured I better not make a pass at Mav’s son.”

            He can’t help but feel a little relieved that Jake hadn’t failed to notice him, but had instead been trying to be polite. It’s all sorts of sweet. He’s pretty sure not many people get to see these softer sides, but he equally likes the intelligence and sharp sense of humor; his snark as he makes fun of Bradley.

            “And now?”

            “Well, it’s a little more than a pass now ain’t it?”

            “Definitely,” Bradley agrees, realizing that Jake respects Mav. Thinks highly enough of him to somehow, for some reason, think that Mav wouldn’t be happy for Jake to be with Bradley. Hopefully he’s been disabused of that notion at least.

            “Come on, lets go through my clothes and find you something you can climb in. You can make fun of my dress sense.”

            “Where’s the challenge in that though? You make it too easy for me…”

…         …         …

            “You really like plants huh?” Jake asks, because there had been three book cases almost completely covered in the living room, making the softening evening light feel like he’s in a forest. There’s another shelf of plants in the bedroom.

            “No. Well, I do like them. But as soon as I’m in charge of them they seem to die. I either neglect them or give them too much love.”

            Jake’s not sure that’s true, because he can’t see a single dead plant amongst the lot, but maybe Bradley is a perfectionist when it comes to plants. He’s heard of weirder things. Fortunately, Bradley’s clothes aren’t a lost cause, the bright button-downs the only anomaly from what actually looks like a decent sense of style. He manages to borrow shorts and t-shirt, and even though he had high hopes for meeting Bradley he’s starting to realize he could have planned a bit better. Like bringing a change of clothes. Especially as he’s apparently staying the weekend.

            “You mind making a detour to base so I can grab some things after we finish climbing?”

            “Before okay? We might forget after…”

            “Why would we forget?”

            “Might be distracted…”

            Jake smiles slowly, lets his hands smooth over Bradley’s chest and yeah…

            “You’ve got a point. Before it is.”

…         …         …

            They’re a little late to meet Bradley’s friends, they’re already climbing, half of them up the walls, others belaying. Jake has to get fitted for a harness and go through a safety induction, which he follows closely while Bradley wanders off to talk to his friends. Once he’s finished he wanders over, feeling a little awkward as a couple of them watch him approach.

            “Hey everyone, this is Jake…”

            “The boyfriend!”

            “He actually exists!”

            “How much is he paying you to answer to Jake?”

            “I told you guys to be nice!”

            “We’re being nice to him. You’re still free game.”

            Jake laughs, pulls out his license and hands it over.

            “He either found someone who is actually called Jake, or he’s actually legit been mooning over you for the last couple of months.”

            “Fuck off Ryan, I have not been mooning over anyone!”

            “He says that, and yet he was late to a few things because he had to send an email to you. And he was late again tonight.”

            “Are we hassling Hei Hei about his recent phone addiction?”

            “Yeah, he hasn’t lost his phone in months. He’s never been such a conscientious email answerer before either…”

            “Well, not that I need to add fuel to this particular fire, but he was wearing a different shirt this afternoon than he was this morning so… make of that what you will,” one guy says, and Jake’s pretty sure it’s the same guy from outside the labs, the one who’d interrupted them kissing.

            “You’re all awful. Jake, ignore them.”

            “I think I like them, bring you down a peg or two. Can’t think you’re perfect…”

            “I am far from perfect.”

            “Really? Sure seems like it from where I’m standing…”

            “Barf! Come on, some of us are here to climb rather than gossip!”

            “Speak for yourself, gossip now saves me getting Bradley drunk later and asking him all the questions I want answers to…”

            Bradley is tightening his harness and Jake has an impressive view of his thighs and ass, the straps highlighting the muscle. His fingers are nimbly working the rope and Jake watches, wants those fingers on his body and he can’t think about that right now. The harness doesn’t hide anything.

            “You want to go first? I’ll get to enjoy the view…”

            Jake laughs but hooks himself in, reaching for the first handhold. They climb for over an hour, switching out who belays and it’s easier than he thought it would be, just hanging out. Bradley and his friends call out encouragement for particularly challenging climbs, and it makes him realize that Bradley has his own squad.

            “So I have to ask, the whole rooster thing… just, why?”

            “He came back from Sweden and greeted everyone with Hej hej, which would have been fine, but then Moana came out and it kind of cemented the whole rooster thing. Isn’t it also a childhood nickname?”

            “Can’t we save some embarrassing stories for a time that isn’t the first date?”

            “Is it seriously your first date?”

            “I said it was!”

            “Man, I would not have all you fuckers at my first date.”

            “We’re not counting the two nights at the cabin huh?” Jake says, tossing Bradley a wink and Bradley just rolls his eyes, shakes his head in gentle exasperation but the smile he gives Jake not even seconds later is playful. Fun. It’s the back-and-forth bantering that they’d developed in their months of email communication and he realizes it’s similar to what he has with Javy. Except he doesn’t want to ever have sex with Javy. He very much wants to have sex with Bradley. And also have… more emails, more dinners, more time with friends. All of this. It’s quite the revelation to have when he’s busy stripping the climbing harness from his body.

            “I’ll see you guys next week!”

            “What, no hike tomorrow?”

            “Nope. I’m planning on staying in bed…”

            That’s followed with some whistles and catcalls, Bradley just looks smug and wraps an arm around Jake’s waist, making him laugh with a wink. Yeah. He wants this.

            “Nice for some!”

            “Jealous!”

            He waits for Bradley to throw his own climbing gear into the back of his car, waves back at a couple of the others who are leaving at the same time.

            “I like your friends.”

            “Thanks for putting up with them. I wish I could say they’ll stop being dicks, but if it isn’t one thing then it’s another.”

            “Maybe you’re just easy to hassle?”

            “Maybe…” Bradley concedes and he pulls Jake toward him so they’re leaning against his car.

            “Come home with me?”

            “We already went and picked up my bag.”

            “Yeah, but it’s still a choice. I can take you back to base if you want.”

            “No. Take me home.”

            “Okay.”

            He settles into the passenger seat and Bradley’s hand comes to rest on his thigh, a steady and warm weight and he places his own hand over it, runs his fingertips over the back of his hand, thinks about touching more of Bradley’s skin. The hand jobs earlier had definitely dealt with the immediate need, but the further kissing and casual touches while they were climbing have slowly and surely built the tension back up and it’s been simmering away under his skin, ready to boil over at the slightest provocation. His cock is definitely getting hard and they’ve still got a twenty minute drive.

            “So there’s more than one reason why you have a rooster collection?”

            “Really? You want to know?”

            “Yeah, I really do…” Jake says, and he isn’t even lying, grips firmly at Bradley’s hand before returning to the gentle touch.

            “My dad’s call sign was Goose. Except I had a lisp, or missing teeth, and apparently I walked around saying I wanted to be called Goose too, except it sounded a lot more like Rooster. So it switched between Little Goose and Rooster. I was just getting rid of it when that fucking movie came out and then pictures of that rooster were fucking everywhere. Inside toilet doors, on the roof of corridors, someone changed my staff photo… there was chalk art. I just had to lean into it.”

            “Destined to be a rooster in every life huh?”

            “Apparently. Some of my students have some wild theories.”

            “I just bet they do…” Jake says, laughing.

            They walk from the car to the apartment, tracing the same path they made earlier. This time though he has an overnight bag, packed with enough for a couple of nights, which can stretch longer if he can do washing. Or doesn’t wear clothes. He’s pretty sure Bradley is planning on a clothes-optional weekend inside his apartment and the idea of coming back from every deployment to this is heady.

…         …         …

            He toes off his shoes, leaves them where they land, knowing full well it’ll annoy Ice tomorrow. Jake’s shoes are lined up tidily, but he’s dropping his bag on the sofa and Bradley watches him; he seems comfortable in Bradley’s space already and he likes that. A lot. He moves forward, doesn’t want there to be awkwardness between them.

            “What do you want?”

            “My choice huh?”

            “Well, we have all weekend, and that’s just the beginning right?”

            “Yeah. Yeah I guess it is,” Jake agrees and it’s like whatever tension he was holding in his shoulders is sapped away and he relaxes against Bradley, lets his hands go to Bradley’s hips and his top is damp with sweat and feels gross when pressed against his skin.

            “So, what are we doing here? Now, tonight? I’m just happy to get my hands and mouth all over you…”

            “Yeah, that sounds like a good place to start. See where it takes us.”

            “Okay then. Maybe a shower, pretty sure you don’t want to taste stale sweat…”

            “Don’t think I’d mind that much…” Jake states and oh, that’s a telling statement right there and Bradley feels another block of arousal slide into place on top of the steady foundation that’s been building all evening. There’s direction now and that direction is up. They strip and he throws all their clothes into the hamper, grabs extra towels and places one on each side of the bed for later. He’s already done his due diligence and stocked up on condoms and lube, again not assuming but hopeful.

            They don’t talk while they wait for the water to warm up, lets Jake run his hands over him, eyes following his own fingers as he traces over beauty spots and scars. He lets himself do the same, Jake’s skin is smooth under his fingertips, his chest hair golden and fine, the nerves in his fingertips becoming more sensitive as he focusses more on the sensation beneath them. They lather soap and wash each other, kisses soft the whole time, hands running over hardening erections but not really making any concerted effort to make each other harder when they’re in no rush. He rinses his hair, licks up Jake’s neck when he tips his head back to rinse his own.

            “Better?” Bradley asks, even though he was definitely the one who was originally more keen on showering. Not that Jake complained at any point.

            “No stale sweat… can start workin’ on a fresh layer.”

            Jake’s accent becomes thicker when he’s aroused and it sends prickles of want all over his skin. Bradley wonders what phone sex would be like, realizes they’ll likely get a chance to find out in the future with them doing long distance and he can’t believe he’s even thinking about that when they haven’t even talked about it. They’ve been together physically for a few hours and yet Bradley wants to shove everything he has and is toward Jake and just let him have it all.

            He dries off haphazardly, not really caring because it’s not like he’s getting dressed into clothes. Jake beats him to the bedroom and he lies down on the bed, stretches his body out with his arms above, like he knows Bradley is enjoying the view. He straddles Jake’s thighs, runs his hands down his arms, lets his mouth leave a trail of kisses over a bicep. He moves over Jake’s body, wants to find what turns him on and what makes him shiver with need. He lines their cocks up and does a slow undulating grind, pressing down with what he hopes is just the right amount of pressure. Feels good to him, hopes it’s the same for Jake.

…         …         …

            “Fuck you’re amazing…”

            “Took the words right out of my mouth darlin’…” Jake says, letting his fingers dig into the muscle of Bradley’s thighs. He’s fucking gorgeous. He feels the full body jerk and he wonders what caused it, captures Bradley’s moan in his mouth. “You like me callin’ you that? Darlin’? Baby? Sugar plum?”

            Bradley laughs then, shakes his head and pulls away.

            “Not sugar plum, I’m not…”

            “You’re plenty sweet…”

            “Fuck Jake.”

            “We’re getting there.”

            It’s only because he apparently has all weekend, at least, that he’s willing to keep the pace slow. He’s enjoying having Bradley’s undivided hyper-focused attention on his body, apparently intent on finding all the little spots that turn him on. Not the obvious ones, like his cock and nipples, but the other patches, the skin that is tight across his pelvic bone, the inside of his thighs. Not that his cock is getting ignored exactly, Bradley comes back every few minutes and rolls his hips down in an exquisite grind that’s just shy of being hard enough, although the repetition is definitely winding him tighter and tighter and he’s over being passive.

            “Turn abouts fair play… my turn to explore.”

…         …         …

            Bradley grins, moves back and holds out a hand to pull Jake up, which he ignores and Bradley watches the shift of muscles under skin a Jake sits up. Bradley realizes he might have a thing for abs, he’s never had one before, but maybe it’s unique to Jake’s abs. He settles back, pulls Jake to lie on top of him before he can even start to get settled and he laughs at the annoyed look, lifts his head to press a hard kiss, grinds his hips up as well and he’s definitely hard now.

            “Explore away, all the territory is yours…”

            He snickers at Jake’s huff of amusement, he’s never not laughed with his partners in bed; obviously not every time, but he doesn’t like being with people who take sex too seriously. Jake seems like he’s a perfect match, giving Bradley’s body an equally thorough inspection, although he uses his tongue more, licking at him, his neck, collar bone, his nipple and he jerks at the sudden suction and groans. Been a long time since anyone’s played with his nipples.

            “Oh… sensitive huh?”

            “Yeah…” Bradley gasps as Jake does it again. His nipples are sensitive, one much more than the other for some reason. He knows he can come from being fingered and someone sucking on that nipple, his cock not needing any stimulation at all. He’ll let Jake find that out on his own.

…         …         …

            They end up on their sides, facing each other, aligned so they can keep kissing and he’s pretty sure he’s going to have to learn what to do about beard burn with how over-sensitive his skin feels everywhere Bradley has kissed. It’s a weird sensation between wind and sun burn and if it looks half as bad as it feels anyone looking at him is going to know what he’s spent a good chunk of time doing. Bradley’s hand wraps around both of them, his fingers just that little bit longer. It’s tight and hot, and Jake isn’t sure if he’s going for a hand job or if he can thrust into the clasp of fingers. He desperately wants to thrust.

            “This okay?”

            “God yes, so okay… fuck.”

            “Come on Jake, want to see you come…”

            He covers Bradley’s hand with his own, holds it still, feels the squeeze of Bradley’s hand around his cock. He takes that as permission and starts thrusting, slow to start before increasing his pace. He’s aware that Bradley is watching, his own body taut and unmoving, though his breathing coming in shaky gasps tells Jake that he’s ratchetted as tight as Jake is. Bradley’s hand starts moving then, his hips jerking minutely and Jake isn’t sure he’d have noticed except for the way it adds a different level of friction on his own cock.

            “Oh fuck…”

            “Jake, fuck… come on… ugh.”

            He feels Bradley come, hot wetness easing some of the friction very slightly. His own orgasm is slow and rolling when it hits, a reflection of how long they’ve spent building it up. It leaves him feeling shaky and unmoored and as if he knows how Jake is feeling Bradley kisses him, slow and thorough. He was already melting into post-orgasmic haze, the kiss just adding a layer of promise or care and fuck he wants this. He feels Bradley shift away briefly, then there’s a towel wiping between them. Jake is doubly glad for his forethought, his entire body feels too wrung out to consider moving anywhere and brain going offline fast and doesn’t want to clean up. Doesn’t want Bradley to leave his side.

            “Imagine what we’ll be like when we’ve had practice,” Bradley says, kissing him softly and Jake hums his agreement. Lots and lots of practice. “Sleep well.”

            He’s used to the constant noise of the carrier after the last seven months, but the quiet of the room and the afternoon and evenings activities have left him feeling sated, soporific and he soon falls asleep.

…         …         …

            He wakes, room still dark and he doesn’t need to know the time to know it’s too fucking early to get up when he’s in bed with Bradley. He grumbles a little, pulls the sheet back up to cover them both, shuffles so he’s touching more of Bradley’s bare skin because neither of them bothered putting anything on. He feels him turn and then he’s being held, very firmly the little spoon with Bradley’s chest against his back.

            “Morning. Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”

            “I normally get up around this time anyway. You sleep okay?”

            “Yeah. Little stiff now. Climbing and sex… Oh god. I’m getting old.”

            “Ancient,” Bradley murmurs, lips brushing over the fine hairs behind Jake’s ear, making him shiver.

            “You know, the best thing for stiff muscles is another workout…”

            “What do you think I’m trying to do?”

            “Try harder.”

            Bradley does.

…         …         …

            He can smell coffee, the bed is empty, but he can smell coffee. He might have a boyfriend for the first time in his life and he’s making coffee. He rolls over and searches for underwear before remembering Bradley chucking everything in a hamper. He opens a drawer and finds Bradley’s underwear straight away, one particular pair bright and with a fucking rooster on it, little speech bubble with ‘my favorite cock’ and he pulls them on with a grin before heading out to the kitchen with a quick stop in the bathroom.

            “Good morning again…”

            “It is a good morning isn’t it,” Bradley says, his smile bright as he gives Jake a soft kiss. He could definitely get used to this. “Nice underwear. How do you take your coffee? Or do you want something else?”

            “Coffee. Black. Thanks… And thought you’d appreciate them.”

            “Definitely look better on you…” Bradley says, another kiss and his heart-stomach-brain all feel like they’re on the same roller-coaster. “Be right back.”

            He takes the mug and goes to more closely investigate the parts of the bookshelves not covered in plants. He recognizes some of the same texts from the cabin and now it makes more sense. As do the roosters and goose figurines. He’s not really paying attention to anything when he hears a quick three-tap knock on the front door and he freezes.

            Surely it’s not that late.

            Did Bradley mention a time that Admiral Kazansky was coming?

            Quick glance at the clock confirms it’s after ten and Jake is standing in his underwear. Not even his underwear. Underwear that is very clearly not his in fact.

            Fuck.

            And now the door is opening. Jake can’t move.

            He has a key?

            Of course he spots Jake as soon as he enters, eyebrows raise in silence and then Admiral Kazansky is placing grocery bags on the kitchen bench before turning back to look at Jake again. He wonders if he needs to salute, but his hand is currently holding a coffee mug.

            “Good morning sir.”

            Jake is never going to master the same level of smile-smirk that is being directed his way, and the Admiral still doesn’t say anything, simply gestures at Jake’s state of undress and makes a shooing gesture toward the bedroom and he takes the direction for what it is and flees.

…         …         …

            “Admiral Kazansky is in the kitchen.”

            “Already? He’s early. Of course he’s early… Oh. You were out there like that huh?” Bradley asks, grinning. Jake is gorgeous fully dressed, standing there in nothing but underwear he’s breathtaking. The fact that it’s his underwear has him feeling even more smug.

            “Yes Bradley, I was.”

            “Don’t worry, he’ll just think it’s funny. Plus only way is up right?”

            “Fuck off… I’m going to go and drown myself in the shower. Then I will somehow come back to life and get dressed because the COMPACFLT is apparently making me… brunch?”

            “Yeah. Brunch. You know you’re adorable when you’re flustered.”

            “Bradley!”

            Jake’s also hot when he’s getting angry and Bradley can’t help it, steps forward and kisses him, hands cupping Jake’s face to hold him still, mindful that Jake’s still holding a hot mug of coffee. Jake takes a few seconds to kiss back, but he does and Bradley gives himself a mental high-five for distracting him. He doesn’t think it would have ended well if he’d told Jake he found him getting angry hot.

            “Have a shower and get dressed. Don’t drown. I’ll go and start brunch with Ice. Also, I forgot to mention this, kind of forget because it’s just normal for us. Ice doesn’t talk very much. He had cancer and uses ASL to communicate or his little tablet thing with an app. One of the reasons we’re eating here really, he prefers it to going out in public.”

            “Ice. You call the COMPACFLT Ice…”

            “Sometimes I call him Pops to wind him up…”

            “What? No. That’s what I call Mav to wind him up!”

            “Really? That’s hilarious. No wonder Mav likes you so much. Now, I’m going out there because otherwise he’s going to think we’re having sex again.”

            “Oh god…” Jake mumbles and it gives Bradley pause.

            “Is it okay? I can ask him to leave if you want…”

            “No. It’s fine. I just… would have preferred to have not been in my underwear. Your underwear.”

            “Could have been worse.”

            “How?”

            “You could have been naked…”

            Jake’s laughing then and Bradley kisses him again, carefully grabs his ass before gently pushing him in the direction of the bathroom before he heads back out to greet Ice.

            “Morning,” Ice signs, his expression wholly amused and Bradley gives him the finger.

            “Morning. Thanks for scarring Jake. I’m sure he’ll add that to his rotating nightmares.”

            “Not my fault you lost track of time,” Ice signs, tapping his watch and grinning and Bradley shakes his head.

            “You’re over half an hour early!”

            “I’m always early!”

            Bradley snorts, rolls his eyes then makes the signs for orgasm - always - early, raises his eyebrows to question and smirks.

            “Should I feel bad for Mav?”

            It’s rare to hear Ice laugh, the sound raw and scraping but he looks delighted, slaps Bradley on the arm, head shaking and he clearly concedes a point to Bradley in their ongoing sparring.

            “Behave!” Ice signs, still laughing and Bradley grins, knocks his arm with his own.

            Apparently they’re making waffles with a fruit salad and he’s surprised, because this is Ice’s favorite family breakfast meal, he doesn’t make it often, the buttermilk batter having to be made the night before, which means he’s either made and transported waffle batter by stealth across the city, or he taunted Mav with the knowledge that he wasn’t getting waffles. Both are equally probable and he’ll ask later. They work in easy silence, years of experience making them seamless in the kitchen, especially when Mav isn’t there getting underfoot trying to help.

            Fruit salad all done, turkey bacon grilling under the broiler, last of the waffles now cooking they settle back, Ice taking a sip of his own coffee as he places the tablet he uses for communication on the table, the text to voice app already open. Bradley’s glad he’s not going to have to act as interpreter. Is pretty sure Ice wants to grill Jake a little, even if he’s only doing it for show. At least he can act as a buffer.

            “Good morning again,” the electronic voice says from the tablet and Bradley turns to see Jake hanging back in the doorway to the hall. He makes a beckoning gesture with his hand.

            “Jake, I’d like to introduce you to Tom Kazansky, one of my dads.”

            “Nice to meet you Admiral Kazansky sir.”

            “Nice to meet you in a less formal setting.”

            “Uh, could we get less formal than this?”

            “Probably not. Call me Tom.”

…         …         …

            Apart from the fact that he knows Tom Kazansky is the COMPACFLT, he’s also Bradley’s other dad, and he wants to try and make a good impression, despite a part of him feeling like he’s already spectacularly fucked up by being nearly naked when he arrived. Bradley seems happy and relaxed, so he’ll follow his lead. They sit down to eat and it’s an impressive spread of food.

            “Thank you, this looks great.”

            “You can make me breakfast tomorrow,” Bradley says, giving him a wink and Jake wouldn’t normally blush, but of course under the scrutiny of the COMPACFLT his cheeks are flaming.

            “I’d love to,” he says, ignoring the heat in his face and instead focuses on the grin Bradley gives him.

            “I wanted to say thank you.”

            “Uh… what for?” Jake asks, because he hopes he doesn’t expect an invite for breakfast tomorrow to reciprocate. They’re already doing dinner. The Admiral looks uncomfortable, lips pursed and giving a quick glance at Bradley.

            “Oh, is this about the mission where Jake saved Mav’s life? Don’t worry, I already know about it.”

            Bradley, who can apparently read Admiral Kazansky like a billboard sign and knows about a highly classified mission. Wow. He snaps his jaw shut, head automatically shaking, because he sure as hell never mentioned anything and he sure as fuck doesn’t want the COMPACFLT thinking he said anything.

            “Of course you do,” the electronic voice says and Bradley shrugs, the expression on the Admiral’s face seems exasperated and Jake’s struggling to get his head around their half-silent way of communicating.

            “You can blame Mav.”

            Jake watches as Bradley makes a couple of signs, and he’s never learnt ASL although he figures he’s going to need to. But he’s pretty sure Bradley just signed blowjob and this morning is already feeling surreal in so many ways, but in none of them does it make sense that Bradley needs to use the word blowjob when talking to Admiral Kazansky.

            “There are no secrets in this family,” the little voice declares, and the expression on Admiral Kazansky’s face is a little challenging, like he’s somehow daring Jake to cross the threshold and join said family. He reaches for his mug and does a little toast.

            Challenge accepted.

…         …         …

            “Actually, about that… Mav’s in the dark about us. I thought we could have some fun.”

            “I have some ideas,” Ice signs, typing it in at the same time for Jake’s sake.

            They sit and talk for a while, eating, and Jake slowly relaxes, although Bradley notes he doesn’t call Ice anything at all, and certainly not Tom. That’s fine, he’ll get there. He does make Ice chuckle silently a couple of times and it makes Bradley feel bubbly inside, that they’re getting on so well. They’re finished, and there’s a little left over for a snack later, and Bradley reaches for his phone.

            “Okay, let me make this call…” Bradley says, putting his phone on speaker so Jake and Ice will be able to hear as well.

            “Hey Mav…”

            “Bradley! What are you up to?”

            “Just having brunch actually, wanted to make sure dinner was still happening tomorrow night.”

            “Tomorrow is Sunday, and we do dinner every Sunday… so yes, Bradley. Dinner is still happening. I’ve actually invited a few friends. People I want you to meet.”

            “Really?” Bradley asks, raising his eyebrows at both Ice and Jake across the table. Ice is shaking his head.

            “Yep, really think you’ll get on with one of them in particular…”

            “Uh… this another set-up Mav?”

            “Hmm. And if it is?”

            “Well, might make it a bit awkward with me wanting to bring my boyfriend.”

            “What. Since when? Why haven’t I heard about this?”

            “Because you’re the biggest busybody and gossip I know? You usually ring them up to introduce yourself and in the process scare them away?”

            “That was only one time! And I saw you on Sunday! And again on Tuesday! How have you got a boyfriend since then? It’s only been four days!”

            “What can I say, when I know I know. We’ll bring dessert. How many people are going to be there?”

            “Uh, just… eight if I count this mysterious boyfriend. Do I know him? What’s his name? Have I met him?”

            “Eight? Wow. Was it going to be a like a speed dating situation?”

            “No! I just… it’s us three and your plus one. And some of the Dagger Squad.”

            That has Jake’s attention, his eyes wide as he looks between Bradley and Ice, expression clearly wanting Bradley to ask who.

            “Let me guess, you’ve invited Jake. Who else?”

            Mav sighs over the phone and Bradley has to bite his lip to stop himself from laughing.

            “Coyote, Phoenix and Bob.”

            Bradley looks to Jake and he knows those names are going to mean a hell of a lot more to him than they do to Bradley.

            “Great, okay.”

            “And your young man’s name?”

            “You’ll find out tomorrow. Patience. Thanks Mav, I’ll bring enough brownie for eight.”

            He quickly ends the call before Mav can get another word in and turns his phone off, not wanting the notifications. He knows all the people he cares about are safe so has no reason to have it on.

            “Okay. Step one is done.”

            Ice grins and Bradley grins back. Then Ice makes a shooing gesture toward the bedroom and Bradley rolls his eyes, throws back a yeah yeah gesture because it’s apparently grilling time. He doesn’t know why Ice expects him to leave the room, he’s totally going to listen in from around the corner. Of course Ice seems to be on to him, he can hear the chairs scraping back and the table being cleared. He has to strain to hear over the running water, fortunately the little electronic tablet is nice and clear.

            “Thank you for making him happier. He is happy. Full life. Many friends. Loves his job. You can add to all of that.”

            He can’t hear what Jake says in reply and he knows Ice must be typing out his reply, the words conveying meaning without being full sentences.

            “There is no try.”

            “Sure thing Yoda. You a secret Star Wars geek or something?”

            “Not secret.”

            Jake’s laugh is beautiful and Bradley grins to himself.

            “Tell your friends. Serves Mav right.”

            “Excuse me sir? You mean, I have your permission to tell Coyote, Phoenix and Bob who you are? And your relationship with Maverick?”

            “Yes. Already gave to Mav. Now you too. Good for Mav be in dark for once.”

PART 9

[thecoolerlucky]

Chapter 1: The Happy Pizzeria

Contents (Warnings/Mild spoilers): Lynette meets an average employee from the Happy Pizzeria!

Wordcount: 4,200+

Side note: This will contain experimental writing, first person (Lynette's view) will be implemented alongside third person for the two other essential characters, (mostly) Alexander and (occasionally) Drake. For those third person moments all their text will be italicized and their thoughts in Bold. There will be other characters I write in third person for in the future using this method too. Thank you and enjoy!

'Do giants work here?'

__________________________________________

Day 0 - (Sept. 7th, Wednesday)

Lynette

"Shoot, I used the wrong spell!" 

I ran wide circles around the Banshee to avoid its wails while frantically scrolling through my spell list to find the right one. "Wait, please!" I whimpered quietly.

The sudden "livin' la vida loca" ring startled me out of my game. I swiftly paused it and fumbled to answer my phone.

I answered, "Hey, what's up, Charletta?" I adverted my eyes from my coworkers giggling about my ringtone.

Her cheer echoed through the receiver. "Lyn, are you off today?"

I pinched my phone between my ear and neck to resume my game.

"Nope, Tuesday and Thursday are my days off, so I can think about starting school." My enthusiasm waned. Can I handle going back to school? I don't want to fail again.

"I should have called yesterday. Sorry, Lyn!"

"You're fine," I said. "I'm on break for at least another five minutes. We can chat."

"A truly privileged rarity." The guilt-ridden impact of her sarcastic joke made me sink deeper into the plastic seat. I should have called more. 

"I'm sorry, I had tons of homework over the summer for my GED, and I've been working double shifts at this job."

"It wasn't a knock at you," she huffed, "Wicks has kept me up to date with your diligent work." She sympathetically sighed. "I'm glad to hear your voice, at least." Her tone dipped in evident dissatisfaction. "I worry for you guys. You and Wicks have a knack for finding trouble." 

"Don't I know it." I chuckled, partly because of what I said and partly because I beat the Banshee. I heard another sigh. "We'll be okay, I promise."

"You better be. My wedding is two months away!"

I jumped in my seat, "right." I paused and put the console into sleep mode. "I gotta request that day off."

"DAY!" She exclaimed. "You're the maid of honor. You need to be here for at least 4 days. If not the whole week!" 

I brace myself for a lecture. 

"You know work won't let me do that." I looked around at the few people in the small breakroom. Everyone was nose-deep in their phone or eating lunch. "I was already out for a week with food poisoning." I glanced at the T.V. playing a fast food-related jingle to mock me. I smirked, intentionally about to joke with Charletta, "I mean, how was I supposed to know eating out of a dumpster would be a bad idea?"

"Are you crazy?!" She exclaimed, followed by a fast fluster of incomprehensible Spanish. Although I learned a lot from Madre and the others, I was unable to understand it when spoken so quickly.

"I'm kidding, Charletta. It was that small restaurant called "Ducky's Dining". I'm sure Wicks told you." I grumbled under my breath, "My aches were so bad I slept most of that week."

I waited for a response. She was quiet.

"Hello? Charletta?"

"Still here!"

Did I say something wrong?

She continued on, "you're going to have to convince your work. You have to be here for the rehearsal and the bachelorette party, and you have to meet my fiancé and his family, and Mom and Dad really want to see you-" She cut herself off. "Basically, you'll have to be here, maid of honor rules."

I smiled, shrugged, and moved the phone to face me as if we were on a video call. "Wicks could pull off the maid of honor position for me."

She laughed, "Lyn, I can't have him looking better in that dress than I do in mine!"

I laughed too. "Okay, fine. I'll ask and see what they tell me."

Her ecstatic chirps returned, "if you can only get the day…I guess I can go over rehearsal with you, but I expect you to materialize as soon as the clock strikes 12:00 a.m. that Friday!"

I talked with my sister a little longer before I said goodbye. I figured work would make me jump through hoops to go since it had been two months since I called off that week.

I put away my console, adjusted my uniform, and put on the best smile I could. As long as I work hard, it'll be fine.

…

Alexander

He dreaded the store—its populated space overtook his focus.

He rarely went out unless he had to, all made possible by his recent birthday present. A young cat chewed through his cables while he was in the shower, including his HDMI cable that he needed to keep himself and his guests entertained tonight. She's lucky I unplug electronics when I'm done with them.

Upon entering, the influx of pleasant smells tempted him to pursue them. I'm so glad I ate earlier, he thought. He considered himself lucky; otherwise, his instincts would be impossible to ignore.

Dismissing the few tempting people he passed, he went to the electronic section.

"I have a party soon. Can't you be quieter?" He grumbled audibly at his body. I'm not caving.

He held his breath in defiance.

Not that it mattered because his stomach immediately tightened. It was a painful twist, something he was used to but not this fast. Alexander's hunger pains never struck this fast. 

His gaze intensified, narrowing its focus on the red-headed worker. His slower stride moved toward her. Sneaking up, as he was used to, only being interrupted by the laughing older customer she was helping.

He yanked his body to the next aisle, trembling as he crouched to stay below the short aisle separator.

Stunned, Alexander pressed his hand into his growling abdomen. What the hell is going on?!!

Through shaky breaths, he reluctantly inhaled her sweet scent. It's so potent.

He closed his eyes to calm down, and it worsened his problem.

Alexander reopened them and strove to focus on the headphones locked behind the glass panels. He even pushed up his black-rim glasses to read the labels better. Ignore her, damn it.

Though, his ears were keenly attuned to her friendly chatter with the older gentlemen in the next aisle. 

Ignoring his begging stomach didn't soothe it—he was grateful the persistent cries were quiet enough that only he could hear them.

Despite knowing better, he waited until the customer left, stood up, then walked into the aisle. He also expected her to leave, yet her rolling cart was stopped in the section he needed to go, and she was stocking at the HDMI cables.

He maintained a small distance between her and himself and stooped down.

He searched the cords she stocked, about to ask her for one, but his eyes slowly drifted to her body.

He didn't take in any of her delicate features—his mind solely fixated on her size. She's so tiny.

He swallowed hard.

Her obnoxious and vexing aroma told his body that she'd end his hunger, an assurance that didn't feel tangible until this very moment.

"Do you need this?" Her voice snapped him back to reality.

Shit. He flinched and sprang up.

She followed his rise and stood up too. She held out the cheapest HDMI cable to him. He gulped back his temptation to grab and consume her.

Don't do it.

He adjusted his glasses nervously and spoke. "Yeah. I didn't want to interrupt your flow."

He reached out to get the cable, and his fingers lightly touched hers.

"You're fine, sir. I'm stocking them anyway," she flashed a cheery smile, and he ignored it. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Uh..." His thoughts only contained the urge to satisfy his craving, so he couldn't coherently answer her.

FUCK.

He fought to jerk his stare away.

I'm not doing this now. Alexander was busy—no matter how much his body commanded him. 

Standing there silently, he struggled and caught the logo on her uniform. It reminded him of a particular clause at his workplace. I don't need that.

His body said otherwise in its desperation. It compelled him to speak to ensure he'd see the redhead again. "Do you like your job?"

Her eagerness for his response melted into confusion. It baffled her long enough for Alexander to regain his composure as he towered over the girl barely approaching his sternum.

"It's work," she said, gathering more thoughts. "Most of the employees are friendly, there are good and bad days like anywhere else, and though more pay would be nice, I can't complain." Her smile was restored. "Were you asking because you wanted to work here too?"

Alexander dug into his front pants pocket and got his wallet. "No." He picked through it to find the company card he received years ago. What should I say? He internally griped. What does that flirty bastard tell them? "My work would benefit from having someone cheerful and friendly to help run the registers," he offered her the partially creased card. "It's a pizzeria not that far from here."

She smirked at the cartoon pizza slice that had a speech bubble that said, "The Happy Pizzeria" on it. He was glad the writing was still legible. If you're doing this, keep going.

He looked over her head to temporarily control his domineering thoughts. "It pays $100 an hour, offers medical the day you're hired, plenty of va-"

"$100 AN HOUR!" Her voice squeaked. She tilted back to the card, embarrassingly, "S-Sorry. Continue."

The two of them fiddled with their respective objects, her with the card and him with the HDMI cable. 

"Plenty of vacation time, dental, and vision." He finished.

She looked up. "They'd pay me that much to run a register. Why?"

"The owner's a retired multi-millionaire who one day decided his passion was making pizza." Alexander muttered, "He doesn't care much about money anymore."

"And there are spots open?"

"He only accepts interviews from employee recommendations."

In awe, she pointed to herself, "And you're recommending me?"

I am, aren't I? His eyes fell back on her, and he lurched slightly. Stupidly, "yes."

She kept looking up at him and the card, "I'll look into it. Thank you!"

Alexander ran his hand through his short, still relatively damp, blonde hair, to keep his hand from reaching out. "y-yeah. Call the number on the card later this afternoon. I'll put in a recommendation for, um......"

"Lynette," she responded.

He nodded. "Got it." His legs heavy and reluctant, refusing to take a step unless he was toward her. He sheepishly chuckled, "I'm Alexander." He haplessly put out a hand to shake. Don't pull her in.

Her soft, small one met his larger one. His nearly encompassed hers. I have the party in an hour, body please.

He quickly shook her hand, successfully pulled back, and turned around. "Hope to see you hired soon, Lynette."

He clutched the HDMI cord to his chest and got as far as he could. His painfully aching body harshly reminded him of how unbearable it was to be so close to humans. 

It was the longest and most arduous conversation he had with one by himself in years. He talked to customers at the pizzeria, but that didn't require thinking.

And, for some reason, among all the humans he had ever met, she was by far the worst for him to be around.

...

Lynette

Once I got home, I studied the card. That was such a weird interaction. Lynette threw herself back on her couch. What are the odds that some stranger invited me to join a job like that as soon as I'm struggling to start school? I got out my laptop and checked the site. It looked legit, with a 4.7-star rating from thousands of reviews. Those pizzas look so good! 

I looked over the number on the card, then pulled out my phone. My finger hovered over the number pad. I'll get Wicks's opinion first. I hoped he'd answer while away on his business trip.

He did with a few huffs. "What's up?"

"Is it a bad time?"

"NO, no—they had me getting everyone coffee, so I was running around doing that."

He wouldn't lie to me. I disregarded his exasperated breaths and harsh construction-like noises in the background.

"Okay. Well, when I was at work today, I was offered a better job at a pizzeria. The pay the guy was telling me about seems outrageous! It's-"

There was another bang from his side of the phone. "Wicks, are you sure this isn't a bad time? Where are you?"

"Don't worry, just-." His voice strained. "Trying to carry some boxes!"

I pursed my lips. This time, I unmistakably recognized the dishonesty.

Let him work. I spoke fast, "Never mind, I'll tell you later. I LOVE YOU. PLEASE BE SAFE!"

"LENTILS!"

I hung up the phone to let him deal with his business.

I clutched it with one hand and typed in the number. This could be my perfect opportunity; don't squander it, Lynette. 

I called, feeling imaginary anxiety vultures picking at my fears. 

Someone finally answered. "Hello, this is Sandra with the Happy Pizzeria office line. How can I help you?"

"Hi, my name is Lynette Wayland. I'm calling because I talked to one of your employees earlier today, Alexander-" I don't know his last name.

She interjected, "Ah, yes. When we spoke about your possible call, Alexander didn't have your last name either." She cleared her throat. "We're currently hiring for a cashier position. Have you worked at a pizzeria or any fast food establishment before?"

"I'm currently working in the electronics area at a store, which requires me to occasionally work the register…." I corrected my fumble. "Food experience, no." I didn't think to mention my month working at Mickey D's in high school.

"Any cashiering experience is better than none. Plus, you'll learn everything else you need on the job. And sorry if I go silent, I'm writing down your information for our owner."

I gave her my date of birth, spelled out my name, and a few other things, not my address or social security. It was quicker than expected.

"So, how soon can you be here?"

"Huh?"

"Apologies if you're not busy; Mr. Clemente is still in, and he can see you for a face-to-face interview."

I looked down at my dirty work clothes and patted my curly hair in need of a quick wash.

"Miss Wayland?"

"Yes, I can come in for an interview in the next hour!" I hope I don't sound too desperate.

"Great!" She said, "I hope to see you soon. Have a pleasant drive here!" She hung up.

I hurried to the shower, brushed my teeth, and texted Wicks about the interview. Awesome, it's a twenty-minute drive from our apartment.

Driving for some time, I soon recognized it, a giant, hard-to-miss smiling pizza icon inviting people in. 

I'm surprised Wicks has never recommended this place. He loves the weird ones.

I parked in the lively section of the parking lot. It was one of the biggest pizzerias or restaurants I had ever seen. It's like a two-story grocery store. I wonder if it has an arcade.

As I opened one of the double doors, a wave of delightful smells enveloped me in a tantalizing combination of melted cheese and sizzling meat. If I get this job, I'll go home smelling like pizza.

The further inside I went, the hungrier I got. Whether I get the job or not, I should get one of their pizzas.

The main area was a warm, inviting mixture of wood and stone, with benches and tables offering cozy nooks and crannies to sit and chat. It was cleaner than I expected. Each place to rest looked as inviting as the next.

My vision drifted to the walls while I waited in line. They were adorned with vibrant paintings and photographs of ingredients, as well as pizza-themed landscapes. Above, a soft jazz played on the speakers. This is such a nice place. I swayed back and forth. I have to get this job.

I juggled the possible interview questions in my head and looked down at my empty, resume-free hands. How could I forget that!

"Ma'am?" The cashier's voice called. 

I perked up, "Oh gosh, sorry. I'm Lynette here for an interview?"

He adjusted his glasses, eyeing me, and slowly nodded, "Yes. Right back here." He gestured to the slide behind the counter. He pointed down the hall through the kitchen. "Down that way, the hallway on your left after you leave the kitchen. At the end, there is an office marked "Mr. Clemente.""

"Thank you."

"Good luck." He said to me as I passed. The kitchen looked as clean as the front and was HUGE. Do giants work here? I sighed. Then again, who isn't a giant to me.

I briefly saw another person my age rushing back with an older woman in the kitchen. 

I got to the hall he mentioned and walked down toward the office. I passed two doors on the way. They stood directly across from one another. The first door was adorned with a small plaque with the pizza mascot wearing a bandaid, and below it was a sign that read, "Infirmary."

It's good for them to have an infirmary. 

Facing it was the second door, marked with a sign that read "Record Keeping." This door appeared more utilitarian, its steel frame contrasting with the soft colors surrounding it. That looks secure.

I walked further and stopped by the sturdy, slightly weathered wooden door.

I exhaled outside the door to the office. This whole place is so great. But he could have been lying about the pay. It's probably ten an hour or something.

I foolishly hoped not.

I lifted my hand and knocked. A male voice beckoned me inside.

Opening it, I expected a giant grand office to match the expensive-looking Pizzeria interior.

The walls were lined with bookshelves, some neatly arranged while others were stacked haphazardly as if they were just read. A wooden desk with a cozy, sleek, black ergonomic chair stood at the center of the room. A computer sat on the desk, among a few papers and a framed picture facing him.

"Lynette Wayland?" He stood up and walked over to meet me.

He looks wealthy... His complexion was remarkably flawless, drawing attention to his well-defined features. And so young. Every aspect of his attire was meticulously arranged; his clothes were tucked. He donned a sleek, all-black business suit that was freshly pressed. A vibrant red cloth peeked out from his suit pocket, and white gloves adorned his hands. I shook the hand he offered me. He's about the same height as Wicks and looks around Charletta's age? He's really a multi-millionaire who decided to just "retire." I'd likely do the same with that much wealth. 

"It's nice to make your acquaintance, Miss Wayland. My name is Edgar Clemente. I own the Happy Pizzeria, and I want to confirm that what was told about our rates is true." A firm handshake followed.

Looking up at him, I smiled. OH MY GOSH!! I cried joyfully in my head, catching his eyes—they momentarily distracted me. Up close, they looked redder than a normal brown hue. Almost with a tint of purple. "Is something the matter?"

I shook my head and moved to the seat he offered across his desk, "you have nice eyes." I hope he doesn't take that the wrong way.

"Thank you, they're a gift from my parents." He leaned back comfortably in his plush chair and warmly chuckled. He took it well. "Before I start the classic interview questions, Miss Wayland, I must ask you one important question." He rested his hand on a paper he had beside him. I couldn't quite read it from my angle. "How do you feel about pizza?"

"Pizza? It's good?" Do some people here hate it?

He touched his chest, "I started this place as a passion project. I don't know why, but the impulse to make pizza was too great to ignore. There's something I find so relaxing when I make them." His grin made it hard to tell whether or not he was joking, "and it's kind of become a ritual of passage for me to ask those interested in being hired what it means for them." He folded his hands one over the other. His expression shifted dramatically. A look of seriousness replaced the previous lightness. With a focused stare, he tipped in slightly and asked, "So, how do you feel about pizza?" The intensity suggested that there was more to that simple question.

What do I do? Should I lie? I asked myself. I could say, "I've always had a passion for pizza, too!" My mouth wouldn't let me. This is a crazy first question, and if I lie and somehow get this job, I have to keep it up. I shouldn't do that.

"Honestly, sir, I don't have a passion for making pizza. I heard what you pay employees, and it sounded exciting. I'd love to save as much money as possible to pursue another passion of mine. That way, I don't have to worry about not being successful in it." I said and lowered my head after. "I'm sure that's not the answer you wanted..."

Chin up. I nudged myself and adjusted my posture in my seat. Don't mope about being honest. You're not out yet. "However," I brought my eyes to his. "If I'm hired, I will work to the best of my ability to bring the cheer your customers need when they come inside this pizzeria."

I maintained my eye contact, intimidated by his silence. He moved his gloved hand to his mouth to hide the smile I saw perking up on his lips.

"Most people tell me what I want to hear. A time when pizza sparked their "hearts."" He placed air quotes over the word. "I'm glad you don't look ashamed that you answered sincerely. I'd be after the money in your position too." He sat back, "though, unlike you, I would have lied."

He bent over, opened a drawer at his desk, and placed down a packet of papers labeled "Happy Pizzeria Contract." 

"As you are in it for the money, Miss Wayland, I have a proposition to offer you." He flipped to the second page and wrote on the bottom of it. He turned it back to me. "The pay is 100 an hour, you're allowed up to a month of vacation paid after your first week, and as a bonus, if you stay here for six months, you'll receive $500,000."

My eyes widened in disbelief, the words catching in my throat. "Wh-what...?" I stammered, my mind raced as I struggled to process this surprise.

He raised a pointer finger, "If you stay loyal to this pizzeria for a year, working hard, following our rules, I'll offer you another bonus of four million dollars."

I fell back in my chair, the smooth cushion cool against me, and I placed my hand over my chest. The rhythmic pounding beneath my palm was powerful and erratic, a reminder of the beat I thought it skipped.

He bent over his desk, and his lips parted with worry. "Are you alright, Miss Wayland?"

“Y-yeah,…four million…” I uttered to myself. "A year? That's it."

"If you stay, yes. And I'm sure that'd help with your money problems? On top of your $100 an hour." He handed me a pen, "Oh, and we offer some of the best medical coverage around, as well as dental and vision once you start."

I pulled myself up and skimmed over the contract, "am I selling my soul?"

He snickered and gave a shake of his head, "No, I simply have more than enough money for my family, not including how much my wife makes."

I took the pen he held out to me. "How many hours would I average a day??"

"Forty. Five days on and two days off, given that your recommendation was Alexander, he'll be training you. Thus, you'd have Tuesday and Wednesday off." He held a finger up, "And if possible, you'll start tomorrow."

"That works great." I replied, "What about lunch break and-"

"You receive two paid fifteen-minute breaks and an unpaid hour lunch break. You'll be on the night shift. 2 p.m. to 11 p.m."

"Okay," I said. 

I couldn't find anything to disagree with. I looked over more of the contract. I was in too much shock to analyze every word.

He gave me a few more small questions, I signed it, and Edgar took it back. He walked me into the hall and to the infirmary for the rest. He left me inside while he got the nurse. 

The infirmary was a spacious room filled with beds of various sizes, some large enough to accommodate at least six people. Why do they have beds that big?

Finding a spot in the far corner, I settled in a simple wooden chair. It was quiet. My gaze drifted over the scattered books and papers on two desks at the wall next to the door.

A few minutes later, a woman walked in. She introduced herself as Sandra, the woman I spoke to earlier. 

She had a pale, beautiful complexion, and her ears were sharper than most people's. I guess that condition is not as rare as I thought. My older brother Wicks and his family had very slight points as well. I think Alexander had them with a small point, too?

She escorted me to a scale and checked my height. I can't have her telling people I'm shy of five feet. I hid that from my family, too, except Madre. She took it all down, gave me a small physical, questioned how I had been feeling lately, asked about my medical history, and informed me that she would contact my doctor.

She sounded very rehearsed throughout it as if she had done it at least a hundred times. 

She gave me a uniform from a cabinet stocked with them. It came with a hat, name badge, red shirt with black trim, and black jean pants. Sandra offered me a second pair and said they'd give me another after my first week. The fabric was stretchy, breathable, and softer than I imagined.

The pizza slice mascot was on the hat, next to the words "Happy Pizzeria." The mascot was also on the shirt's breast pocket.

I thanked her, went on my way, and returned to my apartment, teetering with excitement and unease. This is too good to be true.

I sank back on the couch, a cup of tea in hand, and watched a new indie game trailer with a cat as the protagonist.

"That's so cute." I suddenly jerked up with a gasp, "Wait, dang it!" I nearly spilled my herbal tea. "I didn't even buy one of their pizzas!!"

…

Thank you for reading! :D Have a Gouda Day!

Next Chapter

Catch up or check for release dates down below ↓

What I’d do for a Livable Income - Master-List!

[voxofthevoid]

Wait I— WHAT— 500k+ words for JJK? Alone? Oh my god. I’m one of your new readers, and I’m blown away by not only your word count but the wRITING LOGS?? How?? Do you keep track of your WIPs?? Do you write consistently, period?? Do you have any advice for someone who can barely squeak out a paragraph to describe a vision in their brain?? Please bless me with your skills, Vox-sensei 😭🙏

Welcome to my madness 🤣❤️

Okay, in all fairness, I'm usually not this unhinged productive. Last year, for instance, my total word count was only around 250k (iirc). I'm sure I wrote more than that from 2018 to 2020, but my logs from those are divided by fics/chapters or weekly.

... I've, uh, tried a lot of shit over the years.

Which is an important point! I've been posting to ao3 for nearly a decade now (not consistently, but I don't think I was away for more than a year or two), and I've been writing in some capacity for around 15–17 years now. There's been a lot of trial and error over the years, plus changing life circumstances leading to varying energy levels and writing time. The main factor is inspiration; if it's there, I'll write a lot, but if not, I'll be a potato.

So with all that in mind!

Logs

I do keep track of both my word count and my WIPs. I've got color-coded docs and spreadsheets even because I'm a fucking nerd. I've got pictures of it floating somewhere on this blog, but my fic folders tend to be nested, numbered little monstrosities.

WIPs

I call them WIPs sometimes because they're extensively detailed outlines mostly, but the more accurate term is ideas/plot bunniesdemons. I don't work on more than one story at a time. Typically, I start something and write it in narrative order until it's done. There are exceptions—my current fic was started in a post-236 frenzy, and I set aside the PWP I was working on for it. But usually, I only actively write one story at a time while everything else gets developed/outlined as inspiration strikes.

Consistency

You could say I write consistently, yeah! I don't do it every day because I take breaks whenever I finish a chapter (and of course, life throws curve balls sometimes), but typically, I write around 22–25 days a month. I set aside a few hours for it. Average daily word count also varies, but these days, it's 1.5–3k. When I'm really in the zone, it can reach 5–6k.

I'm a hobbyist writer with no aspirations of writing professionally, so my approach to the whole thing has been to wing it and see where it takes me. So I haven't really done anything with the concrete goal of improving. The best (and only) advice I have is very boring and cliche though: read and write.

Read widely if you can and narrow in on the kind of style and genre you like. Note down passages or turns of phrase that struck you and figure out why. You'll absorb a lot automatically, but I've heard people recommend emulating styles on purpose as a writing exercise.

Mainly though, the best and easiest way to improve is to keep writing. Technical rules can be learned pretty easily, especially with how many resources are available online now. Field/subject-specific reference materials are also abundant. But developing your own style and improving the flow of your prose are things that need practice. And it never really stops, especially because your writing will continuously evolve in more ways than one.

This got way longer than I intended. Oops? Thanks for asking though, anon. I did have fun replying!

[foodfightnovelization]

Things I'm Not Allowed To Talk About Yet; or How I Learned More About Foodfight! Than I Ever Thought I Would

Okay, so I'm just going to come right out and say it; I know a lot more about Foodfight! than I've let on in this blog. Like, a LOT more. Shortly after I wrote my original series of posts cataloguing the novelization and various other Foodfight! trivia, I was contacted online by someone named Ziggy Cashmere. He'd been working on a book called Drawing For Nothing, exploring the history of unfinished and underappreciated animated films (with a chapter on Foodfight! among its many pages), as well as a full-on documentary about the movie called "ROTTEN: Behind The Foodfight".

Obviously me being the fan of Foodfight! that I am, I wanted to be a part of it in any way that I could. We talked for a while along with another Foodfight! fan in an internet chatroom appropriately titled "Foodfight Obsessives" and fast became friends. Since then I've been shown an early script I never thought I'd see, videos containing behind-the-scenes footage I never dreamed ANYONE would see, and interviews with people who worked on the movie I never imagined anyone would be able to track down. I've seen so much stuff over the past few months and it's been SO EXCITING... but I'm not allowed to talk about it, share any of it, or show anyone just yet! Gah!

It's been SO HARD keeping quiet about this for as long as I have, but since a trailer for the documentary has been up on YouTube for a while, I just wanted to let the cat out of the bag and preemptively say before it comes out: yes I knew about this, I've seen everything that's going to be in the documentary and it's fascinating, yes I was involved in it (in a very minor sense- I have a small cameo and helped with some of the research, Ziggy did 95% of the work) and it's going to be AMAZING. Ziggy's work on this is streets ahead of anything I've managed to do with this blog- the production materials he's dug up and the crewmembers he's managed to get in touch with are nothing short of incredible, and the amount of work that's gone into this is insane. It's like those true crime podcasts where a journalist talks to the victims of some decade-old crime, but instead of a murder case it's a below-average animated children's movie.

Everything Ziggy has on the movie (documents, video footage, pictures, interviews, the whole shebang) will be released alongside the documentary, so don't feel like you're missing out- you'll get to see everything soon enough, and I promise it'll be worth the wait. "ROTTEN: Behind The Foodfight" answers the decade-long mystery about Foodfight! as best, if not better than any one person possibly could, and closes the book on what happened behind the scenes on this enigma of a movie once and for all. I'm seriously SO excited for it to be out so I can talk about all the crazy things I've seen, you have NO idea what's in store for you guys. Check out the trailer here:

And if you can't wait for the documentary to come out, you'll see a preview of the kind of thing you can expect in his book, Drawing For Nothing. It's a fascinating free ebook with behind the scenes trivia and concept art from all kinds of lost and forgotten animated movies from over the years (for example, there's a chapter dedicated to Joe Jump, a Disney movie that eventually ended up becoming Wreck It Ralph) It's genuinely a work of art, and speaks strongly to my passion of films that feel like they deserve a second chance.

There's a fantastic chapter on Foodfight! showing off concept art, storyboards, unreleased merchandise and excerpts from an early draft of the script- it's truly fantastic. For example, check out this concept art for the Asian food aisle! I think pieces like this really show more than anything the strength of Foodfight!'s core concept, and how genuinely phenomenal of a movie it could've been were it managed better.

So I highly recommend you check out the book, and stay tuned for ROTTEN: Behind The Foodfight, because it's gonna be one hell of a ride. I'll make a much more in-depth post about it once it's out and I can actually talk about the contents of the documentary, but for now it's Tiffany Amber, strawberry jamming out of here!

[andypantsx3]

hi andy! i hope you don’t mind if i ask for advice. i have this ongoing fic i am working on. and it is my first fic that ever got traction, with consistent readers showering the comments section with their love. i adore writing it and i have kept a consistent update schedule for a couple of months now that i barely broke.

but i am so uninspired lately and want to take a break so that i can write it the best way i can (life is also getting busier). I have this crippling fear and insecurities that I will lose those readers if i take a break (which i already did when i uploaded a little too late). I feel so guilty. It’s also not that big of a fic with just a couple hundred kudos. i dont want to keep writing for that external validation but i cant help it. do you have any wisdom u can share? 😭

anyway, I APPRECIATE YOU AND YOUR WORKS SO MUCH THEY INSPIRE ME! ❤️❤️

Hello my love!! Omg you have so neatly encapsulated some of my fears before I took my first ever hiatus!!

First I'd like to reassure you that, in my experience, people will still be there for your fic.

I'm not saying you won't lose a couple people--a handful of impatient people will unfollow/unsubscribe for sure, as you have seen. But those people are the lesser-attached ones who might have unfollowed anyway--a small fluctuation in schedule, shorter chapter, minor detail they did not like, all of those things would have lost them over the course of the fic anyway.

But it sounds like the quality of your fic is absolutely there, and the average person is so willing to wait for high quality fanfic. (Also hundreds of kudos is huge, please don't downplay that!!) People wait years between books in a book series and still an author's readership generally continues to grow, and it's kind of the same with fic.

Sometimes it seems to get people even more enthusiastic & excited when it's been a long while, and that results in the kind of wave effect of more excitement -> more chatter/reblogs -> more visibility -> higher overall readership. So there's that to consider as well.

External validation aside, though, I can't even begin to emphasize how important it is to be able to take a break.

I've been writing fic for less than three years, and in that time I've taken two hiatuses where I wrote absolutely nothing for months at a time. And I've also taken months long breaks from fics before to work on something else (right now I'm quite literally 7 months into a break from incendiary and almost 3 from fingerprints).

The distance from the work itself, I think, gives you better perspective on it. You'll come back to it with fresh eyes and a renewed sense of purpose, and the fic itself will be so much the better for it.

But you will also be better for it!! It's so important to keep your love for writing alive, your love for the fandom alive, etc, because those things bring you happiness. And if you keep attaching pressure to those things, you will eventually begin to lose your love for them. Continuing to work on something when you know you're burnt out can only hurt in the long run.

Anyway I hope these thoughts help! I imagine you'll continue to feel pressure about the choice until you make it, and I'm sending you my absolute best vibes in hopes that you walk away from things happy with the outcome you've settled on.

(And lastly, please send me your fic!! At least this way you know you'll have one very staunch supporter!!)

[strangerthingfanfic]

Chapter 1: Billy

Dec. 20, 1984

Billy heard his father's footsteps heading his way. At that moment he was glad Max was at Lucas's house, she was safe.

Closing his eyes Billy let half his conscious wonder to his safe place. A place he found when he was just five years old trying to escape the pain his father caused.

He was still able to placate his father's enjoyment of screaming though due to his ability to separate his consciousness into two.

The room was pale white and had a bed. His uncle, Martin, usually came by unless he was busy but he could always count on his uncle's friend, Henry to be there.

He was a rock that he didn't have in the open world. He wished he knew where Henry and his uncle were but they said it was safer he didn't know.

And just like he thought Henry came in as soon as he arrived and sat next to him. “It's ok William, this is a safe place, talk to me”.

Billy started telling him about being forced to move from California to a small town called Hawkins and how his dad has become more violent towards him and more demanding.

“Henry, all I want is to come live with you and Uncle Martin with my sister, Max, and be safe,” Billy said, his tears soaking into Henry's shirt.

“There there William, soon you shall be free of his cruelty as will Max” Henry started to say when Max's voice rang through the room “Billy wake up don't die”. Then came a male voice saying that he is on life support and only time will tell.

Billy brushed away tears and stood up. “Thanks for being here Henry but I have to go,” Henry thought about grabbing Billy's arm but thought again.

The kid was strong, much stronger than an average person his age. He needed to be calm and wait for him to see that he is the only person who cares.

Dec. 21, 1984

Billy groaned trying to sit up. “Mr. Hargrove please don't try to move, you're seriously injured” the doctor said in shock.

He stopped trying to get up but when he opened his eyes and saw nothing that panic mode switched back on.

“Billy it's Max, Neil threw Clorox in your eyes for some reason and the doctors aren't sure you'll get your vision back but if I know you, you will,” Max said through tears.

Taking in deep breaths Billy knew he had to calm himself for Max.

“You're right Maxy, I don't need to see to be better than Harrington at shit. Yeah Harrington I smelled you're cheap cologne” Billy sarcastically said trying to hide his own fear.

Steve groaned and said “glad to see you'll be alright Hargrove. Max is welcome to stay with me until you are better”.

“What about mom, Max?” Billy questioned confused with the offer.

“They arrested both of them Billy. Neither one can hurt you anymore. Max told me about how Neil beat on you and how Susan just let it happen” Steve answered with actual empathy in his voice.

Billy stayed quiet. He was trying to process everything going on. “Hey Maxy, could you let me talk to Stevie boy here alone for a few?” Billy finally asked as calmly as he could.

Max looked at Steve who nodded and said “sure thing Billy. I'll be right out in the waiting room with Mr. And Mrs. Harrington”.

Billy waited until he heard the door shut behind Max and then said weakly “Steve if something happens and I don't pull through there is an envelope of money in a hidden compartment in the top drawer of Max’s nightstand. I put a hundred dollars in there once a month from what I've been making as a swim teacher to young kids. There should be a good thousand or more in there. Please make sure they never get custody of her”.

“I promise Billy but I know your to stubborn to let this be what takes you out” Steve joked trying to lighten the mood. “Plus, if you die now, how am I going to win the title of keg king back from you” Steve said and they both laughed.

Dec. 25, 1984

Billy couldn't believe he was still in the hospital and still very much blind and unable to move very much even though the doctors were amazed at how well he had healed at this point.

Hearing the Christmas music made him think about the fact he was alone in a hospital bed on Christmas. He was used to Christmas being another excuse for his deadbeat dad to drink and beat him but at least when Max came into the picture he could make it special for her.

Not this year though. No matter what he was a screw-up this year. He hadn't been a good brother to Max and sure in the hell couldn't give her whatever Christmas the Harringtons were. When he saw them again he would talk to Mr. Harrington about legally adopting Max even though they had started the paperwork for him to do it.

He heard his room door creak open and multiple footsteps but no other noises.

“Who's there?” Billy asked in the most demanding tone he could.

“It's us Billy” Max said softly and Billy let himself relax. “Merry Christmas Billy” Max said as she took his hand in his.

“Merry Christmas Maxy” Billy replied holding back the tears that wanted to flow. “Sorry I couldn't do anything for you” Billy continued, the sadness echoing in his voice.

“Billy Hargrove is that defeat I hear in your voice” Steve mockingly with a slight laugh. “Have I finally beaten the reigning King of Hawkins”?

“Nah Harrington, you will know if I ever lie down in defeat. I'm just worried Max isn't having a great time having to listen to you try and sing carols” Billy retorted.

Max laughed and then said “I got the best Christmas gift ever this year Billy. Not only can those people never hurt you again but you are legally my dad. The papers came through yesterday”.

Max flung her arms around Billy when she finished and he could feel the teardrops on his arm.

Billy rubbed her back and tried to stay positive but all he could think of was how was he going to afford a place to live, food, and everything else she was going to need while he finished his last year in high school.

“Oh and you own the house and now have control of Neil's fortune,” Max said gleefully.

“The downside Hargrove, my parents have offered to be your guardians until you finish high school so we are gonna be living together for a while,” Steve said with a groan.

Billy tried to come up with a retort but couldn't so he just held on to Max.

The sound of a wheelchair coming into the room piqued his interest.

“Billy, you are coming home to spend the rest of Christmas with us” Mr. Harrington said.

With the help of a couple doctors they got Billy into the wheelchair and headed home.

Dec.26, 1984

Billy still couldn't believe how lucky they had become in just a few days. I mean except for being blind, Max now had a semblance of normalcy.

Max had gone out to try her new skateboard and see Lucas.

Billy was just relaxing on his bed when he heard someone approaching. He tried hard not to go into his protective state but it was harder than it seemed.

“Hey Billy wanna shoot some hoops” Steve asked suddenly. “I can't see how the hell am I gonna play ball” Billy grumbled.

Before anything more could be said, Steve had grabbed Billy’s arm and dragged him outside and put the ball in his hands.

“Now are you going to play or am I gonna woop you're ass on a forfeit” Steve mockingly said.

It worked and Billy started to dribble the ball and before stave knew what hit him he was flat on his ass on the driveway and Billy had scored.

“Plant you're feet, Steve,” Billy said and with precision, he found Steve's hand and helped him off the ground.

Meanwhile

Henry paced back and forth in the white room. He expected to see Billy again now that he had so many health issues but he didn't.

Brenner came in and put his hand on Henry’s shoulder. “Don't worry my boy, we will see him again. Now how about we head to the upside down and do some work” Brenner said smiling and Henry followed.

Chapter 2: Hello San Diego

The sun hit Billy's face and he knew they were in San Diego. Back in California.

It was what Billy needed after having to learn to navigate high school blind.

The hardest part was the braille. Surprisingly though Steve and Max also took the time to learn.

Steve had been his rock since the attack by Neil. Each day it was harder and harder to say goodbye for classes or goodnight when it came time for bed.

He was trusting someone, something he had never experienced before. He didn't mind Steve guiding him around new places or reading things like homework to him at home.

Billy also knew he felt something else for Steve. A warm feeling that made him want to just cuddle up beside him on the beach and lay there holding each other feeling the cool ocean breeze against their skin.

He was glad when Max told him that Steve said he would drive her, Lucas, and himself to California.

He was concerned about Max sharing a room with a boy but Steve was on top of it and got a suite with two rooms. He would share a room with Max while Steve bunked with Lucas.

Of course, Max and Lucas weren't too happy but they bit their tongues and agreed to the terms.

Honestly, he was upset as well because he wanted to share a room with Steve. But he was on vacation with him so he was happy and smiling.

Steve looked over at Billy and smiled. He liked Billy's smile and it was plastered on his face. He hadn't seen him smile like that since they started back at school.

Though the bullies were quick to stop bullying him when they found out he could still deliver an ass-kicking without his site. He even kept his spot on the basketball team.

He checked the rearview mirror and smiled at the site of Lucas and Max asleep with their heads on each other.

It was perfect. Kids in the back sleeping while he drove them to an amazing vacation. The one thing that confused him more than anything was that he was glad it was Billy who was next to him.

He never thought about being with a guy for a lifetime. He had slept with Tommy but that was more of a quick romance that fizzled out.

But now he wanted this to be forever. To be his life until he died peacefully next to Billy in old age.

Steve shook himself out of that daydream. He knew for a fact the big tough guy next to him was probably straighter than a ruler.

“Hey Harrington I might not be able to see but I can feel the car swerving a bit. Trying to get us all killed” Billy said, snapping him back to the task at hand, driving.

The rest of the trip to the hotel was quiet. Billy had placed his hand on Steve's knee when they swerved and was about to remove it when Steve placed his free hand on top. And there it stayed until they reached the hotel.

“Will you guys just kiss already?” Max said sleepily from the back seat.

Both men blushed scarlet red making the two in the back laugh.

Out of nowhere though Billy put his hand around Steve's head and pulled him in for a deep sensual kiss earning a gross echoing in the back seat.

When Billy was about to let go, Steve placed his hand behind Billy's head and held him there.

Neither man wanted to break the kiss but they both had to breathe and so they finally did.

“I knew it. You and Dustin owe me $20 bucks each” Max said laughing.

Billy and Steve laughed and ushered the two in where they got the keys to their suite and headed upstairs deciding after so long in the car they would bring stuff up later.

That night after they had food and the two kids called their friends back home the four of them just lounged in the common area until it was time for bed.

Billy gave Steve a tender kiss goodnight while Max and Lucas kissed each other good night and started to head to one of the rooms together.

But before Lucas and Max could go beyond the threshold, Steve took Lucas’s hand and guided him to their room.

Billy then had Max guide them to their room.

Both being met with grunts and pleas that fell on deaf ears.

“Tomorrow will be fun. We will see Argyle and then head to the beach where I can try to teach you three to surf” Billy said getting into his bed.

The light snoring from the other bed made him smile. He was glad she was finally getting some real sleep and God knew he needed some as well.

And with that Billy closed his eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep.

In the other room, Steve was reading a book that Robin had suggested while Lucas was working on a character sheet for their Dungeons and Dragons game.

Steve wished Robin could've joined them but he was also kind of glad none of the others did. He wanted this alone time with Billy.

“Does Billy not want me with Max? I don't think he likes me because I'm black” Lucas said out of nowhere.

Steve put down his book and sat up looking straight at Lucas.

“I'm not going to lie, that was an issue for him at first but he's grown to care for you. I hope the two of you can talk alone while on this trip.

He loves you with Max but neither of us are going to let two fourteen-year-olds sleep in the same room. We were that age once you know” Steve said ruffling Lucas’s hair.

“We wouldn't do that” Lucas argued but the look on Steve’s face said that conversation was over.

“Good night mom,” Lucas said sarcastically. “Good night son” Steve replied with a laugh and they both fell asleep.

[comfortlesshurt]

November 2024 Plans - Special Edition

New month! As always, still all Voltron, still Keith-focused!

Plans are light this month because I'm writing 50k even if I'm not technically participating in NaNoWriMo, so I really don't have the capacity to commit to other goals that will require my active effort. Hopefully, in exchange for you all getting nothing this month, you'll start getting a whole polished chapter fic in February.

General goals:

Additional words drafted for ILaD: 46,576/50,000

Have VLD WC surpass Spider-Man: 63,314/100,258

All-time AO3 word count: 189,500/200,000

Uncontrollable for funsies AO3 goal: 300 overall comment threads

Okay, "do what I want" month went so well that I'm adjusting my schedule going forward. But it wasn't super helpful taking the entire month off. Honestly, the first week or so handled all the burnout. I think if I take a break more often, it won't get to the point of needing a whole week off, though. Instead of waiting until I burn out again, every Monday is now "do what I want" day. Can be writing the same 3 fics as usual, can be writing one shots, can be dipping out completely to go ice skating. Every Monday is mine now.

Of course, I'm saying this in my one exception month because even if I refuse to officially do NaNo, I'll still be writing 50k this month toward my big project. So no days off this month, BUT also no normal daily par for these fics. I'll just be doing the daily par to hit 50k written in November, and I'm allowed to distribute those words across any combination of fics in the ILaD series. Word count toward other projects outside of this series does NOT count this year.

ILaD:

Yes, I nailed down a final title for the series and all the main fics. Perks of taking a month off, very exciting stuff! All the fics below are eligible for counting toward NotNaNo word count, and in the theoretical universe where I add yet another side story in this universe, that also counts.

Starting stats:

(With the very slight risk that I draft a little more tonight...)

All in, it comes out just under 135k written as of the end of October. Any fic on this list is fair game to count toward overall word count during NotNaNo, but...

Main goals:

Get fic 1 to 100k

Get fic 2 to 50k

Longer term:

Will depend on NotNaNo results, but this is the optimistic timeline!

November 2024: rough draft focus for ILaD

December 2024: final rough draft for ILaD fic 1 & ALL events are outlined for fic 2 and 3

January 2025: major continuity edit for ILaD, drafting fic 2 and 3

February 2025: technical edit for ILaD and begin publishing

March 2025: continue rough draft for fic 2 and 3

April 2025: final rough draft due for fic 2

As of right now, based on my average rate, all drafting for the entire series will be done by the end of July 2025, but that's making the big assumption that I can continue drafting 40k to 60k every single month, not including any short-term projects outside of this.

[visagurukul012]

Canada PR Process & How to Get Canada PR from India?

Canada, with its breathtaking landscapes, diverse culture, and high standard of living, is a dream destination for many. If you're from India and have been contemplating the idea of making Canada your permanent home, this article is your go-to guide for the Canada PR (Permanent Residency) process.

Understanding Canada PR

PR, or Permanent Residency, is the key to settling down in Canada for the long run. It grants you the right to live, work, and study anywhere in the country. The PR process is point-based, where factors such as age, education, work experience, language proficiency, and adaptability are considered.

Step 1: Assess Your Eligibility

Before diving into the Canada PR process, it's crucial to assess your eligibility. The Express Entry system is the most popular route for skilled workers. You'll need to check your Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score, which is based on factors like age, education, language proficiency, and work experience. A higher CRS score increases your chances of receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for PR.

Step 2: Language Proficiency Tests

English and French are the official languages of Canada. To prove your language proficiency, you'll need to take language tests such as IELTS (International English Language Testing System) or CELPIP (Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program) for English, and TEF (Test d'Évaluation de Français) for French. Achieving a higher score will contribute to your overall CRS score.

Step 3: Educational Credential Assessment (ECA)

Having your foreign education credentials assessed is a vital step. This process, known as Educational Credential Assessment (ECA), ensures that your qualifications are equivalent to Canadian standards. This evaluation is conducted by designated organizations, and the results add points to your CRS score.

Step 4: Create an Express Entry Profile

Once you have your language test results and ECA, you can create an Express Entry profile. This online system manages applications for Canada's three economic immigration programs: Federal Skilled Worker Program, Federal Skilled Trades Program, and Canadian Experience Class. Your profile will be ranked based on the CRS score, and candidates with the highest scores are invited to apply for PR.

Step 5: Receive an Invitation to Apply (ITA)

Candidates with the highest CRS scores receive an ITA during regular Express Entry draws conducted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). If you receive an ITA, congratulations! It's time to move on to the next step.

Step 6: Submit PR Application

With your ITA in hand, you have 60 days to submit your complete PR application online. This includes supporting documents such as educational certificates, work experience letters, proof of funds, and a police clearance certificate. Ensure that all information is accurate and up-to-date to avoid any delays in processing.

Step 7: Medical and Police Clearance

As part of the PR process, you'll need to undergo a medical examination by an approved panel physician. You'll also need to provide a police clearance certificate from each country you have lived in for six months or more since turning 18. These steps ensure that you are in good health and have a clean criminal record.

Step 8: Wait for the PR Visa

Once you've submitted all the required documents, the waiting game begins. The processing time can vary, but on average, it takes around six months to receive a decision on your PR application. Keep an eye on your application status through the IRCC online portal.

Step 9: Travel to Canada

If your PR application is approved, congratulations! You will receive a Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR) and a permanent resident visa. Plan your move to Canada and start your new chapter in this beautiful country.

Conclusion

The Canada PR process might seem daunting, but with careful planning and adherence to the steps outlined above, you can make your dream of becoming a Canadian permanent resident a reality. Remember to stay organized, gather all required documents, and be patient throughout the process. Canada awaits your arrival, and with the right approach, you can soon call it your forever home.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: What is Canada PR, and why should I consider it?

A: Canada PR, or Permanent Residency, grants individuals the right to live, work, and study in Canada indefinitely. It's a pathway to Canadian citizenship and offers numerous benefits, including access to healthcare and social services.

Q: How do I assess my eligibility for Canada PR?

A: Assess your eligibility through the Express Entry system, where factors like age, education, language proficiency, and work experience contribute to your Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score.

Q: What language tests are required, and how can I prepare for them?

A: English proficiency is typically assessed through IELTS or CELPIP, while French proficiency is assessed through TEF. Preparation materials and practice tests are available online to help you succeed.

Q: What is Educational Credential Assessment (ECA), and why is it necessary?

A: ECA is a process to verify that your foreign education credentials are equivalent to Canadian standards. It adds points to your CRS score and is a crucial step in the PR process.

[romanoffsbish]

Chapter 22: I Do

Chapter 21 | Masterlist | Chapter 23 | Words: 2,128

My bodies exhausted, but my mind is restless.

Fortunately, I can already feel my powers kicking back in, allowing me to heal at a faster rate than average. I've been trapped in an incessant, never ending viewing of memories, and I wished it would stop, but now I'm actually finding peace in them. Making me appreciate where I've landed in my life.

—4 Months Ago —

I'm still not used to sleeping more than three hours a night, so I found myself alone in the kitchen with my thoughts. Not really registering that I live with fellow super soldiers and spies who hear everything, and also don't sleep.

I was sipping on a mug of cocoa, thinking of the newfound sense of comfort I've found in the witch, assassin, and metal armed soldier. Completely lost in my thoughts I didn't hear the impending footsteps.

"Hello doll, how are you holding up?" Bucky asks, startling me as he rummages through the fridge, leading me to instinctually go invisible.

"Y/N?" Bucky silently questions as he stares at the now 'empty' space, but then watches as my mug suddenly becomes visible on the counter as I set it down.

"Still here Barnes, you just activated my fight or flight for a second there." I nervously laugh out, bringing myself back to normal.

"Oh good, I was worried you were talking to yourself there Bucky." Natasha laughs, as she walks into the shared space.

"So what if I was Natasha?" He grumbles, slightly glaring her way as he throws ingredients onto the counter.

"Well, then I think it's best if I take Y/N elsewhere, you know, for her own safety." Natasha jokes.

"If that's what you feel is right then by all means, but you'll be missing out on some phenomenal grilled cheese sandwiches if you don't stick around."

"That's fi—." Natasha starts to disregard his indirect offer.

"No freaking way, I'd love a grilled cheese." I beam with a childlike glee.

"Well what are you waiting for Barnes, get to cooking. Y/N and I will be waiting in the common room." Natasha instructs, dragging me out of the room towards the couches.

"We can all watch a movie together." I whisper shout towards Buck, then move to keep up with Natasha's eager pull.

Natasha pulls me down onto the couch, then puts on The Breakfast Club, informing me that this is a must see film. Even though the couch is basically a mile long, I somehow find we're seated shoulder to shoulder.

Bucky shows up fifteen minutes later, taking his place next to me, sandwiching me in between the two. Surrounding me with a warmth that surpasses the physicality.

— 2 Months Ago —

"Natty, would you like to train with me at around 7PM?"

"We trained this morning Y/N/N. Not that I'm opposed per se, but I actually am.

Stark, Banner and Rogers are in there currently. Wouldn't want to interrupt their menage a trois." Natasha playfully remarks.

"Well, how about ice skating?"

"That's not training Y/N/N, it actually sounds more like a date. You could've just asked." Nat replies playfully, wiggling her brows at me.

"Well, for one, it's exercise and sort of like agility training. Anyways, Wands and I will see you later then. Have fun with the boys."

"You two wouldn't dare leave me alone with them." Natasha gasps, and follows with a pout.

*God I'd love to just kiss that pout right off her face.* I think.

*Do it!* Wanda states, interrupting a thought she wasn't invited to.

*Think less loudly, and I wouldn't be here* Wanda quips back, still listening in.

I shake Wanda out of my head, and reply back to Natasha before the length of silence lasts too long.

"But we really would, Wands, let's go." I shout, but then find myself pinned to the floor.

"You said 7PM, so you'll give me until then to get dressed detka, do we understand?."

"Mhm." I hum back, not trusting my words.

"You're right, this is just like our normal training sessions."

I groan in response, throwing her off of me, and walk away to find Wanda, rolling my eyes playfully as I do.

"29 minutes Romanoff!" I shout back, walking away with a goofy smile that's meant to last on my face.

— Two Weeks Ago —

I'm lying in Natasha's bed, waiting for her to start the movie she's selected for me to watch.

Today's film is The Little Mermaid, yesterday's film was Aladdin, and tomorrow is a surprise.

Wands and Nat have taken point in catching me up with pop culture. Stating that they know a thing or two about the catch up, making them the perfect one's to help me.

Wanda's chosen to tackle what she calls "Iconic TV" starting with Bewitched, and the Dick Van Dyke show. She said we will be flowing through the eras together. Natasha gets films, and she's currently on a Disney princess kick.

"Are you ready?" Natty questions me giddily, placing the popcorn down in between us on the bed.

"Yes, I'm always ready for movie night." I reply back with the same enthusiasm, and reaching for the bowl of popcorn.

Natasha playfully slaps my hand away, and instead hands over a takeout container of sweet and sour chicken for me, with an egg roll to follow.

"Eat your dinner first silly girl. Then the popcorn will be here for us to munch on as we find ourselves immersed in the film!" She asserts.

I laugh at her seriousness, and then shove the egg roll into my mouth, moaning in contentment at the flavor almost immediately.

"God, your love for egg rolls is unmatched." Natasha giggles out, while using her chopsticks to bring a bite of her orange chicken and rice to her mouth.

"Look, if someone were to be crazy enough to propose to me one day, the only thing I'd ask for is egg rolls to be on the menu. My future bride could literally instruct me to wear a trash bag, and dance an Irish jig, and I'd agree to it if it meant I could have this delicacy."

Natasha releases a boisterous laugh in response to my apparently "outlandish" dream, and presses play on the film.

~~~

As the memories of my favorite people are rolling through my mind, I start to hear a faint buzzing sound. I realize that my mind is trying to slowly wake up, as now my visions have faded into nothingness. I can't seem to open my eyes just yet, or move my limbs, but I can hear the shuffling of feet, and the sounds of the machines I'm connected to around me.

I'm alive

I must be on some intense pain meds, because I feel pure bliss—leave it to Fury to hook me up. It's silent for quite sometime, leading me to believe they're having a mission debrief, or getting their asses chewed out. Either way, I'm alone with my thoughts, and all I can think of is Natasha, and her broken expression before I passed back out.

After about what feels like an eternity, but is more like twenty minutes, I hear muffled voices before my door quickly opens then shuts. It's silent, but I can feel someone staring at me, but for some reason I still can't open my eyes just yet.

Then I begin to feel feather light movements running up my arms. Then I hear her beautiful voice, greeting me in her mother tongue as she places a sweet kiss to my forehead. I feel an immense comfort fall over my body at the simple gesture.

She begins to speak, and hearing her say she's not sure she's worthy of me breaks my heart. All I want to to do is pull her into my embrace, and reassure her that's she's more than enough.

"You have to wake up soon please, I want to have all of our firsts together, detka."

I'm trying

"Do you ever imagine where we'll end up? Just me and you against the world" She concludes, as I feel the bed dip beside me as she seems to lay her head down.

I do my best to will my body to wake up, trying to prevent her from the stiff neck she's bound to have sleeping like this. It takes a solid minute, but my body eventually complies.

"I do." I choke out, squeezing her hand that's intertwined with mine, and gracing her with a goofy smile.

Natasha's head shoots up, damn near giving me whiplash by association.

As we lock eyes she sends me the sweetest smile, I see her shoulders visibly drop as whatever tension she was holding there is released. Before I have a chance to respond to all she's said, she holds up a glass of water to my lips.

"Drink, moya dragotsennaya devochka." She whisper sweetly into the space between us, slowly tipping the glass.

(My precious girl)

"How are you feeling?"

"Scared, I saw you and thought I woke up in Heaven for a second. You're the physical embodiment of an angel."

She snorts loudly, then quickly narrows her eyes my way, trying to fight off a smile.

"Seriously Y/N/N... Are you comfortable?!" She whines in question, as her cheeks slowly redden.

"I will be when you join me." I say giving my best pout, as I scoot over—against my bodies protests—and smile up to her, tapping the space next to me..

"I don't want to hurt you detka."

"You could never hurt me."

"That's not true." She mumbles sadly.

"Agent Romanoff, get over here and cuddle me right now, that's an order! I kept my promise of coming back alive." I assert, slowly angering at the thought of her blaming herself for anything that occurred.

"Who knew you could be so feisty." She laughs out, while I roll my eyes, and begins slowly climbing into the bed next to me.

"Now, get comfortable, and listen to what I have to say..."I start as she gets comfortable

She hums and gently lays her head on my chest, directly above my heart. She then drapes her left arm over my abdomen, and holds me loosely.

"Natty, let me start with letting you know that this is not your fault. You made the right call, no matter what Strucker was going to come after me. Splitting up actually allowed me the means to escape because the threat of the bombs were too high for him. So he took off, leaving me the window to get back to you as I promised." I state firmly, trying to allow her to understand that she's free of fault here.

"Next order of business, you are insane to think you're anything other than perfect for me. You're more than enough for me Natasha, I mean that. You can't hold your forced upon you past up in front of you as a way to judge your current state of worth. Gosh, I wish you could just see you the way that I do, because you are beautiful in every sense of the word." I all but shout at the clueless, insecure woman wrapped up in my arms.

"There's no need to fight to be worthy of me, because you already are, and I'm already yours. If you want me Natasha, you have me, because I'd love to experience all those firsts with you. So yes, I do imagine me and you, and the life we could have together one day. The possibilities are endless darling" I cheerily conclude.

"You're going to make me cry and that won't be good for my image detka."

"And cuddling with me is?" I chuckle out, quirking a curious brow.

"Well you did order me here, so I was doing my job." She snarks back

"Oh, well you can get up if that's what you want then. Go back to your chair." I remark, knowing full and well she's not moving.

"Nooo, thank you." She whines, burying her face into my neck and gently tightening her arm around my abdomen.

I laugh at her clingy state, moving to slowly rub up and down her back, knowing that her whining is a telltale sign of her exhaustion.

"Get some sleep Agent Romanoff, I promise I'll be here when you wake up." I command, pulling the blanket up and over the two of us, and kissing the side of her face.

"Yes ma'am." She sleepily mumbles, placing a quick kiss to my collarbone, and quickly succumbing to her exhaustion.

Her warm breath fanning over my collarbones, coupled with the usual comfort of having her so close to me brings, I find myself falling back into a peaceful slumber.

Taglist:

@simpforflorencepugh1 @ali-lie

[scorchieart]

Just so you know it's been almost 2 months since you last updated honor roll. You've haven't been uploading much (headcanons don't count as real writing)

Greetings. You'll have to excuse the following bit of word vomit, I'm writing this on my commute to work and this is all I can do to keep from bursting out laughing.

Thank you for sending the message to keep me accountable, but I don't recall promising I'd have the next chapter out exactly by 2 months, just that I'd do my best to stick to that deadline. Between real life and sleep, I'm lucky to get even a couple hours each day to devote to writing, and as much fun as it would be I don't live in fictional writing worlds to be thinking about them 24/7. (I've also been keeping a reminder on my calendar and it's still 3 weeks away till the 2 month mark, so I think the urgency isn't that warranted).

If you must know the reason for this particular chapter delay, it's that I'm having trouble coming up with a scenario that I'd think would be satisfying to read. (Coming up with Chev's actions and dialogue is giving me particular pains) I consider myself my biggest critic, and I've set a pretty high bar on what I deem is worth of making it out in the internet world. It's nice to know there's someone out there waiting for it to be updated, but I'd also think that person would like the next chapter to be written well, so they'd understand the delay.

For your other comment, I have posted a few other bits of writing since June (yes, other than the headcanons), maybe you just missed them? I did set up a masterlist of my work this past week if you want to check that out.

And on that note, I guess we have differing opinions when it comes to what counts as legitimate writing. I am not a full-time writer, I can only pretend to wield that power a few hours a week, but to me and I'm sure the many people who take it up as a hobby anything we create that has words that took time and effort to think up and arrange in a way we find interesting and want to share counts as writing. Sure headcanons may take less time to think up and write than your average fic, but that doesn't make it any less real. At least that's what I believe. Also writing, especially hobby writing, is for the writer first and foremost. The fact that these wonderful people choose to share their work for the public to enjoy is a privilege, not a right.

So thank you for your ask because it let me know there's someone out there who's looking out for me at least in some way. And apologies if the answer was deeper than you might have intended it to have gone. Hope you'll still look forward to the next stuff I post.

(And to all you people who have an inkling how to write a cranky morning chev, throw this girl a bone please 😭)

[ficsnooneaskedfor]

Call the Twi'lek Midwife

Chapter 23: The Midwife's Apprentice

Word count: 2.2k

Series rating: M

Chapter summary: Omega asks Citali to become her apprentice. When Citali discusses her concerns with her, Omega shares something about her time as Nala Se's assistant she's never told anyone. The boys and Melita are at the hospital repairing things when she asks Tech for help with a gift for Citali.

TW: death mention, implied past medical experimentation.

Masterlist | AO3 | Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter

It was unusually warm for a spring day and as much as Citali wanted to be with the others at the hospital, she had to stay behind and tend to the garden. It was a vital component of caring for patients after all, the plants growing in it were needed to make teas and medicine for a variety of ailments. She knew the others were fine without her, she just felt guilty not helping. Omega had decided to stay behind with Citali to take care of the baby while Melita helped the others. Omega was sitting on the edge of the garden bed with a book near Citali as she worked, Marina asleep in the sling Omega had tied around her chest. Wrecker had taught her and her brothers how to do it. She liked being able to hold Marina while still having her hands free to do other things.

Citali had put some music on for them and was singing along to the ones she knew. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed singing after so many years of not doing it. The similarity between her voice and her mother's, which had once brought her pain, she now found comfort in hearing again. She moved one of her lekku behind her shoulder but it came down again as she bent down to place some seeds in the hole she'd just dug. She sighed, thinking to herself that she should have worn the headdress that helped keep her lekku up and out of her face. One would think having shorter than average lekku like hers would make it easier to work but that wasn't the case. If hers were long like her father's, she could wrap them around her neck or they would simply lay on her back as she bent forward. Citali took a glance over to Omega and the baby. She was waiting for Omega to initiate a conversation, contemplating what she would say to her when she did. She'd been thinking about it since Echo told her last night and she still wasn't sure what she was going to say to her. Even though she still had concerns about it, Citali couldn't deny how happy it made her to hear that Omega had finally come to a decision.

Citali took of her sweater off and wiped the sweat off her forehead, leaving a smudge of dirt across her face. She never wore gloves working in her garden, she liked feeling the soil and plants in her fingers as she worked. It made her feel connected to her homeworld, the planet her mother's family had called home for generations.

Omega tried to stifle a giggle when she saw her face but Citali heard her. "What is it?" Citali said smiling at her.

Omega laughed. "You have dirt on your face. You look a little silly," she said before laughing again.

Citali chuckled and tried to wipe it off, but she was certain she was just making it worse. She sat down next to Omega and gulped down some water. "That's the hazard of working in a garden I guess," she said taking a peek at Marina who was still sleeping peacefully.

Omega ran her fingers through the baby's curls before speaking. "Citali, I want to talk to you about something."

Citali took one more sip of water before putting it down on the ground. "Okay," she said putting her hands in her lap.

"I wanted to ask you...if you would consider taking me on as your apprentice. You've been teaching me for months but...I'd like it to be official, if you'll take me. I know I'm much younger than most apprentices but...I know I want to do this."

Citali gave her a warm smile. "May I ask what made you come to this decision?" It was a question her first mentor asked her.

Omega looked down at Marina and smiled at her. "Well, part of it was helping with Marina's birth. I loved helping you take care of her and Melita. It made me feel good to help them. And when the dystocia occurred, I saw how much a midwife could help people. If Melita had given birth alone, Marina wouldn't be here. But I really came to the decision yesterday when we talked to Anaasa."

That surprised Citali. She had seen the tears in Omega's eyes when Anaasa broke down after being told the news. She was worried the experience had been too much for Omega. It was one of the reasons Citali started to become concerned Omega was too young to do this. "Really?" Citali asked inquisitively. "What about that made you want to do this?"

Omega thought about her words for a few moments before speaking. "Anaasa was so afraid and sad, but after you told her and Ruzin the plan, I could see how much hope you gave them. I know what it's like to be scared like that, and you made them feel better. I want to do that. I know we might not be able to save them, and I know if I became a midwife I won't save every patient of mine. But I can save a lot of them, and the ones I can't well...at least I can make sure they feel loved and cared for like you do for you patients."

Citali was struggling not to become emotional hearing Omega's words. She knew without a doubt now that this was Omega's calling, but she was still worried.

"I'll be happy to take you as my apprentice Omega. It's just...I have some concerns." She took a deep breath, Omega now knowing that was a sign Citali was stressed. Omega held Citali's hand in hers. "I know you can do this Omega. You're smart, compassionate, and great at solving problems, and you could be a great midwife someday. But I worry about the effect seeing a parent or child dying during birth could have on you. You're still so young. I was about your age when my mother and Alik died, and it was very hard on me. It still is. I know if you do this, it's something you'll have to see eventually but still...it's hard to lose a patient under your care."

Omega looked puzzled. "But...I've already lost patients before."

Citali was flabbergasted. "What do you mean?"

Omega took a deep breath like Citali. If it helped her, maybe it would help Omega too. "On Kamino when I lived in Nala Se's lab...I had other brothers...besides Hunter, Tech, Crosshair, and Wrecker."

Citali could tell Omega was having a hard time and put her arm around her. "Omega...if you don't want to talk about this right now, that's okay."

Omega shook her head. "No...I want to. It's just...I've never talked about them before. But you lost a brother too. You know what it feels like."

Citali gave Omega a gentle squeeze and nodded her head. "I do. I'm listening, Omega. Whatever you want to say, you can say it."

Omega told her about the dozens of infant clones Nala Se experimented on over the years, trying to create other enhanced clones like her brothers. How Nala Se forced her to assist her even when she didn't want to. Omega told her about the other cruel things Nala Se did to her patients, the experiments she'd done on Omega, not realizing until she started working with Citali and reading through her texts how cruel and unethical those acts truly were. Omega looked down sadly at Marina as a tear fell onto the baby's cheek. Citali hated Nala Se before this but after this revelation, she told herself in the unlikely event she ever met her, she'd kill her with her bare hands if she had to. She pushed aside her fury to comfort Omega.

"Omega...I'm so, so sorry you went through that. Nala Se never should have done those things, and never should have made you be a part of it." She held both of Omega's hands in hers, forgetting they were covered in dirt. "I swear to you, I will never, ever force you to do something you don't want to do. If there is something that you are uncomfortable with, please tell me."

Omega wiped her tears away and smiled at her. "I will. I promise."

Citali could see that it took a lot out of Omega to say all that and decided to pause the rest of the conversation for another day. They still had a lot to discuss like studying schedules, pay, responsibilities, and more but that wasn't important at this moment. Citali wanted Omega to know how loved she was right now. "Come in the house with me, I have a few gifts for you."

Citali had Omega's gift ready for months. She washed her hands before she grabbed the box that was hidden under her bed and went into her office where Omega and the baby were on the couch waiting for her. She sat down beside Omega and handed her the box. "If you're gonna be an apprentice midwife, you're gonna need a few things."

Omega smiled and opened it. Inside was a bag for supplies, a stethoscope, a horn to listen to fetal heart tones, a measuring tape, some other pieces of medical equipment, and tinctures for relaxation and immunity. There was a guidebook on how health care providers can manage the trauma of the job in healthy ways. It was a book one of her mentors had given her years ago. At first, Citali was worried the book might be too advanced for Omega but then she remembered the girl had read through multiple medical textbooks front to back. There was also a beautiful leather-bound journal and pen so Omega could write down her experiences and feelings as she trained. The last thing Omega pulled out was another small box she almost didn't realize was there. She opened it to find a bright orange crystal on a chain.

"The midwives of Ord Mantell give these crystals to their students," Citali said smiling as she watched Omega take the crystal out of the box. "When a student takes their oath to become a midwife, they are given a teal crystal." Citali touched her crystal that she'd worn in anticipation of their conversation today. "You don't have to wear it all the time, I don't wear mine all the time. You don't ever have to wear it if you don't want to. It's just a way to show the world you are on this path."

Citali held her hand out for the crystal and put it around Omega's neck as Omega felt it with her fingers. "This won't be an easy journey Omega. You're gonna see a lot of terrible things, but you'll see so many beautiful ones too. You may feel like giving up sometimes, and if you change your mind at some point and decide to do something else, that's okay. I won't be disappointed or angry. That's part of being an apprentice. It's not just about learning to be a midwife, it's about discerning if this is the right path for you." Citali put a hand to Omega's cheek. "Whatever happens, I'll always be here for you. Your brothers and Melita will too. I love you so much. We all do, and we believe in you. And when things are hard, look at this necklace and remember all the midwives that have come before you. Find strength in knowing their legacy and wisdom lives on in you."

They smiled at each other and Omega hugged Citali as tightly as she could without waking Marina.

A few miles away, Hunter, Echo, Tech, Wrecker, and Melita were in the surgical suite of the hospital cleaning and fixing things. They'd made a lot of progress in two days and couldn't wait for Citali to see it. The medunit in the room was in great shape for how old and neglected it was, but Echo and Tech still had a few minor repairs to make to it. Hunter, Wrecker, and Melita were taking a little break from cleaning to have a snack and talk, while Echo and Tech continued working on the medunit. This was the first time Melita went somewhere without Marina close by and though she was having a lot fun with the boys, she was having a bit of a hard time without her daughter near her. She was distracting herself with Tech's datapad, looking something up for an idea she'd had bouncing around her head for a few weeks.

"Tech," Melita said and she walked over to him. "If I gave you credits for the labor and supplies, do you think you could build something like this?" She showed him a picture on his datapad of a light used to grow plants. "It's for Citali."

"Yes, I could make something like this for her," he said. "What's the occasion?"

"Well, she's under a lot of stress and has done so much for me and Marina. She loves her garden so much, I thought it would be nice for her to have something so she can grow things in the cold weather. I wanted to do something extra special for her birthday this year."

Echo's jaw dropped and the tool he was holding fell to the floor with a crash.

"Her what?!"

Taglist: @darkangel4121 @justasigh37

I know these last few chapters have been very angsty, there's some fluff coming I promise.

[general-thinks]

OOODAAAA WHY ARE WE ON HIATUS AGAIN AAAAAAAAHHHH

Ok, now that I took that one out the system, at least we have something Komi related for this week!

I would start talking about the recent @zer0cracy 's animation, but I want to talk about something else before that.

And I'm talking about the Komi-san Live Action adaptation.

Ok, listen, I... I don't like any type of anime live action adaptation. Like, at all.

I-I know there are people that enjoy it, and I can only respect the actors that are so passionate about the source material to do this , but... but I don't know ok? There is just something that I can't pintpoint that makes me so annoyed by them for just existing.

And so, when the news of a Komi san Live Action came, I... I honestly grimaced, and prepared myself for the worst. All I could do was hope they would find some actor similar to the cast, and be the most faithfull to the manga possible.

And so, when today on the subreddit r/Komi_san a 5 minutes teaser dropped, I was already expecting my death, unsure if ignoring it or actually acknowledging its existence.

...I sat down, taking a break every 10-30 seconds due to my visceral hate for Live Actions and my love for Komi san battling againts each other making me feel sick. I felt like Odysseus, roped to his ship to hear the siren's song, a victim to my curiosity, just to have some content to release today and now... *sigh* we need to talk.

Mind you: This is not a mindless bashing. I just want to talk about some decisions and my thought on cast members. And just something to talk about waiting for the next Komi-san chapter.

First off, let's talk about Tadano

...who is this guy? I said-

.............*sigh*...........

Ok, so, let's start with the obvious: WHERE IS THE WHITE TURF? Ok maybe this is a conscious choice, to make him even more average. I can... I can still accept it.

But... I'm sorry, I don't see Tadano at all watching him. I can see AT BEST Kometani. And another thing is that (as it can be in the actual trailer, sorry I can't share the link with you all) is... too much expressive. I know, it's a weird thing to say, but one of Tadano's charm is how easy going and calm he constantly is, despite the chaos happening around him. But this version, it's too... fidgy? He moves too much, it's like seeing a Tadano not out of his chunni fase yet. Like, as you can see here-

...ok never mind let's move on and ignore this.

...ehy, wait a minute but behind him there's... hm... maybe it's a coincidence...

In the end, I give this LiveAction!Tadano a 4/10, even below the average. I hope this one was an error in the production of the teaser and he's actually more Tadano-like in the show, but I fear this is not the case. It's not his fault, if it was, I don't know, Naruse, the characterisation would work perfectly, but... this is Tadano...

Also, as we can see here, Tadano crossing the street, I bet that there is going to be a live adaptation of Yamai's kidnapping too.

Live Action Yamai. Rejoice.

Next one is Komi, and... she kinda works?

Loyal enough to the original Komi, the haircut is almost the same, the only thing that miss and it shows is the murder gaze. I guess it's not that easy to do, or easy as I think, but maybe put a little more of spirit?

I don't know, she just looks depressed. And while that's gold for angsty fanfic writers, for an early Komi-san it's not the best. But hey, at least she is similar to Komi! So take this 7/10

Next one is Najimi, and... I don't know what to think of them.

While at first I was outraged for the missing lavander hair and antennas, watching some scenes with them there made this Live Action version grow on me. They bring a nice energy in the scenes, and it's quirky enough for Komi-san, but...

...It's not chaotic enough, and it's a really big problem for a character like Najimi! It's like a chilled Osana in this teaser, and I'm really, really conflicted about it.

So, in true Najimi's fashion, I'll give to this version a ???/10. I have high hopes for you, don't delude me.

Next one is Katai, and...

...I FUCKING LOVED HIM.

This is the only actor by far that I think nailed down the manga character perfectly, he's so over the top and failing at being a delinquent that actually makes me think "yeah, if Katai were a real guy, he would be like him." I would die for this guy. Also the homoerotic tension between him and Tadano are even stronger than the one in the manga so that's a plus too

Explain this, heteroes.

So yeah, LiveAction!Katai deserve the 9/10, get a little more buffer and you'll top the score easily.

And lastly, Naka- no? Ehm... then Yama- no again? But... who else could be here in the class-

........MANBAGI?????

Ok first thing, the actor works for her. She may be not excactly like our Manbagi, but she looks like a ray of sunshine and like Manbagi she seems like a good and lovable girl. I'm sorry that I couldn't add more photos, but trust me, even in the nurse office scene her vibes just worked. I'll give to LiveAction!Manbagi a 8/10.

But now, let's adress the elephant in the classroom.

THEY ADDED THE FIRST YEAR AND SECOND YEAR CLASSROOMS IN ONE SINGLE CLASSROOM AND CALLED IT A DAY.

This is massive!! Like... like I don't even have the wors to describe how much of a big deal this is, butchering the character arc of Komi and Manbagi, and cancelling icons such as SHINOBINO or NARUSE.

I'm still in shock. I don't understand the creative process behind this idea. "Yeah let's add Manbagi in the first year. Who cares if her struggles for being part of a new class is one of the most important step for Komi since she for the first reached out for someone else and Komi had an entire year of experience to actually talk to someone that wasn't her family or Tadano. I'm sure nothing bad can happen from this decision."

It just... baffles me. Who had the idea to do a Live Action NOW? The anime starts two month from now on, and it's not like Komi need something for build up the hype since we were waiting this anime for years, so much that it became a joke in the anime community. If they wanted to do a Live Action, make a live action of the ONE SHOT at this point! So the people get familiar with the characters and explore the strange world of the prototype Komi, not SPOILING ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER OF THE MANGA, SINCE SHE APPEAR IN THE SECOND YEAR AND IT'S A TESTAMENT TO KOMI'S GROWTH.

I... I need to lay down for a moment... no, for a whole day. I planned to do the reaction to Zer0's animation but now I'm exausted from the rant. I'll probably do it tomorrow. I'm sorry guys, and until next time

[halfway-happyyy]

Love Like This

AN: Basically you’re stuck in quarantine and you’re reflecting on the things that make Alexander who he is. Oh, you’ve also got some pretty fantastic news for him.

Cotton candy clouds of fluff.

“Saturday nights used to look a hell of a lot different than this one, didn't they?”

Where once there were movie premiers to attend, award shows to be embarrassingly proud at, cocktails to be sipped, friends to laugh with… you are at home for the foreseeable future.

Alexander glances up from his phone to beam at you. “Maybe so. But this happens to be one of the better Saturday evenings I've had.”

“Yeah? And why is that?”

Alexander shrugs. “I'm with my best friend.”

It’s currently late into the evening and a soft rain patters gently against the glass kitchen windows. Alexander's just finished his second glass of chardonnay and he's leant over the gleaming marble counter top, phone clutched in his hand. He's tired tonight; keeps squinting down at the content on his phone and letting out long yawns every few minutes. As you take in all six foot four of his frame, from the unkempt quarantine hair and the five o’clock (almost six now) shadow forming on his face, to the worn sweatpants hanging low on his hips… you reflect silently on the things you know to be certain about the elder Swede before you.

The first thing that comes to mind is his complete adoration for his family. It never ceases to make you feel suddenly warm and fuzzy inside just thinking of it. He frequently tells you how excited he is to get the two of you back to Sweden when this is all over- “Just you and I and the rest of the family on our little island.” Last night he spent over two hours happily talking to Gustaf while he nursed a couple of his favourite beers. This morning you both had the pleasure of having facetime pancakes with his mother, the memory of it causes you to smile softly to yourself.

“Whatcha smiling about over there, kid?” Alexander pipes up.

“Your mum,” and your heart sings as you watch the grin bloom across his face.

The next thing is his intense love of coffee. Being someone who travels more than the average person, he has become quite the caffeine connoisseur. There is actually a cupboard in the corner of the kitchen dedicated to bags of exotic beans he's found along his travels and it isn't uncommon for the first thing you hear in the morning to be the muffled whir of his ever-coveted machine in the corner next to the spice rack.

“What on earth is that?”

“What's what, kid?”

You gestured to the pile of expensive looking metal beneath the kitchen window.

“That… thing.”

Alexander scoffed in mild offence. “That thing, is my new baby. That thing roasts coffee beans like hot damn. Starbucks could never,” He hissed under his breath.

You're pretty sure you could write a book of all of things you know to be true about him. That he loves nothing more sometimes than to stroll anonymously around the city. That he'll spend an entire day pouring through a book if it's good enough. That there is a small wooden box next to your bed that is chock-full of hand written love letters from him. Some are written on airplane napkins in his slightly shaky, but still signature scrawl and some are on luxuriously thick paper purchased from a stationery shop in Siena. You know and adore the way his accent thickens when he's had a little too much to drink. (He's definitely been guilty of forgetting that your Swedish is still quite rusty, yet attempting to launch into full-on conversations with you regardless of that fact.) Or the way his cerulean gaze lightens or darkens depending on his mood.

Alexander sighs tiredly and hoists his arms high above his head in a stretch. He yawns and pockets the phone in his pants. “I'm going to start getting ready for bed, kid. You coming?”

His bedtime routine varies from night to night. Some nights he starts out reading; could be a novel someone's suggested to him or a script he's been sent. Whatever it is, his brain has a habit of running away on him from time to time and settling into a good chapter is a sure-fire way to have him sleepy within the hour. Some nights he's intent on making you feel amazing; he'll spend hours between your legs, taking his sweet time. Other nights, particularly if he's just been home after a long shoot, he simply holds you close to him.

“I love you, I love you, I love you kid.”

It's a mantra he only whispers when he's missed you more than he can say.

“Yeah baby. I'll be up in a few minutes.”

You drain what's left of your tea and make sure everything's turned off in the kitchen. Alexander is perched on his side of the bed when you enter the room. You marvel at the way his back muscles ripple and flex in the low lamplight as he stretches before bed. You’ve told him numerous times in the past how beautiful he is, but most of the time he just laughs it off.

“Couldn't hold a candle to you, kid.”

You pad over to the bed to undress, trying in vain to ignore the sudden prickle of nerves in your belly. Alexander is already waiting for you, arms outstretched for you to fall into. You settle into him as you have thousands of times before, and each time never fails to feel like coming home. You know his scent; a heady mix of body wash, cologne and sweat. You have memorized the sound of his heartbeat and the way it makes you feel when it beats against your shoulder blade. “Saturday nights are about to look a lot different than they do now, Alex.”

One thing, and maybe it’s the thing that stands out the most to you, is how much Alexander loves children. He's always had a way with them; they flock to him in droves. Your heart thrums in your chest when you think of the first time he got to meet his baby niece, or the hundreds of facetimes he’s had with his younger brothers. It's possible that this has everything to do with him being the elder brother of seven other siblings, but he's simply just a natural with them. Where his patience often lacks with adults, he never fails to make time for kids and it's never been a secret he's tried to hide. In fact, it was one of the first things he revealed about himself when you first began seeing him.

“I'd love a big family in the future. That seems like the ultimate dream, doesn't it? Waking up every morning to the sound of tiny, barefoot pitter-patters?”

You couldn't deny the way his glassy blue orbs lit up like a Christmas tree at the mere mention of his own family someday.

“I know I'm going to be a father someday. I don't doubt that it's going to be difficult and terrifying beyond all measure but I do know that it’s going to be the most important role of my life… and I really just can't wait for it.”

Alexander somehow knows exactly what you mean without further elaboration. He sits up straight in bed and pats your arm twice so you can follow suit. Instinctively, his large, warm hands travel to the bump that is mere months away from making an appearance in your belly. He swallows hard and clears his throat, you notice the way his lips quiver ever so slightly before he asks, “Are we?”

Your breath catches in your throat as you watch tears brim in the corners of his eyes. “Yeah Alex, we are.”

He tilts his head back and, you doubt you'll ever forget the sound of his laugh or the way the tears roll down his cheeks in unbelievably happy streams. After a while he drops his head to your belly and proceeds to pepper dozens of kisses over the expanse of your exposed skin. He stays like that for what feels like hours; and when he finally gazes back up at you, he's beaming so wide he puts sunshine to shame. 

“Can't wait to tell the family, kid.”