#hes so my speed and hes very okay with me not exactly being the easiest girl to date

[starry-eyed-simss]

For the first time in a long, long time I’m just....living in the moment and it’s so nice ☺️

[apparentlyaswarmofbees]

Hello I hope your doing well! I have a headcanon idea how would the brothers and previously undatebles react to a masseuse/masseur (people who give out professional massages)

Let's try this shall we~

Edit: I was informed by someone who is actually familiar with this field that the term Masseuse and Masseur can be seen as insulting in the profession, thank you for informing me again!

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The Boys and a Massage Professional/Therapist MC

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Warning: uncensored swearing, a lot of it asfkfkajshfkslajd

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Lucifer

Tense shoulders that could cut steel, harder than a fucking nokia phone from centuries to eons of stress, if I was a professional at massages I think I would be itching to grab onto those muscles of his like dough.

He will probably feel chills down his spine whenever you are around.

Won't take much convincing if the time is right to ask him to please let you release the pressure on him because dear fucking lord I wouldn't be able to just stand and watch either.

Good fucking luck in the process, when I say this man is stiff this man is STIFF.

He will be feeling so much better by the end of it there's a chance he will be slightly dazed.

Also it improved his mood which led to less harsh punishments, which now has led to more demands from others than from Lucifer himself for you to massage him.

I think you should start asking for payment at this point-

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Mammon

And talking about payment, you will definetelly need to ask it from this one because after the first time you gave it to him for free out of your own good will he started to come back for it all. the. time.

Okay, he's cute and the sounds he makes are so 👌. But damn boy this is not exactly so easy so please give something back??????

Well, you just need to say the word and he will always have something in ready to give you. A date at a place you have been wanting to go for a good while now or something you have had you eyes on for a good time.

It's a very win win kind of deal.

Though at some point when you massaged his legs he felt so light he ran faster than he could control and almost ran into a wall, actually no, he did ran into a wall there's a crack in there ouch-

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Leviathan

In which the cause of the second oldest running was probably to scape the demands for his money back from the third oldest, though Levi was definetelly too stunned by the lighting speed to react right away.

He now makes sonic jokes when refering to Mammon.

But going back to massages, this fucking snake has such a bad posture I would be in back pain just from watching him sit.

And don't expect it to be easy to fix that because everytime you touch him he just tenses up further.

I swear it would be easier to just knock him out and acupuncture him.

You will succeed at some point if you don't give up, and BOY he also makes some 👌😩 sounds.

They're a lot more dorkish and high pitched and he will definetelly not be functional by the end of it.

He will start trying to fix his posture from now on to not make your work go to waste.

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Satan

A curious cat that would just straight up ask for a session (not for free of course he already has something to give you back in ready) after witnessing the shenanigans above.

Not so stiff as Lucifer but still fucking hard, which is to be expected since he has so much rage bottled up.

Chances are he's turning into his demon form unconsciously.

It's a bit of an intimidating session not gonna lie, he is basically using it to relieve himself from part of his wrath so with every groan it feels like he's going to jump at you and rip you to shreds.

He won't of course, instead he will smile brightly by the end of the session and give you your reward for such a good job.

It's honestly worth it though you will probably be needing a massage yourself after-

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Asmodeus

And that's where pretty boy comes in! He doesn't have a professional tittle on him but he has centuries of experience so that's close right?

He will have all things ready, just say the word and he will give you the best payment for all your hard work ever: a chance to relax yourself.

And man he's good.

It's also not very tiring to massage him either, his smooth skin is addicting to touch, the atmosphere he will help set up will be perfect, and he also spills a lot of tea in between so that's a plus for entertainment.

Seriously whenever it becomes too much to be with the rest of the brothers just hit Asmo up and he's gotchu.

Private spa day comming right up.

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Beelzebub

He won't ask because it will completelly scape his mind.

He plays a lot of sports and does a lot of exercising so of course he has a lot of sore muscles.

And you can't tell me you wouldn't want to massage his belly, he's a glutton, it's literally asking for you to massage there.

Baby boy is always so gratefull, thanks to your aftercare on his legs, arms and torso, he has never felt lighter!

Which has led him to accidentally break some of the gym weights, win a sports game almost all on his own and make another restaurant suffer because he felt he could eat more than usual.

Although I would like to say you should proceed with the massages with caution, his smile is too precious to ever say no to.

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Belphegor

Easiest target ever, will probably sleep for 24 hours in one go right after.

And he won't wake up for shit.

Though once he wakes up after those 24 hours he will basically be wide awake for the next 24 hours, so honestly? This has turned out to be very useful in important ocasions.

Will often give out some whines in the middle of a session, possibly half asleep for the entire time.

I feel like he would feel quite ticklish in some places even though you wouldn't be purposelly trying to tickle him, probably.

And I know many of you love his laugh, so yeah that's a plus.

He will definetelly offer to massage you back, and yes he will be good at it, and no it's not because of experience, yes it's because he's too much of a genious and has basically learned through osmosis just from getting massages from you.

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Solomon

Let me tell ya, he's stiffer than you think.

Bad posture, centuries of responsabilities, strain from excessive use of magic and pacts and the weight of existence when you are both immortal and unable to die.

He could easily rival Lucifer and he won't even realize it.

Will definetelly agree to get a massage and will definetelly say "well I do feel a bit under the weather" and his muscles will definetelly feel a little bit more than just under the weather.

It's easier to chew on hard bread than massage Solomon.

He also offers to pay you back.

Do not agree to get a massage from him, I repeat, DO NOT.

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Simeon

If you didn't feel like touching that exposed waist of his then you're lying.

If you don't offer first, he will ask you for it at some point.

And man to have a literal angel right under you, letting out a few exhales of satisfaction and bliss with every move of your skilled hands and arms, sometimes a chuckle followed by a comment that could start a small conversation.

Smooth skin, perfectly shaped body, I don't think I would be able to get my hands off him either.

Massage his hands, from his palms to his fingertips, massage his shoulders, from his blades to his neck, thumbs pressing close to his spine.

He will gladly let you indulge yourself for as long as you wish.

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Diavolo

Another one who's stiffer than you think.

You could literally jump on his back and it would feel like pavement.

Oh and he's now definetelly addicted to massage.

Of course he will also be paying you back with whatever you wish (don't make a joke and say something like 100,000,000 grimm, he will take it seriously-).

Depending on the day he may actually fall asleep, which is very cute.

On another note tho, have you ever thought about sleeping on his back? Because I have-

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Barbatos

Good luck getting him to take off his clothes, even more good luck to catch him not being busy.

This man will gladly give out massages of his own (which could probably knock out a dragon because damn boy those hands are skilled) but will probably not be as easy to convince to get a massage.

It will take an extremelly tiring day to make him agree and it will be so worth it.

Why you ask? Because the look in his face will alway be so soft by the end of it. Pure gratefullness.

Since then he will start to actually seek you out from time to time, the little smile on his face almost looking excited.

[stilldani24]

Pain, but like, It’s Tolerable

corpse husband x platonic!reader oneshot

words: 1089

request: “corpse x reader where she’s a streamer but she’s very private about her personal life and she randomly goes awol for a week before coming back and steaming among us. during the game the others notice that she’s unusually quiet and she lets it slip that she had surgery and is kind of in pain and that’s why she isn’t talking much and everyone is concerned, specially corpse and then he texts her/facetimes her after they both stop streaming to make sure she’s alright and to scold her (like playfully) for not letting him know about the surgery” from anonymous

Your doctor told you to rest for a while, not to work out, and not do anything too strenuous. You knew exactly what to do during your recovery period, and that was play Among Us until you literally dropped from exhaustion. 

Okay, not really. But pretty close.

You were actually kind of nervous to go back to playing, especially since you had been pretty much AWOL for the entire week. You had suffered from a few health conditions throughout your life, and had numerous surgeries to fix them, or at least attempt to. Whenever you had one surgery, another one followed three or so years later. And after years of trying to get your kidneys to work with you, you had eventually gone into kidney failure and began dialysis while still trying to be a streamer and maintain your friendships with those you met online. It was hard, balancing everything while also being an adult who had to pay rent and shit, but you managed. All you had to do was pray that someone in your life was a match for you so you didn’t have to wait potentially years on the waitlist. 

Your sister was tested and came back as a match, and graciously donated her kidney so you could stop needing dialysis and have a long, happy life. You two now only had one kidney each. Kidney buddies. You should remember to make a shirt like that for Christmas to give to her. 

But the second day back from the hospital, you made your way slowly to your game room. You had an ice pack to your incision, wrapped in a towel of course, and slowly sat down in your chair with a soft grunt. After situating your pillows so you wouldn’t be in too much pain, you messaged your Discord group you were in with Corpse, Sean, Felix, and a few others that you were down to play. They immediately sent the game code and you hopped into the game, followed by joining the call. The lobby consisted of Sean, Felix, Corpse, Dave, PJ, Nogla, and yourself. Sean, Felix, and Nogla were streaming whereas the other four of you would just be vibing along with them. You would get back to your regularly scheduled streams when you healed a bit more, so you could be your normal loud and animated self while not worrying your viewers too much. 

“Y/N!” Sean greeted you enthusiastically, making you smile as your little purple avatar ran around the lobby of the game. “Where the hell have you been, we’ve been worried sick!”

“Yeah, no kidding,” Corpse added, and you sensed a little smile behind his voice, but also genuine worry. “Where were you, yeah.”

“Oh, just had some personal business to take care of, don’t worry about me,” you responded casually, adjusting yourself a bit. It caused a little twang of pain, causing you to hiss quietly. “So, uh, what are we playing today?”

“We’re gonna play hide and seek, you down?” Felix asked. 

“Oh, so down. Let’s go, boys,” you replied back with a grin. 

As you played a few rounds of hide and seek, followed by a few rounds of the school game telephone, and finally you guys put the lobby in 3x speed and raced around the map. The boys were all loud as hell as normal, and the race was hella fun, but if you laughed too hard, it hurt like a son of a bitch. Corpse had noticed after a while of your near silence, but didn’t say anything until his worry got the best of him. 

“Hey, Y/N. Are you sure you’re okay, you seem really out of it today,” he mentioned in the lobby between games. 

You sighed, running your fingers through your hair. “Alright, fine, I’ll spill. I didn’t wanna say anything while a few of you were streaming, but it’s alright. I got surgery a week ago. I had a kidney transplant after my kidneys failed, so yeah. I’m in pain right now, but it’s tolerable so I wanted to play with you guys. Kinda take my mind off of it.”

The boys were kinda silent after that. 

“No cap?” Corpse finally asked, making you laugh. While you were both Gen Z, the lingo sometimes got you when he used it in front of people who definitely were not Gen Z. 

“No cap, Corpse,” you replied, a smile still on your face. “Deadass though, I’m doing alright. I missed playing after not being able to for a week of being in the hospital so let’s get back to it, shall we?”

After a weird game of trivia, where Dave gave PJ the easiest question ever and the rest of you questions you couldn’t even think of answering, the lot of you stopped playing and exited the call to go about the rest of your days. Not even two minutes later though, as you were trying to get the strength to stand up, your phone began ringing with the familiar tone for FaceTime. You slumped back down into your chair before picking up your phone. 

“Hey, Corpse, what’s up? Miss me already?” you teased as you sat back in your chair, grunting a little bit from the movement. You were definitely not FaceTime ready, with dirty hair and sleep deprived eyes, but you were always down to talk to your best friend. You didn’t give a fuck what you looked like to him. Corpse had his camera off. 

“Damn, you look like shit,” he laughed, making you do as well. It was just the kind of friendship you had. “But what the fuck, dude? You were MIA for a week just to come back to say that you had a kidney transplant? The fuck?”

“I’m sorry!” You laughed, holding your arms up slightly in defense. “I didn’t wanna worry you. You already got shit going on in your life, you don’t need my problems tacked on as well.”

Corpse audibly huffed, and you could tell he was just rolling eyes. Playfully, of course. “Hell, if you needed a kidney, you could have fucking asked. I don’t know if I’d even be a match but I’d be willing to get tested.”

“Awe, Corpsie,” you teased playfully. “Genuine friendship? In this economy? Unheard of. But thank you, that actually means a lot. Where were you when I was on dialysis though, huh?”

“Well if you would have fucking told me--”

“Whoops, look at the time! Gotta go!”

[watchmegetobsessed]

Dead Or Alive - Harry Styles

a/n: oof okay hello! this is a little different, i guess? but im very excited to share this with you! don’t ask me how i got the idea for this, no clue but it was stuck in my head for days before i finally gave in and started writing it. please share your thoughts and comments on it, i would love to read them!! hope you’ll enjoy it!

pairing: Wanted!Harry x BountyHunter!Reader

warning: violence, talks of drugs, murder, guns, i really lost track of it lol

word count: 15.2k

masterlist

The man in the handcuffs growls in pain again, but you just yank him forward, not in the mood to deal with a whining girl trapped in a six feet tall disgusting looking, oily-faced bald man in his forties.

“Y/N! What do we got today?” Jeremy greets you at the front desk, thumbs hooked into his belt as he watches you tug the guy into the hall of the station, pushing him down to the nearest seat as you step to Jeremy who is already handing you the paperwork.

“Dennis Delgado. Took me a few days to find him, but he couldn’t hide forever,” you grin proudly as you grab a pen and start filling the papers out.

Jeremy walks over to Dennis who just looks up at the officer in disgust. It’s not enough that he is a child molester disgusting prick, he is racist on top of everything and now Jeremy is enjoying having the higher ground, Dennis trapped in his handcuffs while Jeremy will be the one to get him behind bars for a long time.

“Nice one. We’ll have a lot of fun with this one,” Jeremy chuckles. “Want me to ring up your brother?”

“Is he in? Would love to have a word with him,” you nod smiling. When you’re done with the papers you hand them over to Stella, the receptionist who gets to work with them right away so you can get your money.

“Sure, I’ll get him for you on my way,” Jeremy nods, grabbing Dennis by his arm, pulling him along on his way to the elevators. “Come on you scumbag, you have a cell waiting with your name on it.”

The two of them disappear and you get into a little chit-chat with Stella while she is finishing up the paperwork. Leaning against the counter you look around, officers come and go in the hall, all of them dressed in their uniform and for a moment you picture yourself wearing the same outfit. At one point in your life it seemed to be part of your future, but now it would be the most ridiculous sight. Y/N, the best bounty hunter in the region in a police uniform? That’s not happening.

The elevator dings and your brother, Robert walks out. He on the other hand, made this vision happen. He has been an officer for about ten years now and though at first he was outraged that you chose the not so gracious lifestyle of a bounty hunter, but you soon became his unofficial partner, handing him over a wanted person every few days, making his work easier. Everyone at the station knows that Robert is the one who plays by the rules, doing everything according to the handbook, the perfect officer, always working to keep up the peace in town while you are… Well, you are a rebel. You could never play by the rules, always sneaking ways to do things according to your desires. You never liked if someone wanted to tell you what to do and how to do it, you are not a team player or either one that can easily managed by higher forces. It didn’t take long for you to realize your nature will never let you be an officer so you chose the other path that’s somewhere near joining the police, but still playing by your own rules.

Being a female bounty hunter wasn’t the easiest when you started off at the young age of seventeen. In desperate need of the extra money after the tragic passing of both your parents, the two of you had to get along on Robert’s slim, beginner paycheck. He was only twenty-three, started working at the station just a year prior, you knew you had to help him out. He kept bringing up cases, worked on them through the nights and when he passed you on the couch from exhaustion, you sneaked your way into the dining room and looked for easy targets. Speeding tickets, light drug trafficking, whatever you could deal with as a high schooler.

Robert hated the idea of you dealing with wanted people, you had endless fights about it, but you were too stubborn to stop and besides, you liked the adrenaline rush you got whenever you caught another one and brought them back to the station. Loved the stunned and shocked looks on the older officers when you managed to catch a bigger fish. It took Robert a few years to come to peace with your choice of lifestyle and now he doesn’t even try to talk you down. Instead, he keeps bringing you cases that pay well and he knows you’d like them.

“Who did you catch this time?” he grins at you, walking up to you and he envelopes you in a short hug.

“Just got Dennis Delgado, Jeremy took him.”

“Poor Dennis, he’ll have a rough evening,” Robert chuckles. “Did you get your money?”

“Stella is already working on it,” you nod towards the lady behind you.

“Oh, I’ve got you, Sweetheart,” Stella pushes herself back from her desk and walks over to you with an envelope filled with your reward.

“Amazing, thank you, Stella,” you grin at her happily. Dennis was worth a little more than the usual, you are well covered for the rest of the month thanks to him.

“Do you have something coming next?” Robert asks, hands on his hips as he watches you put the money away into your backpack.

“Not yet. Got something exciting for me?”

“An old friend,” he nods with a small smile. He reaches behind the counter and grabs a flyer, handing it over to you, a familiar face staring back at you from the photo this time.

Harry Styles is a name you’ve heard plenty of times and you know him well by now. You actually went to high school with him, you were just never in the same group. He was labeled as troubled all through his teenage years, his parents were brutally killed when he was just a kid, he was tossed around from one foster family to the other, moving around town every few months. It was no surprised when he got into some darker circles, he almost got kicked out of school right before graduation but somehow managed to stick around to get his diploma at the end.

You have actually handed him in a few times before. Never for anything bigger than drug trafficking or robbing smaller shops downtown, Harry is actually not as bad as people tend to portray him to be, he was just not blessed with the best background as most people. He is a smart guy and would never hurt anyone for real, this is why you are now staring down at his flyer shocked.

He is wanted for the murder of a local man who was found dead a few days ago in his home, Harry’s hair was found near the body with no other evidence.

“Are you sure about this?” you ask Robert with a concerned look. This doesn’t feel right. Not that you know Harry that well, but it’s very unlike him.

“Very much. His hair was the only thing we found near the body of Dave RIchards so evidently, he is our number one suspect.”

“I don’t know, this doesn’t sound right,” you think to yourself, staring down at the mug shot of him that was taken the last time you brought him in for selling weed to underage kids. You remember it exactly, because bringing Harry in is always… fun, if you could say that.

That last time, he was already expecting you, waiting around in his usual motel room that is somewhat considered as his home.

“My Y/N! You arrived earlier than I expected!” he greeted you when you kicked his door in. He was sitting in the middle of the double bed, rolling a joint as always, not a care in the world about your arrival.

“You knew I was coming?” you cocked your head to the side walking in and stopping at the end of the bed, watching him finish the joint and simply light it before taking a big puff.

“Of course. I was informed I’m on your list again, just thought you’d give me a few more hours, but it’s alright.” He waved around carelessly before holding out the joint in your way, offering you to try it.

“No thanks, I don’t trust your sketchy stuff.”

“That hurt!” he gasped dramatically, placing a hand to his tattooed chest that was partially on display since his shirts are never buttoned all the way up.

You brought him in that day, stopping for McDonald’s on your way to the station before handing him over to Robert. He was actually a great guy, nice sense of humor and good looks, you never thought otherwise, he was just moving around in different circles than you so you were left with the few jokes he always cracked when you took him in every few months.

“Well, it’s not your job to question his innocence. Want to take the job or not?” Robert asks you.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll find him,” you nod and fold the flyer, sliding it into your back pocket.

Normally, you take the rest of the day for yourself after turning someone in, but this situation with Harry just bugs you way more than to just go home and pretend like it’s not all you can think about. Harry is not a murderer, he would never randomly kill a man, he is not a psycho, just a guy with a rough background and some poor life decisions.

You know the route to the motel like the back of your hand. Arriving to the dodgy parking lot you park your car in the far end before taking one last look at the flyer. Then you push it into your backpack and get out, heading to Harry’s room with firm steps. You see no lights on, the door is closed and you almost don’t even get closer, thinking he is not here when you see someone move around inside.

You are almost at the door when a hand covers your mouth and an arm wraps around your body, pulling you back forcefully. It takes you a moment to recover from the shock as you are yanked backwards, but as you are being dragged towards the alleyway next to the motel you elbow your attacker in the stomach before kicking them in the knees. The hands fall from around you and turning around you pull out your pocket knife, ready to cut throats right away, but you are shocked to see Harry hunched over, groaning in pain as he holds his arm to his stomach.

“The fuck, Y/N?!” he growls, his chocolate curls falling forward, they’ve definitely gotten longer since the last time you saw him, he could easily put them up into a bun now. “What was that for?” he whispers in disbelief, his green eyes meeting yours in a scowl.

“What the fuck do you mean? You attacked me!”

“I didn’t attack you, I was trying to fucking save you!”

“From what?!”

“From the fucking asshole in my room who is four times bigger than you and would have probably shot you the moment you kicked my door in like you always fucking do!”

It’s just now processing in you that if Harry is here, the person you saw in the room can’t be him and he surely looked bulky. Harry runs his hand through his hair, straightening up from his hunched position before he sighs tiredly. He looks… worn-out, even more than he usually does. The dark circles under his eyes and beat-up knuckles are new, he usually looks fine despite everything that goes on in his life, but this is a version of him you haven’t seen. He has definitely been through some shit lately.

“What are you doin—“

“No time for questions now, we have to get out of here,” he cuts you off, grabbing your hand and pulling you through the alleyway to another parking lot on the other side of the motel. You spot his old jeep right away, but you yank your hand out of his hold, stopping in your tracks.

“Wait, my car is there!”

“We’ll come back for that later, but they can’t find you here with me or they’ll be after you as well,” he explains, grabbing your hand again as he pulls you towards the car and this time you follow him blindly.

You get into his jeep without even questioning it, not even caring that he is a man who is currently wanted for murder. Your instinct is telling you that you’re completely fine with him and you believe it. The two of you head out of town, taking the route to the next town nearby, but he takes a turn to the left, the jeep rolling onto a dirty road leading along fields filled with wildflowers. You have a guess where you’re going, there are some abandoned cabins near the woods that used to function as vacation homes, but they were slowly left to stand empty for eternity when a luxury resort was built on the other side of the woods.

“Care to tell me what the fuck just happened?” you ask him calmly, turning to look at him. He has one hand on the wheel, while his other elbow is resting on the armrest, fingers tapping on his chapped, pink lips.

“I’m in… deep shit, Y/N,” he admits with a sigh, eyes glued to the road ahead of him.

“No shit, you killed someone?”

“I didn’t,” he states, his eyes meeting yours for a moment to emphasize his truth. “It was a fucking set up and now they are after me every way possible.”

“Who is? And what did you do to get into so much trouble?”

“I’ll tell you about it when we arrive, okay?”

You sit in silence for the rest of the ride until you finally arrive to the cabins. You follow Harry inside one of them and it seems like he has set his base up here a few days ago. There’s a double bed with blankets thrown over it and a few mismatched pillows, a sports bag with his clothes and a few grocery bags on the dusty kitchen counter, candles everywhere since there’s probably no power in the cabin. You wonder how long he has been camping out here.

“About a week ago I got a visit from Hugo McKain, you’ve heard about him?” he asks as he grabs a bottled water from one of the grocery bags and fills up two plastic cups, handing you one of them.

“Sure. I’ve heard that… he is a big fish,” you nod.

“Yeah. He wanted me to work for him, but I sincerely rejected the offer, however it didn’t sit well with him. He threatened me that if I’m not selling his stuff, then I won’t sell anyone else’s stuff,” he explains, walking over to the bed and he sits at the edge, staring at the cup in his hands. “He gave me another day to change my mind, but I said that I don’t want to get involved with any of the heavy shit he deals with. I was hoping he would just willing to forget about it, but apparently, he is not the kind to just let shit go,” he chuckles bitterly. “A few days ago he sent two of his men after me, but I was able to run away. I was ready to pack my shit up and just leave the state forever, but then the fucking asshole framed me for the murder of that guy. A friend called me to let me know that I’m the only suspect in the case and that my face has been sent out already everywhere in the state. Hugo made it impossible for me to leave, I would be caught the moment I stop to pump fucking gas in my car,” he growls in annoyance. “So it’s a whole shit show, the police and Hugo are after me and I’m fucking stuck here.”

You stand there at a complete loss of words, because though you have no evidence if he is telling you the truth, you just know he is and the situation is fucking miserable. Harry drinks his water and throws the cup into a plastic bag that serves as a trashcan, his fingers running through his hair nervously.

“Do you know who killed the guy?” you speak up after some silence.

“Yeah, one of his men called Axel, he is a proper idiot, I’m actually surprised he didn’t leave his DNA back, just mine,” Harry scoffs.

“If you know they are after you, what were you doing at the motel?” you ask, leaning against the wall, curiously eyeing him as he glances up at you.

“Knew you’d come after me, didn’t want them to pull you into this mess too.”

Your eyebrows rise at his words. He went back because of you? Harry notices your surprise, a smug smirk tugging on his lips.

“What? Couldn’t let them lay a finger on my Y/N, right?”

You can’t help but roll your eyes at him. He has always been so flirty with you since day one, always trying to pull your leg, chatting your ears off in hopes that he can finally drag you to bed one day. But you never give in, it all stays just some empty flirting and a playful banter.

“So what are you going to do now?” you ask clearing your throat. There’s just always been something in the way he calls you his Y/N that makes you a tad bit nervous.

“That’s an excellent question to which… I have no answer,” he truthfully admits.

“You can’t hide here forever.”

“You tryna’ lure me into going to the station with you?” he asks with a grin. “To be honest, I’m surprised you haven’t cuffed me yet. You love that stuff, don’t you?” Harry stands from the bed and strides over to you, the height difference between the two of you forcing you to tilt your head up a little as he smirks down at you, enjoying that he has successfully made you blush. “Question is, have you been the one in the cuffs?”

You part your lips with the intention of answering, but nothing comes out. Harry smirks down at you, so full of himself before stepping away.

“Anyway, I think I’m just gonna lay low here for a while and then hopefully I’ll be able to sneak out of town at one point.”

“You wanna stay here?” you ask looking around. The place is fine for just a few nomad days, but staying here for more seems impossible. There’s no electricity, probably no water, some of the windows are broken in, the temperature must drop drastically in the nights so close to the woods.

“Not that I have any other choices,” he huffs, opening a bag of chips from the groceries.

“Don’t you have any friends who can share their couch with you for a while?”

“You think anyone would want to hide a dude who is wanted for murder and who is also in trouble with Hugo McKain? Baby, even if any of my friends were willing to help, I wouldn’t take it. I wouldn’t want to pull them into my shit. Besides, Hugo is probably already keeping tabs of all my friends, he has the connections to know everything about me.”

“And what about me?” you suddenly ask. Harry freezes, eyes flickering at you in confusion.

“What about you?”

“Would he look for you at mine?”

Now it’s his turn to rock a stunned expression, eyebrows shooting up as he stares back at you. He wasn’t expecting it, but truth is neither did you. However it doesn’t take him long to turn it into something entirely sexual.

“You know, if you wanted to see me in your bed, you should have just asked.”

Luckily, you don’t fall under his spell this time. Rolling your eyes you put the cup to the nearest surface and head to the door.

“Alright, changed my mind. Have fun camping out here on your own,” you mumble, reaching for the doorknob, but he is quick to get between you and the door, stopping you from leaving.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I was just not expecting you to make that offer, alright?” You take a step back, folding your arms on your chest. “Were you serious about that?”

“It seemed like an option. I doubt you’d be expected to be at my place.”

“And you’d actually let me stay there?”

“I guess a few days wouldn’t hurt. Until you figure out what to do.”

Harry stares at you in awe, like you just did the best thing ever for him and the thought that he never had anyone to do such favor for him is kind of heartbreaking. He might be a pain in the ass sometimes, but there’s just something in him.

You help him pack his stuff back into the jeep, leaving the weathered cabin empty again before you head back to town. Harry drops you off a few blocks from the motel so you can walk back to your car, you glance at his door just once, it’s still closed but they could easily still be there.

Harry is already at your place when you arrive to your building, waiting around in his jeep, he has put a beanie and sunglasses on, keeping his head low. As he follows you up to your little apartment, you actually realize that Harry is about to move in with you for the upcoming days, he is going to live in your place, you’ll share your home with him. How crazy does that sound?

Unlocking the door you walk into your small apartment. It’s just the perfect size for one person, a decent kitchen with a small dining table, a living room that also functions as your study, your desk filled with folders and flyers from previous works. Then you have a little bedroom and a bathroom opening from the living room. It’s cozy and homey, but definitely not the setting you would have ever imagined Harry in.

“So, the couch is a pull out, I’ll get you a blanket and a pillow, make yourself… home I guess,” you tell him walking into your bedroom to get him everything he needs. However, he is following you into the room, already snooping around in your private little space.

As you grab him a blanket and pillow, you find him inspecting your clutters on top of your dresser, your jewelry, perfumes and makeup stuff is just thrown out there, and he seemingly takes an interest in your rings.

“Never seen you wear any jewelry,” he huffs as you walk up to him.

“Don’t like them on me that much,” you admit. “Here,” you give them the bedding and usher him out of the bedroom before he gets way too adventurous and starts digging into your lingerie drawers.

When the pullout is all set up and Harry has settled in a little, you are faced with the fact once again, that Harry is in your home and about to spend the upcoming days here with you, since he can’t really roam around the streets.

You make sandwiches for the two of you and sit at the small dining table, eating in silence until you speak up.

“I can ask my brother to help find the guy who did it. There has to be a way to get you out of this.”

Harry glances at you, chewing on his food before putting the sandwich down, swallowing the bite.

“Not really if they don’t find evidence.”

“I’m sure we’ll find something.”

“We?” he smirks at you playfully, earning a blush from you again. You hate the effect he has on you, he is clearly a good-looking guy, you always thought that, even in high school. Thanks to his troubled name, girls easily fall for his bad guy behavior, they just never really saw that being a so called bad guy wasn’t just about the looks, with a slightly similar background you could imagine how hard it really was for him. Though he never really let it show. He is always this whitty, cocky bastard who is ready to flirt his way into your pants whenever the opportunity is given.

“If you keep up with the teasing you’ll find yourself on the street one morning,” you warn him and he just holds his hands up with a smug grin.

“You are the boss lady here,” she chuckles softly before returning to his sandwich.

For the rest of the evening you bury yourself into some other work stuff, you always have a few smaller gigs going on that are easy money, Harry in the meanwhile makes himself comfortable on the couch, watching your tiny TV in silence, letting you do your thing. It’s nearing midnight when you wrap it up and head to have a quick shower. Standing under the hot water you take a few minutes to collect your thoughts and just simply try to get used to the thought that you are in fact hiding a man who is wanted for murder. It’s going to be some pretty interesting days you have ahead of you, that is for sure.

Putting on your oversized t-shirt and cotton shorts you leave a clean towel on the counter for Harry in case he doesn’t have one before heading out.

“Towel is on the counter. Sorry, I don’t have shower gel for men, but the soap is unscented so feel free to use,” you tell him walking out, only to find him already waiting around the door, leaning against the wall. His eyes fall down the length of your uncovered leg, a smirk tugging on his lips.

“If you’re the kind who sleeps naked, feel free to get rid of the textile.”

“Are you a naked sleeper?” you ask tilting your head to the side.

“I can be, if you want me to be,” he grins smugly and you just roll your eyes at him.

“Good night, Harry,” you sigh walking into your bedroom and shutting the door behind you, only allowing yourself to let out a shaky sigh when you are out of his sight. Leaning against the door you hear him shuffling around until the bathroom door closes and the water starts running. You try your best to ignore the thought of Harry currently in your shower naked as you climb to bed and pull the covers over your head. You need the coverage, hopefully it’ll help you with your wandering thoughts.

“Thought you’d deliver Styles by now,” Robert teases you when he meets you at the station the next day. You left Harry at your place, sincerely asking not to trash your home while you’re away and headed to the police station in hopes that your brother might be able to help him out.

“Uh, no. But actually, he is the reason why I’m here,” you tell him with a nervous chuckle.

“What? Did he hurt you or something?”

“No, nothing like that. Can we please talk in your office?” you ask and he nods, leading you up to his office.

Once the two of you are settled and secluded from the rest of the officers, you just decide to start right in the middle and not waste your time beating around the bush.

“Harry didn’t do it. He was framed.”

Robert gives you a surprised look as he leans back in his seat on the other side of his desk. He thinks about your words furrowing his eyebrows before scratching his neck.

“How… do you know that?”

“I just know. He is being framed by Hugo McKain, it was one of his men who killed the guy, not Harry.”

“I have a feeling that your source about this was none other than Harry himself.”

“Does it matter?”

“It does, because of course he would try to defend himself!”

“Harry is not a murderer, Robert,” you snap. “He always owns up to his mistakes and he would never do anything to hurt others. Yes, he is troubled and did a lot of illegal shit in his life, but never anything that could hurt others. He became a target because he didn’t want to join Hugo.”

Robert stares at you for a while, probably trying to figure out whether he should believe you or not. You knew he’d be skeptical, but you can only hope he trusts you enough to help you out in this one case.

“And what do you expect me to do?” he asks after a while.

“He knows the name of the guy. Axel something, can you get someone on his case? Look into the evidence more? Something might come up that could help Harry out of this mess.”

Robert’s jaw clenches as he stares back at you, contemplating his choices but something is telling you he is already in. You won him over.

“I’ll have Jake look into it, I think I know who this Axel guy is.”

“Thank you, Robert!” you cheer in excitement. Jumping from your seat you go around his desk and hug him from behind, kissing his cheek as he tries to escape your embrace. He hates it when you get all affectionate at his work, but you just had to. You head to the door to get out of his hair before he changes his mind, but he stops you before you could leave.

“Y/N, just please be careful with Styles, okay?”

“He is not as bad as people make him sound.”

“I just don’t want him to get you into trouble. There’s only so much I can do to save your ass.” “Don’t worry,” you smile at him softly. “I’ll be alright.”

The rest of the day goes by with catching some stupid guy who was wanted for trying to rob a gas station while drunk, it’s a mystery how he was able to run away, you saw the security footage, the guy was barely standing on his feet, but lucky for you, he is in the exact same state when you surprise him at a bar and bring him in.

It’s past seven when you finally get home. Keying yourself into the apartment you are met with a quite pleasant sight. Harry has pushed the pullout in to make some space in the cramped living room and as you step inside, you are met with the sight of him doing pushups in the middle of the room, no shirt on, just a pair of loose shorts, all his tattoos are on display, a thin layer of sweat covering his body, his curls are held back with a headband. When he hears you arrive, his head shoots up and smirks in your way before doing a few more and then he stops, standing up just as you shut the front door.

“Welcome home, Honey,” he winks in your way and you just roll your eyes at him.

“Turning my living room into your personal gym, huh?”

“I can’t just sit around all day, waiting for you to get home, can I?”

“You can always just fix up my apartment while I’m gone,” you joke chuckling. Setting your bag down on your bed you join him in the kitchen where he is sipping on some water. “Anyway, I have good news for you. My brother said he’ll have one of his guys look into the case. I’m sure he’ll check after this Axel dude you mentioned.”

“That’s great! I’ve also been asking around today, some of my friends said they will try to dig up some dirt that might help me out, but I don’t want any of them to get too deep and then have Hugo go after them too.”

“It’ll be fine,” you nod, convinced that things will turn out well. “Alright, I’ll throw something together for dinner, what—“

“Oh, don’t worry about that. I already ordered, should be here soon.”

“You ordered food?” you ask in surprise.

“Of course. I won’t just eat your fridge out, dinners are on me while I’m here,” he smiles genuinely and you’re stunned by the gesture.

Half an hour later the two of you are sitting on the living room floor, Chinese takeout boxes littering the place around you, having a full on feast because Harry didn’t go light on the order.

“So, tell me, what have you been doing since high school?” he prompts the question. “I feel like I know you but I also don’t. Don’t get me wrong, being handcuffed by you every other month is fucking hot, but I don’t know much about you.”

“There’s not much to know,” you shrug. “I’ve been doing this since I was seventeen, no grandiose career.”

“But did you have any other plans before?”

“Thought about joining the police, but I was never tame enough to follow their rules.”

“Ooh, a little rebel?” he teases you and you throw a handful of napkins in his way, making him laugh.

“You can joke about it, but I’ve had my fair share of trouble as well, you are not the only one who’s been through some rough years.”

“I know that,” he nods, eyes getting serious for a moment. “I’m sorry about your parents.”

“You know about them?” you ask in surprise. You didn’t really share it with anyone, talking about the loss of them just made it harder to deal with it and you also didn’t want everyone’s petty.

“You just know about this kind of stuff when you grow up in foster care. Though you were lucky your brother was already of age.”

“I know. I’m convinced I wouldn’t be here if I had to go into foster care.” Putting down the box from your hands you look at Harry. “I’m sorry you had to deal with all that.”

“Not that it was any of your fault,” he smiles softly, but you can see the pain in his green eyes. Despite not knowing him well growing up, you always felt this weird urge to tell him how sorry you were for everything he had to deal with. He deserved a better childhood and teenage years and most importantly, respect from people. Everyone just labeled him as a lost case because of his background, but no one really tried to help him. Part of you feels guilty, because you could have helped through those years, but you were a little frightened from him as well, believing the rumors and talks about him, though now you know they were probably just stupid gossips.

Harry reaches into your box, stealing a dumpling and you snap on his hand, but he just pops it into his mouth grinning slyly.

“Hey! You have your own!” you tell him off.

“I know, but yours just tastes better.”

“You are such a pest,” you roll your eyes at him as you grab your box and start eating again.

“So, what does your boyfriend think about me being here?” he asks out of nowhere, but you see through his act. It’s his sneaky way of trying to get you to say if you’re single or not, probably already knowing the answer to that, but you choose to pull his leg a little.

“He is fine. Though you might have to plug your ears in a little when he comes over,” you tell him with a straight face and see his fall, a stunned expression on his handsome face.

“Wait, really? You have a boyfriend and told him about me being here?”

“Sure, why wouldn’t I?”

It’s hard not to start laughing, especially when the words process and he realizes that you are in fact taken. The flirty, teasing act is long gone, he presses his lips together nodding to himself as he continues to eat in silence.

“I’m just fucking with you, I don’t have a boyfriend,” you tell him at last, finally letting out a laugh. His eyes snap up at you and a smirk slowly tugs at his lips as he points a finger at you.

“You had me for a hot minute. Nice one.”

“Why were you so surprised when I said I have a boyfriend?” you ask tilting your head to the side.

“Guess the thought was just a little weird, I’ve never seen you with a guy before.”

“That doesn’t mean I’ve never been with any,” you point out, furrowing your eyebrows.

“Oh, I know. I never thought you are pretending to be a nun,” he snorts.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” you gasp, feeling like it was a subtle way to call you some sort of slut. Harry looks up at your upset expression and he immediately knows how his words were taken.

“I didn’t mean it like that!” he defends himself.

“Then how did you mean it?”

“I meant that I always thought a girl as pretty as you must have plenty of guys after her.”

Your eyebrows shoot up at how bluntly he just called you pretty. It had a refreshing sound after all the shameless flirting he has been doing when it came to you, and your poor little heart immediately skipped a beat upon hearing his words.

“Well, I didn’t have,” you admit with a sad smile. You briefly dated a guy from another school in tenth grade, but after that, your life was just way too complicated to get involved in a relationship and you haven’t really been able to change that even years later. When you’re very keen on some intimacy you go to a nearby bar and just let whatever man to pick you up and have for the night, but that doesn’t happen too often either, because it seems useless most of the time, you can do the job yourself just fine too, you don’t need some random man to call you his babygirl when he doesn’t even know your name. Some never even bother to finish you, they pass out once they got what they wanted so you prefer being on your own.

“Fucking losers!” Harry huffs dramatically. “They have no idea what’s good.”

“You don’t need to say that just to make me feel better,” you roll your eyes at him, but you can feel yourself blushing.

“I’m not, I was always crushing on you a little in high school, if I’m being honest,” he admits truthfully, managing to surprise you once again.

“For real?”

“Sure,” he nods, turning his focus back to his food as he continues to talk. “Even thought about asking you out to prom one time. But I figured you might not even know who I am.”

“Come on, everyone knew who you were!”

“Are you telling me off for being humble?” he asks grinning. “Okay, let me rephrase it. I didn’t know if you wanted anything to do with me after hearing stuff about me, so I just dodged the idea.”

You chew on his words a little before looking up at him, eyes meeting his green irises, though you are usually not one to get in on the flirting, now you just feel like being a little blunt.

“Well, I always thought you were good-looking.”

“Were? Am I not good-looking anymore?” he teases with a dramatic gasp that makes you roll your eyes.

“Well, the smugness takes a bit away from it, if I’m being honest,” you tell him off making him laugh.

Once you both are well fed you clean the boxes up together, you wash the few extra plates you used while Harry dries them off and puts them away. Opening one of the cabinets he moves the door a bit, examining how it hangs a little low.

“I always forget to fix it up,” you sigh. There’s quite a few things that could use some work, but you just never get to start on them so they are always put aside.

You take your turns in the bathroom as usual and you sit at your desk a little, working on a few stuff before calling it a night. Harry is already lying in his temporary bed on the pullout, scrolling through his phone. The covers hide only half of his body, his naked, tattooed chest is on display, one of his arms is tucked under his head, the muscles on his arm flexing just right. He surely is a sight, you can’t deny that.

“Seeing something you like?” His voice snaps you out of your thoughts and you realize you’ve been caught staring. Clearing your throat you stack up the papers on your desk and head into your bedroom.

“Good night, Harry,” you mumble, feeling your cheeks heating up.

“Sweet dreams, Y/N,” he calls after you before you click the door closed.

The next day you go with your usual routine, Robert checks in with you letting you know he already has someone on Harry’s case, so there’s not much you can do for now, only hope that something will surface that can help him out of this mess. Throughout the day you often catch yourself thinking about what Harry could be doing at home all day and you pray to all higher powers he is not currently snooping through your lingerie.

It’s a frustrating day, you couldn’t find the guy you’ve been after but you were really hoping to finally get the money for him. He is big money, but he makes you work for it certainly. When you arrive home Harry is nowhere to be seen, but then you hear the shower running so you figure he must have just been working out and is now taking a shower. Two pizza boxes are set on the dining table and you sigh in relief that you don’t have to think about cooking with him around. Going to the kitchen you are about to grab two plates when you notice that the cupboard door that’s been hanging low a little is now fixed. It’s as new as it never was since you’ve been living here and it gets you wondering if anything else has been taken care of. Going through the kitchen you start to realize that all the little things that’s been waiting to be fixed are now working perfectly: the handle on one of the drawers, the loose tap, the shelf that’s been crooked for a while, it’s all perfect now.

The bathroom door opens and Harry walks out wearing a pair of black sweatpants, his hair is wet and he has a towel hanging from around his neck.

“Oh, hey. Didn’t hear you arrive,” he breathes out throwing the towel to the back of one of the chairs around the dining table.

“Just arrived a few minutes ago. Hey, did you fix my kitchen?” you ask furrowing your eyebrows at him.

“Uh, yeah. Took a look at the stuff that seemed off. Also fixed the shoe rack near the door and the hangers in the bathroom.”

“Oh wow. You really shouldn’t have.”

“Didn’t you tell me to fix the place up while being here?” he teases you with a smirk as he leans against the table.

“That was just a joke.”

“I know,” he chuckles softly. “But I really didn’t have much to do today so I thought I might make myself useful.”

“That’s… actually very nice of you. Thank you.”

“No worries.”

“So how was your day?” Harry asks as the two of you are chewing on the pizza, sitting at the dining table.

“Why are you making small talk like we’re a married couple?” you scrunch your nose, taking another bite from your slice.

“What, I can’t be nice?”

“You can, it’s just you are usually not,” you point out.

“Or you are just never around when I decide to be nice,” he grins. “You usually just burst into my place, handcuff me and then bring me in. That doesn’t give much time to be nice.”

“I wouldn’t cuff you if you didn’t try to run away the first time I wanted to bring you in,” you retort shrugging.

“Okay, first of all, I was not expecting you to just kick my door in and have a fucking knife pointed at my throat, of course I tried to escape! And second, I quite enjoy being handcuffed by you, so I guess it’s not that bad.”

That smug smirk is back on his lips again and you wish you could just wipe it off sometimes. He is so full of himself!

“You are always coming with this cuffing thing. Get a hold of your kinks, Styles.”

“You can’t tell me it doesn’t turn you on. I bet you’d like that, if you haven’t already been cuffed in the bedroom,” he snorts, taking a big bite, the sauce dripping a bit from the corner of his mouth that he wipes with the back of his hand.

“My kinks are none of your concerns,” you sternly reply, but it just makes his grin wider.

“Oh, so you do have kinks! Tell me more about them!”

“Well what are yours?” you retort, hoping it would shut him up, but it has the opposite effect on him. Leaning back he swallows the food in his mouth before starting the list.

“Well I do love getting handcuffed, I’m into spanking, both ways. I have a weird thing for—“

“Alright! I’ve heard enough!” you cut him off. “Stop, just… stop,” you breathe out.

“What?” Harry chuckles, clearly enjoying the situation more than you’d want him to. “Don’t tell me you’re too prude to talk about sex.”

“I’m not,” you answer right away.

“Okay, then tell me about your kinks!” he teases you some more. Snapping your eyes at him you can tell how much he is enjoying making you so uncomfortable, but you also know that he thinks he’ll just make you blush and you won’t tell him a thing. So you decide to give him his own medicine.

“I do in fact like to be handcuffed, I love a good spanking, when my ass cheeks turn red from the slaps, that makes me cum very hard. I love a good old choking and I particularly enjoy giving blowjobs because I don’t have a gagging reflex, makes men go fucking nuts when I have them down my throat to the last inch, I get off their reaction easily.”

Harry’s lips part as he stares at you with a stunned expression, he definitely did not expect that answer, or any answer at all. That face alone makes up for the slight anxiety that took over you talking about what you really enjoy in the bedroom. Your eyes wander down and a triumphant smirk tugs on your lips.

“Don’t be such a horny teenager, I can see your dick getting hard,” you tell him before flipping the pizza box closed and walking into the kitchen you put the remaining of it into the fridge.

“You are such a tease, Y/N,” he shakes his head with a soft chuckle. “But it might backfire, because now I’m gonna get off thinking about spanking you,” he grins at you, but you just shrug, heading to the bathroom.

“Do whatever you want, fantasizing is free,” you tell him before locking yourself in the bathroom.

You’d be lying if you said you don’t think about him in the shower. As your hands move down your body, your fingers wander between your legs, gently playing with your clit while thinking about Harry spanking you. Knowing that he is kind of into the same things as you makes your fantasies even more vivid, but you don’t let yourself get off. You wouldn’t want him to hear you moan under the shower, he would tease you about it forever.

When you’re all done you step out of the bathroom only to get startled by Harry who is standing right at the door, wearing only his boxer briefs.

“Shit!” you gasp, snapping your hand to your chest.

“You took awfully long in there, Y/N,” he smirks at you, but you just roll your eyes at him. “If you ever need help washing you back, don’t be shy to ask me to join.”

“Keep dreaming,” you mumble under your breath as you walk past him and make your way into your bedroom.

“I already do that!” he calls after you before you shut the door closed.

Throwing yourself to your bed you take a deep breath closing your eyes. If he keeps up this act, you have no idea how you’re gonna survive having him around any longer.

Two days go by in the same manner. You spend most of the day out doing your usual stuff, you actually manage to catch another guy who was a small reward, but it’s more than nothing. Harry usually has dinner ready and waiting for you by the time you get back home. During these two days he has fixed up basically everything that wasn’t working in your apartment, freeing you from doing it yourself for probably twice as long as he did.

You sit and eat together, Harry usually tries to get under your skin with some more flirting that you return with a cold shoulder, but then, when you’re lying in the comfort of your bed or standing under the hot water in the shower, you always find your thoughts wandering off to the man on the other side of the door.

Ashamed to admit, but you’ve gotten yourself off once thinking about him. You woke up in the middle of the night from a quite hot dream that, of course, featured a shirtless Harry and you just couldn’t stop yourself from bringing you some relief. For a little while your hands weren’t yours, you imagined that Harry’s big, calloused and ring clad fingers were moving against your body and you needed every drop of self-control not to moan his name out as you came. You blame it on him being so comfortable shirtless around your place, he has been really making himself feel home. Not that you’re complaining, he is a sight for the eyes certainly, but it’s also giving you a hard time.

Robert soon asks you to swing by the station to discuss some details about Harry’s case. You can tell he couldn’t dig up anything helpful, he would have already mentioned it through the phone, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have anything that can be useful in further investigation.

“So, I’ve caught wind of Axel Morris being involved in the death of the victim, but we haven’t been able to recover any evidence that would point towards him, unfortunately,” Robert explains as the two of you sit in his office. “Didn’t want to bring him in for questioning either because then Hugo would find out we are after him.”

“So what can be done now?”

“I’m… really not sure, Y/N. If Axel doesn’t magically confesses the murder on tape, I’m not sure I can do anything to help Styles.”

Chewing on your bottom lip you’re trying hard to think of what to do. This can’t end like this, there has to be a way out for Harry…

“Look. I know you’re trying to cook up something to help Styles, but I’m not sure I can give you much time.”

“What do you mean?” you ask with a puzzled look.

“I mean that…” He glances at the door and then leans closer, speaking more quietly. “If I had a guess where he could be found, I would say he is at your place as we are speaking. I can’t let a guy walk free who is wanted for murder, Y/N. I eventually have to bring him back.”

“Alright, alright. Just give me a few more days. I’ll figure it out,” you plead, running your hand through your hair. Robert sighs, shaking his head.

“You have three days. That marks ten days since the warrant has been out. If you don’t bring me evidence by then, I’m sending the guys to your place to get him.”

“Three days, alright. I’ll… figure it out. Thanks, Robert,” you nod, leaving his office in a rush.

You have three days to find evidence against Axel and free Harry, but how do you even start? You’re good at what you do, but this is kind of out of your field and you’re not sure you can deal with it.

Walking around town you try to come up with an idea, but end up doing what you always do when you’re stuck on a case. Thanks to your work you’ve built up quite a web of connections, you always know someone who knows someone who is exactly the person you need. So sitting at a diner, munching on a late lunch you start calling your connections to see if you can dig up anything that could help.

A few hours later the situation becomes brighter and you finally have a somewhat useful plan so you head home to let Harry in on what you’ve come up with.

He is seemingly surprised when you arrive home earlier than the usual, he is sitting at the dining table, a bowl of instant noodles in front of him as he is watching some video on his phone. Like usually, he is only wearing a pair of sweatpants, his tattooed abdomen on full display.

“Oh, hi! Something happened?” he asks, concern showing in his eyes as he watches you kick your shoes off and storm into your bedroom, going straight to your wardrobe to dig up one particular outfit. “Y/N?” you hear him call out for you, his voice coming from your door.

“Yes! I knew I still had it!” you cheer in triumph as you hold up the latex set that clearly leaves very little to the imagination. When Harry sees it, his eyes go wide and his imagination probably gets wild for a moment, because he clears his throat as he looks at you puzzled.

“What do you need that for?”

“It’s part of my plan that will get us evidence against Axel Morris.”

“I’m not really following, so please elaborate?”

“I talked to Robert, he said we need to get him to confess. Now, I made a few phone calls and found out that our friend, Axel is a regular at this strip club called Siren. I’ll pretend to be a dancer and wrap him around my fingers and get him to confess while recording. You said it yourself, he is a real dumbass, I’m sure I can make it work.”

Harry stares at you frozen for a long moment before he lets out a heartfelt chuckle and now you’re the one confused about what’s really going on.

“S’cute you think I’m letting you close to that man. Funny, that was a good joke. Alright, what do you want for dinner?” he asks, walking back to the dinner table, but you chase after him.

“It’s not a joke, Harry. Pretty much our only chance to get you out of this mess!”

“You are not going anywhere near that guy and that’s not up for debate.”

“Not that you can tell me what to do!” you scoff at him.

“Y/N, you have no idea what you’re talking about,” he shakes his head sitting back to the table, stirring his pasta around with the spoon.

“I certainly know, and this is pretty much your only chance to save your ass, Harry.”

“Not if it means you go near Axel, nah,” he shakes his head calmly, as if it wasn’t even an argument and he had the right to grant you permission.

“Well, I’m doing it and you can’t do anything about that. I’m going in tomorrow. I know one of the dancers, she is helping me set it all up,” you shrug, your attitude meeting his careless one, but he doesn’t like your answer, not even a bit.

“Y/N, you are not going there!” he snaps, standing up, the chair falling back from the sudden movement. “That psycho killed a man or did you forget about that?!”

“Okay, so what’s your plan to save your ass? Because there’s literally no other choice,” you retort giving him a frown as you march back to your room and Harry follows you.

“But it won’t be you dressing up as a stripper, seducing a fucking murderer to get him to confess!”

“So then what is it going to be?!” you snap at him facing him again. “Because Robert gave me three days to sort things out before he comes here and takes you in himself!”

“Then I’ll go to jail! No big deal!” he throws his hands into the air like it was just a minor inconvenience and not a case of murder that could put him behind bars forever.

“Are you fucking insane?” you laugh in disbelief. “You’re willing to lose the rest of your life for what? Nothing at all?!”

“It’s not nothing, Y/N. You are not getting yourself into this mess and it’s not up for debate.”

“You hold no control over me, Harry!” you scream at him at this point, fed up with his bullshit.

You find yourself pinned against the wall in a blink of the eye, Harry is pressed up against you, hands grabbing onto your forearms as he keeps you in place firmly, one of his thighs coming between your legs as his face is dangerously close to yours now. He knocks the air out of you for a moment and you stare back at him with parted lips for just a split second before your instincts kick in.

You easily knee him in the crotch, giving you just enough opportunity to grab one of his wrists and twist it behind his back, forcing him to get on the ground, growling in pain.

“Fuck! Y/N!” he groans, snapping his other hand against the hardwood floor. You give him another squeeze as a warning before letting him go and he falls to the ground for a moment before he pushes himself up to sit on his heels.

“You still think I can’t protect myself against a man?” you sneer at him walking over to the bed to grab the outfit that was tossed to the side in the hustle.

“Shit, I think you broke my dick!” he breathes out hunching over and you just smile to yourself as you hand the outfit up to the side of your wardrobe.

“Don’t be such a crybaby, you’re fine.”

“Don’t think so, might need a get-well kiss on it though,” he smirks through his painful expression and you roll your eyes at him. How is he still at it when you just kneeled him in his crotch? “Okay, your message came through very clear though, but I’m still not a fan of your plan,” he sighs finally standing up from the floor.

“It’s gonna be easy, I’ll get him a little drunk, offer him a private dance, make a move and get him to talk. If he really is that dumb like you said, I can easily get him to open up, just gotta make sure he is focusing on something else,” you explain gesturing towards the outfit on the hanger.

“You can’t wear that, Y/N.”

“This is what strippers wear, I don’t see what the problem is.”

“My problem is that it’s like… nonexistent. There’s no textile at all!” he rages, still eyeing the red latex set.

“Are you… jealous?” you ask, starting to get a feel of what’s really going on. Harry’s head snaps in your way and the look in his eyes answers your question even when he tries to hide his real reasons.

“Jealous of you becoming a stripper? I bet I can make more than you if I became one,” he scoffs smugly.

“Oh my god, you are so fucking jealous!” you laugh, enjoying this one in a million moment. “What’s next, you have feelings for me? Are you gonna confess your undying love?” you tease him.

“Okay, you had your laughs, that was enough. Excuse me if I’m looking out for you and I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”

“Don’t get all smitten with me now. I’ve been doing just fine without you so far.”

“Yeah, how many people did you bring in for murder?” Harry questions and that leaves you without an answer. Not that you don’t know it, but because the number is exactly zero. You’ve been doing your job for quite a while and there’s been all kind of cases under your hands, but not murders. Though you are completely capable of defending yourself, you’re not sure you want to deal with monsters who took a human’s life. The only reason you took Harry’s case was because you had an inkling feeling from the very start that he did not do it.

“Just as I thought,” Harry scoffs. “Listen, if you really want to do this then I’m going with you. No way I’m gonna just sit around here and wait to see if you make it back home.”

“How do you plan on leaving the house? Someone might recognize you and then it’s game over.”

“I’ll just… disguise myself,” he shrugs. “Can’t be that hard.”

You never thought the day would come when you see Harry Styles wearing a fake mustache and a ridiculous wig, secured with a beanie to his head. The moment the two of you finish his disguise, you can’t hold your laughter back. He looks so damn ridiculous, you can barely breathe through your laughter as he checks himself out in the mirror.

“I look like a fucking pedophile,” he shakes his head chuckling as he pushes some fake hair out of his forehead. “Where the fuck did you find this wig?” he snaps at you in disbelief.

“Does it matter? You look so fucking bad!” you laugh hysterically and Harry just stands there, waiting for you to finally stop, but it seems like he is not bothered by your reaction. He probably finds it equally funny too.

It’s currently seven pm, you have to head to Siren soon to start your fake shift as a stripper and you haven’t been able to talk Harry down from following you, so there you are, getting ready to fool everyone around you. Harry with his awful disguise and you with your stripper outfit.

When you finally catch your breath you leave Harry in the living room to get ready as well. Following a heavy makeup with dark, smokey eyes, you also put on a wig, a short, red bob that’s part of the outfit. Then you squeeze yourself into the latex, the tiny top barely covering you, the skirt is not even a skirt, rather than just a belt. As an extra to the fit, you’ve put on a red corset, though it’s more so you can hide the voice recorder since the original outfit doesn’t give too many places to do that. You pair it all with fishnet tights and a pair of black, thigh-high boots. As you check yourself out in the mirror you don’t even recognize yourself. Y/N is officially gone, the girl in the boots is… Crystabel.

Opening the door you step out of your bedroom, Harry is standing in the middle of the living room, busy with his phone so at first he doesn’t even see you walk out.

“Ready to leave?” he asks, eyes still on the screen of his phone.

“I… guess?” you breathe out, feeling extremely self-conscious in this revealing set.

When Harry finally looks up his mouth drops open. He is not even trying to hide his hunger as his eyes rake down the length of your body. He takes his time to take in every inch of your exposed skin before his gaze settles on your eyes behind your long fake lashes.

“Holy shit,” he breathes out and it gives you quite the confidence boost.

“You like it?” you ask, striking a pose as you push your hips to the side and place your hands on your waist.

“I-I’m… I’m fucking speechless,” he chuckles as you walk closer and grabbing the strings of his hoodie, you tug on the playfully while he is still shamelessly checking you out. “I don’t know how I could live this long without seeing you like this.”

“You are such a flirt,” you roll your eyes, but just as you are about to step away from him he grabs you by your waist and pulls you against him firmly. Your hands move to his broad shoulders right away, trying to keep your balance in his hold.

“I might be a flirt, but you are the hottest woman I’ve seen and I admit I will be fucking jealous of every man that’s gonna lay their eyes on you tonight.” His voice is low, full of lust and if it wasn’t for his funny disguise, you would have melted right into his arms in a heartbeat.

“I can’t take you seriously with this mustache on,” you chuckle softly, running your fingers over the fake facial hair, the pad of your fingers slightly touching his soft lips underneath.

“Just wait until we get back home and I get rid of it,” he smirks and winks at you, making you chuckle, but you can also feel yourself blushing at his words.

You put on a trench coat to cover the racy outfit as the two of you make your way to the club. Harry is driving, but you took your car in case someone might recognize him near the club. Arriving Harry parks at a darker corner in the parking lot and he pulls out a little box from his backpack.

“Alright, let’s wire you up, Love,” he smirks as you undo the coat and let him help you get the devices situated on you.

The voice recorder gets pushed into your stomach, hiding behind your corset. It’s thick enough that it doesn’t give away that anything is hidden under it, it’s just a little uncomfortable for you, but you are sucking it up.

“Here, put this into your ears,” Harry hands you an earpiece that you place into your right ear, hiding it with your wig. “It’s not the best quality, but you’ll be able to hear me and I’ll hear everything around you. We need a safe word if anything happens so I know I have to go inside.”

“This is starting to look like a spy movie or something,” you mumble under your breath as you start buttoning your coat again.

“Don’t turn it into a joke, Y/N. Axel might be a stupid jerk, but don’t forget he killed that man. He doesn’t care if you’re a woman or not, or if you’re a real stripper or not.”

“Alright, alright,” you sigh nodding. “How about… cherry?”

“Okay. Use it if you are in trouble or someone is hurting you or anything.” You nod, fidgeting with the end of the coat, but Harry grabs your hand and makes you look at him. “I mean it, Y/N. I don’t want you to play the hero.”

“I won’t, calm down. I gotta go now. I’ll see you soon,” you tell him before getting out of the car and heading to the backdoor. Glancing back one last time you see Harry standing at the hood of the car, watching you intently as you disappear from his sight.

Sienna, who is helping you tonight is already waiting for you at the backdoor. You met her a few years ago when you caught her abusive ex and took him in. She said she owed you one for freeing her from that asshole and now you are finally here to collect that favor.

“Damn, you look good!” she grins, pulling you into a short hug.

“You think it’s gonna be alright?” you ask, pulling the coat open to show her the whole outfit.

“Fucking fantastic. No men will be able to focus on anything than your boobs,” she snorts, pulling you inside.

The plan is easy. You won’t be out all night, Sienna will be your eyes and when she spots Axel arrive, that’s when you come into the picture. Sienna will escort him to a secluded area and tell him he has a free lap dance which will be, of course, performed by you. Some flirting, some seducing and hopefully Axel will be dumb enough to let a some sort of confession slip.

Sienna takes you to the changing room and you stay in the corner, trying not to be in the way as you watch the girls get ready. There are ten girls in total, five of them are dancing tonight, the other five are servers, but they still dress like dancers. They all wear equally revealing outfits, just like you and as you watch them move around so confidently, you start to get more and more nervous. What if Axel figures out you’re not a real dancer right away? Or if he notices the recorder pushed into your stomach? This plan is definitely not the safest you’ve ever come up with, and you are starting to doubt yourself now that you are so deep in it.

“Y/N?” you hear Harry’s faint voice in your ear. “Do you hear me?”

“Yes,” you breathe out and hearing his voice calms your nerves a little.

“Everything alright?” First you nod, but then you realize he can’t see you.

“Yes.”

“Okay. Are you nervous?”

“Very,” you admit with an awkward chuckle. Luckily, Harry doesn’t bring his usual cockiness out, feeling how serious the situation is.

“You can still come out and we can just go home. You don’t have to do this.”

“No, I want to do this,” you firmly answer. “Just… talk to me a little. Please.”

“Alright, I’ll tell you about when I wanted to ask you out to prom,” you hear him start and you can’t push a smile down as you sit and wait, listening to his soothing voice. “You were wearing this pretty white sweater that day and tight jeans, you looked so fucking good, Y/N. I saw you walking to your locker and you smiled at some random guy and I was instantly jealous.”

“Really?” you ask quietly.

“O, yeah,” he chuckles. “I told you, I had a crush on you. So I thought about asking you out, wanted to just walk up to you and casually ask if you wanted to go with me. But then I just watched you and realized that you probably wouldn’t want anything to do with me, so I just watched you get your books out of your locker and then you walked right past me, looked me in the eyes and I straight up felt my knees turn into jelly. Good thing I was leaning against the wall. You walked away and I never asked you out. Still regret that,” he admits and your heart flutters at his words.

As weird as it sounds, you remember that day. Especially because when your eyes met Harry’s you felt kind of the same. You felt intimidated and wondered why he was watching you so intently, but you would have never guessed he wanted to ask you out.

You see Sienna walking in, her eyes find you and you immediately know it’s show time.

“Harry?” you breathe out at last.

“Yeah?”

“I would have said yes,” you tell him before you follow Sienna out and the blasting music pushes down Harry’s voice in your earpiece.

The bright lights of the back are switched to the dim, red lighting in the main bar area, a dancer is already on the stage and the place seems packed for the night as all men are hungrily watching the girl on the stage, throwing dollar bills at her shamelessly.

Sienna pulls you to the bar and leans closer to your ear so you can hear what she is saying.

“He is in one of the private rooms, told him the dance is on the house to thank him for being a regular. I asked one of the guards to stand nearby.”

“Thank you, S,” you nod at her as she squeezes your hands.

“Good luck, girl,” she smiles a little bitterly before she shows you the way to the room where Axel is currently waiting for his private dance.

As you stop at the door you take a deep breath, staring at the doorknob for a moment, trying to brace yourself for whatever is about to happen in there.

“I’m going in,” you say, partially to yourself, but mostly to Harry so he knows what’s happening though you don’t hear an answer before you open the door and step inside.

The room is mostly what you were expecting, a small stage with a rod in the middle, across that a long, plush, deep burgundy couch. The walls are black, just the red led lights illuminating the place.

And there he is. Axel Morris is sitting in the middle of the couch, manspreading so widely like the asshole that he is, arms leisurely draped across the back of the couch as his hungry eyes immediately snap to your body.

Axel is big. He is a large man and you realize that the moment you see him. Though he is sitting you can easily tell that he’s tall and he is definitely bulky. Could end you in a blink of an eye and knowing that he is capable of murder is just an eerie thought that doesn’t leave you alone. But you suck it up and get into character, only thinking about one thing: help Harry out of this mess.

Music with low bass starts playing through the speakers as you make your way over to Axel who grins at you disgustingly, making it hard for you to keep the façade.

“Hey big boy, heard you’ve earned a dance for yourself,” you coo at him stopping at the edge of the stage as you keep eye-contact with him. You lean against the edge and spread your legs just enough to tease his imagination about what’s about to come.

“Hell yes, I did! Hope you’re a good dancer, babygirl. Haven’t seen you around here.”

“I’m new. But I’m really good, that’s why they sent me,” you smirk at him sweetly as you walk closer until you’re standing in front of him. He reaches out and grabbing your hips he pulls you to straddle his lap and it catches you by surprise but you don’t fall out of character.

“Then show me what you can do. What’s your name?” He licks his lips as you start moving, doing your best from movies you’ve seen with strippers in them.

“Crystabel, but you can call me yours,” you hum, grinding and bouncing yourself, completely unleashing your inner hoe. “Tell me, big boy. Are you as dangerous as you seem?”

“Oh baby, you have no idea,” he grins proudly.

“Really?” you coo, pushing yourself up against him. His dirty hands find your ass and you want to push them away so badly, but you let him have his way with you for the sake of the plan. “What’s the worst you’ve done?”

“Why does a pretty girl like you want to know about that, huh?” he cocks his head to the side, eyeing you with suspicion so you know you have to be careful.

“Because I have a thing for those stuff. I love pain and blood, it gets me off always,” you smirk at him teasingly, grinding yourself against him to divert his attention a little from the words spoken.

“Mm, yeah?”

“Yeah, I love that kind of stuff,” you moan, running your hands down your chest, his eyes hungrily following your every move and you know he is zoned out. It’s going perfectly.

“Well, I’m the perfect man for you then, babygirl. I’ve done all the things you can imagine.”

“Really? You are turning me on, big boy,” you murmur lowly, turning around for a bit so he can get a good glimpse of your backside as well. “Have you… taken anyone’s life before?” you bluntly ask, hoping you aren’t moving too fast and he won’t snap at you.

“Not sure I should be talking about that with you, pretty girl,” he smirks smugly. You turn back to face him, pushing your crotch against him as you try not to gag feeling his erection under you.

“I’m good with secrets, Honey. My lips are sealed,” you grin at him, stroking his oily face and try your best not to wipe your fingers into the cushion of the couch. Axel smirks at you, clearly enjoying the show you are putting on, his fingers are digging into your thighs as his eyes are practically glued to your chest.

“I’m a killer, babygirl.”

“Yeah?” you gasp, faking your excitement. “What did you do, big boy? Tell me, make me wet,” you purr biting into your bottom lip, pushing your chest out some more to distract him from his consciousness that might keep him from answering.

“Killed a guy recently,” he smugly admits and your adrenaline is high in the sky. You are so close to what you need!

“Oh my, sounds like a dirty job.”

“It was.”

“Saw it on the news a guy got killed not long ago, did you do that?” you smirk at him, his hand slapping your ass and you fight yourself not to punch him in the face.

“That Richards guy? Yeah,” he nods and you almost start screaming in your triumph. This dumbass really did just confess to you, because you had your ass and tits out for him!

“Cool. What’s your name, big guy? Wanna know who I’ll think of when I touch myself later,” you pant into his ear, you need him to say his name otherwise the confession might go to shit.

“I’m Axel, babygirl,” he grins, leaning dangerously close to you, he clearly wants to push his tongue down your throat but you push yourself away and up from his lap.

“Our time is up, big boy. See you later!” you sing and walk out of the room while he is still kind of zoned out.

The moment you are out, you start running. You can’t have him realize what just happened and stop you. Pushing your way back to the dressing room you grab all your stuff and spring out of the building. Harry is standing at the entrance, his ridiculous disguise is gone as he spots you with wide eyes. He probably heard everything and wanted to be there for you when you get out and as soon as you reach him he grabs your hand and the two of you run to the car. Right when you get into the car, you spot Axel running out from the front entrance and he definitely realized what just happened.

“Hey! Get back here you slut!” he shouts as Harry starts the car and you melt into the seat, scared of what’s about to happen because you see Axel reach to his back and the next thing you know is that he has a gun in his hand.

“Harry! Go!” you scream when you see him aim at the car and right at that moment, the wheels screech as Harry pushes the gas pedal to the fullest and the car yanks forward.

Your heart drops to the floor when a bullet shoots into the side of the car as Axel tries to stop the two of you. Harry takes a sharp turn and leaves the car park with full speed. You see Axel from the mirror, he is raging and keeps shooting after you, but he has no aim or whatsoever. You reach the end of the street and you feel like you can finally breathe again.

“Oh shit, fuck,” you mumble, chest heaving as you grab onto the armrest for some kind of leverage, your adrenaline is still pumping through your veins from the action movie-like scene that just happened.

“Are you alright? Did he hurt you?” Harry asks, eyes dancing between the road ahead of him and you as he tries to figure out if anything happened to you.

“I-I’m fine, he was just… fucking nasty to deal with you,” you groan at the thought of his hands on you. You’ll need the hottest shower after this, that’s for sure. “Go to the station, we gotta bring the tape in now,” you tell him as you reach into your corset. Pulling the recorder out you huff in relief, it’s been pressed into you for way too long. The tape is still rolling so you end it and then rewind it, checking if everything you need is on it. Luckily, it caught the whole thing perfectly, that means Harry is not going to jail. Well, not this time at least.

He is speeding down the streets as you get rid of the wig and put on your coat, you don’t want to walk into the police station dressed like a hooker and have the word spread that Robert’s sister has been making money some other way lately.

Arriving to the station you hold the recorder so tightly as if your life depends on it while Harry reaches for your other hand and firmly holds it in his warm palm. You walk inside and immediately spot Jeremy at the front desk. Letting go of Harry’s hand you run up to him.

“Jer, I got evidence for the Richards case! I got a confession on tape,” you beam at him holding the recorder up. He gives you a stunned look as he takes the recorder.

“Confession? How do you—“ He is cut off when you hear Harry’s voice from behind you.

“Hey! What the fuck!” he snaps and as you turn around you see that two officers are already on him, trying to handcuff him. Jeremy quickly forgets about the recorder as he joins in on strangling Harry. but you grab his arm and try to pull back.

“No! He didn’t do it! Listen to the tape!” you cry out, desperate to end this mess, but it feels like no one is listening to you.

“Harry Styles, you are under arrest for the murder of Dave Richards. You have the right…” One of the officers starts saying the usual speech as they drag Harry away while you are begging to Jeremy to listen to you.

“Jeremy! He didn’t fucking do it!” you scream, tears rolling down your face.

“What do you mean?” he asks giving you a puzzled look. It was Axel Morris! One of Hugo McKain’s men! They are trying to frame Harry!” you explain, while Harry is being taken away. “Harry, no!” you shout after them, but the officers don’t stop.

“Don’t worry, Y/N! I’ll be fine!” he calls after you before he disappears from your vision.

“Jeremy, please just listen to the fucking tape! I got his confession!”

“I’ll look into it, but I’m afraid Harry is spending the night here,” he sighs, looking down at the recorder before he walks away.

“Fuck, no!” you choke out.

When you finally stop crying you rush out of the building and call your brother, not even caring that it’s past midnight. He better answer your call or you are showing up at his house and start banging on his door until he opens it.

“What the fuck, Y/N?” he growls into the phone.

“Robert, they fucking took Harry in! I had the confession on tape, but they just wouldn’t listen, they arrested him!”

“Hey, slow down, what are you talking about?”

Taking a deep breath you tell him the whole story. The club, the dance, the confession and then how you came straight to the station but they arrested Harry without listening to you.

“Alright, you can’t do much now, Y/N. He is still a suspect but I’ll call Jeremy to look into the tape. If it’s found relevant Harry will be out in the morning okay?”

“Please come in early in the morning and make sure he is let out, please!” you cry out, feeling so helpless after everything that just happened.

“I will. Meet me at the station at six, okay? It’ll be alright. Go home, have some sleep and then we’ll make everything right in the morning.”

You do as Robert asked, go home, have a shower, wash the night off of your skin and lie in bed however you are not able to sleep, not even for a minute. You keep thinking about Harry and what might be happening to him now. They better get their shit together and let him out in the morning or you are losing your mind. You didn’t go through all this just to have him put behind bars anyway.

It’s not even six when you are already at the station, anxiously waiting for Robert to show up. You keep glancing up at the building, thinking about how Harry is somewhere in there and you can only hope he’ll be out with you shortly.

When Robert arrives he goes straight up to check out the situation with the tape and Harry. Waiting for him down in the hall is nerve-wrecking, you feel like time has stopped. When he finally appears again you jump to your feet running up to him with high hopes.

“The tape has been examined, it was classified as evidence. Jeremy has already put out an arrest warrant on Axel. Harry is no longer a suspect. He’ll be down once the paperwork is done.”

“Oh thank God!” you breathe out and throw yourself at him, hugging him tighter than ever.

“Look, but there is something I need to talk to you about,” he says with a serious look.

“Okay, what is it?”

“We might be able to get this Axel guy, but I’m pretty sure Hugo is already after the two of you. We have a whole team for him, working on catching him finally, but it might be smart if you just left town for a little.”

“Oh. Yeah, sounds logical,” you nod.

“Let me know if you need help with that. I can arrange something for you.”

“We’ll see. I have to talk to Harry first.”

“Harry, huh?” Robert smirks down at you knowingly and you feel yourself blushing. A lot has changed lately around you and Harry and you guess it’s quite evident for everyone else as well. “Just so you know, he asked about you during the night. Wanted to know if you are alright.”

“Yeah?” you breathe out with a small smile.

“Yes. Might have been wrong about him a little. Tell him I said hello, I need to get to work now,” he nods with a fond smile.

“Thank you, Robert!” you call after him as he waves in your way before disappearing in the elevator.

Waiting around in the hall you keep looking towards the hallway, hoping to see him appear finally, but the minutes are just dragging by way too slowly.

You’re impatiently sitting on one of the benches by the wall when you finally see him walking down the hallway, leisurely running his hand through his hair, a tired smile sitting on his lips when he sees you leap from your seat and launch at him, throwing yourself into his arms.

“Hey, hey! It’s all good, Love. Told you not to worry about me,” he chuckles, but holds you tight anyway, his arms wrapping around you as he lifts you off the ground, taking a few steps forward.

“Of course I fucking worry about you, idiot!” you mumble into his neck before leaning back you look at his pretty face.

“Yeah? Does this mean I had the right to worry about you last night?”

“You were?”

“Fuck yes,” he laughs. “You have no idea what it was like to sit outside and listen to everything that fucker told you. Wanted to punch him in the face so badly.”

“So heroic,” you grin at him, your face already inching closer to his, arms still wrapped around his neck.

“Only for my favorite stripper,” he winks at you, making you gasp.

“If you dare to bring it up again and call me a stripper, I swear to God I—“

You don’t get to finish your threat, because his hand snakes to the back of your neck and he pulls you into a hard kiss, his lips smashing against yours. Melting into the kiss you open your mouth for him without hesitation, his tongue meeting yours as he kisses you with so much vigor and passion, he makes you bend your back, leaning back as he holds you firmly in his strong arms. And suddenly, you feel like you’re seventeen again, making out with your high school crush in the school hallway, luckily, you are kissing the same person you wanted then.

“I’m fucking starving, babe,” he breathes out once you finally pull away from each other. “For you as well, but can we get some real food?” he asks as he laces his fingers together with yours, heading out of the station.

“Sure,” you chuckle. “Hey, there’s something we need to talk about.”

“Love, told you, you can handcuff me to the bedframe, I’m into that stuff.”

“Shut up!” you laugh smacking his chest as the two of you walk out to your car. “It’s not about that,” you murmur with a soft blush. “Robert said we should leave for a while, Hugo might be after us after what happened last night.”

“Yeah, thought about that myself too,” he nods as he gets behind the wheel without even asking if you want him to drive or not.

“So what should we do?” you question, sitting in the comfort of your car. Harry reaches for your hand and brings it up to his mouth, kissing your knuckles softly before he smirks at you.

“Have you been to Ireland, Love?”

“No,” you breathe out, a little stunned by the question.

“I have a friend over there, I’m sure he would love to have us there for a while. What do you say?”

“Are you for real? You want to go to Ireland with me?”

“Yeah, would be fun, don’t you think?”

“Okay,” you smile in awe. Even after that kiss you had doubts he would want to run away with you for the time being. But he is definitely planning to have you around longer. “Yeah, Ireland sounds fun.”

“Great. Then let’s head home to pack,” he smirks, starting the car. “Oh, Love?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t forget to bring your handcuffs,” he grins and you just laugh at his smugness before leaning closer to kiss him quickly before the two of you finally drive away from the station.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed it!

[beyondspaceandstars]

While You Sleep

Chapter 3

Relationship: Bucky Barnes x Reader Warnings: angst, mention of violence, slow burn Summary: Soulmate!AU - Throughout life, you’re given glimpses of your soulmate through dreams. As you sleep, memories flash in your mind showing you the life your soulmate has lived. Everyone around you raves about how their soulmate reads great books or volunteers in their spare time. But you can’t relate as your dreams end up being more like nightmares. Through initial images of death and violence, you come to learn your soulmate is the Winter Soldier.

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Okay -- that little pep talk you had given yourself was slowly dying as you walked into work the next day. Suddenly, nervousness was replacing it all, washing over you quickly.

You didn’t exactly know what to say. The extent of conversation you’d ever had with Steve was reserved to you saying “here’s your order�� and he’d promptly respond with that shining smile and the most meaningful thank you. 

Bringing up the fact his ex-assassin best friend was your long-lost was just not any kind of coffee shop chatter. 

You were trying to ponder it during the morning rush. Mindlessly making lattes and frappes, you worked on some kind of script that could be thrown together. But your thoughts were interrupted by the bell over the door ringing. This wasn’t unusual giving it being early morning but for some reason, your eyes shot up — landing right on the man you were anticipating. 

As always, he looked so casual yet so large waiting in the back of the line. Eyes wandered over him shamelessly but Steve genuinely didn’t seem to notice. He kept his forward, browsing the menu as if he ever got anything but a large black coffee. You just knew it because, well, it was the easiest order you ever served up. Like the world giving you a break. 

Knowing his order brought some advantages for you. Since he was one of the few people actually ordering straight-up coffee in the morning -- the shop was quite frequented by college students and young entrepreneurs -- you simply didn’t start the coffee pot that morning. Your plan was to start it right after he ordered giving him a wait time of about thirty minutes. Possibly annoying for him, a great chance for you. He’d be forced to wait at the bar and you could chat. Chat about what, though, you still didn’t know. You couldn’t exactly dive in. 

But you weren’t given much more time to plan. Steve was at the cashier before you knew it. You waited, watched as he paid, and then clicked the coffee pot on.

You walked over to the pick-up area. “Sorry,” you said. Steve turned to you. “It’s going to be a few minutes. I had to put on a new pot of coffee but you’re welcome to wait at the bar area.”

Steve gave you a small smile. “That’s fine,” he said and made his way to a stool. Your plan was rolling out perfectly. Now if you could only figure where to take it from here.

You leaned against the counter, watching the pot brew and waiting for another order to come through. Secretly you had hoped some big, ridiculous latte request would come in but so far the customers and seemed to die down. You couldn’t do much but stand across from Steve who was looking around at the decor. 

The machine was about half full when you finally decided to open your mouth to at least say something -- but Steve beat you to it.

“Is everything okay?” He asked. Your eyes widened. 

“Excuse me?”

“Sorry,” Steve coughed and readjusted his posture. “I just meant, you look like something is bothering you. Are you okay?”

You couldn’t do this today, you realized. Your brain suddenly went on a mission finding some lie to pop out. 

“Yeah, yeah,” you dismissed his comment with a wave of your hand. “I- I Just… Didn’t sleep well last night.”

Alright. Your lie suddenly was dripping with subconscious truth. You cringed at your own words, rubbing your forehead with two fingers. This was the dumbest idea you had ever had and now you were forced to see it out as the coffee pot suddenly felt like it was brewing at half-speed.

“Oh,” Steve frowned but leaned forward, a bit intrigued. “Unpleasant dreams?”

You sighed, “You could say that.”

“Were they from…” His words trailed off unusually. The discussion of soulmates was somewhat of an accepted one. Usually, just in hopes that one could lead them to their significant other.

Steve, however, seemed leery about the subject. You were certainly in the same boat. That let you relax just ever so slightly. 

“My soulmate?” You blurted out the question. Steve nodded, slowly. “Yeah, they were. He… he hasn’t seen very nice things in his lifetime.”

It felt so weird talking about Steve’s best friend while Steve most likely knew nothing about who you were referring to. It was like a giant weight in the conversation for you. You wanted to blurt it out, wanted to maybe meet your other half and just see what everything was about, see who he  really  is but it felt so heavy on your chest. It just wasn't right yet. You'd get a sign, you knew. Then you'd proceed but not here, not today.

Steve sighed, his gaze dropping to his hands that were resting on the counter. “No, I don’t think he has.”

Your stomach dropped. Did -- Was he -- Did he know who you were talking about? Steve no longer would meet your gaze but your eyes grew wide again in possible realization -- or... maybe you were just being absolutely paranoid. Perhaps he didn’t even say that and you misheard him -- 

DING. The coffee machine rang making you jump in surprise. You forgot for a second where the hell you two even were. Steve’s eyes fell on you again but you quickly turned to the coffee, refusing to let him see your blushing, flustered state. 

He knew. He had to know. Or at least he guessed. But how could he know? Steve wasn’t in yesterday, he wouldn’t have witnessed your panic. Did your co-worker tell him? When the hell would she have done that? Maybe… Maybe Bucky knew… What did he know then of you? And if he did, why wasn’t he here? Steve knew you so what the fuck was happening… 

Your mind was a maze. A painful, winding maze. You could feel yourself trying to make it through the thoughts and theories but nothing was working. You forced yourself to push it all down, just for the rest of your shift. 

Continuing, you quickly filled Steve’s to-go cup and placed it on the counter. He didn’t take it right away, opting to stare at the cup for a second. You pretended not to notice and instead began grinding espresso beans for a latte order that came in. 

“It’ll get better,” Steve said, making your motions still completely. Such a simple thing that could mean so much. Was he offering comfort? A taunt? Your brain was back at it again. 

You forced yourself to look up, wanting so badly to say just one more thing, maybe even plead and confess it all, but he was already gone. You felt like crying as you went back to brewing the beans. That unmistakable, inescapable tinge of heartache filled your chest.

***

It’ll get better. Steve’s words rang in your head tauntingly as you laid in bed that night. Staring at the ceiling, you had been trying to fall asleep for over an hour now hoping this “better” Steve spoke of was right around the corner. 

So far, though, no luck. Tonight’s flicks were of an older kind, thankfully still not as powerful as the more modern ones, but the images didn’t get any better. They were quick looks, sure, but violence and bodies, a horrendous combination produced horrendous results. The feelings behind it went straight to your soul. 

You gave up even trying to decide what the hell this memory could’ve been from. You didn’t want to register the potential victim’s faces. You didn’t care about the scenery and whatnot. 

The better had not come yet — whatever the hell  that  actually was which Steve had promised. 

He knew something. Something very deep and useful for this situation. It was laced in his words and written on his concerned face. 

Or maybe you were going crazy. The more you thought about it, the less it all made sense. 

There was just that hope you were able to go off of now. That hope of “better.” That hope of fate. 

Hope was your only weapon against the heart-wrenching memories flooding their way into your brain as your eyes were forced to give in, too heavy and defeated from today. 

It was maybe all you had at this point and the whiplash of life was certainly throwing you a new one.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Bucky Barnes Series Taglist:

@reichelhache @bella-bear03 @rvgrsbrns @thebadassbitchqueen @libraries-and-coffee @adoringanakin​ @heartbeats-wildly @japzalileo

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[rigelmejo]

Some September 1st Updates

the READING SPEED difference of a novel at my level! I read the first chapter of 撒野 yesterday and this author is at exactly my reading level right now. I hit 0-2 new words each pleco page, which is usually the sweet spot to either guess the word or if I look it up I can pretty quickly adapt to recognizing it in context. Its also the sweet spot where if I only rely on guessing for new word meanings, on a second pass through I can fairly well guess the meaning quickly. 

It was a 32 page chapter in pleco and I read it in 20 minutes. Compared to the 20 pleco page per chapter pingxie fic i just finished (like 124k characters! WOW I read and FINISHED that much!), which was taking 30-40 minutes per chapter (mainly because of number of new vocabulary per chapter being a bit higher). If I’d wanted to speed read saye I could have, I’d have missed some small details but I could have tried if I wanted.

Then I did a second pass later in the day with the audiobook just following along with the text. Realized 1. I knew most words in the audiobook and did not follow as well as i thought - but those first listen throughs without having seen the chapter I did manage to figure out the main character just broke up, just travelled somewhere, ran into a girl and somehow the girls brother showed and the two guys interacted a little and someone was being somewhat helpful, then the main guy met his father trying to ‘pick him up.’ Which is a true but very rough summary of what happens in the first chapter. By reading I could confirm the words I thought were names AS names, figured out WHY the girl was interacting with the main guy and that there were actually two girls in chapter 1, and figure out who helped who and who was the girl’s brother. Also somehow before I looked at the chapter text I never caught that the audiobook mentions a motorcycle despite me knowing that word and it SOUNDING like mota-che/motorche! it sounds like the word and i knew it and didn’t hear it! Then later following the audiobook with the text I realized another issue I had, is I’m not used to listening to soft voices with such faint pronunciations of the final sounds. I’m much more used to deeper crisper pronunciations and being able to rely clearly on initials and finals AS much as tones to recognize the words, whereas this particular audiobook i needed to mainly rely on tones and initials to figure out what word was what - that probably threw me off a bit. It’s probably good for me to get practice listening to such a different voice to what I’m used to. I have definitely learned the deeper the voice, the more I have a far easier time figuring out what’s being said. Also standard accent more like beijing but without a huge amount of ‘er’s just some, and taiwan accent are the easiest for me to hear when i’m not pa

For anyone curious, here is the audiobook for SaYe I’m listening to: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2w27tfjeeaySbMK272NpXwUtsBc-e3YN

Also here’s a chinese audiobook youtube I found: https://www.youtube.com/c/%E6%9C%89%E5%A3%B0%E5%B0%8F%E8%AF%B4%E5%90%AC%E4%B9%A6%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8Cyoushengxiaoshuo/playlists

Which includes The King’s Avatar: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTJaWZoVPdT1ZhIQIKxVci7fVEHr-oX6k

And ErHa: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsxEOGKlBMaFa6CS6Hf5ndy6qTtUL0Au_

Anyway, its a great book right now for reading practice. It’s very much around my level. I will probably stick with this author for a little while and solidify what I know/my base reading level. 

-

IN OTHER NEWS:

I am apparently living proof listening-reading, heavy emphasis on re-listening a TON in the background as you work or type or walk/drive whatever, works for learning new words. 

I re-listened to guardian chapter 1 audiobook at least 20-30 times by now, just a tremendous amount. Chapters 1-10 I’ve listened to at least 5 times by now random chapters at random days, and some probably also 20 times. 

I have listened to these chapters enough, that I can officially follow so much that I know nearly every freaking word I hear, I know it immediately on hearing in at least 3 different audiobooks, and the few ‘less familiar’ words I recognize a second after hearing (like hearing ‘audacious’ or ‘glum’ in english it just takes me a second to re-remember), and the very few still forgotten words/specific details I learn From those words I can actually pick up from the context of listening.

 I hear ‘powei’ and somehow forgot it AGAIN? Oh it means ‘rather’ in this context. ‘anli’ well i always hear ‘anlishuo’ as in ‘people say/generally speaking’ so ‘anli’ in this context must mean ‘generally/generally speaking.’ chuanghu? can’t remember it because i was just typing this JUST now and only hearing a few words from the audiobook in the background - well in context its obviously window, but out of context my brain said window and i just couldn’t remember if it was window or curtain but felt curtain had something more complex than ‘hu’ as the second half - just looked it up and my guess was right, even with no context which i’d have had if i’d been listening better and it had been clear it’s window, it still made me think ‘window’ immediately just hearing the sound. ‘xiang yi ge ren’ sounds like ‘looks like a person’ which is the next phrase i just randomly heard. ‘hua le yao ming’ shouted for their life/in awful terror? or that would be ‘huo’, so maybe ‘streaking toward him to take his life’? would make sense in context of a horror scene - i just looked it up and 划了要命 would be the second one. even IF i heard the wrong line, both of those are pretty close to a good guess in context and hua is the only unknown because without context i can’t place if it was hua or huo. i still confuse the words wu and wo for hold etc, but in context i can tell which one it is (wo is hold a hand, hold a face, etc). 

I’m genuinely at a point where I can just completely follow the plot through at least the first 20 chapters from listening. And for most scenes, follow every detail too including stuff like guo changcheng spending half a year not working at home after he graduated, being so afraid of the phone, da qing being fawning to shen wei when they meet and rubbing against his leg, the specific conversation details when da qing runs across zhao yunlan’s car in chapter 2, what zhao yunlan’s room exactly looks like, etc. Its super cool to be able to follow the audiobook so well I can follow the story and details even when I don’t have time to read! It’s so fun! And it was not very hard!

It took 40 minutes of upfront study where you set time aside to focus: 20 minutes to have a program read the chapter aloud while you either see unknown word definitions pop up (like in Pleco) or look them up with some click dictionary as you listen. 20 minutes to go through and listen to the audiobook as you follow along with the text. Then after that, just play the audiobook chapters you’ve done this with whenever you want, either paying attention like when going to bed soon or walking, or in the background like when cleaning or doing busy work or driving. Since background listening can be done easily whenever all you have to do is remember to click play when you want something to listen to. 

I’m honestly blown away by how much 3 months of studying mainly like this (which is quite fun and only requires me to carve out a small amount of actual study focused time) has improved my listening skills. I can now also listen to the 2ha audiobook okay and follow along (provided its a chapter I’ve read before so I have at least some prior context to help me out) - at least so far as that’s what I’m listening to right now. Basically, I can tell Guardian has both upped my vocabulary significantly and also improved my automatic recognition of many words I half-knew and learned since. 

I recently found a new Guardian audiobook read by a deep voice and its lovely (and utilizes music and echo for effects, its lovely to listen to) I hope the poster keeps updating: https://fm.qq.com/show/rd002ED4aN0mYz2L__

I’ve been listening to it lately.

---

Also! Directions for using Pleco Android for screen reader:

1. To get any page bookmarked online: 

Open a page in your mobile web browser you want to read. Click the menu, click share, click Pleco Reader (or ‘more’ or ‘...’ then Pleco Reader).

Go to Clipboard Reader. Now when you click text, dictate text megaphone will be an option.

*Since Clipboard Reader is free, you can do this to read in Pleco and have things spoken aloud with no money spent. (Though I find the Reader tool worth the money and add ons).

2. To have any text ‘dictated aloud’:

Go to Pleco’s menu, Settings, Audio, click ‘use TTS if no recording,’ then for Sentence Audio section area System TTS Setting click Speech Services by Google (you can also experiment by clicking other options I am just stating what worked for me, it didn’t work at first I had to make that my default TTS in my Accessibility-Talkback Settings menu on my main phone first and restart my phone before all this). 

Then click the area right below to mess with speed and sound of the TTS voice. 

(Note, to test if TTS is working you can go to any dictionary entry sentence, click the speaker next to the sentence and see if it plays audio. If it does not, you will get an error message and directions on what to change in your phone settings. That is what initially happened to me: I had to go to phone Settings, Accessibility, Talkback, TTS Engine, TTS Engine voice and settings. Pleco recommended I choose Speech Services by Google, and uninstall then reinstall the Chinese voice. Then restart the phone. That worked for me. An additional note: I have Talkback setting on ‘on’ and just have it in my toolbar to use if desired but am not actively using it. If you turn Talkback setting ‘off’ in the actual Settings area of Accessibility, I am not sure if it will affect Pleco’s ability to dictate). 

3. How to put it together: 

Now go to Clipboard Reader and read the page from the internet you wanted or text you pasted, or go to Document Reader and open the document you wish to read. 

Click a word as a place to start. Now you should see both the loudspeaker (for pronouncing the single word) and the Megaphone next to it to start dictating all text. (If your phone is weird like me, you may need to press the megaphone a couple times before the audio works).

If you wish to change dictation reading speed, simply hold down the megaphone and select the speed desired. 

Now that I’ve figured this out I really want to take pictures of my print book, make a pdf, and listen to all the changes.

(Now I just have to fix my weird dictionary in Idiom app and I’m all set on the new phone!)

---

All I’ve been doing the past august study wise is just reading pingxie fic and finishing, and listening to audiobooks. It’s been a busy time for me ToT

I do think it proved you can be lazy and still make some improvements though: 

1. Reading in Pleco (or click-dictionary tool of your choice): pick something and read a chapter a day (that’s what I did, obviously the easier this is the less time you’ll need, but aim for around 30 minutes a day and reading material closer to your level if you don’t want to read too long)

2. Listening-Reading Method something above your reading level that you enjoy. Should take 40 minutes a couple times a week to several times a week to hours a week, depending on how intense you want to get with it and how much you’re going to alternate/include the reading portion. I did like 1-2 chapters a week so I was only spending 40 minutes to 1.5 hours a week doing this, or 3 hours one week no time another week. This is definitely something where you can do 6-12 hours one month then coast on it for another month just repeating older material’s audio/re-reading sections (which is what I did with guardian, doing 22 chapters then switching to just listening to audio a lot). 

Once you’ve done a little L-R steps 2 and 3 (in either order, whatever works for you - and doing step 1 if you want more context prior to steps 2 and 3), then just make time during your days to play the audiobook chapters you’ve studied. You don’t need to be focusing every single time (although focusing on actually trying to follow the audio the first time you listen without text to aid you will probably speed up your comprehension a lot by giving you a lot of basic-context to help you comprehend more later). Aim to listen whenever you’ve got down time! Or time where you’d play music or some background youtube video or podcast - walks, exercise, drives, when cleaning, when browsing the web goofing off, when working if you have times when you’d listen to music with lyrics or a podcast in the background without issues, times when you don’t need to focus 100% on listening just putting it on to hear in the background). 

That’s all I’ve done for study since May. It takes me about 30 minutes 5 days a week, plus 1-2 hours listening-reading actively a week. So 2.5 hours plus 2 = 4 hours of active study a week. Sometimes more like 8-10 if I got really into reading something or Listening-reading to several chapters. Then after that (very easy to fit into my life 4-10 hours per week of study) I just play the audiobook whenever I have downtime at work (that’s usually 0.5-4 hours where I just let it play because I forget its on while working on spreadsheets, updates, emails, etc, or play the audiobook while messing around on the internet in my free time at home, sometimes I put on music instead), while walking so 15-30 minutes maybe 3 days a week, while driving far so maybe 20 minutes - 2 hours per week. maybe lets say 2 hours*4 days a week (I don’t remember to listen every day) so 8 hours random listening+1.5 hours walking+1 hour driving per week. That’s 11.5 hours listening in the background or paying attention plus lets say 4 hours of active study a week. So 15.5 ‘study’ hours for chinese per week - an average overall of ~2.21 hours of chinese ‘study’ per day. This isn’t counting when I get into weibo and goof off, get into some chinese show with no english subs and just start watching it (I watched 16 episodes of Humans cdrama in August which is ~10.66 hours for a total of at least (15.5*4 weeks = 62 hours + 10.66 hours -> ~72.66 hours spent ‘with chinese’ in August at minimum. 4 weeks*7 days = 28, so over around 28 days or most of august I did 72.66 total hours/28 days -> or ~2.595 hours of chinese per day as an average. So... my guess that I spend at least 1-2 hours on chinese per day as the average was a decent guess. Looks like I’m usually 2 hours to 2.5 hours daily as an overall average. It’s not that hard to get in that much without a ton of time in the day once you get some listening skills built up ToT Deciding to build up my listening skills has been one of the funnest goals in chinese so far.

Notes on Listening Reading Actively - it also doubles as increasing your exposure to listening to your target language, and the more hours the better even if its passive in the background, just more hours adding up toward your mind getting a better ability to parse the sounds of the language is going to help your overall listening comprehension in general. So even if you don’t pay attention much and can’t follow the whole plot and only catch certain scenes, you will be improving at least comprehension of: hearing words you know, hearing colocations and common phrases and recognizing more automatically which will help with speaking/writing indirectly and reading recognition of those things, overall ability to hear things correctly in different combinations and getting used to the common combinations. 

You will be surprised how much more you can pick up of plot and details the 3rd listen compared to the first, the 5th listen, the 10th listen. It’s wild. Like... I’m listening to the 2ha audiobook and even having never read it in chinese, just knowing basic context, the 2nd read through I caught so much more of the plot throughout just because I had forewarning of when scenes change a lot, what audio plays during some parts I recognized in previous listens, and so I have more focus for figuring out the new details I missed. Whereas the first listen, I didn’t always know WHAT the scene context was until I heard a familiar line or description I remembered from the english version of the scene, but on a second listen I now have a better guess at the scene the lines are probably taking place in before and after those lines I recognized in the first listen. And this continues etc each time you re-listen to something. (So yes, that initial context of knowing what you’re listening to with a previous read of its translation or target language transcript will definitely speed up comprehension pick up - but if you just wanna test what your basic listening comprehension to new content is then it works fine just going into new audio with no prior context its just more difficult at first lol until you build an idea of the context from listening).

The original Listening-Reading Method person did like 40+ hours a week, 8 hours most days, no wonder they made fast progress! They often included reading in some form (hence the name) and later translation, so they also were constantly working on listening AND some reading skills AND eventually often some speaking/writing skills. Doing it my way results in mostly listening comprehension of stuff you could already read to a degree, more automaticity in recognition, and for picking up new vocabulary both in listening and reading. I do extra reading on the side with other stuff to get more reading practice in an isolated way (since I’m trying to push my reading speed up above speaking speed). I always try to do it the way the creator originally intended, but I am not able to focus on things for more than 20 minutes at a time, 40 to a couple hours if I take a break every 20 minutes. So doing it 8 hours just doesn’t work out. 

---

I’m fairly happy!

I am on plan for my main goals that started this style study plan: 

1. Improving my reading level to get to start being able to extensively read actual danmei novels - we got there! I am at a reading level appropriate for SaYe at 98% comprehension when I checked, and at a bit above 95% comprehension for Guardian! I’m now continuing with that goal while adding on increasing reading Speed in general.

2. Improving listening skills so I have better automatic recognition of partly-known words from reading (working super well so far - I can tell because ability to watch cdramas in only chinese has improved noticeably and gotten much easier), and so I can start following the main plot and key details of audiobooks of things I’ve read before (working great for guardian, starting to work with other audiobooks provided I listen to the chapters a few times or several times if its brand new material I have no context for, however reading level matters and while things I have prior familiarity with are going very well - brand new materials are still quite challenging in that they require multiple listens for the full plot and several listens before I start picking up most non-plot-critical details). 

[ilovejevsjeans]

Why Ricciardo doesn't want McLaren struggles to leave him 'resenting' F1

With one absolutely at the top of his game and overachieving every weekend, the other has been left perplexed by his struggles to adapt to the car.

It also means that on days Ricciardo feels he has done well, like his charge to seventh in the Austrian Grand Prix, it is all overshadowed by what his teammate has done.

As a team player, Ricciardo is obviously pleased to see Norris make progress and benchmark the MCL35M.

But it’s not making his life any easier as the world at large questions his form. Indeed he’s decided that he has to not be overly concerned about his young teammate’s pace.

“I feel like it's obviously for whatever reason been a very unexpected and difficult season so far, just from a pace point of view,” he told Motorsport.com after the Austrian race.

“And I guess the easiest way for me to kind of move forward is to accept that. Did I expect more? Absolutely. But I think if I every weekend go into it now expecting to be quicker than Lando, or whatever it is, I'm probably just going to end up resenting the sport, because clearly it's going to take a bit more.

“Clearly there's something that is missing. I feel good in the car, especially the last three weeks, it's felt better.

“I don't want to say, what's the word, wave the white flag, or succumb to whatever it is, I'm just going to not really focus or lose too much energy on that, and just accept that he's driving very well. The aim is to obviously get closer, and help the team out as well.”

In other words, he just has to focus on what he’s doing: “I think that's it, you can get lost obviously with other things. And maybe that's the wise kind of 32-year-old in me now. But I think I've just got to focus on myself, and then hopefully, I can keep chipping away at it.”

Around the time of Monaco and Baku Ricciardo acknowledged that the upcoming triple header at “normal” circuits, with two races at the same venue, would be a huge opportunity for him to learn more about how to get the best out of the car.

His French GP weekend was solid, 10th on the grid followed by sixth in the race, some 11.8s seconds behind Norris at the flag. He started 13th at the Styrian GP and had a typically good first lap to get up to eighth. Decent points appeared to be possible, but an early engine glitch cost him four places and saw him ultimately cross the line where he qualified, in 13th.

In that context the Austrian race represented a step forward, and at least he was able to fight.

“Yeah, it was better,” he said. “I think it was just the day I needed. And for sure I would say for the team, the points, it was nice to get in seventh and get points for them.

“But I mean personally, right now obviously I'm not in a championship fight, so the points are, I don't want to say irrelevant, but I think the important thing for me was just have fun, be in some battles, and put myself in a good position.

“And that's what I did, and the end result was some points, which is nice. I just enjoyed it. Obviously it's been hard to fully enjoy it when the results have not been there, so I took a bit more fulfilment from from the race.”

Ricciardo is still getting those first laps right. He passed George Russell and Carlos Sainz at the original start, and then Sergio Perez (who went through the gravel) and Charles Leclerc after the early safety car.

“I don't know if it's I'm getting old, but the first laps are a blur!,” he smiled. “I remember getting George into turn seven, I don't remember much else, but I do remember I think on lap one I got two cars, and at the safety car restart I got two cars.

“So that was good, obviously moving forward, and I needed it because obviously out of track position from qualifying. I mean it was a fun race, I saw people get squeezed off, I heard there were some penalties.

“Because we've got the big screens and a lot of long straights, you can kind of see what's going on. So sometimes I'd see a replay of someone get squeezed, and then I'd see their radio get broadcast. Hopefully the fans were entertained!”

However despite Ricciardo’s obvious satisfaction with his Sunday afternoon there was no escaping the fact that, even with a five-second penalty taken at his stop, Norris crossed the line 40 seconds earlier.

Ricciardo remains mystified by his struggles, especially in qualifying. His woes continue despite all the homework that he and his engineers have been doing as he tries to adapt his driving style.

“A little bit of the frustration was that I was pretty happy yesterday [in qualifying]. The car doesn't feel perfect, but it felt pretty good. It felt better than a 13th place car.

“So I think everything felt okay, it's just not there on the stopwatch. But from a feeling, it's getting better. Maybe it's just literally half a tenth in each corner. And then I'm there. I don't know, but it felt okay.”

On the plus side, as he had predicted, the triple-header did allow him the opportunity to log more miles and try more things in the car.

“Absolutely. And even if I overlay my data from last week to this week, I'm doing a lot more things that this car requires. So I feel like let's say my McLaren driving improved a lot, and I think that was a bit of the kind of sadness from [qualifying], that unfortunately it didn't translate into lap time yet.

“So maybe it's still a bit conscious and I'm just spending too much energy trying to drive it like that. Maybe just a few more races and then it's more my subconscious, and then I can put the car more on the edge. Maybe it's that? We'll see.”

Next stop is Silverstone – the circuit where Ricciardo made his F1 debut with HRT exactly 10 years ago. It’s not been a particularly fruitful venue for him, and third with RBR in 2014 remains his only podium finish.

New for everyone this year is the sprint qualifying format, and Ricciardo is hoping that it will play to one of his obvious strengths.

“The way my starts have been, the last three races, I think I've made minimum two places every first lap. So having a sprint qualifying actually means I'll probably start further up the grid on Sunday! So I'm happy to have two race starts.

“I think probably you have to treat it like a race. If you're being complacent then ultimately you're going to start Sunday further back, and then you're going to take all the risk on Sunday, and maybe risk the front wing then.

“So I would say right now the mindset would be just a normal approach, try to attack when possible and make the most of it.”

Ricciardo admits he has reservations about the format: “I mean pitstops make it fun, I've got used to obviously doing pitstops, and also it really gets the team involved.

“And if they execute a good pitstop, and if you undercut a car or something through a pitstop, everyone feels like they've contributed to that that victory or that result. I like the team element of it, but we'll see what it's like.”

Looking further ahead Ricciardo can only be happy about his decision to join McLaren, as it’s clear that momentum is continuing to build.

“I think at the moment, it's Lando just having the pace he's having, and obviously the speed,” he said. “The speed is there in the car. So I think that gives the team a lot of motivation as well to push hard for next year, with new regulations. But obviously something is clicking with the car. So I think that's encouraging.”

[katiea03]

❣︎Moving In With The Haikyuu Guys❣︎

❣︎Warnings❣︎: None other then a tiny bit of spice 🤏🏽

❣︎Genre❣︎: Fluff

❣︎Featuring❣︎: Tanaka,Nishinoya,Akaashi,Kenma, and Ushijima

❣︎A/N❣︎: I really like this idea a lottttttt. I decoded to add a random drabble for when you guys are moved in too. It’d be pretty cool if you gusy sent request so send awayyyyyy. Anywhoo Enjoy :)

Tanaka:

Moving in with this man will be just as chaotic as him.

You guys had spent a long time looking at apartments because you guys wanted to be sure it was perfect.

So when you guys finally get the keys, Tanaka will be carrying you bridal style through the door and speeds around the place.

“RYU PUT ME DOWN!”

“Can’t babe, we gotta practice for later!”

He continues to speed around the apartment finally stopping in the kitchen.

He places you on the counter and looks at you with the widest smile

“This is it baby, just you and me.”

He gives you the sweetest kiss before throwing off his shirt off

“Let’s do this!”

If it was up to him, he wouldn’t of had you lift anything but you insisted on helping

But that doesn’t mean he’s gonna let you lift anything too heavy.

By the end of the day, you guys have successfully moved in all the boxes and the very few pieces of furniture you guys did own.

But you guys forgot to buy food… so ordering in it is.

I could easily imagine the two of you pigging out on Chinese food on the floor as you imagine how you two are gonna decorate the place.

You both were exhausted so after sharing a quick shower, you both passed out on the mattress the two of you had set up on the floor.

Tanaka held you extra tight that night, knowing every night would be as amazing as this one.

Random Scenario

You were enjoying a little alone time just scrolling through your phone while you waited for Tanaka to come home from the corner store. All you wanted was a bag of chips, so you were starting to get concerned seeing as he still wasn’t back yet. You knew something was wrong. You hear the door slam and you sit up.“What did you do Ryu?”

He comes from the hallway with a cage.

“Okay babe hear me out!”

“What is that?!” You stand up and walk up to him

“It’s a hamster.” You stare down at the cage with the tiny dwarf hamster as its little beady eyes blinked up at you. Shit its cute.

“I got the cage and food and everything she needs.”

Your lips turned into a pout “It’s a she?”

“Yup!” Dammit! You’re supposed to be mad.

“How much did all this cost?” You almost don’t wanna know.

“Don’t worry about it.” Tanaka places the cage on the counter and reaches into a plastic bag.

“Oh- and I got your chips.”

You were probably gonna strangle him… but he’ll live.

Nishinoya:

Moving in with Noya… is an experience and a half

And probably the most unorganized if we’re being honest.

This man didn’t label any of his boxes and kinda just threw everything together.

He also has a lot of stuff.

He’s traveled a lot so he has a bunch of knick knacks.

You guys walk into your small but homey apartment and he sighs

He looks back and forth between the kitchen and living area.

“Man the sex is gonna be GREAT!” You smack his chest hard.

“We have neighbors!”

“Oh yea!”

Will your neighbors hate you guys, probably.

Noya has music blasting as you move in all your stuff and it isn’t until after dark you guys get everything.

You close and lock the front door and wipe your forehead.

Noya walks into the middle of the living room and starts taking off his shirt

“Yu what are you doing?”

He continues to remove his clothes until he is stripped down to his boxers

“We have to set some rules in this house! Rule number one, no clothes allowed!”

He goes to remove the last piece of clothing but you run and stop him.

“STOP We don't have curtains!”

Does the night end with you guys “breaking in” the new apartment

Yes, yes it does 😉

Random Scenario

Living with Nishinoya taught you a lot. And you guys definitely learned a lot about each other. One thing is that he loves spa days. You guys have made it a tradition to have a relaxing day together full of face masks and long soaks in the tub every Sunday. He loves it when you tie his hair up with a scrunchie as you paint his face with clay masks. He surprised you one Sunday with matching bathrobes with your initials on it. You excitedly changed into it and followed the same ritual as always. You guys had gotten new bath bombs and best believe the man was excited. He always lets you get in first and he slides in behind you. You place the bath bomb in and lean against him as you close your eyes. He rubs his hands up and down your body as he lays soft kisses on your shoulders.

“You know I love you right.” He softly kisses the nape of your neck.

“Mmhmm I know. I love you too” You turn and caress his cheek.

“I could fall asleep like this.”

“Me too.” You get comfortable laying against his chest and try your best not to drift off in his arms.

Akaashi:

Akaashi would be the most organized when it comes to moving. Everything is placed away neatly in boxes and of course labeled (With his label maker of course).

He would never use garbage bags to pack stuff

He would have everything separated based on category.

For sure the thing that would take the longest would be his books.

This man has a mini library I swear

So best believe it would probably take a day to organize his books the way he likes.

“Oh my god why are these books so heavy.”

“Cause they are all hardcover”

He takes the boxes from you and you quickly realize that a lot of his stuff is his books

Of course you guys are lacking furniture for a while but that’s partially because you guys have a hard time deciding what pieces you should get.

Akaashi needed an office for sure with his job.

You would surprise him with a really nice bookcase, cause there is no way his old one would work here.

Random Scenario

Akaashi is a really hard worker, and though he is not exactly where he wants to be in his career, he still gives it his all. It is a pretty demanding job, so there have been many sleepless nights for him. He usually falls asleep a lot at his desk. Tonight was another one of those nights. You wake up in the middle of the night to see his side of the bed untouched. You sleepily climb out of bed and walk straight to his office. You slowly creek open the door.

“Keiji, are you awake?” You get no response. You walk further into the room to see him slumped over his desk with his glasses hanging off his face. You push the strands of hair away from his face and gently shake him awake. His eyes flutter open and he quickly shoots up in his chair.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep here.” He rubs the sleep from his eyes and sits up cracking his back.

“It’s okay, just come to bed. Your work will be here in the morning,” You take his hand and walk back to the room with him. He quickly slides back into bed and forces himself to keep his eyes open until you’re in bed with him. As soon as you are under the covers he knocks out. You softly brush your hand over his face before falling back asleep yourself.

Kenma:

Kenma isn’t exactly the easiest person to move in with. Not because of anything bad, but because this man just hates the essence of moving.

Packing up all your stuff to move it and to take it all out again

It really sucks

And it honestly kind of stresses him out.

Especially with his gaming setup. He was sure to pack all his equipment as best he could.

And during the moving process he didn’t have the time to stream so that kinda bothered him too.

But because of all the stress, he is that much more grateful when you guys have finished moving in.

With your help, he managed to put a temporary set up with his chair so he could finally stream again.

When it comes to decorating, he doesn’t really care. If you like it, he likes it.

Probably would ban Kuroo from coming over.

“Kozu, Kuroo is asking to hang out.”

“Tell him no”. He continues to focus on his game.

“Why not? You haven’t seen him in a while.”

“And I would like to keep it that way.”

You wrap your arms over his shoulder and kiss his cheek.

“Well I already invited him for dinner.”

You knew he secretly wanted to see him, he just had a weird way of showing it

And in the end, you three had a great night together.

Random Scenario

You are about to throw the switch at the television as Kenma won another round of Super Smash Bros. He sits back on the couch with a smug grin on his face and you kick him lightly.

“Again! I’m gonna beat you at least once!” You sit at the end of the couch leaning forward as you start the round for the twentieth time tonight.

“ You know, it gets kinda boring winning all the time.” He yawns.

“Oh shut up, I’m gonna win this time!”

“If you say so.”

You are practically slamming your hands against the buttons and it is doing nothing in your favor.

Kenma laughs out loud as your health bar goes down quickly. You quickly retaliate with the same kick over and over, blocking him into a corner. You scream as you get a lead on him and slowly take down his health.

“Stop using the same moves.” Kenma sits forward a bit annoyed as it is actually working.

“Don’t be salty now”

It becomes an intense match but you ultimately lose. You throw yourself over Kenma’s lap as you wrap your arms around his neck.

“It’s not fair!” You whine out as he lays his hands comfortably on your waist.

“You tried your best” He teased as you leaned in to give him a quick kiss. You lean back with a pout and get off his lap.

“What?” He stands up and reaches for you but you go running down the hall.

“You want a kiss, you’re gonna have to catch me!” Kenma questions whether or not he should take part in your juvenile game but it doesn’t take much convincing as runs after you.

Ushijima:

Moving in with Ushy Gushyyyyyyyyy😩 (I’m sorrry)

Moving in with Ushijima is surprisingly pretty easy

But the one condition was that you had to get house plants

And a lot of them!

But that’s okay, cause they are all your plant babies

(He names them all)

You guys also needed a balcony, it didn’t have to be a big one, but enough to have some plants outside as well as at least 2 chairs.

The apartment was perfect for you both. Plenty of space for both you and him along with all your babies.

Moving all your stuff was really easy and Ushijima didn’t let you lift a finger.

“Toshi can I please do something! There are so many boxes.”

“I told you sweetheart I got it.”

You crossed your arms as you pouted.

But you gotta say, for doing all the moving by himself, he got it done really quick.

And it was a nice view if you know what I mean 😏

Man rolled up his sleeves and mmmmhmmm

Anywhoooooo

The plants were last and you both took your time placing them around the house.

Did you have any furniture

No

But you have plants so you’ll be fine

Random Scenario

Your mornings started way earlier ever since you moved in. Him being an early riser stuck with you too. You climb out of bed wearing a big T-shirt of his and find Ushijima sitting shirtless with two cups of hot tea on the balcony. You open the sliding door and he turns around.

“Good morning darling.” You lean over and kiss his forehead.

“Morning Toshi.” You sit in your respective seat and he passes you the hot mug,

The sun is slowly rising as you both peacefully sip your tea. You lay your legs over his lap and his calloused hands run up and down your bare legs.

“Have you already watered the plants?”

“Yea, right before you got up.”

You mumble a response and continue looking out towards the sunrise. You listened as he softly went over his plans for the day; he was going to be super busy with practice. But that didn’t matter. In this moment it was just you and him and all your plant babies.

[dreamer213]

Broken Machines: Lights The Dark

Chapter 10 Saturday School Kids Can Be Cruel.

Friday night had been pretty fun when Penny finally got home. She had called Pietro earlier in the day to tell him not to make her too much for dinner because she had a big lunch. She managed to keep the petit fours a secret until she got home. When she did get home, she plopped the box down on the table while he had his back turned and shouted “SURPRISE” as he turned around. He was so surprised he almost dropped their dinner, but Penny took the tray off his hands before anything got ruined. That night they had baked potatoes with tiny cakes and tea for dessert. The following morning Penny woke up to a pre-made plate of bacon and eggs, some money, and a note.

“ Morning Penny, They had to call me in for some emergency maintenance on the mech’s cannon again. There’s gonna be a lot to be done so I won’t be back till tomorrow. Be safe while I’m gone; remember to eat and stay charged.”

“Love you Sunshine, Dad.”

Penny: He won’t be home till tomorrow. I’m going to be alone here until tomorrow.

Penny frowns unconsciously; she had rarely been away from her dad since she was stationed. His presence had been her only constant comfort since the tournament; she hadn’t gone a day without him and she had never thought about what would happen if she had to. It’s honestly quite scary to be alone with nothing be her thoughts. Whenever she was, everything felt so small, so quiet, so….. suffocating like a black void pooling around her.

Penny: No one will be here when I get back or when I go to sleep tonight. When it’s dark, it’ll just be, be-

Penny shakes her head, pushing out the worrying thoughts before they get worse.

Penny: Stop. You are fine, you are strong, you are not hopeless, and one night on your own will not hurt you. Just eat your breakfast and go to work.

Penny sits down at the table and quietly eats her now cold breakfast. Once she’s done, she washes her dishes, turns off all the lights, and heads off to her morning patrol. The patrol went well, no robberies or emergencies today, for some reason this didn't make Penny happy, even though it meant she would have less paperwork at the end of the day. Before long, it’s time to help at the training facility. Saturdays and Sundays were always the easiest days of the week at the facility as most academy students rested or went home on weekends, and most hunters took it easy on the weekends too, so besides makeup sessions and a few fitness hobbyists, no one came in. Which meant Penny was never requested on these days. Or so she thought. When she arrived, Penny is told that a team has requested her assistant for their session and was waiting for her in her usual room. This surprised her but Penny did as she was told and headed towards the training room. As she walked, she wondered who could have possibly asked for her on a Saturday afternoon. Could it be Winter? No, she liked to train by herself. Academy students? No, any student who came in on the weekend was to be monitored by a teacher. Could it..Ciel?...No there was no possible way she had asked for her. Penny kept pondering, but no matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t guess who could be waiting for her in that room. She’d just had to go in and see for herself. Once she finally reached the training room, the moment she enters the room, something tackles her! Penny wrests her attacker onto the floor and pins their hands behind their back. She’s about to question them when she feels something touch her back. She grabs it, gripping it tightly in her hands. She looks at it and sees it’s a long fluffy orange tail.

Penny: An orange cat tail? Neon Katt?

Penny looks down and realizes she’s holding down Neon!

Neon: Yeah, it’s me. And if not too much to ask, could you let go of my tail and GET OFF ME!

Penny: Right away. I’m so sorry!

Penny lets her go, and they both get off the floor. Before Penny can ask why Neon tackled her, Neon starts rolling towards the rest of her team. Penny tries to keep up and ask her what’s going on, but Neon wouldn't even look at her. When they finally reach the rest of the team, FNKI Neon hides behind Flynt. Penny gives up on Neon and decides to just wait to ask one of the others.

Penny: Good afternoon Team FNKI.

Flynt: Hey Penny, nice to see you.

Ivori: Afternoon to you too, Ms. Penny.

Kobalt: Sup Penny, hope you got affairs in order cause you’re about to see hell. (chuckles)

Ivori: Koco!

Ivori pops Kobalt in his side with the handle of his whip. Kobalt rubs his side in pain and annoyed.

Kobalt: Ow, the hell Ivy!

Ivori: Could you please not act like a jackass for one minute.

Kobalt: How was I being a jackass? We know what’s about to go down, I was just giving her a heads up!

Ivori: Still, would it kill you to show some tact for once. I mean Is it really so hard for you to-

Penny: Excuse me.

Both young men stop and return their attention to Penny.

Penny: What exactly is going on? I have no idea what is happening and what exactly I’ve done to get this kind of reaction. Could one of you please explain?

Flynt: Yeah, sorry about that. You see what happened was-

Suddenly, Neon pushes Flynt out of the way and gets in Penny’s face. She gets less than an inch away from Penny’s face, looking really upset.

Neon: You didn’t call.

Penny: Excuse me?

Neon continues to stare her down, arms crossed with a big frown on her face.

Neon: You didn’t call me! I gave you my number, asked you to call me, waited two weeks for you to call, but you never did. So rude!

Penny: I am sorry Neon, I have been very busy for the last few weeks and hadn’t thought about our conversation since then.

Neon: Wow, talk about thoughtless. Or am I just that forgettable to you?

Penny: No, I just had over things I needed to give my full attention to at the time. That and I didn’t have anything to talk about.

Neon: Uh, That’s so not true! What about that “secret mission” Ironwood has you working on?

Penny: I’m not supposed to talk about that.

Neon: Yeah, with civilians! You’re supposed to gossip about your crazy missions and stupid paperwork with coworkers, stupid. Sharing wild stories is like the best thing about being a soldier! And besides, this isn’t just an everyday mission; it's one the General himself had to come to your house and get you out of bed for. How could you not wanna talk about that?

Penny: How did you know about that?

Neon: Same way I shoulda heard from you. Now talk! I wanna hear everything!

Penny stares blankly at Neon as she piece together what she just heard. She looked over at the rest of Team FNKI; the three young men were standing awkwardly, embarrassed but unsurprised by Neon’s actions. Finally understanding what’s going on, Penny turns her attention back to Neon.

Penny: So if I’m hearing this correctly, you request this room and my presence with sole purpose of having a recreational conversation?

Neon: Yeah!

Penny: And you do realize that in doing so, you are misappropriating both military equipment and personnel?

With that, Neon’s pout drops, and so does her tail, Flynt facepalms and hangs his head, Ivori does everything he can to avoid making eye contact, and Kobalt’s looking around and whistling, trying his best to play it cool. Penny crosses her arms, unimpressed by their silly plan.

Penny: Team FNKI, please leave this area immediately so that others may use it properly.

Neon: What! Oh come on, no one even comes here on Saturday!

Penny: That is incorrect and irrelevant; this room is for training purposes only, not socializing. If you aren’t going to train then you have to leave. Those are the rules we must follow as soldiers.

Neon: OMG, Are you really doing this right now? Ugh why do you have to be such a narc-

Neon is quickly interrupted by Flynt getting in between the warring redheads.

Flynt: Okay, I’m sensing way too much hostility here, so why don’t we all just take as sec to calm down and come up with some kind of solution.

Neon about to start arguing again but Flynt turns to her and puts a hand on her cheek; he caresses her cheek with his thumb and lightly scratches her jawline with his other fingers. Soon Neon lets out a low purr as she full calms down from her hissy fit.

Flynt: Kitty, I know you just wanna talk, but we gotta follow the rule. So, how about this, you like skating, right?

A now calm Neon simply nods her head as she continues to receive scratches.

Flynt: Then how about you do a little speed test, you race around the room a few times while Penny tracks your speed and you two talk as you go. Me and the boys can stay here and do some stretches while you ladies race and chat. Sound good to you?

Neon: Yeah…Sounds…good.

Flynt: Good.

Still scratching away, Flynt turns his head to Penny.

Flynt: Sound okay to you, Penny?

Penny: Since the activities are forms of training, yes that would be acceptable.

Flynt: Great, thank ya Penny.

Flynt takes his hand off Neon’s cheek onto her shoulder and rolls her towards Penny as he returns to his spot next to Ivori and Kobalt. Penny and Neon walk to the edge of the room near the entrance; once there, the two stand close to the wall, and Neon takes a starting stance. Penny clicks her heels together and starts her rocket boots; they’re on a lower setting to match Neon’s gliding and sets an internal stopwatch. Penny gives a quick glance to the boys, and they were indeed doing stretches as promised, then looks back to Neon. They make eye contact, Noen mouths, “Ready?” and Penny holds up a hand and starts counting down. 5….4……3….2….1.

Both girls dash off at tremendous speeds. They remain neck and neck as they go around the room and soon Neon starts talking again.

Neon: So what’s going on with this secret mission?

Penny: I’m investigating a crime, and I need to go undercover to find the perpetrator.

Neon: Cool, so are they just dropping you in or what?

Penny: No, because of the lifestyle and living situation of the people on the suspect list, I have to receive some training on how to behave and act without seeming suspicious.

Neon: Oh, is it like stealth training?

Penny: Yes and no, I’m taking etiquette lessons so that I may infiltrate Atlas high society.

Neon: Woah, really? Damn that’s like straight out of a spy movie! So who they got teaching you to act all distinguished and junk? I don’t know we had an expert on that stuff just lying around here.

Penny: We don’t, an elite is instructing me as a form of repayment for saving his life at a party.

Neon: Uh ew, you’re getting lessons from some old fart elite. Gross.

Penny: No, he’s actually a teenage boy. And he’s not gross; he’s very clean and friendly.

Neon: A teenager! They seriously gotta another kid teaching you? Way to pay off a life debt.

Penny: It’s actually very nice; Our ages being so close makes our dynamic fairly even, he’s intelligent, easy to talk to, and very kind, and the way he teaches is unique and very fun.

Neon: Ooooh cool. Is he cute?

Penny: He’s…more beautiful than cute.

Neon: Oh yeah? How exactly?

Penny: Well, he’s has a model’s figure, lean, long legs, high shoulders, and excellent posture. You could take a picture of him at any angle, and he’d always look amazing. His face is also gorgeous, pink lips that look nice even in a smirk, high cheekbones, a cute little nose, and his eyes! I’ve never seen a pair so blue and shiny before; they look like a deep sea with the brilliance of a gemstone. And his hair is so soft and neat that it looks like silk and is white as fresh snow.

Penny begins to sway from left to right, hands behind her back and a sweet smile on her face. She’s slowing down and moving further and further away from the wall as they go. Neon slows to match her speed.

Neon: Wow, so he’s grade A in the looks department. What about his personality?

Penny: As I previously stated, he’s very intelligent. He’s also creative and well-spoken I could talk with him for hours if I had the time to. He’s a bit abrasive, not cruel by any means just very direct and confident, and charming and witty (giggle), which is a little funny because his first name starts with Whit. (giggles)

Neon: (giggles) Sounds like you really really like this guy.

Penny: I do. Being around him is just so….wonderful. Sometimes when I’m with him, it feels like it’s just the two of us; I have his full attention, and he has mine. It’s very..cozy and a bit

A slight blush glows on Penny’s cheeks. She turns around and starts flying backwards.

Penny: exhilarating. So much so that sometimes I feel a little dizzy and get this thumping feeling in my chest when he looks at me for too long or says something really nice to me. It’s really-

Penny is intercepted by her accidentally backing into the wall of one of the obstacles. Luckily for her, her aura was active, and she had slowed down so much that the impact was damaging in the slightest. Still hurt a bit though.

Neon: Ooooooh shit.

Neon rushes over to Penny, having been in earshot of the collision come running to see if everything’s okay.

Flynt: I heard a bang. Who got hurt?

Kobalt: 5000 lien says Neon got bored and pushed her off a platform.

Ivori: Koco I swear to every God if you don’t stop I hit you right in the-

Neon: Will you two mouthy douche cakes shut up and actually help!

The two stop their bickering and go to Penny. They try to help her up, but Penny puts her hands up as they try, and they back up to give her some space. Penny turns off her boots, takes a second to regain her balance, and steadies herself fully on the floor. The team begin conversing about what’s just happened.

Ivori: Are you okay, dear? Do you need us to get someone?

Penny: No, thank you, I’m fine. My aura was activated, and it was a slow speed collision, so there was no damage aside from the initial shock of the impact.

Flynt: But why’d you crash?

Penny: I-

Neon: Oh, it was nothing really. Penny just go all wispy talking about this dreamy boy she met.

Penny: W-what? What are you-

Kobalt: Oooh, so that what you two were talking about. A boy.

Neon: Yup, she was so caught up in her gushing that she slammed herself into that wall. (laughs) Can’t say I blame her though, all cute girls go a little brain dead when they think about their crush. I know I did.

Kobalt: And since when did you count as a cute girl?

Neon playful elbows Kobalt in the side, and Kobalt returns the favor while Penny looks on, confused by their words.

Penny: Excuse me, but do you mean by a crush?

Neon: Oh, you know.

Penny: No, I do not know.

Neon: You know it’s when you really like someone.

Penny tilts her head to the side, confused.

Penny: But I like a lot of people.

Neon: Yeah, but a crush is when you really like someone. Like you like like them.

Penny: Like like?

Kobalt: You know, they make you feel all floaty, makes your head all foggy, and gives you butterflies in your tummy.

Penny: How would someone get insects in my stomach?

Neon and Kobalt sigh in unison, frustrated with her lack of knowledge. Meanwhile, Ivori walks up to Penny, dusts off her sleeves, and takes both her hands in his, taking over the situation.

Ivori: Sorry about those two. They have don’t know how to take anything seriously. Now the gist of what they were trying to say is that a crush is when you have some romantic feelings for someone.

Penny: Romantic..feelings?

Ivori: Yes, when you’re with this person, it’s very special. They’re beautiful to you; they make you feel warm and safe and happy. You want to hold them, laugh with them, kiss them, and just be romantic with them.

Penny: But I’ve never wanted to ki-

For a second, the unconscious thought of kissing Whitley plays through Penny’s mind. Suddenly the thumping in her chest returned, and her face started to redden. Penny tries to make the thought go away, but Ivori’s words keep replaying in her head, and memories of Whitley pour in with it. Her face gets redder and redder until she’s at the max amount of flushed her body can be. She tries to speak her mind still jumbled.

Penny: I-I d-don’t have r-romantic fe-feelings for hi-(hiccup)

Penny quickly rips her hands from Ivori and covers her mouth, astonished that she had somehow just said a lie.

Kobalt: The hell was that!

Penny: N-nothing (hiccup)

Neon: Wait a sec, I’ve heard about this. She hiccups when she lies. You lied, you’re totally crushing on this guy, aren’t you?

Penny: No I’m not-(hiccup)

Kobalt: Holy shit, that’s fucking adorable! Do it again! Do it again!

Neon: Penny’s got a crush, Penny’s got a crush.~

Neon chants in a sing-song voice, Kobalt chuckling at her side.

Penny: No, I don't-(hiccup) Stop it!

Neon continues to chant and Kobalt joins in, Penny just covers her face, silently praying for the ground to swallow her up and away from this as they continue heckling her. After a while Ivori decides that enough was enough and gets in the two jokesters faces.

Ivori: Both of you stop that right now! Can’t you see that hurting the poor girl’s feelings!

Neon: Ugh, Lighten up we’re were just kidding around.

Kobalt: Yeah, you’re supposed to tease people when they get a crush. We did the same thing to you.

Ivori: That was different, you don’t make fun of a little girl. Especially one like Penny.

Neon: Oh, come on, if she’s gonna be a soldier, she has to be able to handle some hazing.

Ivori: But you still shouldn’t be prying into her personal life like this.

Flynt: All three of you shouldn’t have been prying at all.

Flynt final chimes in, having stayed silent for far too long.

Flynt: Koco, Kitty cut it out right now; it's not funny. Ivy, you should’ve stayed out of it; you played right into their game and lost. Take your L and walk away.

The three listen and stop arguing, and Flynt turns to Penny. He takes off his shades, gives her a reassuring smile, and pats her shoulder.

Flynt: Penny, I understand you’re vulnerable and awkward right now, that’s normal. If you wanna talk about this, we’ll gladly listen but if not that’s okay too. We won’t push you, and I’m sorry if we made you uncomfortable today.

Penny: Thank you Flynt Coal, your apology is accepted.

Flynt: Okay, now if there’s anything you need feel free to-

???: Excuse me.

Everyone stops in their tracks as a familiar voice rings out into the room. They look towards the door to see Winter walking towards them, stern-faced as always.

Winter: Apologies if I’m interrupting your conversation Team FNKI, but your time is almost up, and I need to have a talk with Penny. And since it seems like you have already finished up, I’d like you all to leave.

Flynt: Yes Ma’am, let's go people, time to bounce.

Flynt gives Penny a wave and heads towards the door, followed by Ivori, who gives her a sweet smile, followed by Kobalt, who ruffled her hair, and lastly Neon, who gave her a peace sign as she rolls past. Once they’ve left the room, Winter and Penny are left to converse.

Winter: Penny Polendina.

Penny: Yes, Winter Schnee.

Winter: I understand you have had a change in schedule.

Penny: Yes, I have.

Winter: When you return to your usual schedule, I’d like you to join me on my errand.

Penny: You mean the-

Winter: She’s asked for you, said that your presence was calming. I’ve already spoken to Ironwood, and he’s approved the change. As soon as your investigation is over, you’ll be accompanying me for this task twice a week. Understood.

Penny: Affirmative.

Winter: Excellent, now run along the carrier for the evening shift is leaving soon.

Penny: Yes Ma’am, have a good day.

Penny exists the room, leaving Winter alone to train, soon she’s back in Mantle and headed to the station to fill out her daily reports. It doesn’t take long as it has been a very uneventful day so she finishes in around two hours. From there she walks home, unlocking the door and stepping into the living room, turn on the lights as she enters.

Penny: I’m home-

Penny begins her usual greeting before remembering that she’s alone. Her smile drops and she heads to her room, taking off her boots along the way. She sets her backpack and boots down the flops onto her bed, she looks up at the ceiling, wonders what she should do until it’s time for her to sleep. She pulls out her scroll, hoping to find some entertainment, and notices a text from Neon reading “If you wanna any advice on how to get a date with Atlas boy, text me 😸🌈😉.” She goes red at the memory of teasing she received early and responds with a simple “No thank you.” She decides to go on her Individeo, a video, and streaming platform, app to watch some videos. She pulls up a video on making your own custom guns, she had seen the tile and saved it for another time days ago. As she watches she remembers that she saved this specific video to show her dad because she thought some of the ideas for the weapons could be used to improve some of their own guns. This realization weights on her as all the ideas and facts she wanted to discuss with her dad float around with nowhere to go. Speaking of her dad he wanted her to eat whiles he’s gone.

Now Penny could survive solely off of electricity but thanks to her biofuel converter and new nervous system she could enjoy food and turn it into fuel, making her more eco-friendly. She closes the video app and searches her memory bank for phone numbers for local restaurants that delivered. She forms a long list of options but as she has limited funds and would hate to inconvenience anyone Penny starts disqualifying the higher prices and further away eateries. Soon she narrows it down to a list of three options, a pizza place, a burger place, Ms. Ling’s. From there she evaluates them base on quality, quantity, and service rates. In the end logic and curiosity wins out as Penny picks out the one she never had before, pizza. She calls in for one medium-sized cheese pizza, just to test out the taste, and is told it will take 45 minutes to deliver. She takes this time to wash up and change into her pajamas. When the food does arrive she goes downstairs, pays, and takes her pizza. She sits the box on the table, opens it, and takes out a slice. Penny takes a bite and it’s greasy in a good way, the cheese is nice and stretchy, the tomatoes sauce compliments the cheese, and the crust has a pleasant crunch. But it just doesn’t feel tasty, it tastes good but for some reason, it just doesn't feel the way to supposed to. Penny eats two more slices then puts the rest away in the refrigerator. She goes back upstairs, brushes her teeth, plugs up, and heads to bed early.

She closes her eyes hoping to see her dad’s smiling face when she wakes again.

[skylarmoon71]

E2 Harrison Wells x Reader Oneshot

"I-I love you Harry, that's why I was so worried!"

Your statement made the tall man halt. His blue eyes were watching you with shock. As time went by, you could see a number of different emotions flash over his face. Finally looking at you must have seemed like too much, he just lowered his eyes.

"I'm sorry, but I can't return those feelings."

Was it possible to hear the breaking of a heart.

"I'm sorry."

It hurt, more than you thought possible. But you didn't let it show.

"H-Hey it's fine. I'm sorry I just dumped this on you. That was totally not cool." Letting out a laugh you turned your back.

"Just be careful the next time you're out being a hero. " 

Just like that you were walking out of STAR Labs. Every step felt like a stab to your heart. As you rounded the corner you pressed a hand to your lips, sobbing softly. You prayed that he didn't come after you, because if he'd seen you so broken, you were sure it would have just made you feel that more pathetic.

~~~~

~One Month Later~

"Barry hurry there are still a few people in the building!"

Caitlin's panicked yell at the other side of the com earned a grunt from the speedster who was already rushing people from the third floor.

"Where's (Y/N)!" He was fast, but there were over a thousand people in the building. Even at his speed, he'd have a hard time getting them all out safely. Cisco already secured a floor, vibing as much as he could.

Harry was at the bottom, doing the same.

"Right here." you called. Barry sighed, and you stomped, clapping your hands together. A mass amount of wind flew right through the entire floor. The people who were still there stopped, staring in awe as the fire seemed to vanish completely. It wasn't long before you could hear applause from the civilians. You grinned, placing your hand on your hips.

"Just on time." Barry said, giving you a fist bump.

"From the cheers I'm hearing in the background I'll take it that everything is fine." Caitlin asked.

"Come on of course it is, I'm here after all. " you respond.

"It always is."

~~~

"Phew, after the day you had, you guys deserve a break." Caitlin stated.

Protecting Central City was never an easy task. Not only did you save an insurance company full of workers from being barbequed, right after you got back there was a new meta causing rampage in the streets. A multiplying psycho wasn't the easiest to subdue. Shortly after that, Cisco blew a fuse in the cortex fighting with Harry. So you spent the better part of your evening making sure the rest of STAR Labs didn't go up in smoke. 

Safe to say you were completely and utterly exhausted.

"Maybe we can take tomorrow off. I'm sure Wally and Jesse can handle one night without us."

"I second that!" Cisco chimed in. "Club night!!"

You had a feeling Cisco would say that. The guy was a party animal. When the occasion arose.

"I'm in." You said, leaning against the chair.

"Barry and I down." Iris beamed.

"Harry do you want to-"

"Please Harry would never come to a club." you interrupted. It was nice of Caitlin to offer, but the guy had a stick up his ass. It's not like you were still bitter or anything. Not at all. Pshh.

"I'm in." you were surprised he even agreed. You just huffed under your breath. Grabbing your mask, you stood. "I'm heading out, guess I'll see you all tomorrow night." You didn't stick around for them to reply, and as you left, Harry's eyes followed you.

There was so much he regretted in his life, but rejecting you, it was high on his list. He was a coward. All those days that he confided you, that you confided in him. When he first got to Earth one, everyone was weary of him, and you were the one who challenged him the most.

Cisco coming in a close second. But as time progressed, he started to view the team differently. They were no longer just a means for him to save his daughter, they quickly and unknowingly became a part of his family. One he always thought he didn't need, or deserved.

Little by little he got closer to you. At the beginning it was out of curiosity of your abilities. He was a scientist, so generally metas intrigued him. He liked picking parts of their DNA and trying to figure out how it came about.

Slowly, you were less of a project, and more of a friend. Someone he could depend on. It wasn't long after that he realized, the feelings he was gaining for you, it certainly wasn't just friendship. There was something more. And every time you looked at him after busting a criminal, or helping Barry on his misadventures, the harder it was becoming for him to deny how he felt.

When he got into the little scuffle, the first person he wanted to rant to was you. And that's what he'd intended to do that day. But the moment you saw him you started a rant of your own of his recklessness. Which brought on a screaming match and your unplanned confession. It rocked him entirely. All along he thought it was completely one sided.

That's when he knew it, he couldn't accept your love, not at all because one, he was a middle aged man with an inability to keep anything remotely good stable in his life. And two, he was at least twenty years older than you. You were a vibrant, cheerful, beautiful woman. If he attempted to venture past friendship, he would ultimately screw it up. And if he couldn't come and see that confident, cocky smile on your face every morning, then it wasn't worth taking the risk.

Although now, what he feared had come through. By doing what he thought was right, he ruined it.

"Wonderful." He thought aggravated.

~Saturday Night~

As you stepped into the club that night, you tucked a strand of hair behind your ear self consciously. You weren't exactly the party girl type. The booming music and sweaty bodies jamming next to each other did nothing to calm you. Your eyes were drifting over the tables, searching for your squad. You smiled when you caught Iris waving crazily from a corner. Everyone looked up when you pushed through the sea of possibly plastered individuals on the dance floor.

"Hey guys!" your hand tightened on your purse when you saw the way Harry's eyes ran over you form. You were wearing a simple red dress with thin straps. It hugged every curve on your body, and displayed just enough cleavage to draw attention. Barry whistled. 

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen you in a dress (Y/N). You look amazing." you blushed. 

"Thanks Barry." Iris nudge you with her elbow grinning. 

"Did you come to steal my man tonight." she said playfully.

"A girl can try right." you laughed. She smiled, giving you a side hug, whispering in your ear.

"Try to have fun tonight okay." when she pulled back you nodded. "I will." Iris knew about your little predicament. She was the one you went crying to when it all went down.

"Where is Cisco and Caitlin, did they bail on us!" Barry pointed in the crowd, and you weren't even shocked. Of course they were on the dance floor. Cisco was at it again with his very, exotic movements.

"Are those moves even legal." you spoke titling your head to the side.

"Not on this earth, or any other." Harry retorted. You flashed him a small smile, which he returned.

"Well, Barry and I are going to dance."

"We are?" she took his hand pulling him along.

"I guess we are." he called.

It was cute, watching the way Barry was awkwardly moved, especially since Iris was pretty good.

"Barry was right, you look stunning tonight (Y/N)." Harry's words had you turning to him. You wanted to say thanks, maybe throw a compliment his way. Because it didn't matter what he wore. To you he always looked good. But, you stopped yourself. Turning your back to him.

"I'm going to dance." you said, leaving your purse on the table. As you left you made sure to put an extra sass in your step, swaying your hips. You wanted him to know what he was missing out on. What he couldn't have because apparently he was too good for anyone. As you got there, you just started moving with the mass of people. 

Tonight was about having fun, not focusing on Harry. He'd taken up too much of your mind already, and you refused to give him anymore. So you just let yourself go, moving in time with the music. Pretty soon you were jamming with Caitlin and Cisco to the rhythm of the song blaring on the speakers. You didn't glance in Harry's direction, not even once.

Iris drifted closer, giving your hip a little bump and you giggled. You needed this.

The night carried on, at some point the girls started getting drinks. Caitlin was the first to tap out, reluctantly going home with Cisco. For sure she would have a blazing headache tomorrow. Barry was unfortunately the only one unable to get drunk. You sort of felt sorry for him.

That didn't stop you from indulging though. You and Iris were on your third drink. You sat at the bar, about to chug another. Iris stepped away, almost falling when she took the last shot. Barry caught her, and she giggled when he scooped her up into his arms.

"Whooo! So glad I got the big old flash to protect me." she was tracing her finger across his chin, biting her lip seductively and you almost spat out your drink in laughter at the way Barry chuckled nervously. "I think that's our signal to go." You waved to him, obviously not seeing the look he gave Harry. It was a secret exchange. 

"Take care of her." 

Harry just gave a nod at the speedster, and you squint, confused.

"A-Are you guys telepathic now." your words were becoming a bit slurred. Whatever you were drinking was pretty strong. "Maybe you should call it a day too (Y/N)." you frown, annoyed that he had the audacity to tell you what to do.

"I'll head home w-when I feel like it." you let out a small hiccup through the statement.

"I think she's old enough to make her own decisions. " Another voice interjected. You turned, not expecting the very attractive man standing behind you. "Not as hot as Harry though." the minute it entered your mind, you banished it. "How about I show you some real fun, beautiful" You knew it was stupid, you didn't know this guy and you were already wasted. "Sure." you stood, taking his outstretched hand. Harry grabbed your wrist before you could even take a step.

"She's taken." you stumbled at the tug, crashing into Harry. He held you up, glaring at the man that was now sizing him up.

"Please old man, there's no way she's going for a grandpa, right sweetheart." you were angry with Harry, who was now pushing you behind his back protectively. "Back off. " he warned. The guy didn't take the warning, because he fired a punch, and Harry ducked, socking the male in his jaw. The poor guy crashed to the ground, unconscious. Your eyes widened. "Woah.." Harry just K.O the guy like it was nothing. You probably shouldn't have been so excited by that.

Unlucky for you, the stunt caused a ruckus. It wasn't too long before both you and Harry were being shown out of the club by a bouncer. Harry didn't resist, he just took your hand, guiding you away.

"Don't come back." the rough tone of the man's voice and the harsh slamming of the door was all that was heard for the longest moment. "Leave it to Harrison *hic* freaking Wells to get us kicked out of a night club!" The one night that was supposed to  be just fun and drinks, and he messed that up for you too.

Typical.

"Are you serious! That man obviously wanted to show you more than a few dance moves. And you were about to go with him."

"What if I wanted it, did you even think about that!!" it wasn't the best idea for the both of you to be screaming in the street, but what else could you do.

"You're drunk, you don't know what you're saying. I'm getting you home. " he turned his back to you, pulling out his phone to call an uber.

"DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!" Your yell doubled with the immense rise in wind pressure gained his attention. The gust that whizzed by nearly knocked him off his feet. Harry gave a soft grunt, dropping to his knees to ground himself. You stopped when you saw he was struggling to keep his footing. The trees behind were bustling aggressively, and you took two deep breaths to calm down. When you did, the wind dissipated.

"I-I'm sorry." you were pissed at him, but it was unfair to use your powers like that.

He rose to his feet slowly, painfully so. And you felt guilty. You gripped at the edge of your dress.

"I-I-" Harry pitched forward, pulling you into his arms. Every fiber in your body just stilled.

"I'm the one who should be sorry. " Now you sort of wanted to punch him in the gut. It wasn't fair for him to do this. He knew how you felt. Why was he always tugging and pulling you in so many directions. One minute he acted like he cared, then the next he was acting like his usual douchey self.

"I hate you.." you whimpered in his arms. Your body sagged, melting into him.

You would never be able to get over him, he had way too much power over you. And it scared you. He scared you.

~~~~

You smacked your lips, grimacing in distaste.

"Ugh. I should have stopped after the third one." You were a lot better at holding your liquor than Caitlin, but that didn't mean it didn't affect you. Turning, your brows knitted together.

"Where am I?" finally opening your eyes, you scanned the area. "Please tell me I didn't get drunk and boned some random dude at the bar!" you said in horror.

"Don't worry, I made sure that didn't happen. " Harry's voice made you scream. He just looked at you blankly.

"Really?"

"Don't do that! I thought you were a serial killer!"

"And your idea was to scream your way free? Genius." You really didn't need his sass this early in the morning.

"You're lucky I'm hungover otherwise I'd blow you away."

"It's a good thing you're hung over then."

Cheeky bastard." Deciding that you didn't want to spend the rest of your morning going back and forth with him, you inched out of the bed. You were more than a little relieved that you were in your apartment, and not some stranger's. "How did I even get back?" you couldn't recall, but Harry must have had something to do with it. Harry took your hand when you tried to get up.

"Here." he balanced your weight, which you accepted. "I'm assuming you want a shower and some fresh clothes. "

"Wow Harry, sometime I'm certain you can read minds." The sarcasm in your words was evident. He just ignored it, directing you to the bathroom.

When you got there you opened the door, stepping in.

"I'll be in the kitchen, take your time." Harry was being strangely helpful today. You didn't think too much of it.

"Yeah whatever." you slammed the door shut, and Harry sighed, heading to start a fresh pot of coffee.

~~~~

Walking into the kitchen you sniffed, sighing at the smell of bacon and coffee. "Oh yes!" you ran over to the fresh pot, pouring yourself a cup. Pulling the cup to your lips you hummed in satisfaction. "Just what I needed. " Harry smiled, placing a plate of bacon and toast in front of you on the table. You sat, taking it with a small thank you.

"So are we going to talk about last night." Harry's question was something you expected.

"There isn't anything to talk about, I got drunk, it happens. "

"You know that's not what I mean (Y/N)."

Dropping the fork in your hand, you stood. "Suddenly I don't have an appetite. " Now wasn't the best time to lose your temper, but he was really testing you. What exactly did he want. He made it perfectly clear how he felt. So why did he insist on pushing. On and on.

"If you don't need anything else, you can see yourself out. " Harry slammed his hand on the table, probably to intimidate you, or maybe quell his own anger. You didn't care what the reason was. It didn't do much.

"You could have gotten hurt! Do you understand that!"

"Please, if he tried anything I could have easily taken him."

"In your state that would have been near impossible!"

"I don't know why you're getting so angry. We went out to have fun, that's what I was trying to do. A stupid one night stand isn't a big deal."

"That's not what you want (Y/N)."

"And how the hell would you know! Are you in my head. Why do you even care! Was it the fact that I was actually getting attention from someone that surprises you. News flash Harry I'm not completely undesirable to other guys!"

"What are you..."

"Oh don't give me that stunned look. Be straight with me, that has to be it. You aren't attracted to me, and I get it. Honestly if I were a multimillionaire I would probably think the same. You're just way too good for me." The spite behind your words were obvious.

"Is that what you really think."

"What am I supposed to think Harry. You're the one who rejected me. I poured my heart out and you just stepped all over it. Then the minute someone shows the slightest interest in me you get all protective. WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT FROM ME! Because you choose to be miserable I should too!" At some point you started screaming.

Harry stood there, guilt clear on his face. You could have beat the shit out of him at that moment, because after all of that he still managed to make you feel sorry for him. When he moved closer, you felt your body freeze. You weren't sure why, but the look in his eyes changed, and now you were a bit scared of what he was going to do. There was a glint in his sapphire orbs.

"H-Harr-" His lips crashed into you with urgency, and you swallowed the gasp that nearly left. His hand gripped the back of your head softly, keeping you in place. Your hands balled against his chest, trying to shove him off, but his hold was firm. He pulled you, deeper and deeper in, his lips diving after yours as if it were the last thing he'd ever do. 

You whimpered softly, relenting. Letting go and giving into the disaster that is Harrison Wells. He backed you up on the counter, hooking his hands around your thighs and hoisting you off the ground. When your butt landed on the cold marble you sighed, slipping your fingers into his dark hair. You tugged and pulled trying to urge out a sound. And you succeeded, because he gave a guttural moan, trying to get as close as he could. Your legs hooked around his waist, keeping your bodies mashed together.

"This is wrong." you repeat that. Because it didn't make sense. Why would he reject you, then kiss you. What was his game. Did he just like toying with you. If that was the case you would surely make him pay.

Harry pulled back panting. In a quick move he took off his glasses, and before you could get a question in his lips were back on yours. You wanted to stop, if nothing but for a proper explanation. Or any explanation honestly. This time when you shoved his chest, he moved back. He was now standing a safe distance away, and you jumped down from the counter, pressing your hand to your lips. You stayed with your back to the counter, watching him wearily. Because you knew if he tried to kiss you again you wouldn't have the willpower to stop him.

"(Y/N) I-" you flicked your wrist, and the wind that came hurtling in his direction knocked him right off his feet. He flew backwards, skating on the ground and hitting the wall. It wasn't enough to actually injure him, just get your point across. The grunt of pain he let out brought a  little satisfaction. "I-I deserved that." he grunted, placing a hand on his knees, lifting himself up. When he was upright, you kept your hand raised, indicating that whatever he had to say to defend his actions had better be good.

"I was wrong."

"NO SHIT SHERLOCK!"

"I should have given you a chance I just...you don't understand (Y/N). I've done things that-"

"Oh don't give me that bullshit! You know I don't care about all of that. How long have we been friends, Harry. Ever member of this team has done shit, myself included. You really think I care. You're not the same man you were. You're different, better. You're just too stupid to see it. You think just because you made a few mistakes that it's alright to constantly punish yourself. And that's where you're so selfish because you don't just punish yourself you punish everyone that cares about you. "

Harry looked a bit defeated.

"You keep proving to me just how useless I am. " His head lowered.

"It's not just the issue of my past mistakes (Y/N). There are so many more variables present. "

"Like what." you challenged.

"Well..our age for one is the most glaring. "

You blanked. "Are you telling me this whole thing was because...you thought you're too old for me?"

"Well when you put it that way it sounds ridiculous. "

Wait..so did that mean, he actually does care about you...

"Harry...did you reject me because..because I'm younger.."

He wouldn't meet your eyes. "You have to understand that..I'm almost sixty. Our age gap, it isn't small. I've already done all that I've ever wanted in life. You still have time to pursue that, to pursue someone more suited for you. "

This entire time you thought he just wasn't into you. But hell, he was crazy about you. He was just a bit insecure about the age difference.

"For someone so smart, you're incredibly stupid." his head lifted, ready to inform of his intelligence most likely. You paced, grabbing the collar of his shirt and slamming him on the wall. Harry's eyes widened in surprise, and when you raised onto your toes to initiate a kiss, he didn't fight back. Your hands were desperate on his body, slipping under the dark shirt easily. When your fingers brushed his skin, he hummed. You traced his toned torso, memorizing every curve and dip.

"You're mine Harrison Wells."

There was no way you were going to back down now. Knowing that he returned your feelings, it was all you needed. You could handle the rest. No matter how stubborn he was.

[sandpumpkin]

Pumpkin Power

Got a little carried away! Little bit of metalpumpkin. 

almost 2k..Pumpkin will fight.

@one-piece-dumpster-fire​

It had been a long day, Hana had been out of town for a few days for a tea party and to deliver some handmade bonnets there too. Delay after delay she was finally back in town, the sun long set. Sighing as she made her way home with her suitcase, she would drop her things off and call Kid, he had been strangely silent for the time she was away, he just stopped replying. She assumed maybe he was just busy. He got like that sometimes. 

Shuddering from the cold wind, she picked up her pace and held onto her bonnet just in case it blew off. Once she was safely home, she headed to the kitchen to put the kettle on. Pulling her phone from her pocket she rang Kid but the call was cut off before she could even get to her ear. Her heart sank. I wonder if something happened? She decided to call Killer. 

“Hello?”

“Hi, Killer..sorry to bother you so late but..is Kid okay?” she asked nervously, what if Kid was just in the middle of something and she was being paranoid. There was a long pause on the other line “Killer?...Kid is alright isn’t he?” her voice started to crack “Killer?”

“He didn’t tell you then…” Killer finally said, Hana quickly reached to switch the kettle off “Kid was in an accident..well sort of..He was jumped by another gang when he was alone.” Hana felt sick to her stomach. 

 He was hurt…

“Can I come see him?” she questioned, trying to calm her racing heart. How badly was he hurt? Why didn’t he tell her? 

There was another long pause “sure..but he might not be in the mood for visitors-”

“I’m on my way.” Hana announced, hanging up and grabbing her shoulder bag, throwing it over her bonnet and headed out the door at lighting speed, not bothering to change. Please be okay Kid. 

She didn’t stop running until she almost collided with the front door to Kid’s place. The door opened promptly and Killer was there to greet her. She was quite the sight in her black floral lolita dress, striped socks, rocking horse shoes and a bonnet, panting and trying to steady her breathing “Sorry-” Killer ushered her in and closed the door behind you. 

“Look...before you see him,” Killer started, running a hand over his long blond hair “Kid’s temper is uncontrollable when he’s like this..so is he shouts at you, don’t take it to heart.” Hana nodded and looked up at the suddenly daunting staircase. Taking a deep breath she climbed the stairs and knocked softly on Kid’s door. 

“F*@K off!” he shouted angrily from the otherside of the door. That’s what Killer meant.. Psyching herself up, Hana reached for the door handle and slowly pushed the door open. Poking her head in, before she quietly stepped in. Her heart broke into pieces. Kid was propped up in his bed looking angry and sorry for himself all at the same time, his good arm was in a cast and a sling tied around his neck, he was covered in so many bandages and various grazes and his favourite prosthetic arm was strewn on the floor in pieces. 

“Kid..” she called out timidly, her whole body trembling, she wanted to run and hold him gently. His head snapped in her direction, he looked furious.

“Get out!” he snapped, “Leave! I don’t want to see you!” he barked. Hana felt her eyes welling up already but she tried her best to keep it together.

“S-sorry..” she mumbled and excited the room quickly, resting her back against the door, trying to calm her erratic emotions and the painful lump growing in her throat that made her want to hunker to her knees and cry. She pushed back all the tears before headed back downstairs to see the others waiting for her.

“No good then?” Wire asked, she shook her head.

“What happened?” she asked, her voice cracking giving away her emotional state. Heat patted her shoulder reassuringly. 

“Apoo jumped him,” Killer started, leading her down to the garage, “we haven’t seen him around in a while and he apparently decided to try and start a fight. Kid was just unlucky.” Killer explained, walking over to a covered motorbike he pulled off the cover and Hana gasped loudly. Kid’s beloved bike was scratched and battered, it looked like it had been hit with a truck. “Though he’s lucky he got out with such mild injuries. I heard Apoo almost killed someone in another town.” Hana was speechless, she couldn’t take her eyes off Victoria. Her beautiful paintwork, chipped and dented. Killer’s heavy hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her daze “Kid will be fine, he just needs to calm down a bit.” Hana nodded slowly “Want me to drive you home?”

Hana shook her head “no..I think I need the walk home.” she smiled as best she could. 

“If you’re sure..”

“It’s late. I’ll be fine. I’ll check in on Kid tomorrow.” she said again with another brighter smile. “Goodnight.” she left the house, feeling the cold night air nip at her nose. She got as far as the park, sitting on one of the empty wooden slate benches, Hana stared down at her hands. The more she sat in silence coupled with her own whirlpool of emotions, the more she trembled with anger. Fumbling for her phone, she dialed a different number.

“Kabochan!” 

“Hi, Barto. Sorry to call so late..are you busy?” she asked, fiddling with the lace on her dress “I need a favour..”

“Are you okay?” Barto knew it must be serious, since she never asked for help. 

“Yes..I just...need your help with something. Can you pick me up in the park? Oh..and can you bring that metal bat please?” 

“I’ll be right there!” Barto hung up quickly and Hana waited patiently in the park until she heard the hum of Barto’s chopper pull up nearby. “Hi!!” he waved frantically. “So..is this about Apoo?” he asked quietly, looking around in case someone was listening in. She  nodded. “..I asked Luffy-senpai to see if he could get any info for me and his grandpa willingly told him exactly where Apoo is right now.” Barto said, flashing his brightest smile coupled with a thumbs up. 

“Good. I can’t let him get away with hurting Kid like that.” she stated, clenching her fists tightly “lead the way.” she said, climbing onto the back of Barto’s bike, holding onto her bonnet as they sped off into the night. Apoo was very easy to find. They were gathered at a bar just outside of town. At first the gang weren’t in sight, they must have been inside the bar. Apoo’s bike was easiest to pick out of the group. It had his name in lime green spray painted on the side in an old style graffiti. As she climbed off Bartolomeo’s bike, his friends pulled up beside them.

“They came as back up.” Barto explained with a nod, shaking the mohawk on his helmet “That grump wouldn’t forgive me if I got you hurt.” he grinned, handing her the well dented bat.  Hana pulled on the straps to her bonnet and passed it to Barto 

“Hold my bonnet.” She half ordered, taking the bat and walking over to the ugly spray painted bike “sorry bike but-” she took a swinging stance and swung so hard she took the wing mirror clean off in one swing. One of Barto’s group shouted ‘And it’s outta here!!! Home run!’ Hana didn’t stop there and swung repeatedly into the bike until the owner operated 

“Oi! You bi-” 

“YOU!” the bat made a loud whoosh sound as it was swung violently and pointed straight at Apoo “I’m about to rain hell down upon you!” Hana shouted, slammed the bat down onto the tarmac, the sound echoing across the carpark. What a sight, a small orange haired lolita armed with a bat, single handedly picking a fight with a man almost twice her height. 

-

Kid laid in his bed grumbling under his breath. I fuckin’ shouted at her...shit..He growled as his phone rang again, struggling to pick it up he saw Bartolomeo had tagged him in something. “Fuckin rooster.” he sneered, dropping his phone onto the floor. It was almost ten minutes before Killer barreled through his door. “What do you want!?” he snarled, but that didn’t deter Killer who stumbled over his feet towards Kid. 

“Did you get a message from Barto?” Killer asked quickly, gripping his own phone tightly.

“Yeah but I ignored it-” Killer grabbed Kid’s phone from the floor and shoved it into his face 

“watch it…” Frowning, Kid snatched the phone from him and navigated to the tag, it was in a live feed. The first one was Bartolomeo grinning stupidly and sporting a black bonnet with bats and bows on. 

“Don’t I look bonny?”

Kid grimaced, didn’t need to see that..wait..that looks familiar.  

“What the hell-” and then in the next shot, he saw a familiar orange haired woman in the background armed with a bat and took a swing at a motorbike, the wing mirror was sent flying and there was much cheering as she then took to smashing up the motorbike. 

“Is that...WHAT THE HELL IS SHE DOING?!” Kid shouted trying to move but his whole body jolted with pain. 

“I’m about to rain hell down upon you!” 

Kid was shocked to hear her shout, she never shouted. “You told her..”

“Of course. She was worried. Though I didn’t think she’d go personally pick a fight.” Killer said with a shrug of his shoulders. The sound of cheering from the video filled the room, Kid leant back into the pillows and smiled which slowly dissolved into laughter, which hurt so much but he couldn’t stop.

“What a woman..” Kid closed the app and dialed her. What if she doesn’t want to talk to me.. He jumped when the phone was answered quickly.

“Kid! How are you feeling?” she asked, her voice sounded so happy but he could hear the deep breaths form her rigorous activities,

“Fine..look... will you come back..”

“Of course! I’m on my way,” she answered happily, “I’ll see you soon. Love you.” she hung up quickly. Kid dropped his phone and looked at Killer who was chuckling silently 

“shut up you.” Killer shrugged and left the room, leaving Kid to wait impatiently for Hana to return. He could just hear the hum of a motorbike pull up outside and the door opened and closed. His door opened slowly and her bright orange hair poked round the door. 

“Kid..”

“Come here. Damn it.” he huffed, she closed the door behind her and hurried over to his bed. “I’m sorry alright..” he grumbled. The minute he said that, Hana had carefully slid her arms around his shoulders nuzzling her face against his hair.

“I was so worried.” she whispered.

“You’re crazy you know..” he mumbled into her chest, listening to rapid heartbeat “I saw..you pick a fight with Apoo. The hell were you thinking? What if you got hurt?!”

“I’m not going to forgive someone who jumped the love of my life and trashed his precious bike.” she kissed his forehead softly “you missed him shrieking like a banshee.” she mused, “he won’t bother you again.” she stated confidently. Kid laughed and nuzzled her chest contently.

“You really are crazy.”

“Crazy in love with you Kid.” she grinned “I’m going to stay a few days and make sure you rest properly.”

“Oh, my own private nurse? How lucky I am.” Kid purred. Kid couldn’t get over how much he loved this woman. Cute and she will fight.

[the-lady-of-stars]

Assuming the Worst

Requested by @thescarletknight2014​

Summary: Reader was Poe’s childhood best friend. At the age of sixteen she was recognised for her strength in the force and sent to train with Luke Skywalker. After that fateful night when a young Ben Solo turned against the Jedi, Poe had assumed the worst. 

You had never gotten over having to leave him behind. Poe Dameron had undoubtedly been the best friend you were ever going to have. Maybe, just maybe, had you not been called to the Jedi temple all those years ago, you could have become more. 

You shook your head, some sort of pathetic attempt to stop yourself from thinking about him. The wing of the trashed old ship you were perched on still felt slightly warm to the touch, despite it being night. That’s all there was to Jakku really- heat, sand. Better than nothing you supposed. 

After the incident with Ben Solo at the temple you had abandoned that lifestyle. Sure you could have stayed with Luke, but losing everyone you trained with wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to get over. Personally you had found it the easier option to just run off to Jakku. Fixing ships up for Unkar Plutt wasn’t a dreamy lifestyle but hey- credits were credits. 

Soon enough you found yourself drifting off on the wing of an old cargo ship under the stars, the uncomfortable heat of Jakku that even after all these years you still weren’t accustomed to pushing you over. 

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

A loud noise startled you out of your sleep. Blaster shots? Your eyes were still blurred but you could tell that it was morning. Squinting through the sun in an attempt to get your eyes to focus resulted in you seeing some sort of chase. Stormtroopers? You hadn’t seen them round these parts in a while. Ties soaring overhead rattled the cargo ship you were sat on, nearly knocking you off. You gripped onto the edge of the wing to keep yourself steady, trying to observe the situation closer. One of the two people running from the troopers was a man, a leather jacket with the well known Resistance symbol etched on it draped over his shoulders. You knew what to do. You couldn’t just let members of the Resistance get gunned down by the Order. 

Reaching out with the force you flung the troopers backwards hard enough to knock them out. Next you closed your eyes, sensing the ties which were circling like vultures and bringing them down in the direction of the sinking fields nearby. The two Resistance members stopped, staring at you, grateful for your help. 

The girl approached you first, shouting up a greeting. You tensed your legs and slid off the wing, landing softly in the sand in front of her. The man stood cautiously a few feet behind her, looking confused. 

“You did that?” the girl questioned you, furrowing her brown eyebrows. Her hair was tied back into three buns, and she held a staff in her hand. There was a small orange ball droid at her feet, which whistled curiously.

“Uh- yeah. Yeah I did,” you stuttered. The man behind her stepped forward, now stood shoulder to shoulder with the girl. 

“You’re a Jedi?” he gasped. 

“Used to be. Long time ago. Now I’m just a mechanic.”

“That’s a lightsaber on your belt!” the girl chimed in.

“Yeah. Didn’t have it in me to get rid of it.”

“I’m Rey, by the way,” she responded. “And this is Finn. He’s with the Resistance. I’m just a scavenger.” 

“Y/N.”

Finn waved a hand in an awkward but sweet greeting, not taking his eyes off the saber on your belt.

You were about to reply when the sound of more ties coming interrupted. 

“Kriff, there’s more!” Finn cried out. 

“You should get out of here,” you suggested urgently. “Take that old freighter there.”

“We could use someone like you on our side,” Rey said. 

“It’s now or never, the Order’s almost here!” Finn called as he started stepping in the direction of the freighter. 

“We’re going to the Resistance. Please come with us?”

“Sure, why not. Let’s get out of here now, though. Those ties are going to be on us like Kowakian monkey-lizards in about twenty seconds.”

-------- Time skip to Maz Kanata’s Castle --------------

Somehow the First Order had found out you were here again. As it turned out, that old freighter from the junkyard was the Millenium Falcon. Han Solo’s Millenium Falcon. 

Currently you were outside the remains of Maz Kanata’s castle, troopers surrounding you, Finn, Han and Chewbacca. Rey had been taken by Kylo Ren. Or Ben. Ben Solo. You were good friends back at the temple. You knew that he recognised you. He paused and looked into your eyes at one point, but you couldn’t look back into his. Where the sweet hazel eyes of a friend used to be you only saw a reflective metal visor. Cold. Dark. 

In a flash all of the troopers around you began panicking. They started heading for the bank of the lake, making you turn to Han in confusion, furrowing your brows. 

“It’s the Resistance,” he whispered, relief showing on his face. 

You saw them. A whole squadron of X-Wings, a black and orange one leading them. The black X-Wing soared up from the surface of the lake, blasting Tie after Tie out of the air, swerving through the ruins of Maz’s castle. 

“That’s one hell of a pilot!” Finn cheered giddily, a bright smile widening.

You only knew one pilot who could fly like that. You gasped sensing his presence through the force. It was him. Poe. Your Poe, after all these years. 

You felt yourself choking up, tears stinging at your eyes. 

“Y/N, you okay, kid?” Han asked. 

“Yeah, yeah I’m good,” you managed. Han didn’t look all that convinced but didn’t press you further. 

------------------ At the Resistance Base on D’Qar -------------

You stepped off the Falcon onto the concrete. Your eyes roamed rapidly in a search for the black and orange x-wing you were so sure held Poe. Finn ran past you, stopping when the ball droid you had come to know as BB-8 crashed into his legs in an attempt to speed past towards something. Towards someone. A man in an orange flight-suit hopped out of the black x-wing, pulling off his helmet and handing it to a nearby technician. You’d recognise those dark curls anywhere. It was him. Poe. 

Finn and Poe ran to each other. So that was who Finn was talking about when he said he’d escaped the First Order with a Resistance pilot. Small galaxy. They embraced, talking for a while before Poe happened to glance over Finn’s shoulder. He froze, face scrunching in confusion. Finn turned back to see what Poe was looking at. 

“You know Y/N?” Finn asked. Poe didn’t respond, starting to walk towards you at a slow, steady pace, still hesitant to approach you. You were dead. That’s what he’d told himself all those years. All those nights where he lay awake, crying over the loss of his very best friend. He shook his head in disbelief, blinking to bring himself out of whatever cruel dream he was currently in. You couldn’t be here. It wasn’t possible. He had heard that every Jedi at the temple had died in the betrayal of Ben Solo- and that had included you. 

The area had cleared now, everyone going inside to celebrate their victory at Takodana. Even Finn had gone with Han to speak to the General, deciding to leave Poe to it. 

Poe still stood about four metres in front of you, staring at you with a blank expression. You didn’t blame him. Couldn’t. You had let him believe that you had died all those years ago. Had never bothered to contact him to tell him you were okay. That you were alive. Thinking about it now, you felt awful. You should have at least sent him a message. 

Tears welled up in your eyes for the second time that day, hands shaking. As a tear escaped your eye, Poe was snapped out of his trance. He strode towards you, wrapping his arms around you ever so gently when he finally reached you, almost as if you would disappear if he held you too hard. 

“Poe,” you choked out quietly, desperation lacing your voice. 

“It’s really you?” his voice shook. You’d missed that voice. 

“Yeah, Poe. Yeah, it’s me.”

“No, no you died,” he finally released a sob. 

That was the line. That heart-wrenching sob that slipped out of his mouth was it. You broke down, tears now flowing freely as you clutched his sleeves. 

“I’m sorry, Poe. I’m so kriffing sorry. I should have told you I was okay. I just- freaked out and I needed to get away from everything so I-”

“Hey, hey- it’s alright. Really. You don’t have to explain yourself to me. I understand perfectly. What you went through couldn’t have been easy. All that matters is that you’re alive, and I’ve got you back. Oh, angel.” Poe sniffled, finally getting the courage to pull you close to him, burying you into his shoulders. 

You both stood there for a while, crying into each other for everything you had lost and everything you had found again. You held each other and rocked side to side, the time passing not crossing either of your minds for a second. 

Poe began to speak.

“You know, the night after you left all those years ago I couldn’t sleep a wink. I was up all night just thinking. Thinking about all the things I should have said when I had the chance. And after the whole temple thing? The things I thought I’d never be able to tell you. So I’m not gonna wait any longer. The galaxy is unpredictable. Who knows what’s gonna happen next. If I’ve learned anything it’s to not waste time thinking about whether you should say something or not. Because if I don’t say anything now then it shows that I haven’t learned anything- and I have. So I want you to know that I loved you. Still do, in fact. Never stopped. Really broke my heart to think that I’d never be able to tell you. But life’s given me a second chance. So I’m gonna tell you again and again until I’m out of breath just how much I love you, and how much you mean to me. Y’know, my dad always used to tell me to wish on a star and your dreams would come true. Thought it was nonsense- a fairy tale that you tell kids to keep them dreaming. But hell, desperate times call for desperate measures. I’ve wished on a star every single night since that day you left, begging whatever forces are out there in the galaxy to bring you back to me. Did I think it would work? Probably not. I thought I was just being hopeful. Yet here you are, stood in front of me again. I’m not going to lose you this time. Not again. I don’t have the strength for that. So what i’m trying to say is that I love you. I love you.”

You couldn’t verbalise a response. What do you even say when someone pours their heart out for you? So you did the only thing you could think of. 

It was a good kiss, perfect even. You might go as far as to call it one worth waiting a lifetime for. You weren’t letting him go again. Not now, not ever. 

[angstew]

How to have a baby during COVID-19 pt. 3-The induction of Oliver...

So here we are.  August 4th 2020.  In the midst of the pandemic.  I thought I was going in for my weekly stress test & OB appointment, and now I’m being told that I am being admitted.  That my blood pressure is dangerously high & this baby needs to come out.  As much research as I had done through the entire pregnancy, the birthing process was not something I had looked into very much.  Basically because it’s terrifying and I just didn’t even want to know.  So now, here I am kicking myself because I have absolutely no idea what to expect aside from an entire human being coming out of my body & HE wasn’t the one who was saying it was time....I called my fiance in tears, told him what was going on, begged the nurses to let him come up & so the adventure/dream/nightmare began...

I get up to the room, waiting for my fiance, and I’m starting to sweat.  All I’ve been told so far is to get into the hospital gown and wait for the doctor...They hooked me up to the fetal monitor, all the machines for my pressure & pulse, a DREADFUL COVID test and after an hour, finally got an IV into my bicep(the joys of being a recovering IV drug addict)  While waiting for the doctor I had a meltdown, I begged my fiance to just take me home, to let the baby come when he was ready, that I’d stay in bed & be careful, bawling my eyes out all crumpled up on the hospital bed.  Thank God for him truly, holding me tight, giving me the strength I needed right then & throughout the entire delivery, never leaving my side. Because we weren’t ready to stay, he had to run home, grab the bags & get the house in order while I sat in the bed with my mind really spinning... Okay, so fast forward a little, because this is a long, crazy ass story....So, doctors come in, let me know that yes I have preeclampsia, they absolutely should have caught it sooner but now we’re here & we gotta get this baby boy out ASAP but as gently as possible...so let the induction begin.  Now, because I’m in recovery, I chose to not take any kind of narcotics, and my fiance made sure to remind & ask every single nurse & doctor with every SINGLE medication that it couldn’t be a narcotic. My gift from God that gave me my mini gift from God. 

The first thing they gave me was IV magnesium, which I guess helps to keep seizures from occurring due to the preeclampsia getting worse, but gave me the worst migraines I’ve ever had, and because of the IV, I was given a catheter because I couldn’t get out of bed. So while that was flowing, the first thing they decided to try was some type of balloon thing, I’m sorry I don’t know any technical or medical terms because I was barely even there, let alone paying attention to names of things, the only thing I was thinking was “please get your fingers & tools & whatever else OUT of my lady parts...”.  So thanks to google, I guess this balloon thing is a catheter & the balloon gets filled with some solution that causes dilation...needless to say, it didn’t work...got me to about 2-3 cm and that was it.  So the next morning, it just wasn’t working any further, so the doctors wanted to try something else.  So they decided to start the pitocin.  For anyone who doesn’t know, pitocin is a hormone & it’s used to speed up the labor, and strengthens the contractions.  Basically, it SUCKS.  The contractions grew, as did the pain, but I wasn’t dilating fast enough.  But finally, at this point I was ready for some relief(non-narcotic of course. ha.)  I do have to say though, what they say about them is true.  I was petrified of getting a needle in my spine as I assume most people are, but the amount of pain I was in, and the relief it brought, it was well worth it.  Unfortunately, the next problem that arose was the fact that the epidural kept wearing off.  Yes, wearing off.  I had to push the button for more relief several times, and that was scary.  “What if that shit wears off while I’m pushing?  What if they can’t do anything or give me anymore after a certain point?” It was just frustrating that every few hours, the pain was excruciating again.  My poor & wonderful fiance held my hand the entire time, while I was squeezing him to death, begging him to fix it & to make everything better...I know there was nothing he could do, but just his presence, just his touch, and just saying the words out loud for some reason made me feel like he was fixing it!  Weird I know. 

 Anyway, so, even after having all these things done so far, I still wasn’t ready to push.  I don’t know what this boy was doing in there, but he had absolutely no intention of leaving my body.  Now to be fair, up until this appointment, I had been telling him that he wasn’t allowed to come any earlier than my due date because I was absolutely not ready, and he for sure heard me & took it very serious because he was NOT taking all the hints that it was time to vacate.  Okay, so its now the second day of labor, nothing is working, but I guess they decided I was dilated enough to break my water...oh goody.  I wasn’t sure exactly how they were going to do that, but after everything so far, I had a feeling it would be just as uncomfortable as everything else had been.  And I was correct!  They used a long hook looking tool & broke it, it wasn’t painful, but it wasn’t fun.  Again, maybe TMI, but I was not a fan of having a hand jammed in my body every half an hour for 2 days....Now, once again the epidural had worn off so because it had been continuing to wear off, the doctor was called & came back in to give me a second one...lucky me.  Now, I don’t know if the doctor gave me a stronger dose this time or if it didn’t go in the right way or what happened...I had the craziest rush, my vision was blurry & no bullshit, I passed out for like 2 hrs afterwards.  It was insane & actually kind of scary...I was going in & out of consciousness, the nurse was telling me to pay attention to how my body felt, in case it was time to start pushing(I guess if it feels like you have to poop it’s time) and I couldn’t talk or tell anyone what was going on because I was so out of it.  My fiance was getting all types of worked up & nervous, because I couldn’t even answer his questions if I was okay or not...it was wild, and I felt the poop-pushing feeling but couldn’t tell anyone before I passed out!!

So now, finally, it’s August 6th, around 6pm.  I finally woke up & I had the craziest urge to poop/push.  So FINALLY, it’s time to get this stubborn little peanut out!!  This part was actually the “easiest” part...sorta.  It was the only thing that went the way it was supposed to go.  Push hard = baby out.  It took me one hour, and that entire time was spent trying to get his round little head down the canal.  Once his head was down, the rest of him slid right out!  Now, I’m not sure if this is standard but WHY on earth do they not put something behind your back or have someone hold you up?!  I truly was out of breath & was at the point of giving up SOLEY because of the strain from having to sit up & push like that.  Because of COVID, I could only have one person in the room, which of course was my fiance, but he being the amazing man he is, called my mom on FaceTime so I had her support through the phone & my fiance was there holding my hand(and at the end, literally holding me up so I could push!)  I told him I couldn’t push anymore, that they were going to have to cut him out of me if he didn’t come out at that point.  I gave one final push as hard as I could, and he came out.  At first I didn’t realize that he was finally out.  I was so tired, still out of it, and then all of a sudden I feel this weight on my chest & there he was.  This beautiful, purple, slimey, LONG ASS, handsome, perfect little boy was finally here on my chest, all 20.5 inches, 7lbs14oz of him.  Oliver Anthony was welcomed into the world.  

And then just as I thought things could only go uphill after all that, I was completely and totally smacked in the face by reality...because it got a whole lot worse for the week of hell that the 3 of us spent in the hospital.  

[ravel-puzzlewell]

I would love some advice on how to not suck at Hades, I keep dying lol. And do casts just sort of suck or am I using them wrong?

okay, so if you’re struggling with surviving, Hades has an easy mode, and no, it’s not “God’s mode”. It’s Athena’s dash. Put Athena on the dash and dash a lot, which you should be doing anyway. Like, I cannot overstate how much of a bulletproof vest Athena’a dash is. 

Overall, Hades is a game with a lot of hidden mechanics and a lot of things just straight up suck if you don’t set them up correctly. I’m gonna try to give quick examples of builds that 100% work and are relatively easy to get, so you can try them to see how good the weapon actually can be, and also mention things that do NOT work, so you’re not stuck in a miserable build, trying to make it work and thinking it’s your fault somehow.

General rules of choosing boons:

For attacks that have high base damage (sword main and special, main bow attack, main spear, gun special) you want boons with percentage upgrades, like Artemis, Aphro, Athena (triple A), Demeter. Poseidon is generally not great for melee, bc he knocks enemies away when you want them in range for hits. 

For attacks that have low base damage, but high speed (bow special, fists, AK-47) you do not want percentages, but boons with flat damage, like Zeus, Dionysus, Ares. 

You’re right, casts do kinda suck by themselves, they are normally supplemental damage at best, but you can make a cast build, you have to use specific weapons: Poseidon sword, Hera bow, Achiless spear, Beowulf shield. I’ll explain cast builds later, but generally you want to focus your build on one or two things that do max damage and not try to have everything upgraded at once, bc then everything will be mediocre and miserable. Like, if you’re playing vanilla sword with Artemis attack and Aphrodite special, focus on them, don’t try to upgrade cast or dash or whatever.

There are higher chances for rare boons, duos and legendaries in the rooms with minibosses. You cannot get a Duo boon of two gods in their trial. Use codex to see what exactly you need for legendaries and duos, and what gods are best to choose to compliment the main one you have. Try unlocking Privileged Status in the mirror as soon as possible, it’s +40% damage bonus if you have two curse effects going, which is pretty easy to get. Great Hermes boon combo is Hyper Sprint that gives you 100% bonus move speed after dashing and then Rush Delivery, that gives you damage bonus based on any bonus move speed. Epic Rush delivery is 100% bonus damage, so after dashing with hyper sprint, you’ll do 100% more damage, it’s pretty fucking OP.

Now I’ll go thru the weapon list with easiest best builds:

Shields are generally seen as the best defensive option for first clears. I don’t love them personally, but I agree, they are pretty good for defense. For easy shield build, slap Ares on special, someone from AAA on attack. I don’t think shields need a lot of advice, they are pretty easy. 

Fists: the best build for fists is Merciful End, and it also allows me to show how untransparent game mechanics are. It’s Ares+ Athena duo that allows Doom to trigger every time you deflect and it needs Ares attack\special + Athena attack\special. If you try it just like that, frex, Athena attack + Ares special, it kinda sucks. Ares attack + Athena special also kinda sucks. No, to make it work, you need to put Ares on attack, Athena on special AND Athena on dash. Athena on special is only there to unlock the duo boon, but it only becomes good if you actually activate it with dash instead of special. So the most efficient way to play is quickly applying Doom with attack (take Ares’ Impeding doom and Dire misfortune for bigger doom damage), and quickly dashing so massive Doom damage triggers every time you dash. This shit erases bosses and keeps you pretty safe despite melee range bc of Athena dash. 

Bow: vanilla bow kinda sucks, ngl, but Chiron, Hera and Rama are pretty fun.

Chiron thrives on the power of its special, you just hit someone with attack and spam special without even aiming. Dio is very good on special here, and for attack you can put Ares or Aphro, both of whom have useful duos with Dio and also allow for Privileged Status. if you take Dio’s cast, you can go for his legendary, but it’s not that great to like build for it on purpose.

But also try the Sea Storm build, which is: Poseidon on special, Zeus somewhere (he’s bad at bow attack and his cast and dash are generally garbage, but his call is good) and then get Sea Storm, which is Zeus+Poseidon duo. Good supplimentary boons: Zeus’ Jolted, double strike, Poseidon’s Razor Shoals, wave breaking. Jolted+Razor Shoals allow you to apply Priv Status in one hit. Poseidon’s legendary is garbage, don’t bother, but Zeus’ is decent if you can get it. This build let you do massive damage while staying safely away from the enemies

Sword: vanilla sword is meh, Nemesis is very good, Poseidon is decent for cast builds. Athur is slower than Thanatos, but pretty tanky.

For basic Nemesis build, get like Arty attack, Aphro Special, Athena’s dash to be safe, go for Arty+Aphro and Athena+Arty duos, and Arty’s boons focused on critical damage like Pressure Points, Hunter’s Mark, Clean Kill. Mainly use dash-strikes, you don’t want to stand in one place to finish combos bc you’ll get hit. If you get Athena’s secondary boon with Exposed status effect, you’ll get Priv Status, and also you should be backstabbing a lot with how much you dash. Hermes’ boon with additional dashes is a must have here, but it’s also great in general. 

Gun: Lucy is ok, but Eris rail is the best one, slap Zeus on attack and all of his supplementary boons (Jolted, Storm lighting for legendary, double strike), but most importantly, pray for Cluster bomb and Rocket bomb hammers. If you can get them, this shit becomes insane. With Arty or Aphro on special it’ll do thousands of damage in seconds. Tbh, I don’t really like playing with Eris, bc it’s too easy and also doesn’t even require skill, but I got my highest heat (40) and quickest time (12 min) with it because it’s just that OP. You don’t even need Athena’s dash, Poseidon’s dash is very good here, esp if you get Sea Storm, it makes clearing small rooms in styx very quick and easy. 

Spear unfortunately sucks a lot in Hades, tho it seems fun at first. Achilles is the best aspect and only because it’s for cast builds and you won’t use the spear itself. 

It pains me, because I love Guan Yu, but I gotta admit, it does kinda suck. Healing shit is not really worth it unless you get a Quick Spin hammer, but even then you risk being hit for more than you’ll heal. The only viable option of playing Guan Yu is a no-hit sniper rifle. You have to get Charged Skewer hammer, something heavy hitting like Arty on the special and just spam the special from across the room. I like playing this build, it’s pretty fun and with backstab you can get 1k in one hit, but it is kinda limited and depends on the hammer. They buffed the main attack lately, but it’s still too slow and clunky to be worth it. Poseidon on special is also pretty good here, because you want to knock enemies away, and Sea Storm is good with it too. 

Cast builds: Poseidon is a good cast option with +50% cast damage, but Achilles is the best, because it has +150% damage after special for 4 attacks. Try Achilles with Zeus cast, which normally sucks, but with Achilles becomes very good. Another great option is Athena, with Aphro on something else to get Athena+Aphro duo that allows casts to backstab. 

Casts that need specific builds to work: Ares cast is only good with Arty duo, try it. Also get Ares supplementary boons for his rifts that make them bigger and longer, etc.

Demeter base cast sucks, but if you get a full build, it’s very OP. full build is: Arty+Demeter Duo MUST HAVE, Glacial Glare that makes lasers stay longer also must have, and pom it as high as possible. If you don’t get one of these things, it’s gonna be miserable, if you get them, you don’t have to make a single hit yourself, icy lasers of death will melt everything. Get as many cast stones from Chaos as you can.  

Hera bow is a great cast weapon, try Athena cast, Poseidon that has great AOE and slides nicely into Sea Storm, or Aphro cast. Trippy Shot (Dio cast) with Hera is very fun and both Dio duos with Zeus and Demeter are very good, and you can get them at the same time, tho it’s unlikely. To be safe, focus on Zeus+Dio, if you get Demeter too, it’s a nice OP bonus. 

Beowulf shield works basically like Hera and same shit works for it too.

If you have specific questions, feel free to ask while I still have this fucking database in my head lol

[myasssaysno]

THE BATMAN! Swinging through rooftops. In some unnamed city, while two gown (you know their goons because one of them is awkwardly holding a gun) watch. for some reason. 

This is Detective Comics (1939) with an emphasis on 1939 (despite it being in brackets) The very first Batman story ever published and I'm going to review it because current comics make me want to die.

WARNING: It's a really long post, so only read if you have time and patience to waste.

Okay first lets talk about that front cover, that rope he's swinging on is simply wrapped around one of his arms. In other words, he's lost that arm or at least damaged it quiet badly (don't try this at home kiddos)

Next, he's carrying a man with him, in a head-lock. So, that man's probably dead (again, don't try at home)

And finally, did the sky need to be yellow? The rooftops blue? Or the buildings red and purple? DO ANY OF THESE COLORS MAKE SENSE?

Anyway, quick explanation. Detective Comics don't function like most modern comics, it doesn't resolve around one single superhero and their fight against evil. Instead, it introduces multiple in the same issue. 

Also, the caps lock is permanently on, to make everything exciting! (Pro tip: use exclamation marks for EVERYTHING!)

The Bat-Man doesn't appear until the 27th issue (according to Wikipedia) which is where we'll be starting, other superheroes be damned. 

This is the first introduction of the character of Batman at all. 

And it goes like this:

“The Bat-Man, a mysterious and adventurous figure, fighting for righteousness and apprehending the wrong doer, in his lone battle against the evil forces of society. His identity remains unknown. "

Okay, so immediately drawn to the 'his identity remains unknown' for two reasons. One, everyone knows who Bat-Man is but I get it at this point no-one would know which sounds ridiculous but then it goes on to tell you who Bat-Man is. Like by the end of this one story.

You would think they'd drag it out a little longer, but old comics don't play around like that. 

Next thing to note, Bat-Man really did start out as a moody loner which is both disgusting and impressive. On account of a lot of character's becoming unrecognizable to their past interpretations, especially spanning decades. 

Now the story is called:

"The case of the Chemical Syndicate."

It starts in Commissioner Gordon's house, who has some of the most colourful furniture. We are talking bright fireman red arm chair, and a sky blue arm chair. Like old comics just went crazy with colours. 

Also, Bruce Wayne used to smoke a pipe (back in the day when everyone smoked) while Gordon prefers what looks like a cigar. Old comics aren't the easiest to tell what's going on half the time. 

Anyway, Gordon is entertaining the young socialite Bruce Wayne. 

(Side note: At the moment Commissioner Gordon doesn't even have a first name which is deeply disrespectful to the man). 

Bruce is playing up the bored rich boy act, head in hand and wishing for death. While Gordon's puzzling over the Bat-Man (which again is extremely disrespectful to my man, Commissioner Gordon who knows better)

Then the phone rings! Dun Dun Duuuun!

We only hear Gordon's side of the story, which explains that a man named Lambert, known as the Chemical King has been stabbed and his son's finger prints are on the knife. 

Okay, first mistake deary. That crime literally just happened, Gordon turns up to the scene is a few panels over and the body hasn't been moved, the crime scene hasn't been analysed and the son's sat waiting for the Commissioner. 

This isn't a case closed, better let the Commissioner know. This is a, their a case that needs the Commissioner phone call. How the hell did they know whose prints are on the knife, how did they know anything about the knife if they're waiting for the Commissioner to analyse the scene. 

But jumping back to the phone call, Bruce Wayne's still in the room. Within hearing distance which is bad but then Gordon asks if he'd liked to come along. 

Commissioner Gordon invites Bruce Wayne to a crime scene. If the people who first read this, didn't immediately work out who Bat-Man is, they're stupid. Plain and simple. 

Anyway, they speed over (because they have to) in a little red car that's looks exactly like Bat-Man's car. (But we don't know that yet)

Arriving at the scene, Gordon examines the scene but doesn't really have anything to say about it. For summary, it's a dead man in a dressing gown who got stabbed in the back (because where else would you get stabbed) and died on his library floor. 

If you haven't worked it out yet, this man is rich. Big mansion, named after him. He's known as Old Lambert, and he's the Chemical King. Which I researched a little into, and it really was early days for chemical corporations in America (and other places) so I'm guessing they wanted to show that's he's some big-shot of a chemical corporation or something?

Either way, Gordon's right on to the good part. Accusing the son of murder, who immediately panics and goes on the defence. Which by todays standards makes him seem guilty as hell. 

As it turns out, he came home early (don't sons just always do that, when their father's getting murdered) heard a noise from the library, found his father with a knife in his back and removed it. 

So technically, he did murder his father. 

The boys story also contains a part where he got the impression someone had jumped out of an open window (not sure what that means) and that the safe was open, and his father's dying words as he held him in his arms were contract. 

God damn it, just once think about your son Old Lambert, but no once again business comes first. 

Gordon then proves himself a good detective and asks the lad about any enemies. Which the boy replies with, no but yeah and lists three names who all become relevant to this story, almost like the boy knew all along. (Kidding)

The first former businessman is Steven Crane, and guess who just phoned the Lambert residency. Steve Crane (maybe it's his brother) who informs the commissioner that Lambert had received a death threat before he'd died, and that he has also received a death threat. 

Gordon tells him to stay put, don't let anyone in. At this point Bruce Wayne taps out and then we're in Crane's library. And oh no, he's just been shot. 

Why give the death threat, did these businessmen just immediately go sit in their libraries and stare at their safe's when threatened?

Crane's murderer steals something from the safe and immediately runs to a nearby rooftop to meet up with Lambert's murderer. 

Okay, mistake number one. If there's two of you, and you're both going to murder a businessman, strike at the same time. Don't wait for the police to turn up to one crime and don't threaten the second victim so he has time to warn the police. 

Next mistake, don't meet on a rooftop, that draws attention. Meet inside a car, or a back alley or at least a few streets away, not down the street from victim two's house.

Finally, don't carry paper around in your hands when your going to meet on a rooftop. Like nothing happens to that paper, but I'm telling you that's the biggest lie of this comic, that paper should be gone.

Instead, they get their ass kicked by Bat-Man who sends one of the criminals flying through space. (The comics words not mine) like Bat-Man just yeets one over his shoulder without looking. 

Anyway, the police turn up, Gordon shouts about catching Bat-Man who is able to disappear into the night with his piece of paper (unrealistic) and then Gordon gives up on finding Bat-Man and goes to Crane's house. 

That's right, one panel of Gordon shouting at Bat-Man and then he's outside Crane's house, speaking with the man's butler who explains Crane's dead. And it's terrible. Heck, Gordon doesn't even check just takes the butler's word for it. 

Gordon then comes to the conclusion that if two out of four businessmen, who Lambert's son mentioned got death threats before dying, the other two businessmen must also have gotten death threats. 

Once again, the are just mention as former businessmen, not even if they knew each other or were part of the same business. Gordon's going out on a limb here. 

Doesn't matter anyway, because he's investigation ends here. 

Bat-Man on the other hand is sat in Bruce Wayne's car, grime smile as he looks at a piece of paper. And then he speeds forward onto an unknown destination. (Um, what?)

Next we jump to the former businessman number two, Paul Rogers whose heard of Lambert's death on the news. Rushing over to the last businessman the son name dropped Alfred Stryker. 

Rogers is met by Mr Jennings, the assistant of Stryker at the door to the neighbouring lab, who lets Rogers in. Only to sock him in the back of the head. Ouch!

He's then tied up, taken to the basement and placed under a glass cylinder. Mr Jennings explains its a gas chamber he's used on guinea pigs (why always guinea pigs)

Anyway, Bat-Man jumps in through the skylight and picks up a wrench. Jumping into the cylinder with Rogers, plugs up the gas jet with a handkerchief before breaking the glass. 

I want to call bullshit, but like it could work. Maybe. I don't know.

Jennings pulls a pistol on Bat-Man. Idiot. He's thrown over Bat-Man's shoulders for his troubles and sat on (that's right) by Bat-Man who then punches him in the face a good few times. 

Stryker finally arrives. Tries to kill Rogers with what looks like a butter knife, Bat-Man immediately twists the knife of out his hands, before grabbing him by the front of his clothes. 

Now comes the part where Bat-Man explains what's going on. Okay, so basically, Stryker didn't have ready cash to buy the company (Apex Chemical Corporation) off the other three. So, he set up secret contracts saying he'll pay them off in set amount, but instead had them killed. 

Not much of a chemical syndicate (which is an organized crime)

Anyway, then Bat-Man kicks the man into a tank of acid (did I forget to mention the tank of acid) for hiring people to kill of some businessmen. I mean what about the people who actual kill them. 

Whatever, Jason's proud Bruce. 

Bat-Man leaves with a quick “a fitting end for his kind” before pulling the disappearing act on Rogers, the only surviving businessman who can't prove Bat-Man was ever there and has to explain the disappearance of Stryker. 

Anyway, Bruce joins the Commissioner again at his house and hears all about the Bat-Man. Not sure what Gordon actual knows about that but Bruce pretends to be uninterested and Gordon thinks Bruce has a boring life and he's disinterested in everything. 

Then, we see Bruce return home and disappear into a room, only for Bat-Man to step out. OH NO! BAT-MAN KILLED BRUCE WAYNE.

Quick summary, four former businessmen. One gets stabbed in the back and for a hot second it looks like his son is the murderer. Businessman two get shot in the front. Both have contracts stolen from their safe. The murderer's meet on the rooftop and are beaten up by Bat-Man.

Businessman three goes to businessman four whose assistant tries to kill him. Saved by Bat-Man. Businessman four is kicked into a tank of acid for his trouble and businessman three goes down for the crime. Maybe, he can't prove Bat-Man murdered businessman four. 

Bat-Man says keep calm and yeet criminals into space (and the one's who hire them into tanks of acid)

[hongism]

not your typical flower shop story chapter three

Pairing: Taehyung x Reader

Genre: Flower Shop Owner!Taehyung, College!Reader, College!Taehyung, Fluff, Angst, Future Smut

Word Count: 6102

Rating: M

Warnings: language

Summary: You always goes to the cute boy next door’s flower shop across the street because hi yes he’s the cutest damn person you’ve ever seen, until one day a guy with tattoos and a severe obsession with the color black shows up in the shop asking for the ‘usual’ and you find out that your cute innocent little flower boy has a dirty little secret.

A/N: i don’t have much of a note to add soooo we may as well jump right into the story woot woot~ i hope you all enjoy the chapter! I’m so so sorry this took so long to get out! I got distracted by finding beauty, then i had no inspiration, and askdkfjdk i was a mess for a bit. It’s finally done though and I’m super excited to share it with you guys!

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"Before I explain anything, you need to be sure about this," Yoongi says, hands outstretched as though warning you against this decision. You grit your teeth and press your lips into a thin line. "If we tell you the truth, there's no going back."

"Stop making it sound so dramatic," you respond. "I don't care." I don't care. I need to know now.

"I don't think you realize the weight of the situation, Y/N. I'm being serious. Dead serious. Your life could turn to shit after this, and what we tell you could put you in danger."

"More danger than what I experienced earlier tonight?" You inquire. You fold your arms over you chest, pushing your weight onto your back foot as you glare at Yoongi. Taehyung doesn't move a muscle; he merely glances between you and Yoongi with wide eyes. "How much worse can it get?" A sigh passes through Yoongi's slightly agape lips, and you smirk at his resignation. He motions over his shoulder in the direction of the living room.

"Can we at least sit and talk about this in there?"

You nod, following both men out to the living room. Reality seems to hit in that moment, as you walk behind them with head ducked, and cold seeps through your skin and fills your whole system. How bad can it be? Not a part of the mafia, right? How dangerous are these two? And the fleeting final thought before you sink into the armchair — what am I getting myself into?

If any of this is supposed to make any sense at all, you are sure that the world is ending and things are meant to turn to shit before it all crashes down on itself. And you suppose that maybe, just maybe, you are perfectly okay with the world ending right now, but you want to be a bit selfish and ask for a bit more out of life first.

The feeling that you had while crouched under a dirty table in that diner was not something you want to experience again. The result that came about the first time you were in the diner — the painful memories you were left to live with alone because your companion then was not as lucky as you were — is not something you want to ever happen again. You don't want another person to take your place, after living with the consequences. So if you can have the ability to prevent that from ever happening again, you may as well do everything in your power to obtain that ability. Something tells you that whatever danger Yoongi is trying to warn you against is exactly what you need. So you are going to take this chance.

"I know you say you don't care, but this is a very serious situation. A matter of life or death. It sounds dramatic, but it's real." Yoongi leans forward in his spot on the couch, elbows finding a home on his knees and propping his chin up atop his clenched fists. Taehyung sits beside him, rigid and still, some sort of unnerving quiet about his presence that hits you with a sense of dread.

"I'm okay with that," you say under your breath. The words come out a bit more unsure than you would like, and the gleams of doubt in both Yoongi and Taehyung's eyes is not helping your case. You sit up a bit straighter, clearing your throat to repeat the words with more resolve. "I'm okay with whatever it is."

"Even if it may be on the wrong side of the law? Or not…the most respectable job?"

"I don't care what it is."

"If you're certain…" Yoongi trails off, still obviously hesitant about sharing the truth with you.

"If knowing whatever your deep dark secret is will make sure that I don't have to go through that kind of fear again, then I am certain."

"What happened to running away from your problems?" Yoongi laughs through his words, a slight smile finding its way onto his lips. He doesn't wait for you to offer a counter argument though and begins to explain. "Do you know what a hitman is?"

"What? Um, yea I'm pretty sure I do. It's just a person who is paid to kill a target, right?"

"Technically yes. I mention that because this is the easiest way to explain what Taehyung and I do for a living."

"You kill people," you state, thoughts leaving your mind the moment Yoongi's words sink in. All of the sudden, knowing the truth doesn't seem as appealing as you thought. But the thought of sweet little innocent flower boy Taehyung killing someone? How is that even possible?

"No — well yes but ugh, okay. Let me just explain this a bit, okay? It's not as simple as that." Yoongi drops his arms and resituates a bit on the couch. "So, Taehyung and I — we are a part of a group — you might call it a gang, but that's a bit too simple for our tastes — and our group is responsible for special kinds of jobs. We do a number of things, and yes, operating as hitmen is one of those things. Each of us has a specific role or job. We go about missions based on these jobs, so not all of us are killers."

"All of you? As in, all two of you? Or are there more?"

"There are seven of us at the moment. Our leader…he tends to be pretty exclusive with who is allowed into the group, so there aren't many of us."

"But you're not a gang? Or in some sector of the mafia?"

"You could call us a gang, but we don't like that label too much. It's — if I try to explain it, you'll think we're just some sort of cocky assholes."

You exhale slowly, breath cascading over your lips, and lean back in the armchair. A gang. Taehyung is in a gang that kills people and does other shady shit. Taehyung. None of this sounds real. Maybe I died back in the diner and this is some weird state of the afterlife that is supposed to signal something.

"So, to summarize: you and Taehyung are part of a gang, but it's not technically a gang, and you kill people, but the two of you don't do the killing? Do you realize how odd that sounds?"

"Yes, that sounds crazy. I guess instead of calling it a gang, it should be an adult criminal organization? That explains it a bit better." Yoongi shrugs, glancing over at Taehyung to see his reaction to the explanation, and Taehyung nods along with him.

"You mentioned special roles?"

"We have specific jobs. Only one person in our group is an assassin. The others all deal with other sorts of jobs."

"Like what?" You wave your hands a bit as a wave of frustration rises in your gut. The whole situation doesn't fit together in your mind.

"Well, sometimes certain people need information. We have someone who goes to business meetings, conferences, parties, those sorts of things, to extort information from others. And he gets that information through bribery or lust-driven fantasies or even just a glass of good wine. Or, if our client needs information obtained in a different manner, we have a hacker who can secure that information in a more covert manner. Break-ins, hacking, seduction, killing — you name it, someone does it."

"What about both of you? Can you tell me what your jobs are?" Yoongi hesitates, a breath of silence, and you narrow your eyes at the man. He doesn't meet your gaze, however, instead glancing over at Taehyung and exchanging an emotional stare with him. Taehyung slowly shakes his head, as though the speed of his movements will prevent you from seeing them. Yoongi pokes the tip of his tongue out between his teeth.

"I'm the guy you hire when you to infiltrate a building. Think, a spy minus the parties and the socialization." Yoongi motions towards the gun that has found its way onto the living room table again. "I rarely have to use it, but if I'm at risk of being caught, I have to do what I have to do. I have another job, but it isn't supposed to be open information. Have to keep it on the down low, just in case."

"So…" You trail off, whatever you were thinking of saying dying before it reaches the air, and stare at the handguns lying innocently on the table. Yoongi seems to sense what weighs on your mind though.

"I can't say that I've never killed anyone. Of course, a lot of shame comes with that weight, but I do what I have to. We all do. I know that if I had the opportunity to pay off my brother's education in a different way, I most definitely would do that instead. But what I have now — what we have together in this group — it's just as good as a family to me. I haven't got any shame for being a part of it, just for some of the things I have to do."

"I...it's just a bit hard to wrap my mind around it. The people you kill have families too. Don't you think they're trying to help their families in some way?"

"Part of the business, Y/N, is learning where to draw the line. Sometimes it's blurry or nonexistent, but a lot of the time, you have to figure out what your morals are and prioritize those. I don't have time to waste my energy on other people's opinions. I do what I have to do. Some things I enjoy, some things I don't. Isn't that merely a part of life?"

You frown at his words. The line between right and wrong, good and evil. A thing your parents taught you about from a young age. Your teachers, friends and family all played a part in molding your view of the world and deciding where that line was. But that all falls under the same umbrella, the umbrella that means being good and right, an umbrella that is supposed to protect you from the evil and wrong. And those thoughts that crossed your mind before you pushed the mug to the ground earlier returns.

They raise you to think that doing good and being good is all that matters. That no matter what evil you see or hear, you are supposed to be good. Help others by doing good and meaningful things. What if doing good things doesn't get you far enough?

You press your palms against the cushion under you.

"I don't know," you say, looking over in Yoongi's direction. He blinks back at you with eyes a bit wider than they were before, and you rush to clarify what you mean in the face of his confusion. "How on earth are you supposed to build your own morals when people have been telling you what you're supposed to think and say for your whole life?"

There's a familiar ring in your head as your question lingers in the air, one that hearkens memories from a time when you were younger. Yoongi's expression softens. Taehyung finally looks in your direction. You only hear your mother's voice whispering gently in your ear, almost feeling her breath against the shell of it as she recites the words she used to whisper to you before tucking you into bed at night.

"Remember, Y/N. See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."

The things she told you as a child, what's right and wrong, ways to be a good person, and the punishments that follow being a bad person. Like when you took a pack of candy from the grocery store and stuffed it under your shirt, walking out the door without a thought about it being wrong in any way. She reprimanded you so much after that incident, told you how bad it was to take things that don't belong to you, and demanded that you tell her where the idea came from.

"From my mind," you had said. Without any outside influence, you had had the urge to steal the candy because you knew that your mother wouldn't want to buy it for you and would tell you to put it back. In all of her nighttime mantras, never did she say "do no evil". See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil. Not do no evil.

"I don't understand," you whisper, more to yourself than to the men sitting to your side. "Doing evil things with good intention. Does that balance it out? Do the scales tip more in one direction than the other? But which side weighs more?"

"It doesn't have a measurement, Y/N," Yoongi responds, voice hovering above a whisper along with yours. "Trust me, I've thought about this time and time again, but I've never gotten an answer. Eventually I came to terms with the burden. Killing someone? That's on me, that's something I have to live with for the rest of my life. But when I lay down at night and think about what and who I did that for, I'm at peace with it. I know that it didn't come from a place of hatred or evil, merely self-defense and the will to keep on living for the people I care about."

"So if…what if I—I have someone, a person I want to protect and live for?"

"What are you asking me, Y/N?"

You pause, chewing on your words by gnawing on the tip of your tongue, and look away from the two men. If I had the chance — the ability — to go back and kill that robber before he hurt anyone the first time I was at the diner, would I take it? In a heartbeat. And to what extent would I go to pay off the medical bills? Find a magic cure for him? Bring him back as the person I knew?

"I-I'm asking what I have to do to be a part of this."

"Y/N, no!" Taehyung speaks up for the first time. He lunges out of his seat, standing and putting both hands up in front of your body. His expression is panicked, shoulders tensed and drawn upward so high they nearly touch his ears. "No, I can't let you be dragged into this. Not this. You are a good person. Please don't do this."

“Wow…that’s — uh, you’re a really good person. That’s amazing how you want to help people and do good things for others. I…I can’t imagine.”

You squint at the man before you. What about you, Taehyung? What do you do this evil work for? Aren't you the same as Yoongi? Wanting to help the people you care about, but needing to do that by bad methods?

"What if it's my decision? I want this. I need this. I have people I care about too, people I need to help, and I can't do that now. If I have even the slightest chance to be able to help them, why would I not take that?" Your hands tremble slightly as you tuck them into your lap.

"You don't deserve to be dragged into this life. You deserve more than this. I-I can help—I can help you financially if that's what you need. I'll give you any amount of money if you just don't d—"

"But then I'm not helping anyone. I would be simply taking your money! I'd be taking away money you could use for people who matter to you."

"It's okay! I don't mind, Y/N. I just — I don't want you to be a part of this life. It's not meant for you. You're too good and want to do something impactful and meaningful for others. This won't get you there."

"You don't know anything about me, Taehyung. You know me as the girl who comes by your flower shop every week, but that's it. You don't know what I've lost or what I've had to go through. You said it yourself at the diner: I am a person who has seen a lot of terrible and evil things, and I want the best from people even though I've been disappointed too many times to count. If this is some sort of retribution and a way for me to rectify the mistakes I've made throughout my life, then so be it. If I want this, then please let me have it." You plead with Taehyung, hands clasping together in your lap, and you look up to meet his gaze. Taehyung releases an almost inaudible whine and turns away from you.

"She's right, Taehyung," Yoongi interjects. "You can't make this decision for her. If this is what she wants, then she has every right to pursue it."

"Thank you," you mutter as you drop your hands again.

"But it's not that easy. Neither of us can just let you in, and that's not a decision that's up to the two of us. As I mentioned earlier, our leader is very particular about who is allowed in the group. We would have to go to him and discuss things with him first before you're even allowed to meet him, then he would have to meet you in person and conduct some tests to make sure you're certain about this." You shake your head a little, looking around Taehyung's body to meet Yoongi's eyes.

"I don't care what it takes. This opportunity came to me for a reason, and I would be stupid if I didn't take it."

Yoongi sighs.

"Let me go make a quick call then. I'll be right back." He stands and moves away from the couch, leaving you and Taehyung to remain in the living room with an awkward silence ready to ensue.

The front door to the apartment snaps shut and announces Yoongi's exit. Taehyung lowers himself to the couch once more, refusing to look in your direction again.

"I'm sorry about your mug," you say to break the silence.

"It's okay."

"I'm sorry for getting angry with you too. I don't understand what kind of situation you're in or why you have to do this. I shouldn't judge you for something I don't understand."

"It's okay, Y/N. I get it, I really do. All the questions you were asking…I had the exact some concerns when I first started this job. I still struggle a lot with it as well, and I've never really come to terms with the ugly parts of my job. I try to remind myself that I'm doing it with good intentions and it's for a good cause, but at the end of the day, I'm never sure whether I'm just trying to tell myself that it's okay when it isn't. Yoongi has had a lot more time to wrestle with those things, and he is much stronger than I am in terms of mentality and emotions. He seems to have it all under control and knows what he believes in, but I…I can't do that. I-I think being around you, it-it makes me think more about it. You're a good person, even if you claim that I don't know you, I can see it. In the way you treat people, what you want to do with your life, even when you claim that you need to be a part of this life in order to help. At the end of this road, when it's all said and done, I know that you will still be a good person. If you join this life, no matter what you have to do, you will always have those good intentions and a good heart. As for me…I-I, I'm not sure that I can say the same about myself."

You frown. Eyes averted, Taehyung sniffles and rubs at the base of his nose. You're certain that if he were to turn his head, you would find tears on his cheeks. Sweet, innocent Taehyung. That's how you have seen him since the first time you went to his flower shop. And yet, now, months later, you see that he doesn't think of himself in the same way. It's almost a form of self-hatred, his misconceptions driving his mind to a place of hatred for what he does and why he does it. And yet… 

"You saw the good in me, Taehyung. Even though I don't think of myself the same way, you still believe that I'm that kind of person. I've always seen you as that kind of person as well. You may not believe me, or you may not want to, but I think of you as a good person."

He looks over at you, eyes a bit bloodshot, and you see the tear tracts on the balls of his cheeks. He doesn't say anything in response to your small rant. After another few moments of quiet between the two of you, he reopens his mouth and begins to talk again.

"I-I don't hurt people. Not physically at least. I never have, and I've never used my gun. It is just something that I have to have with me at all times, just in case something does happen, but if that time comes, I'm not sure I would be able to shoot someone, even in self-defense. I don't want to. The others know that and understand it, but I've a-always felt a bit guilty about it. For making them think that if it came down to it, I wouldn't be able to protect them. I'm just a hacker. A simple and easy job where I can stay in the base and not worry about ever having to hurt someone."

"But sometimes it feels like you're hurting people nonetheless?" You ask, trying to follow Taehyung's train of thought.

"Yea…sometimes I think that. When I take funds, I think about how maybe those people could've used the money to support their family or pay for bills and education. And with information, I think that maybe someone might lose their job for not protecting the information better. Maybe they'll have to go home to their spouse and children and tell them that they don't have a job anymore. They can't support the family anymore. I worry that I'm the cause for a divorce or strife and all kinds of other bad things. And I wonder if it would be better for me to just hurt people physically instead of emotionally…"

"Why are you part of the gang if that's the case? Wouldn't it be better for you to not do that kind of work?"

"They need me," Taehyung whispers, "and I need them. Without them, I don't know where I'd be or what I'd do. I've talked about it with our leader before, and he always tells me that I don't have to do anything I don't want to. Even if I step away for a few days or don't work for a couple of weeks, I always end up coming back. They mean too much to me for me to walk away." Another question lingers on your lips but it remains there, hanging on the tip of your tongue, as Yoongi enters the apartment again. You turn your attention to the door, and Taehyung looks over his shoulder. "What did he say?" Taehyung asks. Yoongi doesn't say anything so you search his expression for some sort of answer, but he remains blank as he walks back to the couch. "Hyung?"

"He said he talked to Moon earlier and that they both decided it would be a good idea." First Chariot, now Moon? What the hell? Are they using code names or something? But Yoongi and Taehyung have been using each other's names this whole time.

"Moon? Why would his opinion matter at all in this?" Taehyung asks. He rubs at his eyes in an attempt to erase any sign of his earlier tears.

"He didn't explain why, and I didn't ask."

"So what does this mean for me?" You cut into the conversation.

"It means you get to go meet him."

"What?" You and Taehyung speak at the same time, and a small grin crawls onto Yoongi's lips. He laughs at the expressions of shock across both your faces.

"No need to be so panicked. You won't be meeting him at our base, you won't get to come near that place until he's talked with you some first and decides whether you can join. So, in the meantime, you and I will go on a little walk to meet up with him. As for you, Tae, he asked that you head to the base to report to Star. He wants to know everything that went down tonight in case that guy in the diner was part of a rival gang." More code names? What the hell…how am I supposed to keep up with all of this?

"What? Wh-why can't I come along with you two? I feel like I should be there…" Taehyung trails off. Yoongi brings a hand down on his shoulder, eyes boring holes into the side of his head.

"Do you trust me to keep her safe?"

"Of course I do."

"And do you trust me to do whatever I have to to make sure she's safe?"

"I do, hyung."

"Then go back to the base. I'll take care of things."

Taehyung does as asked and stands, but he passes you one last glance before stepping around the couch. He doesn't say anything else; instead choosing to leave the apartment with you and Yoongi behind. Once the door closes behind him, you let out a deep exhale.

"Um, so where are we supposed to meet this—uh, your leader?" You ask, and Yoongi laughs at the awkwardness residing in your tone.

"You can call him Emperor."

"Sorry, what? Uh, I think not? That sounds like a weird kink, and I'm not into that." Yoongi only laughs harder at your statement, doubling over where he sits.

"It's not a kink. Not one that I know of, at least. I just can't tell you his real name, so I'm giving you his code name instead." Yoongi gets up and grabs his handgun off the table. He tucks it into his waistband before addressing you again. "I can't tell you exactly where we're going, so I'll need you to trust that I'm not gonna take you to an alley to kill you."

"That's reassuring, thanks," you say in response, a slight scoff following your words, and you stand as well. You pat your pockets, waiting for the familiar bump of your cell phone, but it never comes. "Uh, one second, I think I left my phone in Taehyung's room." Yoongi shrugs. As soon as you step back into Taehyung's room, you spot your phone lying on the bed. Notifications litter the screen, some from your friends at university, one from your mother, and another from one of your coworkers, but you don't pay them any mind because something else garners your attention on the screen. Four new messages from Jimin, along with two missed calls from the same ID.

from y/n, 11:26 p.m. read

- i know you aren't really him, because the hospital would've told me if anything happened. so quit playing games and tell me who you really are.

from jimin, 11:32 p.m. read

- and how exactly would you know that??

from jimin, 11:34 p.m. read

- it's not like you ever visited the hospital…not really. leaving flowers in the lobby??? were you really that busy to not even have time to come to my room? see how i was doing? only ever had the time to ask the receptionist to send the flowers to my room? good fucking riddance, y/n.

from jimin, 11:35 p.m. read

- you disappeared on me. all the messages you sent about how you wished i hadn't disappeared, or left you, or gone away were bullshit. you were the one to leave me. how could you not realize that? are you that fucking full of yourself? think you're such a good and wonderful person that it would never be your fault?

from jimin, 11:57 p.m. read

- is it your turn to ignore me now??

You can't stop your hands from shaking now, fingers too unstable for you to be able to type out an answer. Even if you could answer, you have no idea what you would say in response to that. How did he know that I never visited him? Did the nurses tell him? Was he released? No…that's not possible…they would have told me. I-I don't understand what's happening. Everything is falling apart all at once.

"Is everything alright?" Yoongi's voice enters the room.

No.

"Yea, I'm fine. Sorry, got distracted for a second."

"Watch out for the glass."

"I'm fine." You join Yoongi by the door, pushing your phone into your pocket without looking at the screen again. "Let's go. I'd rather not keep your friend waiting." Yoongi snorts and leads the way out of the apartment. He snatches Taehyung's keys off the counter before he goes though, and he allows you to step into the hallway first as well, locking the door behind him once he is in the hallway as well.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?"

You jump at the sound of the voice, even though it's one quite familiar by now. Down the hall, Hifumi stands, stepping out of the elevator just as Yoongi locks the door. She wears the same slinky outfit you saw her leave in earlier in the night, but a coy smile resides on her lips now in addition to the outfit. She holds her painful looking stilettos in one hand, the other resting on her hip as she walks closer to where you're standing with Yoongi.

"Isn't this an interesting turn of events?"

You huff in response.

"It seems your little date went quite well, I assume? They say two's company, three's a crowd. Just more opportunities for pleasure though, am I right?" Hifumi laughs, tongue poking out between her teeth. Yoongi doesn't say anything; he merely stands at your side, glancing over Hifumi with little interest.

"Oh please, Hifumi. You really think I'm that type of girl?" You scoff.

"Hm? Oh, if you haven't tried it, I highly recommend. Quite the experience. And with your choice of company, I'm sure it would be quite the pleasure as well. Better than any of the other people you've dragged through your door." Hifumi laughs as redness creeps up your neck, and you shift from foot to foot with growing discomfort. She passes a wink your way, eyes travel over Yoongi's form, then she moves for her door. "Goodnight, Y/N. Maybe I'll see your friend around?"

"I wouldn't cou—"

"Depends," Yoongi cuts in, preventing you from finishing your denial. Hifumi releases a loud laugh, and the sound echoes through the hall. She continues to laugh until she's disappeared behind her door. "She's funny."

"Excuse me?"

"She's funny," Yoongi reiterates, leading the way to the stairwell.

"I don't think so," you mutter back. Yoongi laughs at your comment. He glances at you over his shoulder, one side of his mouth tugged upwards.

"Not a fan of threesomes?"

"Excuse me—what?" You nearly miss a step thanks to Yoongi's comment, but he just keeps laughing without a care. "Why are you asking me that now of all times?"

"Just making conversation."

"It's none of your business."

"Trying to lighten the mood as well, but you seem to be more pessimistic than I am so that's quite difficult."

Hitting the last step, you huff and attempt to shove your hands into the pockets on your pants, only to realize that you're still wearing your pajama pants.

"Wa-wait, Yoongi, I-I'm still wearing my nightclothes," you stutter, reaching out to grab hold of Yoongi's arm.

"And?"

"I—There's no way I'm going to meet the leader of a gang in my pajamas!" You argue.

"He won't care. I guarantee it."

"But I care."

"Well then, don't?" He suggests, waving his hand through the air as though to dismiss the issue. You drop the topic, either too tired or too nervous to carry on talking about it with Yoongi. The realization of how late it actually is hits when the two of you step outside. The chill in the air is typical, seeing as the season is shifting into winter and the last bits of autumn show in the brown and orange leaves that cling to the few trees outside your apartment building. Subconsciously, you wrap your arms around yourself, trying to block the cold from breezing through your t-shirt to no avail, and follow Yoongi as he leads the way to an unknown place.

This is most likely one of the dumbest decisions you've ever made: following a man you don't know well, who poses a significant threat no doubt (especially because he's carrying a gun), and going to meet the leader of a gang. If your mother could see you now, she would either be disappointed, mortified, or both. Her sweet-spoken mantra, "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil", rings in your head as you stare at Yoongi's leather-clad back, and for a moment, you feel as though you are watching your body move from above. Some sort of atemporal and out of body experience where you see yourself following Yoongi to an unknown place. Maybe, just maybe, it's a sign — something meant to warn you against this path — or you're losing your grip on reality (again). Funny how that seems to be a recurring pattern for you.

If asked to repeat the path you took with Yoongi later, you wouldn't be able to explain anything because you don't feel yourself return to your body until Yoongi has stopped in front of a grungy looking bar. He glances over at you, hand resting on the door handle, and you merely blink back, trying to recall how you got here.

"You good?"

"Yea, I'm okay," you say.

"You're still sure about this? This is the last time I'll ask."

"Yes, I'm certain." You rub your forehead as you speak. Even though you speak with confidence, you're sure that the nervousness shows in your expression, and you can't hide that well. Yoongi doesn't say anything more; instead, he pushes against the door and lets the warm air from inside cascade over the two of you. You follow him in, looking at your surroundings with wide eyes. Despite the grungy appearance of the exterior, the inside is much more put together and clean than you would have guessed, and even with the late hour, there seem to be lots of patrons littering the tables.

You stick close to Yoongi's body as he walks through the bar. The two of you reach the back, close to the bartender, and Yoongi exchanges a discreet nod with the man as you pass him. He keeps pressing forward, through another door, and now you've stepped into a significantly colder room with a single table in it. And there, sitting at that table, one chair empty across from him, is a man. Yoongi doesn't have to tell you who he is, because you know just from looking at him.

Even though he's sitting, you can tell he's tall from his long torso and legs. When he looks over at you, a chill passes through your spine, and you avert your gaze.

"Here she is," Yoongi says and motions at you with his hand.

"Thank you. You can go join Moon outside. He's at the bar counter." Yoongi slides around you and exits, leaving you to stand at the mouth of the room with the man's eyes still lingering on you. "Why don't you come sit down, Miss L/N?"

"Okay…” you mutter. Your feet drag as you approach the table, body feeling heavy under his scrutiny. Once you sit down and meet his eyes, he offers a warm smile, catching you off-guard.

"We'd best get started. I have a lot I want to discuss, which might be a surprise to you. However, I've been looking forward to this meeting for quite some time."

"Wh-what?" You stammer, blinking at the man across from you as he grins.

"Did you think it was all a coincidence?"

...

a/n: woooo! another chapter written! i hope you guys like it, and let me know what you think!! i love hearing from you guys~

edit: heathy thank you for saving my clown ass with that edit i’m big dumb 🤡

consider sending me a ko-fi!!

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