#hopefully i'll be able to put something else out today

[asvidema]

cold shower after coming back at 7 pm from internship walking 1 hour all the way home inthe heat! fuck yeah

[meganegatari]

THE WAY YOU WRITE IS JUST SO YUMMM so yeah🧍🏻‍♀️can you write something about streamer ellie <33

☆: IM SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT. definitelyyyy hasn't been...months...anyway. positive this is one of the worse things i've written, but didn't wanna leave you hanging forever! ngl it's pretty filthy..heh.

◇: 18+ pretend those twitch guideline things don't exist. remote control vibrator use, orgasm denial, sub-ish!ellie?? plot twist at the end bc i think im so funny. 1.6k wc. don't mind the layout of this idk what else to do...

You watch your girlfriend stream her game from your fluffy and comfortable spot on your shared bed—you observe how focused she was on her screen, how her skilled fingers were flying across the keyboard and mouse. It would certainly be a shame to disturb her in such a high tension moment but you think it over, running your finger over the small buttons of the sleek little remote in your hand.

"Yeah, yeah, got 'em! Look at that guys, I fuckin’ aced that!" Ellie rejoices in her victory, and gleefully boasts to her viewers, adjusting her microphone closer and leaning back in her chair.

You're glad you were far off camera, her fans didn't even know she was in a relationship—Ellie made it clear she wanted you to be separate from her hobbies, not because she wanted to keep you a secret, but because she wanted to keep you safe. And you enjoyed watching her stream from the sidelines like this, you saw how her personality captivated viewers and how much fun she really was. But you also enjoyed messing with her on the occasion. Like today.

"Can I watch tonight's stream again?" You asked her eagerly. "Yeah, why not? I'll be doing some tournaments and stuff though, so no distractions." Oops. You bit back a laugh. Ellie immediately sussed out the mischievous look on your face and she sighed, expecting the worst.

Then you showed her the box you've been hiding, "Please let's try, I won't click it too much, I promise." She stared at you for a whole minute, maybe more, before sighing and reluctantly agreeing, rubbing her hands all over her face. "God, fine. Just 'cause I love you. Damn you're evil."

Fast forward to now—the device was snugly inserted inside her pretty pussy, tested out to prove it does in fact work, and works well at that.

So off Ellie went to play her game, getting so caught up in everything she seemingly forgot about the device entirely. In between games she was talking to the viewers, reading the chat and joking back and forth. You decided it was a good enough time to click it so you pressed the button, only for a miniscule zap.

She jerked in her seat, gasping, but quickly recovered with a strategic cough. "Phew sorry guys, something got caught in my throat." You saw a bright berry blush spread across her face, and the way she fought to turn and throw a glare at you. This was going to be fun.

"Alright, the next round’s gonna start, we gotta lock in! Hopefully nothing pops up and this goes smoothly. I can taste the win already.” She put a certain warning tone to her voice in the last part of her sentence, you knew it was meant for you, but were you going to listen? Absolutely not. "Oh yeah chat fun fact, this old area of the map was inspired by ancient ruins just of—ah!" As if her body had a mind of its own, she squirmed in her seat and she clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle a moan when you hit it again, but this time you didn't turn it off right away. You kept it going for a few more seconds, to prolong the terribly delicious sensation.

She screwed her eyes shut tightly and held her breath until you turned it off, mumbling to her viewers about "having hiccups". "The game is starting now, so we really gotta get serious." Her voice had an unsteadiness to it only you could hear, she was keeping her composure rather well so far. But likely wouldn't be able to keep up the act for much longer. Even she has her limits.

As her match went on, she got quiet when she was focused, mashing the keys with a speed fast as sound. Of course, you hit it again, just a short one, causing a choked "guh" to escape from her lips and she twitched when you did so, her facade starting to crack. The effort to keep her voice stable was showing, she was huffing and struggling to get her words out clearly, they were laced with obvious irritation.

"Fuck missed the shot, dammit. Yeah I don't know, somethings up today, sorry guys...off my game." You decided to be nice to her until the game ended, not pressing it further or adjusting the intensity. She played for a little while longer before losing the match, leaning forward on the desk with her face in her hands. This was the perfect moment, so you cranked it up, increased the intensity to maximum, and held the button for the longest time yet, making her whine—a low, drawn out sound she couldn't stifle this time.

You could hear lots of messages being sent, pings in rapid succession, they were probably clipping that moment. Perverts, you thought. 

Her chest was noticeably heaving up and down, her legs spread as she rocks her front against the chair, and she kept her head lowered until you decreased the intensity but didn't turn it all the way off. Her hands were shaking, and her face was a vibrant cherry red, the screen even reflected the sparkle of a couple tears in her eyes.

“What? Oh, I'm just so sad about the loss guys, we were so close—hnn- so…so closeahh—I mean, we should've gotten that…” She trailed off, chewing on her bottom lip and tapping her fingers on the desk’s wooden surface. “Y’know what, I'll be right back.” She paused the stream, made triple sure her camera and microphone were turned off, then whipped around in her chair to face you, glaring silver daggers your way.

You just giggled innocently and turned the device off again. “What the fuck is wrong with you, this shit is not- not light on you at all.” Her voice was breaking, her pretty features contorted in a beautifully needy expression, eyebrows furrowed and eyes all watery. Nearly as wet as the mess in her pants. You feigned innocence and shrugged at her, “Well I didn't know it was that strong.” “You knew damn well.” She's fed up with your antics, but you have fun playing with her. She covers her face and leans back in the chair, the embarrassment in her voice the only thing you could hear, “Fuck you...turn it up again, wanna cum.”

You couldn't contain the laugh that burst forth from your chest, then said, “Only if you stream it.” The shock that flickered across her face was priceless, you wish you could have snapped a photo.

“What the fuck do you mean by that, nah forget it.”

“Hey, you gotta finish your stream either way, they're waiting. Would you wanna be so awful and deprive those darlings of your presence?”

You flash her a sugary smile, and she shoots you a murderous look again, before wordlessly scooting back to her setup, fanning herself briefly and readjusting her coppery hair.

Then she turns the stream back on. “Sorry guys, I had to get up for a second. Anyway, let's play one more game. I'm getting kinda tired today. Let's make this one count, lock in like never before.” She takes a deep breath, cracks her knuckles, and begins smacking away at the keyboard buttons. You're able to see the way she looks tense, on edge, anticipating your devilish interruption.

You debate whether you should torture her, but the answer quickly becomes clear. Click.

“Ah—fuck!” She sputters, and roughly slams her fist on the desk. The pleasure was hitting her with full force, she was in her own, lewd, world now. Her head is thrown back, back arched and hips stuttering, the release was about to sneak up on her.

You watch the scenario unfold, licking your lips and pressing your thighs together to deal with the pressure between them. Her unapologetic moans get louder, but for a second she snaps out of the trance to sit back upright, turn the stream off, before the peak hits her like a truck.

“Holy, fu—hah!!” With a squeal she cums, not caring about how fucking loud she was being, wanting to be selfishly absorbed in ecstasy.

She started to jolt around in her seat, the throes of overstimulation making her whimper like an animal in heat, it truly was a sight to behold. You wish you were in between her legs, lapping up her sweetness straight from the source, but in a way, just watching from the sidelines was satisfying enough. You'll clean her up afterward.

Finally you turned it off once and for all, and gazed at her, she was panting heavily, the post-orgasm glow making her rosy skin shimmer in the low light.

“Hmmm, thanks babe, that was so good…” She tried to talk, her head was in the clouds, but she looked at peace.

“You're a whore.” You chortled, and you two shared a laugh.

Although, a flurry of shrill sounds brought you both out of the fantasy. Ping, ping, ping.

Unfortunately she wasn't able to enjoy the aftermath of a mind-numbing session, because her eyes shot open and she began scrambling to find the source of the sound. Your stomach dropped as you watched her panic, her neuroticism infectious.

She looked at you, her eyes wider than saucers, nothing but fear in her voice, “I wasn't able to turn my mic off…”

What was she going to do now?

if you'd like to be tagged in my fics, click here! thank you for reading. asks, reblogs, and comments are appreciated more than you know. ♡

tags: @andersonfilms @ch6douin @aouiaa @sapphic-ovaries @astro-cat2 @paqerings @r3starttt @littlefallenangel111 @sinfulprayerss @lvlymicha @sunnsh1ine @anniee333 @pinkcwake @marsworlddd @caszzine @saturnsdrafts @ashaynep @mascdom @xysbree @liddysflyer @fortune777 @brunaedn @bunnitewsilly @mimasroom2 @deliriousrn @infiniteinquiries @thekill3randthefinalgirl @kissyslut @elliesapple

[jewishvitya]

May i ask why are you still living in occupied Palestine, shouldn't all anti zionist Israelis leave, cause they're currently benefiting from Palestinians's oppression.

You know what. Sure.

Thing is, have you ever tried immigrating? I'm disabled, fully relying on disability pension and family support, how many countries do you know that take in a person unable to work? Where do I immigrate to? I need a country that would take me.

I don't have another citizenship. I know there's this perception that all Israelis have two citizenships, but most people I know don't. Many of our families came here as refugees - which doesn't negate them becoming settlers, I'm describing a situation, not making excuses - and the countries they left don't want us and made sure we have no way back open to us.

This is pretty sad for me to answer because I love it here, just the land itself. Even today that it's unbearably hot and I'm sensitive to heat lol. If the political situation wasn't what it is, I wouldn't even think of leaving. This is home. But I do want to hopefully leave one day.

A family member is in the process of trying to obtain a citizenship like that, and if she succeeds, I'll see what that might mean for me.

Also, the process is expensive. Just getting the citizenship, but even more the immigration itself. I'm sure there are people who wouldn't do it because "I don't want to put that much money into it, but I could if I wanted to." But my situation is "I don't have any."

And you also asked about anti-zionists generally. So. There are anti-zionist activists who feel they can do the best work here, where everything is happening, compared to from a distance. If all left, all that work would stop.

One of my favorite examples of activism is Protective Presence. Look up Andrey X. He immigrated here, I think from Russia, saw the occupation, went "fuck this" and joined activist groups. West Bank settlers and military harass and terrorize Palestinians on a regular basis, and it can't all be prevented this way, but Protective Presence try to just be there where things are happening.

Sometimes the presence of Israeli Jews with cameras is enough to deescalate. Sometimes they get into altercations with the settlers or the military. They physically try to put themselves between the Palestinians and the WB settlers and military. There have been a few situations where they were a big reason that a group of Palestinians was able to draw water from wells despite settler harassment, for example.

And when Israel decides to demolish a Palestinian house, sometimes groups of Israeli activists go there to physically stand in the way. This is a kind of work you can't consistently do if you're living somewhere else.

Not everyone does that, like I said it's my favorite example of organizing they do, but many people are trying to do things to help.

There are also groups that offer some support for young people who want to refuse service. Spreading information to hopefully encourage more people to refuse. The pressure to enlist here is something that would take me several paragraphs to describe, and I think it's good there are groups who let those people, fresh out of high school, lean on them while dealing with hostility from others (often including family) and with imprisonment for refusing. Even when it's just moral support.

Hopefully we get to see a free Palestine soon.

[ladykailitha]

Forever Young Part 3

Hey guys, welcome back! With all the 1 million word celebration stuff going on I haven't had much time to work on much, especially with a migraine that lasted three days last week, so I'm whittling down my backlog. But that's what it's for, so have no fear.

Once I have the 1 million words stories done, I'll be able to get back to work on the other stories.

In this the kids are fed and put down for naps and Steve does something unexpected.

Part 1 Part 2

~

Once all the kids had been fed and cleaned up, they decided to divide and conquer. Lucas and Mike would watch the kids, while everyone else worked on what might have caused the regression in the first place.

“I can tell it is not Upside Down related,” El said with a extreme confidence as they gathered around the pool to talk so they didn’t disturb the kids.

Will chewed his lip and nodded. “I agree. I’d feel it if it was. There is something else happening here, we just need to figure out what happened.”

“They had their movie night last night,” Dustin said, rubbing his chin. “I know because I tried to get Eddie to take me to the library last night, but he wouldn’t budge.”

“Don’t they usually all sleep over together when they do that?” Max asked cocking her head to the side.

“Not always,” Will said, shaking his head. “Like if one or more of them have to work, they’ll go their separate ways.”

“Shit!” Dustin said, leaping to his feet. “Who works where today? We need to call them in sick or they’ll get fired!”

“Steve will have it on his calendar,” El said tilting her head to the side thoughtfully.

They all dashed into the house and slid into the kitchen.

“It looks like only Nancy and Robin!” Will cried as he scanned for today’s date. “Max you call and act all stuffy like you’re sick.”

Max nodded and went over to Steve’s roll-a-dex and looked up both numbers. She quickly put on the best performance of her life.

Twice.

When she had finished with family video, they all slumped to the floor.

���I’ve only given us two extra days,” Max said, bringing her knees up to her chest. “Hopefully that will be enough.”

They all nodded.

Suddenly Mike cried out, “Guys get in here now!”

All four of them lurched to their feet and scrambled for the living room.

“What’s wrong?” Dustin asked, panicked.

Mike pointed to Eddie and Steve on the floor.

“I don’t—” Max said rolling her eyes.

“Shhh!” Lucas hissed, cutting her off.

“You like bats?! That’s so cool!” Little Eddie was saying. “Everyone tells me that they can’t be my favorite because they’re so creepy.”

Little Steve was coloring on Little Eddie’s right arm. “I think they’re cute. They’re like flying mice and I love mice. My mom won’t let me have any because she’s afraid of them. But I keep telling her that field mice that try to get into the house and fancy mice that are use for pets are different.”

“They are?” Eddie asked, eyes sparkling with excitement.

“I still don’t—” Max huffed, putting her hands on her hips.

But again she was cut off, this time by Mike. He pointed to what Little Steve was drawing on Little Eddie’s arm.

“Holy shi–” Dustin stopped himself. “Crap.”

Little Steve was almost done with his drawing. He had drawn four of the five bats that made up Eddie’s tattoo on his forearm.

Will walked up to them and crouched down next to Little Steve. “That looks really neat, Stevie. What made you decide on bats?”

Little Steve frowned as he finished the last bat. It wasn’t neat or exactly like Eddie’s tattoo, but there were five of them of varying sizes.

“I like bats!” Little Eddie said brightly. “He asked if he could draw on me. Mama never lets me draw on myself and when I visit Uncle Wayne he says he has to follow her rules or at least make sure I wash them off before I go home.”

“That’s great, Eddie,” Will said with a pained smile. “You like to draw?”

Little Eddie nodded.

“It just felt right,” Little Steve said softly, stroking the newly colored bats on Eddie’s arm. He looked up at Will, his eyes welling up. “Did I do something wrong?”

Will shook his head. “No, Stevie. You didn’t do anything wrong. I was just curious about why you chose the bats.”

“His arm looked funny without them,” Little Steve whispered.

Little Eddie cocked his head to the side. “I like it! It’s like my Daddy! He has tattoos too! Though his are like daggers and stuff.”

“That’s cool,” Little Steve said, brightening up for the first time since he was found by Dustin. “My dad thinks that people who get tattoos are bad people, but that can’t be right, because Henry the butcher has tattoos that he got while he was in the army and he’s the nicest guy!”

Will was starting to see why Steve’s parents might have decided he wasn’t worth having around if he was already choosing to see people as individuals not blanket concepts that could be reviled against at the tender age of five.

“That’s good, Stevie,” Lucas said with a sigh.

“My dad says stuff like that too,” Little Nancy said, cocking her head to the side. “But my mom just rolls her eyes and tells me later that we have to be nice to other people. Especially after my little brother is born. I have to be extra special nice to him.”

Mike’s lip quivered. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure where in Nancy’s toddler years she was, but now he did.

“I’m going to have a little brother, too!” Little Jonathan cried, raising his hand. “He’s name is going to be William after my grandfather!”

Will looked behind him with a smile on his face. “You are going to be the best big brother. I can tell.”

Little Jonathan beamed up at him. “I’ll fight Dad if I have to. I’ll be so big and strong so I could protect him!”

Will stood up and walked over to him. He gently cupped Little Jonathan’s cheek. “You don’t have to do that, let your mom handle your dad, just be there for him and be understanding, okay?”

Little Jonathan nodded.

“I think it’s nap time,” Mike said, voice cracking and fighting back tears. “Come on. The girls can sleep in one room and the boys in Steve’s room.”

Little Eddie crossed his arms and pouted. “I’m too big for naps! I’m the first grade and everything!”

“Do you think that you could play quietly while the others slept?” Dustin asked, skeptically raising one eyebrow.

“Yes.”

“No way!” Little Nancy huffed, mirroring Little Eddie’s pose. “If he doesn’t have to nap, then I don’t either!”

And suddenly all the kids were protesting the nap. Mike squeezed his eyes shot for a moment before going over and kneeling in front of her.

“Nancy,” he began. “He’s older than you. The older you get, the less sleep you need to grow up. So Eddie’s little body can stay up easier than yours can.”

Little Nancy frowned. “He’s not older than I am!” she protested, grasping at straws.

“He’s six, Nance,” Dustin huffed rolling his eyes. “That’s two years older than you.”

“I’m six!” she insisted, stomping her foot.

Mike smirked, he had this one on lock. “Uh-uh,” he said wagging his finger. “That’s a lie and liars get what?”

Little Nancy’s eyes went wide. She leaned forward and whispered. “Who told you about the naughty chair?”

Mike just grinned. “So the choice is yours. The naughty chair or a nap.”

Little Nancy pouted and stomped her foot, not answering.

“Chair it is then,” and he reached out for her hand.

She snatched it back and then marched to the door. “Well, where is this extra room, I’m supposed to nap in?”

Max hurried up to her. “Follow me. Come on, Robbie.” She held out her hand and the other little girl sighed heavily but trotted up to Max to take her hand.

Max lead them to room on the other side of the hall and tucked them in.

Mike turned to Little Steve and Little Jonathan and clapped his hands. “Come on, boys. Nap time for you too.”

Little Steve looked up at him a moment deciding if it was worth arguing that he was older too. But Mike met him head on, never flinching or blinking.

Finally Little Steve gave it up as a lost cause and with a heavy, put upon sigh, he caves. “I’m guessing the same room I woke up in and where Wayne put me?”

Lucas cocked his head at his tone. “Wait, do you not want to sleep in that room?”

Little Steve rolled his eyes. “Duh.”

The boys looked at each other in confusion before El snapped, “It’s because the room scared him! I wouldn’t want to go back to a room where I woke up not knowing where I was or where my parents were, and hid the closet either.”

“Me either,” Little Jonathan said softly, taking Little Steve’s hand.

“Okay,” Dustin said, rearing his head back in shock. “So where do we put them instead?”

They all thought for a moment.

“There is a little room in the basement,” Lucas said snapping his fingers. “Actually it looks like almost whole other house down there, man. There’s a bathroom and a kitchen and even a game room, but most importantly a bedroom. We can put them to sleep there. The bedroom is right by the stairs so we can hear them if they need anything!”

Everyone agreed to that and soon enough Little Jonathan and Little Steve were out like a light.

Lucas came thundering up the stairs, but Max shushed him. He opened his mouth to ask, but she elbowed him and pointed at the floor where Little Eddie was supposed to be coloring.

He was slumped over his coloring book in a heap, snoring away.

Will shook his head and grabbed a throw pillow from the sofa and tucked Little Eddie’s head under it. Then Mike came over with one of the afghans Steve kept by the love seat for movie nights, and draped it over him.

“Now we need to figure out what’s happening and why,” Dustin said with his hands on his hips.

“And how the hell did Steve know about the bats on Eddie’s arm?” Max said, crossing her arms. “Like it’s clear they don’t recognize each other or us, so how did he know about the bat tattoo?”

Lucas rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“And why Eddie?” Dustin groused. “Why not Nancy or Robin? Or hell, me? Because he’s known us longer than he’s known Eddie.”

“Yeah,” Will said and then pulled his backpack on to his lap. “Let’s keep note of whenever that happens, to see if we can find a pattern.”

“That’s a good idea, Will,” Lucas said. “Also we need to figure what happens if this goes on for more than a couple of days. Because they all have jobs and responsibilities that if they go without doing for too long will get them into serious trouble.”

“Which means telling more than Wayne,” El agreed. “I do not want to call Dr. Owens. Especially since we know it is not Upside Down related, but perhaps he knows more about this sort of thing than we do.”

“First off,” Max said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “We do not need all of us watching the kids, I felt mostly useless.”

Mike nodded. “As much as it pains me to say this, but I think it should be me and Lucas. We know the most about taking care of kids.”

Lucas sighed but agreed. “Sad but true. Which means you four are going to have to do some research. Try to figure out what they watched. If they smoked weed or drank and what the combination might have been to cause this.”

“The scientific method!” Dustin cried with a grin. “You’ve got it!”

El and Max shared a glance and rolled their eyes.

“We should split it up further,” Will said, from behind his notebook. “El and Max reach out to Dr. Owens and find out if this has happened before while Dustin and I play detectives and figure what happened last night.”

Everyone agreed and then they all put their hands in a circle.

“We’ve got this!” Lucas cried and they all roared back, “Hell yeah!”

~

Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

Tag List: ONE SLOT LEFT

1- @itsall-taken @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @sadisticaltarts @dolphincliffs

2- @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @irregular-child @cryptid-system @kultiras

3- @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @val-from-lawrence @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog

4- @bookbinderbitch @bookworm0690 @forgottenkanji @dreamercec @blondie1006

5- @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @genderless-spoon @fearieshadow @thesecondfate

6- @dragonmama76 @ellietheasexylibrarian @thedragonsaunt @useless-nb-bisexual @disrespectedgoatman

7- @counting-dollars-counting-stars @tinyplanet95 @ravenfrog @swimmingbirdrunningrock @lingeringmirth

8- @gutterflower77 @a-lovely-craziness @just-a-tiny-void @w1ll0wtr33 @beelze-the-bubkiss

9- @steddieislife @stripey82 @tony-2012 @stedestielfrattficlover @micheledawn1975

10- @moonshadows-13 @bridget-malfoy-stilinski-hale @morallyundefined @best-thing-at-this-party

[inawickedlittletown]

Dog Days (BuckTommy) - 1/3

Summary: While on a call Buck and Hen get turned into dogs. Words: 2.4k Read on Ao3

-

Part One

What Tommy had learned over the years was that when Howie called, it was with a reason. Yes, sometimes that reason was asking him for a favor, but those favors were usually the type that lead to helping someone. When he was Evan's boyfriend, he'd seen and spoken to Howie a lot more than in the years between Tommy transferring to Harbor and the call to fly out to find a lost cruise ship. As expected, after the break up they didn't stop all communication, but it did slow. 

Eventually, Tommy figured it would stop altogether until Howie needed his help somehow and then at that point, Tommy would probably drop anything to be of aid. Howie had saved his life, after all, but — and this was perhaps even more important — Howie would never ask unless he really needed it.

When, a few months after he and Evan broke up and after a night and morning that kept playing over and over in his head, he got a call from Howie, Tommy didn't hesitate to answer.

“Hey, Tommy,” Howie said and he sounded just a little odd and was that barking in the background?

“Hi, Howie,” Tommy said.

“So I have a big favor to ask,” Howie said. “You, uh, you own your place, right?”

A fact that Evan had forgotten the night he decided to ask Tommy to move into his loft as if Tommy could ever fit any of his stuff there. Of course, Evan had since moved to Eddie’s house which was…well, Tommy still thought that maybe there was something to his concern that Evan had feelings for Eddie. 

“I do. What's going on?”

“I, uh, I have a dog that needs a place to stay.”

“Don't you also own your own house?” Tommy asked.

Definitely a dog barking in the background. 

“Yes and a pregnant wife who is still recovering,” Howie said. He sounded stressed.

“Recovering from…oh, wait I heard. How is she doing?” Tommy asked.

When Evan had mentioned it in passing, Tommy hadn’t put it together that he had heard about the whole thing. It was absolutely insane what had happened to Maddie and she was lucky to have survived it. 

“She’s doing fine, all things considered.” 

“Good. That’s good.” 

“Thanks,” Howie said. “And I know you don’t want to ask, but Buck is doing alright too. Although, he did spend a lot of time sleeping on my couch.” 

Did Howie not know about him and Evan reconnecting? It had often felt that there were never secrets between the members of the 118. 

“Anyway, I would ask anyone else but Bobby and Athena can't have animals at their rental. Karen and Hen have a full house. Eddie's in Texas.”

“Right,” Tommy said. Which left Evan. He didn’t live in the loft any longer. 

The dog barked. 

“Right, actually Eddie wouldn’t have been able to help anyway. It’s a rental and no pets allowed so that…that ruled out Buck.” 

Tommy didn’t think that Evan would have cared if that was the case, but there was something odd about the way that Howie said that. Maybe Evan still hadn’t unpacked. Or there was something that Howie didn’t want to tell Tommy about Evan and Evan’s place. 

“Right,” Tommy said. 

“So, can you take the dog?” 

“Sure I'll take the dog. How long is this going to be for?”

“Hopefully not very long. I'll bring him to you later today. Tommy, you are a lifesaver. Bu— Buddy will be glad to have a place to sleep tonight.”

The dog barked a few times and Howie laughed.

“Is he house trained?” Tommy asked, realizing belatedly that he should have asked that question earlier.

Howie laughed again. “Yes, Tommy. He's very well behaved, don't worry.”

The last thing he heard was another bark from the dog. 

Several Hours Earlier…

The call had been perfectly normal to start. A fire at a mostly abandoned strip mall where every other store was empty with "for rent" signs. There was no telling where the fire had started though dispatch via Josh suspected it was one of the restaurants. By the time they arrived, there was smoke and flames overtaking several stores empty and not. They all got to work and it was several hours of work, other crews joining them in aid, but it was still only mid-afternoon when the fire was declared out. 

Chim was tired, but it was the good kind of tired. He'd just finished checking over a guy that had been inside one of the stores and was returning to where Buck and Hen were rolling up hoses when a frantic looking woman came running towards them. She looked, to Chim's eye, like a poor man's Stevie Nicks. Her greying hair was long and unruly and her dress was covered up by some sort of long scarf that fluttered in the wind.

“Hey, ma'am, are you okay?” Hen asked at once.

Chim turned ready to help.

“Can we help you?” Buck asked.

She grabbed at Buck's arm and pulled him babbling in a strange language that none of them could even pinpoint going by the confused glances they all shared. She said something else to Buck insistingle. 

“I don’t — what language is that maybe the translator app might help.” 

She just babbled again and then motioned for Buck to follow her before darting away. 

“Should we go with her?” Buck asked.

“Yeah,” Hen said. “Make sure she doesn't get herself into trouble.”

Chim was about to follow but Ravi called his name.

“We got this,” Hen assured him, grabbing a med bag, before she followed after Buck.

So, Chim went to Ravi who had a young woman with what looked to be some minor burns as well as a sprained ankle as well as an older man in dire need of oxygen for smoke inhalation.

They were there for a little while and Chim didn't think much of where Buck and Hen could have got to until they didn't reappear as they were finishing up. 

“Come on,” Chim said to Ravi, “I think they went that way.”

The fire touched buildings looked dark and the ground was puddles and soot. The whole strip mall would probably be torn down. Although, there was a portion that hadn't been touched by flames at all so maybe they would leave those parts alone. Chim doubted it. As they approached that part of it without a sign of either Buck or Hen, he started to actually get worried. 

“Buck! Hen!”

Nothing.

“This is really weird,” Ravi said. “Maybe we should—”

The door of a store tucked in between a nail salon and an empty space suddenly burst open and a huge dog burst out. Chim couldn't quite tell what breed it was, just that it was big with wavy to curly tan fur. It was wearing a turnout coat. 

He and Ravi shared a look as the dog ran towards them, barking and barking and barking.

“Hey,” Chim said, getting closer to the dog.

The dog wouldn't stop moving, but nevertheless, Chim caught sight of the name on the coat. Buckley.

Chim groaned. “What kind of joke is this? It's wearing Buck's coat.”

Another dog appeared then. That dog was definitely a chocolate labrador. It was wearing a turn out coat too and Chim expected it to be Hen's, but still didn’t fail to be a bit surprised about it when he saw that it was.  

“Is this is some prank, because it's kinda dumb,” Ravi said. “Buck has pulled more inventive stuff on me before.” 

“Not just Buck,” Chim said with a grin. 

Ravi rolled his eyes. 

Both dogs started barking, then.

“Maybe they're inside the store,” Chim said.

The dogs wouldn't let them pass, stepping in front of them to stop them, the bigger of the two even lunging at Ravi and hitting him on the chest with his front legs. As soon as he'd dropped back down to the ground, Ravi dropped to one knee to look at him closer. The dog let him. The dog seemed to be staring into Ravi's eyes.

“Uh, Chim,” Ravi said.

“What?”

“Blue eyes. Birthmark over the eyebrow. I'm not saying the dog is Buck, but—”

“Buck?” Chim asked the dog.

The dog barked, turning his face towards Chim. His eyes were the exact same shade of blue as Buck's and Ravi wasn't wrong about the mark over the eyebrow but that was…there was no way. Buck had just found a dog that had those features to mess with them. It was just that Hen would never go along with something like that. 

When he tried to go around them again to get to the building the smaller dog growled. The bigger barked again. 

Chim reached for his radio. “Uh, Cap, we may have a situation.”

Chim directed him to where they were. Bobby appeared a few minutes later. “What's happening?”

“We don't know where Buck and Hen are, but we found these dogs wearing their turn outs.”

And they hadn't taken them off, either. Most dogs would have shaken those coats right off. It was bizarre. The dog wearing Buck's coat got excited at seeing Bobby and even then managed to keep the coat on as he rubbed his face against Bobby's legs.

With that dog distracted, Chim tried to get to the building, but the lab got in front of him and pushed him hard. Growled and barked at him. Chim turned back to look at Bobby.

“There's also that,” Ravi said. “Won't let us go in there. They came from inside that store.”

Bobby pinched the bridge of his nose.

The door opened again and Chim almost expected to see Buck and Hen appear. Instead, it was the woman. She didn't hesitate to walk towards them. She spoke in her unidentified language again and pointed at the dogs.

The bigger dog whimpered. The smaller growled. The woman laughed.

A young woman appeared, then, running towards them. “Mama!” she called out and hugged the woman before pulling away to look her over. “Thank goodness you're okay. We were so worried.”

“Hi,” Bobby said. “Sorry to interrupt, but this is your mom? Do you know what she's saying about these dogs?”

The young woman turned to her mom and motioned to the dogs and asked her a question. She seemed to pale as she listened to her mom's reply, her eyes widening.

“What's happening?” Ravi asked, worried tone to his voice.

The young woman winced. “It's probably better if you see.”

Then, she pulled out her phone and after a few minutes motioned for them to join her. They crowded around her when she had pulled up footage from a camera presumably from inside the store. It was small, just a counter and shelves with just enough space to fit a few people. 

They watched as the older woman walked into the shop. Buck and Hen followed soon after and then after a little while she was pointing her finger at Buck. Hen stepped up to her and they didn't have sound so there was no knowing what they were saying until the woman reached behind the counter and brought out a small cloth bag that she reached into. She grabbed a fistful of powder and threw it. Hen tried to grab Buck out of the way, but instead they were both doused in it. 

It took less than thirty seconds for them to start changing into dogs. They went from two legs to four. Their clothes inexplicably left on the ground in a pool save for the coats that had flown off them and then fallen on their backs. 

“That cannot be real,” Ravi said. 

“I’m afraid it is,” the young woman said. “My mother, she says there’s something up with his aura and she just wanted to help. It wasn’t intended for the other firefighter. It’s a spell. It’s not permanent, but I’m not sure how long it will last.” 

Chim groaned. “Okay, where are the cameras? Buck? Hen? Come on out. This is not funny.”

“I don't think she's joking, Chim,” Bobby said.

“A spell?” Ravi asked.

The woman nodded. “Yes.”

“So then she can turn them back to normal,” Chim said.

The older woman shook her head and rambled for a bit.

“That doesn't sound like a yes,” Ravi said. 

The younger woman nodded. “Like I said, not permanent but it cannot be removed early. A few days. Week at the most. She only wanted to help. I’m sorry.” 

Bobby got her to send him the video, but after that she just gave them a tight smile before she walked away, leaving them with Buck and Hen as dogs. Chim had been through many strange calls in his time as a firefighter, but none that involved his fellow firefighters — his best friend and brother-in-law no less — winding up turned into dogs. It felt like something out of a dream. 

“What now?” Ravi asked. 

“Back to the station,” Bobby said. “Chim, you may want to call Karen and Maddie.” 

Karen hadn’t believed it for herself until she was at the station with Hen in front of her. She had even asked if this was Hen’s way of getting back at her for forgetting her birthday. 

Watching the video of what happened helped in convincing her, but even then she seemed to think they were playing a prank on her, until she really got a look at the dog and then she believed it. 

“And I’m supposed to just take her home and wait it out until she turns back to herself?” Karen asked. “Has this ever happened to anyone else?” 

“No idea,” Ravi said. “I’ve been trying to do some research.” 

“What about Buck? Where’s he going to go?”

Bobby was out. Eddie was gone. Ravi had shaken his head. Chim was his brother-in-law. Maddie would want to help him, but Maddie was also still recovering and pregnant. She was tired all the time and Jee-Yun was as energetic as ever. She had only recently gotten her voice back, too, and Chim didn’t know what telling her about Buck getting turned into a dog might bring out in her. But there was no other option…not unless…

“I think I know where Buck should go,” Chim said. 

“Where?” Ravi asked. Wary. 

“I’m going to see if Tommy’s available.” 

Ravi nodded immediately. “That’s perfect.” 

[soursweetnessofmind]

Hi there. I love anything Clexa. How about a misunderstanding or fight. (Bonus points for lots of angst 🫣)

I'll be waiting for you

Youth is unripe and terribly sweet. It’s an unforgiving hurricane that either sweeps aside or devours anything it might encounter; it’s the beginning of something new, exciting, and emotional. But it is also the death of a past, of comfort and childhood, and of a lot of rulers one thought governed the world around them. Sometimes there are too many thoughts in your head and too many emotions in your heart for you to be able to put everything into words; sometimes you’re just caught red-handed, and there’s no amount of wishing to go back that actually feels enough to describe the pitying void inside you, weakening your legs and stinging your eyes, and FUCK.

Lexa really wishes she saw this coming.

But she didn’t. And now, as she runs through the streets towards the Griffin residence, she knows she’ll pay the price.

Her lungs burn, and there’s an ache spreading all over her body, but it’s not the exertion of the run; it's the remembrance of the haunted look in Clarke’s eyes. I didn’t know she would kiss me, Lexa tries to reason with herself, tries to think of what the hell she’ll say to Clarke after everything she saw at the diner. I didn’t know, I swear. She said she needed a friend; she said her father was being his shitty self again and she had no one else to talk to beside me. She didn’t want to open up about this to anyone else but me. If you saw everything, you saw I pushed her. You saw I didn't really kiss her. There’s no one else I want other than you. I’m so fucking sorry.

The house looms on the horizon, and the gods might’ve started to take pity on Lexa because, thankfully, there’s only Clarke’s baby blue car sloppily packed in the driveway, which means Lexa’s guess is right and she did come home instead of running to Raven’s, where Lexa would probably get shot at by Clarke’s best friend before getting any words out. Having this conversation in front of Ms. Griffin also feels unfathomable, so yeah, things are really starting to smile at Lexa right now.

Hopefully, Clarke will too. soon.

She almost slams herself against the front door to knock, not really slowing down as much as she thought she would. Taking lungfuls of breaths, she knocks again, almost as strongly. “Clarke!” she shouts. “Please, baby. Talk to me. Please please, please.” no answer. She knocks again. “I know you’re there, Clarke. Let me explain, please.” Still no answer.

Her phone buzzes.

Anya: dued what the fuckkkkkk

Anya: lexa

Anya: what

Anya: the

Anya: fuck

Anya: im gonna wait for you at home.

Anya: GO HOME.

Anya: NOW.

Anya: RAVEN WILL GET OCTAVIA AND SOON THEY’LL BE MARCHING FOR YOUR HEAD DOWN THE STREETS.

Anya: also please. for the love of god.

Anya: STEER AWAY FROM HER HOUSE

Anya: DO NOT GO TO CLARKE’S HOUSE RIGHT NOW.

Anya: if i have to rescue your remains from the griffins backyard im gonna be really pissed at you when we meet again in the afterlife. im waiting for you. go home. we r gonna talk and figure this out. i know something is wrong. ik you wouldnt do this to her.

Costia: I’m sorry

Costia: I don’t know what came over me

Costia: i just miss you.

Costia: a lot.

Costia: and im still sorry for what i did and for the harm i’ve cause. but if things don’t end up well w griffin, please know you can still come to me

Costia: maybe we can try again

Costia: god that’s so fucked up, right? im so sorry lexa. forget everything. thanks for today. i miss you. please talk to me again when you can xx.

What the fuck?

Breathing still labored, Lexa shoves her phone in her pocket as she rounds the house. There’s an enormous tree by its side, a tree Lexa is familiar enough with its branches and leaves not to hesitate or slow down as she starts to climb it. The strongest branch is close to Clarke’s window for her to make an entrance without much fuss. It’s only when she steps inside, that the girl in lying facing down on her bed notices her presence.

Clarke looks like a wild thing right now. Blonde curls mussed, rimmed wet eyes, and a flushed face that’s beginning to swell. She looks terribly beautiful like this, which is very unfair right now in Lexa’s opinion, and it’s not really helping her calm her racing heart or come up with anything to say to the girl. Her girl.

Lexa takes one step, and Clarke backs off, like a caged animal.

“Baby-”

“Don’t fucking ‘baby’ me,” Clarke cries. “Why are you here? Get back to your date.”

“It wasn’t a date!” Lexa cries, fear and anxiety pumping her heart. “We were just talking.”

“She kissed you, Lexa.”

“But I didn't kiss her!” Lexa gets closer; now Clarke’s just an arm’s length away. “We were just talking, and she kissed me. I didn’t know she’d do that, Clarke. I didn’t want it. I swear to you.”

Fresh tears gather in Clarke’s eyes. “You lied to me,” she whispers, sounding so small and so broken it’s hard for Lexa to control her own emotions. “You said you were helping Anya, but instead I caught you kissing your ex in a diner, Lexa. You told me you and Costia didn’t speak anymore. You told me you were at Anya’s.” Frustration is starting to slip through Clarke’s tone, and now, instead of utterly sad, she looks awfully mad too.

When Lexa doesn’t respond, Clarke squints her eyes. “Well, didn’t you want to talk? Why did you lie to me, Lexa?” When again the blonde is met with silence, her patience starts to run thin. “Say something!” she cries.

I thought I could do both. I thought I could be a friend to Costia and still get back and be yours, hold you to me. I didn’t say anything because if I did, I knew you would be upset. I knew the next time Bellamy or Niylah or anybody else that has feelings for you called for a friendly outing, you would go too. I fucked up first because I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of this. But now, as I look at you like this, I feel like the dumbest loser on earth. I'm so sorry. I'm so fucking sorry.

“I’m sorry,” Lexa gulps and keeps her mouth shut. Nothing else feels good enough to be said now; everything swirling around in her brain is either too honest or too stupid to be said out loud. Neither the truth nor a lie feels good enough to Clarke. “She said she needed a friend; her father can be a real asshole most of the time. I- I thought that was all she wanted, a friendly shoulder to cry on.”

Clarke huffs. “I told you she still had feelings for you.”

(They’re lying together against the soft grass of the backyard, flushed from the proximity and all the alcohol consumed. They keep kissing and holding each other close, and honestly, Lexa has never felt more loved than right now. There’s no grand gesture of romance, just the softness of Clarke’s fingertips as they contour her face and the way her eyes shine bright when looking at Lexa.

“I just think she likes you,” Clarke says, while making a face. “I believe in you. But I don’t think the same applies to her. She’s still into you. It’s in the way she looks at you and in how she talks when I'm around.” A hand comes to her face. “I feel so stupid saying this; maybe it's stupid, right? I-"

“I don’t think it’s stupid.” Lexa says softly, reaching for the hand Clarke used to cover her eyes. “Costia and I were good friends before we started to date, and honestly, now I see that’s what we should’ve remained. Friends. That’s all I see her as now.” Lexa brought their faces closer. “I’m into somebody else, if you couldn’t tell")

Before Lexa can answer, a loud knock comes from Clarke’s bedroom door. “Princess?” Bellamy asks softly.

Lexa huffs a humorless laugh. “ Of course.” How did he even got into the house?

Clarke merely squints her eyes at her but replies to Bellamy nonetheless. “Bel, not now.”

“Look, Clarke, I-”

“Are you deaf or something? She said not now. Piss off, Blake.” Lexa says before she can help herself.

“What’s wrong with you?” Clarke asks, outraged. “You can’t talk to him like that. He’s not in the wrong here.”

“I just think it’s funny he’s the first to come running to your feet the moment he discovers something has gone wrong between us.” Lexa spits.

Clarke clenches her teeth. “He’s my friend, you know that.”

“Oh yes, I know. And I bet he can’t wait to give you a real nice shoulder to cry on as soon as I am out of the picture.”

“Oh, like you did to Costia?” Clarke asks, a new type of venom dripping from her mouth, “Is that what you are afraid of? That I’ll wait for when you’re not around to kiss him?”

Lexa feels her chest constrict at that mental image. “That’s not what happened!”

“Then you’ve nothing to worry about!”

“What else do you want from me?” Lexa cries. “I told you what happened. I didn’t want her to kiss me, but she did anyway. What else do you want me to do? Go back in time and prevent myself from seeing her in the first place?”

“I want you to be honest with me!” Clarke almost shouts, more tears dampening her cheeks. “You lied to me! You say you’re sorry, but that doesn’t change the fact that you lied to me. We’ve been talking the whole day, and you’ve been saying again and again you were with Anya helping her with the car stuff.” Lexa suddenly realizes the warm feeling on her face is her own tears painting her cheeks.

Clarke closes her eyes for a moment, taking deep breaths, trying her best to calm herself. She feels like her heart might be somewhere closer to her feet, broken and bleeding and as empty as it was when she saw Finn kissing another girl that damned night. When she opens it, the blue Lexa likes so much is empty and cold. “I’m not gonna be played again.”

“I’m not Finn.” Lexa answers firmly.

“You’re certainly acting like him, though.”

Ouch. Silence stretches between them, and Lexa can’t help but feel like Clarke is slipping through her fingers. The only sound in the room is Clarke’s labored breath.

“Just… get out of my house, please.” She says without looking at Lexa. “Please.”

“No, no, Clarke.” In three quick steps, Lexa gets closer. Almost touching but not daring to. “I'm sorry. Let's talk. We can sort this out.”

Their faces are so close they can almost taste their shared breaths, and it takes Clarke an amount of strength she didn’t know she possessed not to kiss Lexa right in that moment. Her eyes are so green and her lips so deliciously swollen, but she lied. This is what keeps playing in Clarke's mind as she keeps looking at the girl in front of her. She lied, and she was kissing somebody else. And all this could've been avoided if she hadn't lied. She lied to me just like Finn did.

“Give me another chance,” Lexa suddenly blurts out, feeling stupider than ever before, “Please, let’s just-”

“Get out of my house.” Clarke responds softly. “Please. I don’t wanna look at you right now. I can't do this anymore.”

“Baby, please.”

“Piss off, Woods!” Comes from the other side of the door, and only now Lexa realizes Bellamy has been listening to the whole exchange.

“Bellamy!” Clarke reprimands.

Lexa takes a deep breath, tries to remember he's not the point here, and it's not worth it. “We're gonna talk. Later.” She says, and Clarke raises an eyebrow.

“And that's up to you to decide?”

“No, it 's not. But I'm gonna be waiting for you. As long as it takes. When you finally wanna talk again, I'll be waiting.” Lexa chances a caress to Clarke's face and can't help the spark of hope that shoots inside of her when Clarke doesn't back away from the fingertips tracing her cheeks. “You mean more to me than your stupid friend or this stupid fight. You're everything and more. I'm not Finn, and I'm not letting things between us end like this.”

Clarke halts her movements and holds her wrist. “Lexa. Get. Out.”

[loveanddeeptrash]

Reset

Zayne Prologue

1.8k words

Tags: medical jargon, injuries, hospitalization, angst incoming

A/N: Each character is going to have their own prologue before I give them all their own dedicated chapter that's gonna be full of angst, and of course I started with Zayne. I'll try to pace myself since some of these wips are already written, but I don't want to overwhelm the community with my writing right now.. Hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think~

| Next: WIP | Masterlist |

It had been a couple days. A couple of days and he was already missing you. You had told him, earlier in the week, that this mission into the No-Hunt Zone was going to be a tough one, but one that you were fully equipped to handle. So there was no reason for him to worry, it didn’t help that you were going in alone since other hunters were busy going to other locations. So Zayne definitely wasn’t extremely worried. Nope, he knew you could handle yourself..

He had busied himself in the neverending work that the hospital was always able to produce for him. Perhaps the more work he had to think about the less time he had to worry about you and your very dangerous job that you were going on alone. As such, days had passed since you went on your ‘work trip’ and Zayne was buried in endless paperwork that made the doctor feel better since he was able to actually help with something. Breaking the mindless drone of paperwork, a ringing filled the air that demanded his immediate attention. “Dr. Zayne speaking,” he picked up the call, on auto-pilot as he sifted through the folder for more information on the patient he was currently focusing on at the moment.

“Dr. Zayne, you are needed in room three,” the quiet but shaky voice on the other line made him pause, looking down at the carrier. It wasn’t one he recognized so it must have been one of the new resident nurses manning the phone today.

“What is it? Did something happen?” Zayne closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, looking over to the clock for a moment to see that he was once again working overtime. It would be better to let another doctor handle this situation if he wanted to get at least a couple hours of sleep before tomorrow’s shift, but the thought immediately left him since he didn’t want to risk the patient’s life just for his moment of leisure. Whatever the call was about, he knew that his expertise was required for the betterment of the patient.

There was a pause on the other line before the voice once again tried to continue, “Dr. Zayne, a patient came in just now and their file said that you are their primary care doctor..”

Ah, this meant that he definitely wasn’t going to be able to go home for some shuteye now, “Who is it? What’s their status?”

“It’s Y/N, Dr. Zayne. We are bandaging up her more grievous injuries and keeping an eye on her vitals, but she hasn’t woken up yet and we would very much appreciate it if you could take a look at her,” they sounded reluctant to speak more, but anything else they said immediately fell on deaf ears as Zayne shot right up from his chair.

“I’ll be right there,” he hung up and quickly grabbed his coat, putting it on as he left his office and urgently walked down the hall.

You were back! You were back but you were hurt.. No wonder he hadn’t been able to hear from you for a while. Trying not to run, Zayne quickly made his way to room three - his nerves threatening to take hold of him as he tried to keep calm and not panic at what could possibly be. Opening the door, his gasp stayed in his throat as he finally laid eyes on you. His gaze subtly softened upon seeing how banged up you looked, bandaged and knocked out from the drugs and hopefully not because of something more worrying. Pain colored his eyes at what he saw, his breaths hesitant as he refused to believe that you were so hurt that you returned to him in such a state.

Zayne walked right up to your bed and took the chart in hand, reading through the necessary information. You had bruises and lacerations from fighting that were cleaned, dressed and bandaged; there was slight blood loss from the cuts and a gash on your side that was a point of concern at the moment; not to mention the fact that you hadn’t woken up at all but your vitals seemed stable enough with everything considered. Although, that could be partly due to the heavy amount of painkillers and drugs that were flowing through your veins at the moment. His eyes fell back on you once more and his brows furrowed, pursing his lips as he returned the chart back to its place.

“Any other information I should be aware of? What sort of protocore radiation was she exposed to? For how long was she missing before she was found? Was she alone? Who found her? Which zone was she found in?” Zayne inquired rapid-fire, rounding the side of the bed and looking at you up and down. His deft hands quickly checked her pulse, tentatively touched her bandages to make sure they were dressed properly, the man even reread the chart once again to see if he had missed something in his initial reading. How could a simple mission leave you so injured, so vulnerable? It was ridiculous that the Hunter Association even let you go on a solo mission, especially to the No-Hunt Zone. Didn’t you have a partner? Where were they?

“We are still waiting to get the data from her Hunter Watch from when she was on her mission. That will give us a better idea on what strenuous effects the area had on her before we found her,” the nurse mentioned, looking at his clipboard for more information. 

“I see, do let me know when the data comes in,” Zayne could see that you looked peaceful in your sleep, even though all he wanted was to keep you in his arms and protect you from the world.

“Understood, Dr. Zayne. I will leave you with the patient then, unless you need something else,” the nurse confirmed, awkwardly shifting on his feet.

“You’re free to go, I’ll stay and keep an eye on her,” Zayne nodded to  the nurse, giving them a glance before going back to look at you.

Once it was just you and him, Zayne could only stare down at you as the beeps from the machines around you kept the silence. It pained him to see you like this, hurt and down for the count. It wasn’t the first time he wished he was able to join you on your missions, but his work here kept him busy and there was only so much leeway you had on who you could bring on your missions. Subconsciously he brushed a strand of your hair out of your face, his fingertips gently tracing down your cheek before his thumb caressed your lower lip. He eventually drew his hand back and clenched his fists as his frustrations grew, closing his eyes before turning away from you.

It shamed him that he couldn’t be there for you. The few times the two of you had been on a mission together solidified in him the belief that he would be able to bail you out of any problem - wanderer or not. Zayne had your back any moment of any day and the pure fact that he couldn’t have been there to take the hit for you gnawed at him from inside. A quick remembrance of a dream he’s had before left him shaking his head, refusing to believe nor accept a reality that didn’t have you beside him. He was not him, he still had you.

Movement caught his eye, turning his gaze back towards you as your head rolled to the side. “Hey,” he softly spoke, hope and desperation and love choking his voice to a whisper. A hand gingerly grabbed yours and held it as he stepped closer and peered into your face, thumb automatically rubbing soothing circles on the back of your hand. “You’re alright, you’re safe now,” Zayne assured, very gently leaning in and planting a chaste kiss on your forehead. Moving in your sleep meant that the injuries weren’t too serious, you’d be aching and complaining but that meant you’d get better with time. Relief caused his shoulders to relax a fraction more simply knowing that you were finally back and with him now - he could simply order you to stay home to rest and recuperate. And of course he’d be right there next to you to take care of you for as long as you needed.

Seeing you resettle back into your bed Zayne couldn’t help but feel disappointed that you couldn’t look up at him and smile your usual smile, he did quickly get over it however seeing as how you were still healing and sleep would let you get better faster. The man stayed where he was for a moment, watching you sleep before looking around the room - unsure. He needed to go back to work, but having you admitted made him want to stay by your side until you woke up. Yet he didn’t know when you would, or even at all. No, he couldn’t think like that, you had just stirred. If you were indeed in such a horrible state you wouldn’t have even moved. Thinking negatively about your health would help no one but cause him to worry about you that much harder.

Eventually Zayne relented and began to head back to his office, pausing for a moment when the same nurse from before rushed towards him, “Was there someone else that needed my attention?”

“No Dr. Zayne, the data from the hunter’s watch just came in and I thought you’d want to look over it,” they wheezed, handing over a thumb drive with the mentioned data with laboured breaths.

“Ah, I see. Thank you for delivering it to me,” Zayne looked at the small drive before putting it into his pocket, “I will look through it in my office, please let me know if there are any changes to her. I will be right back if so.”

“Of course Dr. Zayne,” the nurse nodded, heading off to do other tasks.

Reaching his office, Zayne quietly closed the door and sat at his desk. Leaning back in his chair, the man let out a long sigh before pulling out the thumbdrive. He looked at it for a long time, turning the small drive in his hand as he contemplated. What did you go through in the No-Hunt Zone that caused you to return so hurt? How scared were you? How much pain were you in before you were found? Did you blame him for being unable to stand by your side when you needed him most? All these questions and more ran through his head before Zayne leaned forward and plugged the drive in, his brow furrowing as it loaded up.

He had to close his eyes, dreading what he would find. And then he clicked the file, opening and reading the data that was collected.

Borders made by: Cafekitsune

© Picca Shimon 2025

This is my only account, I only post here and AO3. I do not permit reposts or translations of my work.

[daddy-dins-girl]

Playdate - Chapter Eight

IMPORTANT NOTE: I'm posting both chapters 7 and 8 today so just make sure you didn't actually miss 7 or this one might not make much sense, lol. Also I'd recommend having chapter 7 fresh in your mind when you read this one. This chapter serves as an 'interlude' chapter that occurs before/during/after Chapter 7 but is told from Dave and Marcus' POV's (not Reader's). One final note, a page break/divider indicates a shift of POV to another character, but hopefully that comes across easily enough in the writing anyway.

Main Masterlist Series Masterlist

AO3 link

pairing: Marcus Pike x f! Reader x Dave York

Word Count: 5.1k

Notes: Who gave me the right to put all this ANGST in my PORN story? dw, I have a couple more chapters planned out, I'll fix this mess I've created eventually :P

Chapter Warnings (BIG TIME spoilers in the warnings... I'd recommend skipping them if you don't want to be spoiled. If you're at this point in this story, you're fine with whatever I have left to throw at you lol): 18+ MDNI. M/M (Yeah that's right. Reader who? Sorry babe, I'll make it up to you next time!). Oral sex. Hand jobs. Anal play. A shower stall is our 3rd main character in this chapter. Inexperienced!Marcus. Dom!Dave. Daddy Kink. Derogatory talk. Praise kink. Little sprinkling of Soft!Dave. Porn with too many feelings that these idiot men don't know what to do with (we'll work on them, ok?). Infidelity-ish (again, these three got some shit to work out).

MASSIVE thank you for @janaispunk for beta'ing and being my sounding board.

Page dividers by the generous and talented @saradika-graphics

When restfulness fails to come for Dave he eventually decides to pull himself away from the two sleeping forms next to him in the bed and head off to the shower instead. He could use a thorough washing, and not to mention the relaxing spray and solace of the shower may just offer him a bit of a chance to clear his head, hopefully.

Letting out a heavy sigh once he reaches the bathroom near the front entryway of the suite he shrugs off the oversized fluffy hotel robe and hangs it on the back of the door before closing it shut, reaching inside the shower stall and turning the temperature up to near scalding. He hisses the moment he steps inside the large enclosure, immediately turning his back to the water and facing the door instead but within a few seconds the temperature starts to feel perfect and he rolls his shoulders and aching muscles under the steady beat of the massaging spray.

“Fuck” he groans, head tilting back to let the water wash over his face and through his hair. In hindsight he maybe should’ve had a cold shower because he’s been rocking a semi for the last… god knows… since not long after his two bedmates had fallen asleep. He resists the urge to wrap his fist around himself and take care of it solo, thinking he can will it away with sheer mental focus instead. As if he could focus on much of anything right now. His mind was scrambled, and that just wasn’t Dave. He had an innate ability to compartmentalize, always had. It’s what made him so good at his job and had gotten him through many obstacles in his life thus far. But then he met fucking Marcus Pike, which ultimately, also led him to you, and now here he was playing fucking house with what was meant to be a one or two time fun “hookup” and goddamit if he didn’t feel himself starting to fall. What’s worse is that he hadn’t just fallen for you, either. Annoyed with himself yet again for not being able to shut his brain off, Dave turns around to face the spray again and gets to the task of washing his hair instead, needing something else to focus on besides the insistent need that’s hanging between his legs.

The quiet ‘snick’ of the bathroom door latching shut catches Dave’s attention, even with his head under the hot spray of the water in the oversized walk-in shower, because of course it does. Dave is always super aware and hyper vigilant, even when in a relaxed environment. His eyes squeezed shut as he rinses the shampoo from his hair and back turned to the door he calls out, “it’ll be all yours in a minute, almost done here”

So when he hears the sound of the glass door sliding open and the cool air hitting his back, despite his offer to give up the shower momentarily, he chuckles. A low, raspy laugh from deep in his throat as he pushes his hair back on his head and finally turns around, his eyebrow raising in amusement as his gaze settles on his unexpected visitor standing just outside the shower door.

“Well, what have we here?”

Marcus doesn’t say a word. Too nervous he’ll psyche himself out if he attempts to speak. Instead he unwraps the towel from around his waist, leaving him fully naked and exposed, and tosses it to the ground behind him before stepping inside the enclosure and sliding the glass door shut behind him.

Dave waits, stock still, because he hadn’t been expecting this. Not that he should be too surprised, he supposed. It was probably bound to happen and truth be told he was far from mad about it. Over time he’d grown to care for Marcus a lot, and more than what he knew was realistic for a ‘friendship’. And with the fondness for Marcus growing so did the sexual tension, he supposed. It wasn’t immediate, as he had felt with you, but as he spent more and more time with both of you Marcus had unknowingly carved out a spot for himself under Dave’s skin, just as you had on that very first night he’d met you. It started out slowly, he would feel his own arousal spike watching Marcus get pleasure but he had chalked that up to being natural, not unlike getting off to watching porn. But then it started to change, and Dave began to wonder what it might be like for him to give Marcus that pleasure and earlier this evening he gave in and did exactly that. Holding his hands around Marcus as the younger man submitted to him and came with Dave’s mouth at his ear nearly had Dave spilling inside of you the moment Marcus let go. He loved hearing the sweet cries from Marcus’ perfect pouty lips as Dave held him tight to his naked chest. And the way you looked up at both of them, pure lust and adoration in your gaze he felt his chest constrict around his heart like it might just explode.

In that moment he wanted to just gather you both in his arms and tell you, beg you, to keep him.

And now, here Marcus stood just inches away from him, naked and vulnerable.

Dave was well and truly fucked.

Swallowing the thick lump in his throat from his nerves, Marcus carefully, slowly and wordlessly sinks to his knees in front of Dave and pauses. Peering up at him with those honeyed brown eyes, silently begging for whatever had come over him to be reciprocated. He’d woken up when he felt the weight under the mattress shift when Dave had gotten up and watched with more focus than what was probably considered appropriate at the back side of Dave’s naked form as he crossed the room and snagged a robe from the back of the door and threw it on. Marcus had to stifle a groan as he felt his cock instantly begin to swell at just the sight of the slightly older man before him. Once he exited the bedroom Marcus let out a sigh and dropped his head back to the pillow with a heavy thud, closing his eyes and focusing his breathing for a few seconds but still, his dick betrayed him. He rolled over to his side and watched your sleeping form, debating whether he should wake you to help him with his little situation or not but quickly dismissed the notion. He knew you must be exhausted, it wasn’t like you to be sleeping in the middle of the day so clearly you were worn out. Plus he’s pretty sure the actual reason for his current state of arousal just walked out the bedroom door anyway.

He lays in bed for as long as he can stand it, until he hears the shower come to life on the other side of the suite and his cock twitches again involuntarily, his mind conjuring up images of Dave naked and letting the hot spray of the water cascade all over his body and suddenly Marcus feels jealous over a fucking shower head of all things. Before long he finds himself getting up and out of bed, quickly tying a discarded towel around his waist before he leaves the bedroom and makes his way through the suite.

A grin spreads across Dave’s lips as the hot water continues to beat down his back and he reaches a hand forward, gripping the younger man’s jaw in his hand and angling him further upward as his thumb gently caresses back and forth at his cheek as he rasps out, “Well what are you waiting for, Champ? This cock isn’t going to suck itself”

After taking in a quick deep breath to steel his nerves, Marcus, ever obedient, presses forward. His eyes close as he takes Dave’s semi-hard length into his mouth, his lips wrapping around him as he finds his footing, as it were, never having actually done this before.

“Eyes on me Slugger” Dave tuts, hand going underneath Marcus’ chin and forcing his gaze upwards with the flick of a single knuckle. Marcus’ gaze is weak as he tries desperately to hold Dave’s but when he feels Dave begin to grow and swell against his tongue he gets a newfound confidence and can’t help the low moan that leaves his throat as he envelops him further into his mouth and finally begins to move his tongue and lips around him, licking and sucking and tasting every inch offered to him. He may not know exactly what he’s doing, but he does know what feels good to him and tries his best to mimic those same behaviors.

He pulls off for just a moment, collecting saliva in the back of his throat and messily spitting onto Dave’s length before he wraps his mouth around it again and begins to bob his head back and forth, letting his tongue drag along the underside as he swallows him down the best he can, easing off only slightly when the thick head of him nears too far to the back of his throat and causes him to momentarily gag before he resituates himself to a comfortable feel and can enthusiastically continue.

“Fuck, that’s it. Good boy,” Dave sighs, hand pushing through Marcus’ golden brown locks and a little whimper escapes Marcus at the subtle praise, eyelids fluttering shut for only a moment before he remembers Dave’s words from earlier and opens them again to hold Dave’s gaze. “You suck cock almost as good as your wife, you know that pretty boy?” Dave teases and despite himself, it only turns Marcus further on. He takes one hand and wraps it around the base of Dave’s cock to pump as much as his shaft that won’t fit in his mouth while the other hand goes to his own aching need as he begins stroking himself to the same pace that his head bobs.

“Fuck” Dave curses again, a little breathless this time as his head tilts back into the spray of water. He wraps his hand around the back of Marcus’ head and helps him by setting the pace that he wants, fast and rough and nearly hitting the back of Marcus’ throat each time his hips jut forward. Marcus does his best to take him but before long he’s coughing, sputtering, gagging and gasping for breath as he pulls off of him after just a few short seconds of Dave fucking his throat, a long strand of saliva still connecting him to the now rock hard cock in his face and Dave lets out a little chuckle at Marcus’ obvious inexperience.

“Well, maybe you could learn a thing or two” Dave laughs. “Up,” he commands suddenly, hand gripping under Marcus’ bicep and hauling him quickly to his feet. Marcus goes willingly, all too eager to comply as Dave turns him to face the wall, grabs both of his hands and forces them above his head and flat against the warm tiles. Dave quickly crowds his space, stepping up behind him, the hot, hard length of him pressed right up against Marcus’ lower back.

His breathing laboured, Marcus tenses momentarily but then relaxes as he feels a large wet hand slide down his side, across the smooth skin of his hip and lower still until it ghosts over the globes of his ass and then back up to hold firmly at his hip again as Dave leans forward, breath hot against Marcus’ ear.

“Colour?” He asks and Marcus takes a steadying breath.

“Green. Uh… green. I - I think” he stammers out nervously. Dave hums before his hand snakes forward to grasp around Marcus’ hard, leaking cock and gives it a light squeeze that has Marcus whimpering.

“I’d say you’re doing just fine” Dave taunts before he languidly strokes Marcus a few times, causing his knees to nearly buckle as a desperate whine escapes his lips.

“I’m uh.. I’ve never.. with…” Marcus trails off, his eyes squeezing shut when Dave gently ruts into his back, his hand still slowly stroking him. “H-Have you?”

“When you’re young and in your prime and stuck in the service for twelve plus months at a time, a warm mouth is a warm mouth” Dave shrugs nonchalantly. “But it’s not something I indulged in often, or ever pursued outside of that environment” he adds, still slowly working Marcus over with shallow pumps of his fist. “Truth be told I’ve never looked at or even thought twice about another man. That is, until you”. He finishes the last part quietly, like it's a secret he can’t voice out loud.

“S-same here” Marcus stutters, eyes squeezed shut as he focuses on his breathing, hoping to stave off his orgasm for at least a little while longer. “Did you ever, ah fuck” Marcus groans, trailing off as his train of thought leaves him when Daves hand comes up to pay special attention to the head of his cock, his hand twisting just right over and over again at the sensitive tip.

“Did I ever what? Hmmm?” Dave taunts, hand stilling around Marcus as he lowers his hips slightly and presses further against him, his stiff length now pressing into the meat of Marcus’ asscheek. “Did I ever fuck a man’s tight little asshole?” He asks into the shell of Marcus’ ear and Marcus shudders before biting back a moan and nodding his head.

“No” Dave answers honestly. “Why, did you want to be the first?” He chuckles, rutting into him and Marcus lets out a stuttering gasp before shaking his head against the tiles.

“I don’t think… I’m not… No. I… I don’t know” Marcus answers helplessly, his shoulders tensing.

“Relax baby, relax” Dave soothes, pulling his hips back slightly but resting his forehead on Marcus’ shoulder. “You don’t have to be ready for that right now. And to be honest, if my cock is going to be in your ass then I want yours inside your wife so I can fuck you both at the same time” he chuckles darkly into the heated skin of Marcus’ back and a shiver passes through Marcus’ whole body at just the thought of that.

“Oh you like that don’t you” Dave laughs again. Feeling Marcus twitch in his hand gets Dave’s dominant confidence swelling in his chest again and he easily slips into the role he prefers to play, where he feels the most comfortable and less vulnerable.

“Wanna be the meat in our little fuck sandwich, sweet boy?” Dave taunts, his hand going back to slowly stroking Marcus again. “You gonna fuck your tight little ass against my fat cock while you’re buried inside of her?”

“Jesus, fuck” Marcus groans. He’d never once judged his wife for what she was into, but now he understood it first hand. The way Dave could have you falling apart just by the words that leave his mouth.

“Maybe a little friendly competition, see who can cum inside of who first” he laughs darkly and Marcus’ whole body shudders as a wrecked moan escapes him.

Dave hands picks up the pace a little as Marcus squeezes his eyes shut, face resting against his own forearm and teeth clenched as Dave draws him closer and closer to that edge he’s been teetering on since he sunk to his knees in front of the man in question just minutes ago.

He didn’t know what came over him, what possessed him to get out of bed and follow after Dave, but he couldn’t get what happened earlier out of his head. The way Dave had wrapped his hand around his throat, called him his good boy, and made him cum so hard his vision nearly blacked out. He needed more. Dave was like a drug, he understood it now. An addiction, a craving that could never be satisfied, always leaving you wanting more.

His breath catches in his throat when he feels Dave’s free hand that’s not currently wrapped around him back at his ass, a single finger sliding through the cleft of his wet cheeks until it stops to tease at his hole. The pad of his finger presses at the puckered flesh but doesn’t breach inside, just wanting to rile Marcus up and it is absolutely working as the younger man whimpers and squirms under Dave’s hands. Dave shifts slightly so that the water beats down more so on Marcus, ensuring he’s not dry as Dave continues to tease him.

“Colour” Dave demands again, finger pressing in again with just a fraction more pressure than the previous time.

“Green, fuck. Please” Marcus is trembling, his body leaning against the wall the only thing holding him upright and he feels the smirk reach across Dave’s face from where his mouth is still pressed to his ear.

“That’s my good boy” Dave chuckles. The sound of Dave spitting a giant glob of saliva between Marcus’ cheeks is downright sinful as it echoes off the four walls of the shower enclosure and Marcus has to bite into the meat of his own arm to keep from moaning too loudly when Dave finally pushes a single saliva slicked finger just inside as he continues to stroke Marcus’ length with delicate precision.

“Oh my god, oh fuck! I’m - ” Marcus cries out at the welcomed intrusion of Dave’s finger, barely inside but slowly moving back and forth creating just enough of a foreign pressure that it’s enough to push Marcus over that edge within seconds. He orgasms with a wrangled cry leaving his lips, spurts of his warm spend splattering onto the tiles in front of him and down Dave’s hand that still loosely grips him as he continues to pump him dry.

“That’s it” Dave’s voice soothes against his ear, still gently working him over with both hands as Marcus comes down from his high. “So good for your Daddy, hmmm?”

“Mmmhmmm, fuck” Marcus groans out once more, leaning heavily into the tiles now, shoulders and chest heaving with each laboured breath he takes. He lets out another whimper as Dave gently slips his finger out, sighs happily when he feels Dave’s lips press into his shoulder blade.

“Okay?” Dave breathes against Marcus' warm flesh, checking in with him and the younger man can do little but eagerly nod his head, still trembling in the aftershocks of his orgasm. Dave’s hand still wrapped around Marcus’ length finally slows to a stop and he releases him fully, both arms coming up to wrap around Marcus’ middle and hold him tight against his chest for a long moment and Marcus sighs happily, sated, leaning into the warmth Dave offers. He does his best to ignore the little flutter he feels in his chest as Dave's lips continue to pepper little kisses across the back of his neck and shoulders, wills his own heart to stop hammering in his chest when Dave breathes in deep and then rests his check against Marcus' back, apparently content to just hold him until his own breathing evens out.

“What um… what about you?” Marcus asks meekly. He hadn’t exactly gotten to finish what he’d started earlier once the attention shifted to him and his own pleasure. He can still feel Dave pressed into his back, though with the delay for his own gratification Dave has softened somewhat again, his needs seemingly less urgent now.

“Let me finish getting cleaned up in here and then why don’t we meet back in bed, hmm?” He finishes his thought with a sharp little smack to Marcus’ ass and chuckles before he bites down gently onto his shoulder. “See if you can wake up that wife of yours while you’re at it”

“Yeah, o-okay” Marcus stammers, stealing himself for a moment before he heaves a deep sigh, lets his shoulders relax and finally reaches for the shower door and slides it open. Dave lets him go, watches with piqued interest as Marcus bends over to pick up his earlier discarded towel and secure it back around his waist again, and then, he’s gone. Door closing shut behind him again and leaving Dave to finish his shower in privacy.

Dave is doing his best to act nonchalant, normal, though nothing about what just took place was normal for either of them. He’d never held another man in an embrace like that before and found himself not even wanting to let go. It took everything in him not to spin Marcus around and hold him even closer. And it wasn’t just sexual, this feeling he suddenly had. Though that part was definitely good too, but now he felt himself feeling suddenly nervous about going back out there, like he was completely transparent and the two of you would see through him immediately. He dreads the day, and he has a feeling it’s coming soon, that the two of you extract yourselves from his life. He knows the texts and visits will become fewer and farther between until suddenly he stops hearing from you all together and he’ll go back to his life before the two of you were in it, wishing he’d never gone along with it in the first place because then he wouldn’t be in the fucking predicament he found himself in now.

He should put a stop to this himself before that happens, he thinks. Like a bandaid, just rip it off and the pain will dissipate before he even notices it’s there, right? He can fake a work emergency, or say somethings come up with his children and he needs to cut this weekend short. You’ll both understand, of course you will. Maybe even be secretly relieved that you can spend the rest of your time here together with just the two of you.

He’s doing everyone a favour, he thinks.

Mind made up, he takes a little extra time than necessary in the shower, turning the temperature way down to hopefully rid him of what’s left of his hard-on and finishes cleaning himself off, being sure to scrub every inch of his body to wash away any lingering traces of this weekend from his skin, hopefully soon enough from his memory. He takes the removable shower hose off the fixture as well and sprays down the tiles where Marcus’ cum still lingers, watching it wash down the drain past his feet and then hangs the shower head back up and finally turns the taps off and steps out.

Speech fully prepared in his head, what he didn’t expect was to walk back into the bedroom to see you with a very worried expression on your face and for a moment, he feels his heart literally fall into his stomach. Did Marcus just confess what happened and you’re so enraged you’re about to throw him out on his ass? Throw your husband out too? Likely not the latter, he thinks. If anything it’s probably further cementing the fact that the two of you need Dave out of your lives, he’s only going to cause problems in what is a beautiful, perfect marriage.

“You have to go?!” He hears you say and oh. So Marcus is leaving? He asks what’s going on and then just hangs back after Marcus responds to him but then focuses his attention back to you, Dave idly listening to the conversation in the background as your husband continues to apologize to you about an apparent “work emergency” that’s come up.

Dave was already set in his decision to leave, but with Marcus going he knows he really, really needs to leave. Being alone with you might just kill him, and he doesn’t deserve a death that blissful, he reasons with himself.

Not long after saying an endearing goodbye to you, Marcus brushes past Dave with a vague ‘see ya later’ and just like that, he’s gone and Dave is left alone with the person currently possessing the other half of his traitorous heart. The heart that wasn’t supposed to fall for either of these two people who already belonged to each other, let alone apparently falling for both of them.

Marcus is in the cab, half way back to his own house where he most certainly does not have any type of work emergency waiting for him, when he starts an inner battle with himself about just what in the fuck he is doing. Should he have left? Should he turn around right now and go back and stop being a fucking coward? What the hell was he supposed to do?

He felt so fucking guilty the moment his orgasm ripped through him like a freight train with Dave’s hands on him and you nowhere in sight that he just couldn’t get out of that hotel room fast enough. He had cheated on you, in his mind. What’s worse is that it wasn’t even all sexual, though that is how it started and how he pursued it but his feelings for Dave were beginning to get overwhelming and he thought maybe if he just ‘got it out of his system’ he could forget about it and move on, but then Dave had to go and fucking hold him afterwards and asked him back to bed and his throat just plummeted into his stomach. How could he just walk out of that bathroom and pretend that never happened? Is that what Dave wanted? Or did Dave want you to know exactly what happened? How would you react? Marcus didn’t even have his own feelings about the whole thing sorted out, he couldn’t expect you to understand. He crossed a line, that much he knew.

Ultimately he decided to let the cab driver continue to their destination. He was already well on his way home anyway, might as well keep going. He’d fix himself some dinner, maybe a drink and just have some time alone to sort out his thoughts before he joins you back at the hotel. He briefly wonders if Dave will still be there when he gets back. If he is, maybe it would be a good time for the three of you to have a conversation, one that’s surely long overdue. Marcus hopes he doesn’t have to speak first. What if he voices what he thinks he’s truly feeling and you all look at him like he’s grown a second head?

He’s equally worried at both ends. He’s worried that Dave, despite the tender moments he is occasionally capable of showing, might laugh the whole thing off. He signed up to be a fun ‘playmate’ for a couple of weekends here and there, not a more permanent fixture in an already existing and functioning marriage. And you… what would you even think? Sure Marcus knows you’ve warmed to Dave over the months during your encounters but you’d never discussed with Marcus that you’d felt anything for the man in question outside of sexual desire. Not to mention what would you think of him if he asked you to have another man be an active participant in your relationship? The last thing he wants is you feeling like you’re not enough for him or that something is missing from your marriage.

It would kill him if this drove any kind of rift between the two of you. No, he needs to shut up and keep whatever is in his head and his heart to himself and hope things sort themselves out. He’ll start to distance himself (and hopefully you both) from Dave and you can go back to your lives. He cares about Dave, far more than what he knows is appropriate, but he can’t lose you. He won’t.

Marcus finishes his dinner, accompanied by a rich glass of wine, and waits a while, letting his food settle and his mind attempt to find peace within the waging war that are his thoughts still battling on inside his head. A few hours since he’d left the hotel pass before he finally heads back outside to his car and types the address of the hotel into his GPS.

Dave York is a bad man. He knows it the moment he reaches the penthouse floor again, not even thirty minutes since he left it, and lifts his fist to knock at the hotel room door. He'd had every intention of getting into his car and leaving this place. Just one drink first, he'd reasoned with himself, then he'd leave.

He knew shouldn’t be here at your door now. Not without Marcus. Though, he supposes he shouldn’t have been in the shower with Marcus without you, either. Marcus knows it, clearly. It’s the only explanation for why he high-tailed it out of there with some half-assed lie of an excuse of having a work emergency on a Saturday night. Dave saw right through it of course but didn’t voice his concern, he certainly wouldn’t do that in front of you. He wouldn’t wedge himself further into the complications of your marriage than he already was.

He’s really fucked this up. But he knows, even before you pull open that door, that tonight is his last chance. The last time he’ll allow himself to see you before he forces himself to go back to his old life so you can have yours back with your husband. And if he was a better man, he would’ve just left earlier when he said he was going to and not come to see you one last time, knowing full well what he was doing and feeling and how it might affect you. How it might affect Marcus, and moreover how it might affect your relationship with Marcus.

But Dave York was not a better man. Not a good man.

Dave York was a bad, bad man.

"Hi" you breathe out the moment the door swings open and lands on him leaning against the frame on the other side.

"Hi"

Marcus lets himself into the hotel suite, quietly and carefully making his way through the rooms that are bathed in darkness, only slivers of moonlight peaking through where the curtains aren’t fully shut. Pushing open the double doors to the bedroom he frowns but is otherwise not surprised to find you sleeping alone in the bed that now seems comically oversized for just your body alone, especially given how crowded it was only hours earlier.

He glances around the room, pulling out his phone and turning on the flashlight, making sure not to shine it on you so as to not wake you up. He tilts it around the room, looking everywhere but there's no sign of Dave. His belongings seem to be gone, his duffel bag no longer occupying the corner of the bedroom where it was before. Marcus had walked through the living room to get to the bedroom so he knows he wasn’t asleep on the couch either.

Dave was gone.

Clicking off the flashlight and before he can talk himself out of doing so, Marcus taps on the Messages icon on his screen, wanting to send a quick text to your group chat, just to ensure wherever Dave was, everything was OK.

Once again Marcus gets that all too familiar feeling of his throat falling into the pit of his stomach when he reads the tiny grayed out letters that greet him at the bottom of your conversation.

Dave York has left the group.

Dun Dun Dunnnnnn! I am so sorry, but believe it or not this was my plan for this series all along from the moment you guys lovingly bullied me into turning my one-shot into a series, lol. Fear not though, we haven't seen the last of our dear Dave. He's just a bit of an idiot, and is going to continue to be one for a little while, but have faith in me.

Next Chapter

I really appreciate you taking the time to read this chapter! If you liked it please leave me a little note or a reblog, it means the world to me!

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[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Do you think that Ms. Bustier is overhated?

Not particularly. I don't have any strong feelings about her, but she's clearly a terrible teacher who is in way over her head. I totally understand why she sets some people off. If she was a real person that I actually had to deal with, then she'd probably set me off, too, because she so perfectly encapsulates toxic positivity. If you're not familiar with that term, then here's a quick definition:

Toxic positivity is the act of avoiding, suppressing, or rejecting negative emotions or experiences. This may take the form of denying your own emotions or someone else denying your emotions, insisting on positive thinking instead. Although setting aside difficult emotions is sometimes necessary temporarily, denying negative feelings long term is harmful because it can prevent people from processing their emotions and overcoming their distress.

Read that definition and then look at this scene from Zombiezou:

Marinette: But Miss Bustier, it's so not fair! It was Chloé, pulling another...Chloé! And...I'm the one who's getting in trouble?! Miss Bustier: Of course you're not in trouble, don't worry! As the class representative, I want you to set a good example for your classmates. Don't give into feelings of anger. Try to forgive Chloé instead. Marinette: I don't get it... Chloé is the meanest person I've ever known. Miss Bustier: Come on... There are much worse people in Paris right now than Chloé Bourgeois. I'm sure people like Chloé are capable of great things. The problem is, they only think of themselves. They don't understand the meaning of love, and we can't force them to change. But perhaps we can show them by setting a good example. That's why Marinettes are so important in today's world; because they have a lot of love to give. I'm counting on you. Marinette: Yes, Miss Bustier.

This is toxic positivity in action. Marinette is told to set aside her extremely valid feelings as if anger is a terrible thing, but it isn't. All emotions have their place and ignoring them can do real harm, a lesson that Miraculous really struggles with. It seems to see "negative" emotions as bad and they're really not. What matters is how we express and address our emotions, not that we experience them. If you want to see a family friendly piece of media do this topic right, then go watch Pixar's Inside Out.

There's also the fact that Chloé is never punished for her actions in this episode. She ruined a gift that probably took Marinette hours and yet Miss Bustier puts the onus to fix things on Marinette, blaming the victim and doing nothing to actually fix the situation. Canon mildly complicates this with Chloé's father's willingness to meddle, making punishing her apparently impossible, but Miss Bustier doesn't even acknowledge that here. The stated logic is that you need to be nice to your bully and that will hopefully magically fix things, which is a terrible lesson that I don't want any kid to learn! What kind of logic is that?

I'll admit that I'm a big fan of "an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind," but that doesn't mean that you should never acknowledge harm or fight back. It just means that you need to be measured in your responses and pick your battles wisely. If this episode was about that, then I'd be fine with it, but that's not the lesson here. There is no point where the wrong done to Marinette is even mildly acknowledged. Miss Bustier's initial reaction to seeing Marinette's ruined gift is:

Miss Bustier: Well, I think this present is wonderful. It'll be my new cosmetics bag! Then I'll be able to think of both of you every time I use it.

And we go straight from that to the toxic positivity.

Something is wrong with this woman. You shouldn't even take this approach with preschoolers! While I could see this being a good final solution to something like Chloé scribbling on Marinette's drawing, Chloé's behavior still needs to be addressed. She is still the one in the wrong here. The one whose behavior needs to change.

This is one of many cases where there are two paths to take with this character. The writers clearly want Miss Bustier to be a wonderful teacher, but they wrote a victim-blaming disaster who shouldn't be in charge of anyone. If you're ever adapting her, then it's up to you if you want to redesign her into her intended self or if you want to lean into the bad writing. I think both paths have merit because the writing is so bad that there is no way to make canon Caline work as a good teacher. She's too fundamentally flawed so you either acknowledge how awful she is or do a major overhaul where she's much less forgiving and actually acknowledges things like the Chloé problem.

[andromeda-nova-writing]

Unpacking in the Infirmary

Fem!Reader

Summary: Restock day in the Infirmary has always been important for those who live in the Fortress. Especially with it being that place to go if something were to happen to an inmate or one of the staff members. With the amount of times Wriothesley has gotten hurt over the years, it's not surprising he ended up in there on one of those restock days. Though he didn't think he would also help with unpacking things as well.

Words: 3,039

AN: Once again I wrote a majority of this on my phone. I honestly can't believe how much I've written on my phone this year already. Hopefully, this doesn't become a major habit. Thank you @milkstore for reading over the fic. You caught so many mistakes due to my phone thinking capitalizing mid-sentence is a normal thing to do.

Warnings: Blood, Minor Injuries, Cleaning a wound. I personally wouldn't consider it too detailed but if you find any of that uncomfortable please go check out one of my other Wriothesley fics.

“You two should go take your lunch break already. I ate a late breakfast.” Y/N lifted a box of supplies from the surface and placed it on the table. Restock days had become important for her to be there for. It was easier to have someone who was not a Melusine to do any heavy lifting.

“You look tired. Are you sure you don't want to take a break now?” Sigewinne asked. Although her ask was more of telling her to take a break.

“I'll take a break when you or Ottnit get back. I promise.” She reassured Sigewinne. “Plus if we time breaks right we can get this done fast.”

Ottnit looked at Y/N before looking at Sigewinne. “She has a date.” She guessed.

Y/N rolled her eyes hiding a small smile. “Three days from now.” She answered before giving the real reason. “I promised I'd help my mother move her art studio into her new house after work.”

“It's more reason to take a break. You could have requested someone to take your place today.” Sigewinne reasoned.

“I know but I wouldn't have been able to give you those stickers for another week. It's been pretty peaceful down here lately. Let me have work as an excuse to see you two.” Y/N looked back to the box and grabbed a boxcutter to rid it of tape. “Just go enjoy lunch. You're just delaying how long till I take a break.”

Sigewinne accepted fate not wanting to argue it creating more of the delay. She and Ottnit left the infirmary for lunch. The room was left quiet while Y/N took inventory on the restock.

All the things that needed to be under a lock had been put away already. Next would be anything they kept out in the infirmary that should be easy to grab. Lastly, restocking the various first aid kits that were around the Fortress. Any mobile ones had been brought in already in the morning. The large stationary ones would be the last thing for today or one of the first things in the morning.

It was mindless work to her at this point. Open the box, check the inventory slip in the box, count to see if the amount matches, and mark off on the checkbox of what was requested if it matches. And if it didn’t, make a note. It was always easy to fall into the rhythm of this work.

Though a bit annoying that the monthly restock day had to line up with her mother's art studio move. There really wasn’t much she could do about it since she wanted to be there for both. Say she did request someone else to go down to the fortress instead of her. Y/N could imagine her coworkers on the surface asking if something was wrong with her and Wriothesley’s relationship. And as funny as it was to watch some of the older ladies try and make threats about if he dared hurt her, there really was no reason to rile them up with nothing.

Y/N finished up the box she had been working with. It was just bandages of different sizes. Luckily everything was all in there. She picked the box back up off the table and placed it within the pile of boxes that had already been checked. She picked up a new box, beginning to repeat the process all over again.

She lost count on the box filled with sterilized gloves when she heard the all-so-familiar knock at the wall. It was a firm but gentle knock that echoed throughout the infirmary.

“Hey.” Wriothesley introduced himself as he made his way down into the room. “By any chance is the hydrogen peroxide already out?”

“The current bottle doesn't have a lot in it but it is out. What happened?” Y/N turned away from the box and moved to get out what he asked for along with some cotton balls and bandages, opting for what was already out in the infirmary.

“There was a fight that broke out and I went to break it up. One guy was upset I was breaking up the fight, so he tried taking a knife out on me. I broke a knife. Now the guards got an eye on the two of them.” Wriothesley explained. He was peeling off the blood-soaked wraps that were around his right hand.

Y/N blinked. “You can't say you broke a knife so casually.” It was moments like that where she knew she still wasn't fully used to his behavior. It didn't matter how long she had known him before they began dating, it wasn't normal to hear anyone say they broke a knife in a fight. She moved into washing her hands.

“No, ‘Are you okay’?” He threw the wraps away in a bin that was meant for Anything that came in contact with any sort of bodily fluids. Also known as the bloody cotton and bandages bin to most of the Fortress. All because they were however many miles under the ocean didn't mean they got to skip important procedures to help keep things safe.

Y/N rolled her eyes. “Oh, I'm sorry.” She spoke sarcastically as she dried off her hands. “Your Grace, does your wound cause you great pain? Whatever will I do now that you are gravely injured?”

“Gravely! Shit. It's just some cuts on my palm. Where did you get ‘gravely’ from? It won't kill me.”

“Oh, so you can handle it yourself.” She teased as she pulled gloves on getting ready so she could examine the wound.

“Some nurse you are. I thought going to the infirmary was supposed to be welcoming.”

“That's what you get for asking a pharmacist to be a nurse. I'm nowhere near as welcoming.” She joked. “Go sit on the bed.” She moved fast grabbing a clean pair of tweezers.

“Already sitting down Miss.” He spoke in a smug tone she was all too familiar with.

“If you can recognize that you should already be sitting down I would hope you should recognize that you should be more careful.” She turned around and moved towards Wriothesley. Y/N grabbed his wounded hand. She began picking out any small shards of the knife that had gotten stuck within. Luckily not too many. None were deep within the palm as well.

“I can only try to be more careful so much. If you think about it, I helped you not have to deal with an inmate who had a stab wound on restock day. While everyone but you is out for lunch.” Wriothesley reasoned. He looked at the wound already wondering if the count of scars on his body was about to go up.

“I'll give you that.” Y/N finished up with the first part of cleaning up the wound. She had thrown any remnants of the knife in the trash. “You know you are very lucky that Sigewinne wasn’t here to fuss over you. If I had to listen to her ‘I helped raise you, the least you could do is be careful’ lectures while trying to count and move things around, I might go insane.”

Wriothesley rolled his eyes as he laughed. “Yeah.” He drew out the word with a bit of tiredness. “I guess I should thank you for not telling her.”

“Shit.” It was half a response from the hydrogen peroxide touching the new wound and half from what Y/N had said. He thought he was more used to the sting of his wounds being cleaned by now. “Can’t you just let this slide?”

Y/N raised her eyebrow as she began to dab the hydrogen peroxide onto some cotton balls. “I never said I wasn't going to tell her. If I remember right, which I know I'm remembering right, I still have to write this up in your medical file. No exception for staff. Even if you are the Warden, she’s going to find out regardless.”

“You created more work for me on restock day and think I’m gonna let this slide. After I’m done with this I get to go move a whole art studio.”

“Don’t I get special privileges?”

“Everyone with a title is gonna get the same treatment from me. You forget that?” The blood had been cleaned off his hand. And with the wound clean she could begin focusing on wrapping up the wound on his palm.

“I was going for boyfriend privileges.” Wriothesley continued to try and wiggle his way out of Sigewinne learning what happened.

“I am on the clock and not on break so no special treatment. You lost special treatment the moment you walked into the infirmary. If it's serious enough to seek medical care, it's serious enough to be written in your medical file.” 

“Usually I'm very glad that you take your job seriously.”

“Cause it's my job and it would be inappropriate to change procedures just because the patient is you.” Y/N finished wrapping up his palm leaving him plenty of room to move his hand around but keeping the bandages tight enough to stay on throughout the day. “Change the bandages 3 hours from now. You can either do it yourself or have Sigewinne do it for you.”

Wriothesley moved his fingers around testing how much movement he would have. “Thanks, doll. You sure I can't get you to change it instead?”

“I just said I have to go move an art studio later.” She began putting away anything unused that was okay to keep before throwing everything else out. “Or were you not paying attention to what I was saying?”

“I was. You know I could go and help you if you want.” Wriothesley offered. 

Y/N looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “Art Studio. As in my mother's art studio.”

“Yeah. You managed to get a photo out of me and you've been saying that your mother wants to meet me. Every time you’ve tried to set up, something has always come up and if I go with you, then you won’t have to worry if I’m using my right hand or not.” He reasoned. It may have also been a bit of quick thinking to avoid disappointing Sigewinne over that he got hurt again. Two birds with one stone kind of thinking.

“But I was thinking like a dinner so we could all get to talk.” She threw out her gloves before moving to sit on the bed on Wriothesley’s left side. “How are we supposed to talk if we are just packing and moving boxes Ri?”

“I could help, go pick up some food for everyone so you don’t have to sit at a restaurant.” He put his arm around Y/N pulling her closer and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Plus it’s my non-dominant hand that’s hurt so I can still help you.” 

“I’ll just have to take you two out to eat after.” He offered.

“I’m already going to be tired after this and I’m just going to be exhausted after helping her move. I’m not going to want to sit down somewhere for dinner.” Y/N argued.

“What if I’m so tired I don’t even want to talk while we eat?”

“I’ll just carry you to your apartment afterward if you are so tired. Quit worrying your pretty little head over it. You need the brain power for more important things.”

It was a well-needed reminder for her. Sometimes it was just too easy to get caught up in worry. “You must really like me a lot if you are willing to carry me like a sack of potatoes.”

Wriothesley laughed. “I was thinking more like a piggyback ride but if you want to be carried like a sack of potatoes, I can. We really should talk about how you not so secretly want me to manhandle you.” He teased.

Y/N rolled her eyes. “I have work.” 

“I’ll get you after your shift then. We can go up together.” He gave her a quick peck on the lips before standing up from the bed. “You can't go on about how much you want your mother to like me and when the perfect opportunity for a good impression comes up, try and stop me from meeting her.”

“But what if it ends up not being perfect?” She looked up at him. “I really care about you. I want my mother to like you. I want my family to like you.”

“Which is why I’m offering to help with a move. Even then if you keep planning for perfection, nothing will get done. You know that.”

“I know not everything can be perfect. I’ve made my peace with that. But I want this to be perfect.” She stood up looking at him. “I want something good for you outside of here as well.” 

“Don’t worry about things like that. Life is good for me now.” He sighed. “It’s not like anything is forcing me to be here all the time. I know there’s good outside. What's bothering you?”

She sighed. “You remember when I said I was volunteering as the person to come down here to help was just to try something new right?” Y/N started as she began to give the real reason.

“Yeah. It's kind of what we encourage here.”

“Well, I got out of a really bad breakup. And my family was just telling me that person wasn't good.”

“You never told me how bad.” He did remember a mention that she got out of a relationship around two and a half years ago when they first met. She never said much about it and who was he to press her about it back then? 

“I was engaged. I almost signed a lease on a new house with them when everything went down. I just feel like I got blindsided by the show they were putting on. If I listened to my family then everything would have been better for me.” She took a deep breath. “So if they like you, nothing like that will happen to me again.”

“And here I was thinking you were just worrying to worry.” Wriothesley shook his head at himself. “Look, I can't control how people are going to view me. And you can't control if your mother will like me or not.”

“I know that. I just want this to be good. I mean I wanted her to like you even before we started dating. You kind of started to become important in my life.” Y/N looked away from him. “Like I think even after I got that breakup, you were definitely part of the reason I stayed.”

“It's going to be okay. It may not be some storybook picture of perfection but it's going to be better if you try and focus on the good.” He placed his left hand on her shoulder trying to ground her back to reality. “What did you say a few weeks ago? I think you said she would steal a single mora to get thrown in here if she didn't get the chance to meet me at this rate.”

Y/N laughed. “Yeah. I had to tell her that's a horrible idea.”

“It's going to be okay.”

She nodded as she spoke. “Okay.” She looked into his eyes falling into the comforting gaze that looked back at her.

“I'll get you after your shift. I still have to fill out paperwork cause of that fight.” Wriothesley kissed her forehead. “I know it's easier said than done, but try not to overthink it.”

“And if I do?”

“Then we will have to find a way to stop you from thinking about that specifically.”

“It better not be by giving me work. Cause I'm going to be so tired tonight.” She looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m not cruel. I was thinking of making sure you aren’t alone so you don't fall back into your worries. At least so someone can pull you back out if you do.”

“Well, Sigewinne and Ottnit should be back soon. So I won’t be alone for too long.”

“You ate lunch already?” Wriothesley asked.

Y/N looked away again. “I ate a late breakfast so I was going to eat lunch once they got back.”

“In here?” He asked concerned. “What happened to only eating in here when there is only one person available?”

“I was actually going to go out to the cafeteria. I didn't bring anything down for lunch today.” It was a break from her normal habit, mostly because she forgot to grab her lunch before leaving her apartment in the city. The sandwich that she made that now sat in her kitchen would be dearly missed.

Wriothesley sighed. “Guess I'll have to take the important job of keeping you company during lunch.” 

“Don't you also have work?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

“For one, I’m in charge of this place. And two, I still have to eat lunch myself. Also, I think the Fortress can handle itself while I take care of you. I think people know well enough to only disturb me when I'm with you if it's important.” It was something that he noticed was happening long before the two of them got together. It was already common for people would keep their distance due to their various reasons. It must have been learned to give the two space after people had noticed that Wriothesley’s mood would sour when he had to leave for something that didn’t even require his attention.

“Makes me wonder what your definition of important is now.”

“At the moment, it's keeping you out of your worry spiral. Generally a mix of other things, but the only thing taking me away from you is if something requires my attention to be handled. You are at the top of the list at the moment.” Oh, she just wanted to be in his arms after that. 

“The top of the list?”

“Yes.” He nodded.

“Are these girlfriend privileges?”

Wriothesley laughed remembering what he said not so long ago. “You can call it that if you want. I would have done this for you regardless though.”

Y/N gave in, finally hugging him. Maybe things would be okay.

[garden-of-omegas]

⚜ FIRST MEETING [SPYXFAMILY - THE FAMILY] ⚜

┌── ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ ••✎•• ──────────

characters: loid forger | yor forger/briar | yuri briar summary: the details of your first meeting with your future mate. warnings: spies, contract killers, references to assassination, references to torture, adopted families, references to war, yuri rating: sfw a/n: guess who finished the spy x family anime? i did! i love yuri so much, and i love the forgers so much, and i love so many characters so much! honestly, haven't felt this motivated to finish something in ages. i'm back bitches! hopefully i'll start getting faster at writing these too.

~🎕

└── ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ ••✎•• ──────────

≿━━━━༺❀ loid forger ❀༻━━━━≾

✿ you were a hitman. you'd never really been anything else. you were infamously known as "dawn", though no one had ever actually been able to pin anything on you specifically, mostly because you could control minds.

✿ both your and loid's ages are... nebulous at best, though loid had been working as a spy for about a decade, while you'd been in the business for at least two of those.

✿ you'd recently come to ostania under an alias to work as a teacher at the eden academy. loid was looking for an alpha to play a part in his pretend family, and just happened to meet you while shopping for anya. the moment she realized you were a spy too, your fate was sealed. anya insisted on you becoming her new appa, and once loid realized where you worked he saw an opportunity. you on the other hand, thought that a marriage could be beneficial to blending in while on your mission.

✿ before neither of you got to the point of actually proposing (a fake marriage) you received a mission to retrieve some valuables, a mission loid had also gotten. after several shenanigans, the two of you run into each other out of disguise, get chased by a bunch of smugglers, and loid proposes to you to the sound of explosions. you say yes. obviously.

✿ loid found you inconspicuous, a bit odd but sweet. admittedly, anya's love for you might've made him a lot less suspicious than he might've been if he actually paid any attention to literally anything about you. loid was handsome, and that was about the extend of your initial thoughts. a decent man, with a good job, and an adorable daughter. the perfect cover for any spy, which you should've probably thought about a little harder.

≿━━━━༺❀ yor briar ❀༻━━━━≾

✿ you were an... "interrogator", let's put it that way. but also the heir of a mysterious earl, who'd been kind enough to take you in when you were a child and taught you to be the person you are today, to be "the bloody prince".

✿ yor was 26, while you were 25. your father had recently started insisting that you find yourself a spouse, as you were soon to start training a child of your own.

✿ you actually met while working. you were having a "conversation" with a target, trying to get the names of some traitors out of him when the thorn princess showed up to kill your target. you fought about it, you even tried using your powers against her but they didn't work. she pretty much kicked your ass, and you barely got away. after finding a place to catch your breath, you realized that you found your almost killer to be heart-poundingly beautiful.

✿ you met yor a few days later, having met your new protege (a cute little girl by the name of nel) just the same day. she noticed yor and complimented her looks, which got you interested in her as well. while you were still a bit hung up on the mysterious beauty who almost killed you, yor seemed sweet and the type to not ask too many questions. thus, you asked her out on a date, and became a bit infatuated when she got flustered by the whole thing. she still said yes of course.

✿ yor found your secret identity to be impressive, if a little cruel. not that she could really speak on it. but meeting the real you, she thought that you were the most handsome alpha she'd ever met. if only you didn't fluster her so much. you enjoyed both sides of her, not that you knew they were the same person. she was strong, she was beautiful, she was everything you could possibly want in an omega. but you weren't actually looking for love, as you claimed to yourself.

≿━━━━༺❀ yuri briar ❀༻━━━━≾

✿ you were the leader of an anti-government organization, still in it's starting stages. but for the most part you were simply going to school, trying to quickly get yourself through schooling to start truly working towards your goals with your comrades.

✿ you were 17, on your second year of college, while yuri was 14 and already on his first year of college. it'd been three years since you started your group.

✿ to put it simply, you and him were put together as roommates. you'd been impossible to find a roommate for, and yuri didn't get along with any of his classmates, so the administration thought that the two of you could just bother each other. and bother each other did you, both of your personalities clashing together the moment you met. especially about your views, even though you didn't dare to actually talk about your true beliefs. but it was hard, yuri was far too talented at riling you up.

✿ you remained roommates for the last two years of your schooling, and it was a disaster up until that point. but there were moments of peace, where yuri would help you with your school work and you'd look after him to make sure none of the older students bothered him. but most of your relationship was full of bickering and disagreements.

✿ yuri thought that you were the most annoying roommate one could possibly have, not for your habits or anything (you were actually pretty strict about keeping the place clean) but your personality. he admittedly did get a bit of a crush on you already, but would never admit to it. yuri was a kid. an annoying one, but an understandable one too. you didn't actually hold anything he said too seriously, and mostly just enjoyed riling him up because he'd act all huffy and cute about it. if he wasn't so stubborn about his beliefs, you might've asked him to join your cause.

[defuckingthrone-dot-com]

Gutten Morgen, Ich bin back once again👹 So, I just wanted to ask if you can write about the triplets. Of course, if you don't want to you don't have to.

With love, Deutsch Nonnie❤️👹

Summary: Noah x Reader finding out having triplets  

Pairing: Noah x Reader

TW: none, maybe fainting? But just a cute little blurb.

N/A: for my Deutsch Nonnie, sorry it took me so long to post this, been through chaos, but I hope you like it! almost I'm sorry if this isn't accurate, I don't know anything about pregnancy or babies to be quite honest with you, but I tried my best <3

Divider by @bernardsbendystraws

Ever since Noah and I found out I was pregnant a few weeks ago everything has been like a dream. It feels so surreal to me that I’m starting a little family with the love of my life. He's been very attentive to my needs. 

Today we had our first check up just to make sure everything was going to plan and hopefully we would be able to hear the heartbeat of our little. 

“Are you nervous?” I asked Noah as he pulled out of the driveway of our home. 

“I'm more excited than anything.. i can't believe we're having a baby” he replied back, sounding ecstatic. “I know where probably not doing this the conventional way, i mean were not married yet and were having a baby now but i wouldn't want to do it with anyone else”

A small sigh escaped my lips and I spoke once more  “I wouldn't want to do it with anything else either. Plus we don't need to be married or we don't need to do anything how everyone else thinks it should be. i'm happy just the way we are”

He grabbed my hand over the middle console with one of his while his other hand remained on the steering wheel. “Yeah me too” he said in almost a whisper.

We had the radio as background for the rest of the drive. It didn't take long to arrive at the clinic. 

“Hi im here for my 2 p.m. appointment” i spoke with the receptionist outside of the office of my doctor,

“Yes, Mrs. Y/L/N, follow me” she signalled with her hand. 

I intertwined my finger with Noahs and started to follow the receptionist. 

She knocked on the door and poke her head in “Dr. Quinn your next appointment is here”

“Yes thank you Martha, i'll take it from here” i hear the Dr, voices right as we walked in 

After a couple of minutes of introduction we started a regular check up and made my vitals where they needed to be. 

“Now it's a bit early to determine the sex of the baby but we can listen to its heartbeat, if that's okay with you?” Dr Quinn asked with a smile on her face.

Both Noah and I nodded in unison, too excited to speak.

“Okay i'm gonna have to lay down on the bed here and please pull your top up just a little bit for me please. I'll start getting the machine ready” she commanded.

I did as she said and laid there with my baby bump exposed to the cold air, it was starting to show more and more everyday and I was starting to feel the baby move around. 

She inch closer with the machine in hand and started to also put on gel on my belly.

“Okay here we go”

At first there wasn't any sound coming from the little speaker by the machine and made me very anxious that something might be wrong but after a minute of moving the handheld device around we could hear your baby's heartbeat.

Thump, thump, thump..

It was so magical, my eyes started to water from the emotion, I reached out to grab Noah's hand once more and squeeze it and I could feel the same way as his eyes started to crystallize with adoration.

Thump, thump, thump…

“Heartbeat is where it should be everything seems to be normal but i do want to do an ultrasound to see if we can't get a look at how big the baby is” Dr Quinn said already grabbing whatever she needed to complete the ultrasound

“I'm so happy you have no idea” Noah admitted with a sigh

“So am i can't believe we got to hear your baby's heartbeat” i said 

Noah gave me a forehead just as Dr Quinn walked right back in, she placed more gel on my belly and continued “Ok let's look here” she pointed at the monitor that hung from the wall.

“ok here's the head and those are its arms and legs…”

“I don't know how you can define a baby form, it all just looks like a blob to me,” Noah said probably without thinking. 

“Noah!” I said, thankfully Dr Quinn thought it was funny since she let out a small laugh.

She started to move around my belly once more with the machine. “oh well you look at that..there's…”

“Where's Dr? Is everything okay?” I was a bit worried.

“Everything is okay, there one, two, and three heads, looks like you're having triplets! the heart beats we hear a beat earlier where from different little babies”

Did I hear correctly? there's 3 babies growing inside of me?

“TRIPLETS?” Noah shouted before he took a stumble down, he fainted with the impression of the news

“Noah!” I screamed once more but this time to try to get to him. “Dr please you gotta do something” 

Dr Quinn got as fast as she could to grab a cotton ball and rubbing alcohol to put it under Noah's nose so he would come back to his senses. 

“What..happened.. ?” he said with a disoriented tone.

Dr Quinn looked at me as if to say I should let him know what went down.

“You fainted..because..we just found out we were having triplets..” i said with an almost guilty smile, 

He shook his head as if he wasn't understanding what just said to him “Triplets?” he asked again with a bit of a calmer voice.

Dr Quinn nodded her head before saying “Yes, but i'm gonna leave you two alone for a couple of minutes so you cant talk” with that she walked out of the room.

“I feel like I'm in a fever dream,” Noah spat out.

“ A good one or a bad one?” i asked 

“I don't know yet honestly..” he sighed. 

“I know you're scared…and to be quite honest with you so am i” i took a pause “but i know we will get through this together. remember i wouldn't want anyone else to do this with. i love you”

“you're right, we're in this together, I can't wait to have 3 little goblins running around our home” he squeezed my hand this time. “I love you too.. now where have to start tripling up on everything” he said with a small laugh.

I know that this pregnancy would probably be beating the shit of me, once i got the last trimester but I couldn't wait to have 3 babies in our home causing the best kind of chaos. Life would be a bit haptic, but I knew with Noah by my side everything will be alright.

[drdemonprince]

ive seen you talk about FIRE/mr money moustache and i am interested in how you balance that with your politics. i ask because i am also interested in FIRE but struggle with the idea of saving 2mil+ to retire early when people need money NOW to survive. not just broadly but even loved ones and community members in my immediate vicinity. i dont mean this in an EXPLAIN YOURSELF sort of way, just so many of the FIRE etc people i find writing about it dont really address this aspect and its something i struggle with internally myself.

Sure, I don't mind speaking about this at all. I wish I more frequently had the occasion to because it's a major special interest of mine.

First, I'm not interested in the saving 2 million dollars (if that were even feasible) school of financial independence/ retire early. I'm more of an adherent to the r/LeanFire, r/BaristaFire type approach of maintaining a consistently very frugal standard of living that is sustainable for me, on a relatively smaller savings, and pursuing a life of relatively little consumption.

I also think that MMM, despite his many flaws, is broadly accurate in stating that when people continuing working all their lives, they also create more ecological devastation by consuming a whole of a hell lot more resources on convenience and burning more fuel, while chasing after a steadily rising living standard set by the norms of their profession. By taking myself out of the workforce sooner rather than later, I will be contributing less to climate change and waste because I'll need fewer convenience meals, fewer car rides, fewer flights, fewer hotel rooms, fewer fancy professional clothes, and so on and so on.

I also spend a lot of time on the Socially Conscious Mustachians group on Facebook, which focuses on investing one's savings in ways that are less ethically problematic. The easy mode version of this is simply putting one's money into index funds that exclude oil companies, gun manufacturers, etc. But honestly, today, with interest rates being as high as they are? It's pretty easy to just sock one's money into a CD or a bond, collect the cool 5.4% interest, and avoid having to contribute to the stock market directly at all. There are even high-yield savings accounts at credit unions that pay out about that much interest these days, and those entities typically do not invest in oil pipelines, BDS targets, or anything all that objectionable.

As for the hoading money while others are in need piece: Well. yeah. that's a difficult ethical challenge that we all must consider. how much can i hold onto for my own wellbeing in the spirit of "putting on one's oxygen mask first" without it being wealth hoarding? how much should i give to other people when i see that they are in need --someone could easily make the case that I have the moral obligation to give away what i have to my very last cent, and I couldn't really argue with them on that. maybe a person should do that. but i'm not going to do it. and of course the effective altruism freakos would counter that if i invest my money and grow it now, i will have more to give to others in the long run than if i cash out now.

realistically, i won't be able to continue working for much longer without having another health episode or worse. i will not qualify for disability benefits because high maskers who have had careers usually do not. and social security's coffers will be entirely drained long before i reach the age to qualify for it. if i enter my non-working years without any resources, someone else will have to worry about me staying housed and medicated and fed.

i tend to think of my retire early stash as my own little private disability benefits fund that will allow me to live safely and will hopefully allow me to take care of other people that i love as we age, and that will give me the freedom from having to do any morally compromising capitalist labor ever again, and only put my energies towards causes that either fulfill me or benefit others.

but it's still rooted in a highly individualistic capitalist system, this holding onto money under my own name and investing it thing. im sure a lot of people would choose instead to sock all of their money into some kind of cooperatively owned communist farm or something, and you know, some day down the line i would love to put money toward a big multi unit building that lots of people i am in community with could live in, with no financial obligations for them. but i dont have anywhere near that kind of scratch. as hannibal buress (that landlord piece of shit) said, "i don't have fuck you money, i have strongly worded email money." and you know, being able to write a strongly worded email to people who would otherwise be exploiting me into another huge burnout does feel good.

thinking that one day i might not work anymore is one of the only things that keeps me going. i am always on the razor's edge of not functioning, i dont think people really realize that, how could they, the mask is there to prevent them seeing it. im beyond privileged to even get to CONSIDER the dream of getting by on my savings for however long human society continues to exist. and it sure would be better if i could extend that kind of freedom and peace of mind to others. my life still feels very precarious and it always has and ive had to be stable for the sake of others for a long time, ive had to be financially responsible for others for a long time. i cling to the idea of FI/RE because it offers me a way to finally break down and be weak. but something more community oriented and interdependent would sure as fuck be better. in the meantime i guess im saving for something like that i could trust enough to give myself over to.

i also have a really strong fetishistic desire to be someone's completely brainwashed sex pet for the entire rest of my life, and having an early retirement account would really help me facilitate that

[pseudoartistpostsstuff]

I'm not sure if you've seen the hype around sky being in his undershirt and being ✨pretty✨ in the recent update, but could I please request reader fawning over Yan!sky in his undershirt or some general hc's for him?

Thanks for requesting!

Notes: This is the actual request, but I'll post some headcannons later for him as well!

Anyways, I, in fact, wasn't around when the whole hype happened, however after a quick search I was able to actually see what all of this was about.

Idk if this can be considered self indulgent, but my immediate idea when it came to writing this was that the reader liked those types of clothes from pinterest. Hopefully I'm not the only one, but those types of clothes just scratch a very specific itch in my brain.

I did not plan for the random suggestiveness at the middle of this oneshot, actually, I never plan, this just came out somehow.

The headcannons!

TWs: Light yanderism, slightly suggestive, the Links being creeps and clothing thievery.

Yandere! LU! Sky x Reader

This is a robbery, not romantic.

The hot, rocky ground has absolutely no respect whatsoever for your shoes.

Out of all the places you had to walk to in the past, along with these guys, this volcano had to be on the top 3 of the worst places you've ever visited.

Walking up the volcano certainly had you sweating, however, you felt like the drops of sweat could barely reach the fabric of your undershirt before they evaporated due to the sheer heat. You weren't even halfway up the path yet, but your legs were already disagreeing with the rhythm the group had adopted to advance as fast as physically possiple. In short, you were slowing down everyone, since the Links refused to let you walk anywhere that wasn't in the middle of them, so that if anything happened, you'd be protected.

A was a distant memory of yours resurfaced in your brain, something about some discovery channel documentary you had watched a long time ago about elephants and how they kept the weaker elephants in the middle of the herd when traveling, the weak being youngins, elderly or sick elephants. 

Frowning, you couldn't help but wonder in which category of weak you fell according to them.

Legend, who was staring keeping an eye on you through the whole trip, as he always did, noticed your struggle and elbowed Warriors, causing the man to let out a choked sound of surprise before Legend gestured to you with his thumb, scowling with his eyebrows furrowed, the same expression he always made sure to put on when something related to you in some way, covering up the softness of his eyes with a hard glare and a grimace.

Warriors, upon analyzing your stance for a second, was able to easily pick on how tired you were, and after taking into account how everyone else was, even if it wasn't as important as your well being, in the end he lifted his hand in a silent gesture for a break.

Nothing in that moment could rival or even equal to the feeling of fresh water coating your tongue and dry throat after so much of that burning sun and heat.

Your feet felt sore already, at this point it was like walking barefoot would be better than walking with those hard-soled boots. Then, you frowned once again, looking down to the bottom of one of your boots, it seemed like those boots were made for strolling on the soft grass, not hiking up a rocky mountain. Worst of all, the heat was so high you were sure you'd get burned as soon as your bare foot made contact with the ground outside the small cave you and the guys were sitting in, so you had no other option than just keeping the shoes on, even if you felt like the damn thing would just melt at some point.

Today, your mood had been dampened considerately, your face unable to catch a break from your constant sour expression. You felt as if you were Legend's replacement for a day.

After checking the really small cave and it's surroundings, the Chain finally seemed to deem it safe for now in a silent agreement between themselves. You were already sitting against some rock and letting the tension flow out of your body much before that.

Others joined you in sitting against rocks or the walls of the cave.

With a quick glance to Time, and a small amused scoff paired with a nod as response from the elder, Twilight was off most of his clothes, keeping only his bottom clothes on.

It was as if a domino effect had taken place, the rest of the Links around you began shedding their layers of clothing, the silence being disturbed by the sounds of fabric and other articles of their attire shuffling and eventually being either dropped or carefully placed on the floor, close enough to be quickly put back on incase something happened. Chatter began traveling around the group.

You had half the mind to move to do the same, your hands and eyes drifting down to the hem of your tunic, beginning to pull it up. 

The chatter suddenly seemed to die down, only one voice still talking. Your hands paused when your mind registered the sudden almost silence, your eyes slowly drifting back up to glance around, noticing how everyone was just… Staring at you…

Even for someone oblivious, the hunger eagerness in their gaze was undeniable.

Naturally, your eyes searched for Time, seeking some kind of refuge, surely the elder would have something to say about this, right?

Wrong. Time's only functional eye was half lidded, trained on your form with the same desire interest apparent in his gaze, you felt like a mouse under the watchful gaze of a hawk, his head tilted as his cheek rested on his fist, the hints of a smug smile pulling at the corners of his lips.

This stare of his felt almost physically uncomfortable, unnerving in a way, like his glare, but worse.

Confusion settled over both you and Wind, who only now seemed to notice that despite all of his talking, he wasn't receiving any response. Looking up just as confused as you once were, his eyebrows furrowed as he traded baffled glances with you.

"What happened? Why the hell is everyone so quiet?" Wind asked, a confused pout settling on his features, his arms defensively crossed over his chest once he noticed the attention of the group was on you, he didn't like one bit how they were looking at you, his "I'm ready to throw hands" stance made that obvious.

The thought made you internally chuckle. Easing up the tension present in the cave as you let the fabric fall back over your tights, releasing it and giving up on the idea of taking it off. This seemed to finally awaken the others, making you grateful for Wind's brotherly protectiveness, your unease fading a bit as they went back to normally talking along with friendly bickering from Warriors regarding Wind's tense figure.

"Goddesses, I didn't remember Eldin Volcano being this hot!" Sky groaned from somewhere on your left, making you turn to look at him.

He still kept his undershirt on despite shedding all his other top layers, seemingly still too shy around you and the others to get that bare. 

You took a moment to admire his shirt and how pretty it looked on him. You just had to take a picture of him in that shirt to post on pinterest later, such a sight surely belonged there.

That was for later though, you didn't have any signs of internet just yet.

"Who gave you the right." Your voice sounded more like an affirmation than a question, your face blank, void of any emotion as you uttered those words, leaving Sky unsure of how he should respond or even react, should he respond at all? The way you spoke confused him more often than not.

"Hah- Uhm… Hylia…? I am not sure I know what you are talking about exactly…" Shy responded slowly, stuttering a bit. The almost apologetic expression on his face made you want to both retreat and smother him with hugs, you know those moments when you find something so cute that you just want to squeeze it as hard as you can? That was how you felt right now.

Sky felt lightly threatened by your blank expression.

It was quite funny to you, his reactions. He'd hardly ever know how to respond to your kind of humor, but his awkward answers and bashful smiles made up for it, making you either grin along or just flat out laugh, as if he had actually responded correctly to whatever random stuff you had just sprouted with a fully straight face. Your reactions to his reactions made him feel embarrassed but also happy, very much glad your attention was on him.

"Who gave you the right to be so pretty?" Your eyes softened, your blank expression falling as a starry-eyed one took place, the way you were looking at him made his heart melt, warm blood being pumped up to his cheeks, a redness taking over his face and the tips of his ears, almost spreading to his neck. Sky was stunned into silence, he didn't even try to speak, he knew from past experiences that trying to speak in this state would lead him to stumble over his words, only embarrassing himself further, like he was a teenager once again.

He resorted to slightly covering his reddened face, his hand coming up to scratch at the side of his head as it tilted down a bit, an timid yet flattered smile tugging at his mouth. His teeth dug into the soft flesh of the inside of his cheek, trying to keep the smile at bay as to not grin at you like a maniac.

Just a simple compliment and he already felt like he had been reduced into a puddle of himself, melted and absolutely compliant to you, how you didn't see his adoring gaze up at you was a mystery, it wasn't like he was doing a good job of hiding it anyway, unconsciously trying to make himself smaller than you all the while trying to appeal even more to your eyes, puffing out his chest. His gaze dropping to your mouth every now and then, your lips looked absolutely delectable framing that ethereal smile of yours.

His cheeks burned brighter at the mere thought of sealing his lips against yours.

"You should definitely wear it more often." You blurted out, too busy ogling at the shirt to notice you said it out loud, too busy to notice the amused and flaunted closed lip smile taking over his grin. 

"I mean, I kind of do wear it everyday…"  A soft snort left his nose, filling your ears as his voice followed, smug, he had definitely seen you looking, making you scoot back once you realized where you really were, leaning into Sky's personal bubble and reaching out to touch the fabric of his shirt not that he minded anyway. "It's just under my clothes most of the time." 

He chuckled quietly, watching with great interest as rich shades of red flushed your face, your cheeks gaining a whole new coloration with his teasing.

The change in dynamics wasn't unwelcomed in any way by him, in fact, Sky found it nice that he wasn't the one flustered this time around.

You, however, were wondering whether you liked the shirt more or the way the shirt fit on Sky. God only knew how badly you wanted to feel that fabric, it was probably cotton, and hand made according to Sky's measurements, meaning it was made to fit him perfectly, way more than it'd fit on anyone else. Yeah, you could see that.

Without noticing, your previous grimace and sour mood had been replaced by a stupid smile on your lips. Sky had this type of side effect on you.

"You know what I meant." Your reply came out in an embarrassed huff, frowning jokingly with your arms crossed, trying to conceal the blush in your face so it would, hopefully, go away, that is, if you were lucky.

You weren't, not really.

"Yeah I know." He replied, a cheerful yet sweet smile on his face, still eyeing your blushy complexion. "I'll make sure to 'wear' it more, at least in situations where we're not being attacked by a dozen of monsters." He joked, rendering you unable to keep a shit-eating grin off of your face.

Sky shyly smiled back at you, mindlessly smoothing out any wrinkles in his shirt while you kept staring, him gladly letting you do as you pleased, drinking up in your attention.

The heat only seemed to grow as the day progressed into mid-day, the sun directly above the cave you guys were in. You'd managed to take off your tunic and gear by now, and it had already helped with relieving some of the suffocating heat, even if you kept your undershirt in place, on your body, overly aware of the multitude of eyes lingering on your form every now and then.

As a result of that same heat, Sky finally succumbed and took off his undershirt, the pretty one you adored, and simply placed it on the dusty, dirty floor, just like that, not treating the white shirt with any respect, completely ignoring the possibility of it getting stained or wrinkled, which pulled an indignant gasp from you.

His attention was once again brought to you by your gasp, puzzled until his eyes really landed on you and processed just what exactly you were doing.

In a quick movement, you snatched Sky's shirt from the floor, forgetting about how tired and sore your feet were in order to dash to the other end of the cave with the shirt clutched in your arms. Despite his recklessness with his clothes, you had to thank Sky for leaving his shirt so easy for you to just kidnap.

The blond's shock faded after a bit, prompting him to spring up and chase after you, not necessarily mad, but definitely not used to having his clothes stolen.

Even so, his mirthful laughter rang out, serving only to fuel you in your attempt to flee from your chaser, still clutching his property to your chest.

[television-overload]

of our own making: beginnings

(an X-Files fanfic)

Chapter 2/2 - candlelit restaurant

[Read on AO3]

A/N: Hopefully this fills in some of the blanks for you that were left by me skipping to the epilogue in ooom after they finally got together. No more slow burn this time! Your patience has been rewarded! I have a feeling this won't be the last time I write in this universe...

Mulder blinks awake, a ray of sunlight hitting him right in the eyes from the gap in Scully's blinds. It takes a second for him to adjust to his surroundings, the unfamiliar sheets and warm body beside him still new and exciting. His arm tingles from loss of feeling, trapped beneath her head. The last time they'd awoken to Madeline's cries, she'd slipped right back into his embrace after tending to her, like it was the simplest thing in the world.

How had it taken them so long to get to this point?

Breathing in a sigh of contentment, he allows himself a moment longer with her, curling his arm around her middle and filling his lungs with her scent. He parts the soft, coppery strands of hair covering the back of her neck and presses a kiss there, closing his eyes and resting his cheek against her head. 

He's so unbelievably lucky. If only his younger self could see how everything would turn out.

It takes all his strength to drag himself away from her, but he wants to get a head start on the day while Maddie is still asleep, so he carefully extracts his arm and presses one more tender kiss to her head before heaving himself off the bed. The shirt he’d discarded the night before had been claimed by Scully the first time Maddie woke them, so instead, he heads to his room, digging around in his drawers for a suitable alternative.

In the mirror in the bathroom, he catches sight of his own reflection, and he stops for a minute to inspect it. For the first time, he’s actually seeing himself as a father, as the man that Scully loves. It's somehow revelatory, a groundbreaking discovery. True happiness visibly changes a person, and he sees it in himself, for probably the first time in his adult life. He likes it.

Before heading into the kitchen, he pokes his head back into Scully’s room to check that both his girls are still asleep. Scully has rolled into the divot he left on his side of the bed, and his pillow serves as his stand-in, wrapped tightly in her arms. His heart squeezes with affection. Despite every inclination telling him to go back and claim his space next to her, he shuts the door with a soft click, making his way to the kitchen.

The fridge, filled to the brim thanks to Margaret Scully and her church friends, contains plenty of food to get him started on breakfast. Bacon and eggs is easy enough, and since being domesticated by Scully several months ago, he's picked up a thing or two. He might even be able to put together a nice mixture of fruit for them to enjoy, something healthy she might appreciate. He has no delusions that the energy to make such an effort in the mornings will continue in the coming days, but today he is ready and willing.

After all, there's something else he really wants to do today.

Just as he's putting the final touches on their meal, he hears the whimpers of their daughter, and the sound of Scully stirring in the bedroom. Perfect timing. He sets the skillet aside, turning off the burner before making his way over there. He knocks lightly on the door before pushing it open.

“Morning!” he says, smiling to himself at the sight of her messy hair.

“I wondered where you went,” she replies, in the process of lifting Maddie from her bassinet and carrying her to the changing table. She sniffs once in the air, her eyes meeting his with curiosity. “Did you make breakfast?” she asks.

“I did, it’s all ready when you are,” he answers, drawing a beautiful smile from her. “I can get her changed if you want to go on out there.

Her brows furrow. “Are you sure? You've already–”

“Hey,” he stops her. “I can do it. You get ready for the day and I'll meet you out there, okay?”

“Okay,” she says, smiling softly.

He walks toward her to collect Maddie, pausing to give her a quick kiss before taking the baby into his arms. 

“I love you,” he says, the relief at being able to freely say those words feeling like a weight lifted off his shoulders.

And to his delight, she says it back. “I love you too.”

-.-.-

He feels ridiculous, asking his own wife out on a date, but he loves her so much, he does it anyway. It's going to sound silly no matter what he does, he thinks, so he decides to really commit to it, and writes out:

Will u go out with me?  □ yes / □ no

on a scrap of paper, and slips it to her across the table at breakfast.

A grin lights up her face, which she attempts to conceal with her hand, and she shifts Madeline into her other arm so she can pick up the pen and check the box for “yes.”

Mulder feels a burst of giddiness from his head to his toes.

Tomorrow?

he writes, passing the paper back to her again. He watches as she scrawls in her neat little handwriting:

Where?

-.-.-

When Maggie arrives the following night, it’s to find them both dressed to the nines, her daughter putting the finishing touches on her hair while Mulder takes care of Madeline’s diaper in the other room.

She had been delighted to receive their call. After the unpleasant conversation she'd had on the phone with her eldest son, she had worried about them, wanting to check up on them, but unsure if Dana would appreciate the prying. She decided to give it a few days, and maybe stop by to offer her services however she may be useful if there are no objections.

To her surprise, her services are requested before she can even offer. Babysitting. Just for a few hours, they say. She hardly dares to consider the possibilities.

But seeing the two of them, looking as polished as ever, sets her heart ablaze with hope. She drops her purse onto the kitchen table, hurrying across the room to the bathroom where Dana is attempting to set a curl so that it lays just right on her head.

“Dana?” she asks, eyes wide as she tries to silently convey every question that has passed through her mind in the last few minutes.

“Mom! Thank you so much for coming.”

“Anytime, sweetie,” she says. 

She feels restless. Jittery. Her hands, she doesn't know what to do with her hands. It would be imprudent to ask, but she has to know. 

“So… you're all dressed up,” she notes. “Is it a… court date? Something to do with the adoption?”

She doesn't think so. Or rather, she hopes that it's something else.

“A court date?” Dana laughs, looking at her incredulously. “At this time of night? No, it's just a date date.”

Maggie releases a gasp of air, immediately enveloping her daughter in a bone-crushing hug. 

“Oh, thank the Lord!” she cries, grinning from ear to ear, powerless to stop the tears from pooling in her eyes.

“Mom, you’ll wrinkle my dress,” Dana complains half-heartedly, though she smiles on in amusement. 

“Oh…” Maggie says with a sniffle, wiping her eyes and pulling back just a little. “Honey, he'd love you even if you wore a plastic trash bag,” she assures her.

“Yeah, but I just spent fifteen minutes ironing this,” Dana replies, unable to hide her brilliant smile. Not for a minute does she bother to deny that Fox Mulder loves her. Not even for a second. Maggie could collapse in relief, to see her daughter so at ease. So openly in love.

She hugs her again, headless of the carefully ironed dress.

“I’m so happy,” she says, cupping Dana’s cheek with her hand. “So happy for you. Oh, Dana!”

Dana chuckles, taking her mother’s hands and stepping backwards out of the bathroom. “Madeline’s bottles are in the fridge,” she says, her eyes practically shining with elation.

“Right, yes,” Maggie says, soberly remembering why she's here. But it's hard to pull back on the restraints of her pure joy at finding all her prayers finally answered. You can't put a dimmer on that amount of happiness.

“You have mine and Mulder's phone numbers,” Dana adds. “Try to put her to bed at about 8:00, I'm hoping to get her on a schedule.”

“Of course.” She'd expect nothing less from her pragmatic daughter. 

No sooner does Fox step an unsuspecting foot in the living room than he's overrun by his mother-in-law, pulled into her tight embrace. With the baby cradled in his arms, he's powerless against her, looking up at Dana in surprise as he endures the shower of kisses she bestows on his cheek.

“I knew you could do it,” Maggie says, fondly patting him on the cheek and gazing up at him with pride. “You have told her, haven't you?”

“I've actually got Bill to thank for that,” he jokes, and Maggie huffs.

“Oh, that boy. I've given him a piece of my mind. He won't bother you again.”

He had better not. She and Bill Senior had raised him better than that. She was horrified by his appalling behavior.

“Mom,” Dana interrupts, fastening an earring in place as she walks over to give her a parting kiss on the cheek. “We've got to head out. We have reservations.”

“Of course!” Maggie answers. Fox goes to hand her the baby, but she waves him away. “Oh, put her down for a minute and let me take a picture of the two of you! Where is your camera?”

“Mom…” Dana whines, and is that a hint of pink she detects on her cheeks?

Fox, for his part, obeys, chuckling all the while. “Oh, come on, Scully,” he says as he hands the camera to Maggie. “Don't you want a memento of the night the handsome Fox Mulder took you to prom?”

She rolls her eyes, even as she finds herself being wrapped in his arms, her back pulled against his chest.

“We're going out for dinner and drinks, Mulder,” she says, raising a doubtful eyebrow. But when he nuzzles her neck with his nose, she can't help the brilliant smile that blooms on her face, overshadowing any embarrassment she might feel in front of her mother.

Maggie snaps a few photos, grinning like a mad woman at the happy sight before her.

“Okay, really, that's enough,” Dana giggles, turning in Fox’s arms and pushing him away. “Mom, thank you for watching Madeline. You'll call us if you have any trouble?”

“Of course! Though I have raised four children, sweetheart, I think I know what I'm doing.”

“But–”

“Oookay, Scully, let's get out of here,” Fox says, stopping her with a hand on her shoulder before she can argue any further. He grabs her jacket and holds it out to her, helping her into the sleeves. “Thanks again, Margaret,” he says.

“Anytime! I'm happy to be of use!”

Fox lifts Maddie from where he'd laid her down, holding her against his chest and bouncing her gently. She stares up at him with big bright eyes, and he angles his neck down to press a kiss to her fuzzy little head.

“Bye, my sweetheart,” he says. “We’ll see you in a little bit.”

After adjusting her hair to the outside of her collar, Scully joins him and says her own goodbyes. Maggie catches the forlorn look on her face that every mother has when leaving their child for the first time. She remembers the feeling well.

“Get out of here, you two,” Maggie urges good-naturedly, taking the baby into her arms. “Stay out as long as you’d like, we’ll be just fine here.”

With one last doubtful glance backwards, Dana is guided by her partner’s hands on her shoulders out the door as he whispers words of encouragement. Maggie can't help but smile as she watches them. Her daughter is in good hands.

-.-.-

“It's weird, isn't it?” Scully asks, sitting across from Mulder in a candlelit restaurant.

“What, this?” His eyes scan their surroundings. Fancier than their usual digs, sure, but not particularly odd.

He takes a sip of the white wine he’d ordered for them, something far more expensive than his usual tastes, but worth it for the occasion. She's not getting cold feet at this point in their relationship, is she? It's a little too late to back out now. 

“Are you about to break my heart, Scully?” he asks, chuckling to hide the twinge of nervousness.

“No,” she assures him with a small smile, plucking another bite of her breadstick off and popping it into her mouth.  “No, I meant being away from Madeline. It's weird. She hasn't even been with us a week, and it already feels like…”

“Like there's a person missing from our party, yeah,” he finishes for her, knowing exactly what she means. “I guess it is kind of weird. It was just me and you for so long, you'd think it would feel like it always has.”

“I guess a lot has changed.”

He smiles, tapping his foot against hers under the table. “I guess it has.”

But at the same time, there are plenty of things that stay the same. Mulder performs a magic trick, making his spoon disappear from beneath his napkin, to the embarrassment of Scully, who enjoys his antics more than she lets on. When they get bored waiting for their main course to be served, he scoots his chair over to make room on his side of the table so they can whisper outrageous made-up stories about their fellow restaurant-goers to each other. The couple in the corner, she decides, are rival investment bankers for high profile clients. Their love affair would jeopardize both their companies, but they're powerless to stay away. Mulder says their waiter is actually three guinea pigs in a tuxedo, that's why their food is taking so long.

There's no shortage of laughter, despite the prim and proper atmosphere of the restaurant. They get more than a few concerned looks, but they're used to those by now. He does, however, attempt to stifle her giggles after a particularly loud snort erupts from her, holding her face against his shoulder to shush her while carefully steeling his own features. Something she'd said had caused water to spill from his nose, and she'd been laughing at his expense ever since.

“Real mature, Scully,” he says, his fingers tangling in her hair as his shoulder muffles the sound of her laughter. “I think that's enough wine for you.”

After a moment or two more, her shoulders stop shaking and all that's left is the most brilliant smile he's ever seen. She turns her head sideways, resting her cheek on his shoulder and releasing a contented sigh.

The waiter brings them the bill. He doesn't even look at the price total before slipping his credit card into the folder.

Whatever he'd paid for the night was well worth it.

-.-.-

Outside the restaurant, the evening air is cool—a reminder that summer has yet to officially arrive, to keep a few sweaters handy for when a cold front blows through. His hand is warm in hers, though, and there's music playing softly from somewhere down the block. It's a perfect night.

With dinner completed, their next stop is a classy little bar a few streets over that plays the kind of jazz music that Scully likes, and Mulder barely tolerates. But this had been his idea, and she appreciates his willingness to suffer in exchange for her enjoyment. How very Mulder of him.

They come to a stop at a crosswalk, the red “stop” hand telling them to wait. Cars drive leisurely past, the hum of their engines and rumbling of their tires blending in with the whip of the wind that comes to tangle Scully's hair. Mulder beams down at her, brushing the errant strands from her face—a fruitless task until this gust blows through.

He opens his mouth as if to speak, then closes it again, glancing around at the passing cars, at the marquee lights from the theater across the street.

She follows his lead, standing beside him and wondering at the slow pace of life they seem to have dipped their toes into. Not every day has to be like this, of course. They'd both go crazy if it were. But this is what she'd meant by ‘getting out of the car.’ Just sometimes, to be like other people. To slow down and enjoy the world around them, the infinitesimally small moments that would otherwise pass them by. She thinks they deserve that.

The crosswalk beeps at a steady rhythm, as unhurried as they are.

“Scully, would you–” he starts, clearing his throat. He looks down at his feet, his thumb fiddling with the diamond that sits on her finger. “You know, now that your family knows, we could–”

“Aren't you supposed to be down on one knee?” 

Her question leaves him completely dumbstruck, and she wishes she had a camera to capture the look on his face.

“Scully?” he rasps in confusion. 

She shrugs nonchalantly, concealing a smile. “It's just, you forgot last time. You just kind of blurted it out.”

Now he knows she's teasing him. One corner of his mouth quirks upward and she sees playfulness illuminate in his eyes to match hers.

“Do you want me to hire a professional photographer for this too, or will you let me finish?” he says lowly, leaning in close and squeezing her hand.

She looks at him with a smirk, one eyebrow raised, and he kneels, right there on the sidewalk. 

“Scully… my lovely wife,” he starts, gazing up at her with the pale yellow light of the street lights reflecting in his eyes. Her heart skips a few beats. “Would you like to have a big white Catholic wedding with me? Tuxedo, bridesmaids, the whole nine yards?”

She pretends to think for a moment, her eyes drifting to the heavens. Then comes her response.

“Mm—no.”

“No?” He seems appalled. 

And as fun as it is to mess with him, she can’t leave him hanging for long. 

“I would like to have a small wedding, though,” she says. “Just our families and closest friends.”

She can see the relief written on his face plain as day. As if she'd ever say no to marrying him again. Doesn't he know, now, how much she loves him?

She tugs on his hands and helps him to his feet, finding herself suddenly face to face with his infectious smile.

“Easiest guest list in the world,” he says. Then he lowers his lips to hers and kisses her. Across the street, the display on the crosswalk flashes with descending numbers, and they've missed their chance to go. But this side of the street is just fine, thank you very much.

“You know, technically what we're talking about here is just a vow renewal, not a wedding,” she informs him, pulling back just enough to look him in the eye.

He grins. “Oh, I'm well aware. You're already hitched to my wagon, honey.”

That earns him an eye roll. They're back to waiting again, this time without the other pedestrians who have left them behind. One of them probably ought to go press the button again, if they really want to cross.

“I know it was crazy, and probably stupid, looking back, but… I liked our wedding just the way it was,” Scully says. “Just you and me.”

“Me too.”

Thinking back on that day, it still doesn't feel real sometimes. Some days, the sight of the ring on her finger catches her by surprise, and the one on his fills her with a kind of primal possessiveness.

“We really did this all backwards, didn’t we?” she says.

“Definitely. Remind me to thank your brother for giving me the motivation I needed to tell you. He can come to the wedding—”

“Vow renewal.”

“—just for being the one to get our heads out of our—”

She kisses him, stealing his words from his lips. His hands find her waist, then her back, and she can't believe how right this feels. How quickly they've gone from friends to more.

Then again, maybe it wasn't so quick after all.

“Is that how you're gonna shut me up from now on?” he asks, breathing deeply to catch his breath.

She nips at his bottom lip again, then his jaw. If he needs a verbal answer after that, then she has severely overestimated his intellect

But it seems he’s catching on.

“I can live with it.”

-.-.-

In the end, they decide that drinks and jazz music can wait for another day.

“Would you be offended if I said I'd rather just go home?” Scully asks.

He gazes down at her beside him knowingly. “You miss her, don't you?”

Her lower lip juts out in an exaggerated pout. “Yes.”

“Me too.”

And so, they instead turn around and go straight back to their car, setting course toward home. Mulder can tell without even looking at her that she spends the entire car ride worrying over Madeline’s welfare, despite the fact that Margaret Scully is sure to be a more than adequate babysitter. It’s such a maternal instinct, though, that it fills Mulder with pride. 

Dana Scully is many things—an enigma at times—but on top of all that, she is now a mother. It only makes him love her more.

Back in the hallway of their apartment building, he stops her in front of their door before she can open it. If this is their first real date, then he wants to close it out properly.

“I had a really nice time,” he says, and though it’s a joke, he means it sincerely.

Her doubtful eyebrow arches toward the ceiling, as predictable as Old Faithful. “Really, Mulder?” she asks, looking at him in that way he knows means ‘I think you’re a dork.’

“Did you have a nice time?” He makes it clear he’s expecting an answer, leaning in close to draw it from her.

The corners of her mouth twitch, and thanks to his expert knowledge of Scully’s many microexpressions, he knows she’s amused.

“Yes, I did, Mulder.”

He grins and pokes her in the arm. “Now say the next part.”

This time she rolls her eyes at him. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I was given a script.”

He playfully pinches her sides, pulling her closer. “Oh come on, you know the words…”

She sighs, looking up at him with the smallest of smiles gracing her face. “We should do this again sometime?”

There it is.  

“Yes, we should,” he agrees. Then all there is to do is seal the deal with a kiss. He takes it slow, chuckling a little at how silly it all seems. He hasn’t kissed a girl on her doorstep after a date (with the girl's mother waiting just inside) since he was in high school. What he hadn’t expected was that he would feel the same rush of exhilaration as he did back then.

“Mulder,” she says between kisses.

He hums, his brain only barely capable of comprehending language.

Pouty Scully is back. “I miss my baby.”

Oh. Right.

Behind her back, he manages to slip his keys in the lock, and she shoots him a thankful smile as he turns the doorknob. She breaks from him just in time for him to crack open the door.

“You’re back early,” Maggie comments as they enter, looking up from the book she’d been reading while waiting for them on the couch. In the kitchen, freshly cleaned baby bottles are stacked on a drying rack beside the sink, and the place is spotless. For as little time as they’d been gone, her mother had obviously gotten a lot done, proving once again what a master at her craft she was. They still have a lot to learn.

“Mulder missed Maddie,” Scully says in explanation.

“Hey, so did you!” he defends himself. Maggie merely shakes her head and smiles, clearly entertained by their playful bickering.

Scully sets her purse aside, then starts removing her coat. “Did she do okay?” she asks, her brow furrowed in thinly-veiled worry.

“She was a perfect angel,” Maggie answers. “Only one dirty diaper, and she finished her whole bottle. She did fall asleep a little early, so she might be waking up again soon for another feeding.”

Mulder can see the relief as it eases the tension in Scully’s shoulders. He takes her coat from her, hanging it on the coat rack behind him along with his.

“Okay, that’s great, Mom,” she says. “Thank you so much for watching her.”

“Anytime, dear. She’s just the sweetest baby. If you ever need me to babysit overnight, am I correct in assuming you now have a spare room for guests?”

“Mom!” Scully blushes.

“Actually, we were just talking about turning it into Maddie’s nursery,” Mulder says, wrapping an arm around Scully’s waist and pulling her into his side. To his delight, he succeeds at getting her to turn an even deeper shade of red.

Maggie scoffs in amusement at her daughter’s uncharacteristic bashfulness. “You are married , Dana. I’d be surprised and disappointed if you weren’t—”

Scully hurries to gather her mother’s things, ushering her to the door. “Okay, I think we’ve kept you for long enough, Mom, thanks for coming. You’d better get on home.”

“We’ll call you,” Mulder adds with a cheeky smile, earning him a smack on the shoulder by an indignant Scully.

“You’d better,” Maggie threatens teasingly. “I trust you had a good night? Fox, I must say, that shade of lipstick suits you very nicely.”

Scully groans. “Bye, Mom,” she says insistently, practically shooing Maggie out the door. She’s reached a level of red-in-the-face that Mulder previously thought impossible to attain, and it just makes him want to squish her cheeks and tell her how adorable she is.

“Love you too, Maggie,” Mulder says for them both, his heart almost bursting with joy at really being a part of a family again. This is what he’d been looking for for so long. Who would have guessed he’d find it with his FBI partner and her stalwart Catholic mother?

“Goodnight, Dana. Goodnight, Fox,” Maggie says, stepping out into the hall. “I love you both.

And that sweet girl of yours.”

Scully sighs. “Love you, Mom. Goodnight.”

-.-.-

“I was thinking about what your mom said earlier,” he whispers in the darkness, his arm wrapped around her waist underneath the covers of their bed. She turns her head to glance back at him.

“Mulder, we do not need her to babysit overnight,” she says. “I don't want to be away from Maddie that long.”

He breathes a laugh. “I know. That's not what I was going to say, actually.”

Her brows furrow, and the sheets rustle as she turns over to look at him properly. His hand slides over her silk-clad torso, and he rubs his thumb over her side in soothing circles as she settles. 

“Oh. Then what is it?” she asks. 

He hums thoughtfully. “I was thinking, it would be nice to have space for guests, and a nursery for Madeline.”

Again, he finds confusion written on her face. “Well, there are only two rooms in this apartment, Mulder, so I'm not sure where you think we're gonna—”

“What about a house?”

That silences her.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” he says, smiling. “Come on, what do you say?”

“I–” She's not sure what to say. “I don't know.”

“If we lived somewhere bigger, I'd have less reason to say no to a dog,” he offers temptingly.

Her eyebrows raise. “You want to get a dog?”

“I didn't say that,” he answers, laughing softly. “I said I wouldn't have as much of an argument against it. There's a difference.”

“Who are you and what have you done with Mulder?” she asks jokingly, her own smile pulling at her lips.

“I'm right here, honey,” he says, wagging his eyebrows at her and digging his fingers into her sides. Then, turning serious again, “It's not that I’m against dogs. It was just your yappy cannibal dog, specifically.”

“It's not a cannibal if the thing it eats isn't of its own species,” she corrects. “Dogs are animals. It did what it needed to survive.”

“Stop, stop, you’re gonna give me nightmares,” he says, covering her mouth with his hand. “You're not helping your case, you know.”

She smiles and brushes his hair back. He's noticed she has a thing for his hair. She can't seem to keep her hands off even during idle conversation.

“Hey, you brought it up,” she points out. “A house, though, Mulder? Are you sure?”

“Why not? I've told you before that I'd live away from the city if I could. Wouldn't you?”

She smiles and closes her eyes, humming. “It does sound nice,” she admits.

“Well then, let's look. Let’s just see what's out there.”

“Okay,” she agrees. “I want it to have a porch.”

“Oh, that's a must,” he says, nodding seriously. “And a couple acres of land, at least.”

“What are we going to do with several acres, Mulder?”

“Start a garden, put in a pool? Maybe build an underground bunker for doomsday prepping?”

“Can I veto that last one?” she asks.

“We’ll talk about it later.”

She grumbles even as he pulls her to his chest, snuggling her close. 

While in some ways, the birth and adoption of their daughter felt like an end to their long and fraught journey, he hopes it's clear now that it's just the beginning. Their lives will look a little different from here on out, but there is so much more to come. A house, a real wedding. Maybe even a dog.

Oh, who is he kidding? Of course they're getting a dog.

“Dana?” he murmurs into her hair. Already her body has relaxed in his arms, and he knows she's moments away from falling asleep, his adorable little narcoleptic wife.

“Mm—what?”

“I love you.”

He can feel her smile against his chest, and she snuggles in closer.

“Oh brother.”

He knows that means, ‘I love you too.’

-.-.-

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[dragonclawzzz]

Need to be more positive today. I have too much going on to wallow in my own self pity.

Everyone is ungrounded tomorrow. Still no phones but at least they'll be able to leave my house and stop telling me how bored they are.

I don't have to go to the gym today so I can run my 100 errands after work. Maybe I'll stop for a fancy coffee.

My weight has consistently been at 155lbs for a week/half a week which is amazing because I've been stuck at 160 for 9 months so something has occurred.

The weather this weekend is supposed to be amazing, I had discussed taking next Monday off with my manager because I wanted to make sure no one else was off before I put a request in. I'm 80% sure I'm gonna go camping, just need to figure out where. Hopefully being alone in the woods will fix me.