#i also asked to roll a sanity check

[twentysidednerd]

dnd night 🥰

i almost killed a fucking child 🥰🥰🤪✨

and then brought the child, who is one of the children of the fucking villains of the campaign, with me to help her because i don’t wanna leave the kids to die

in my defense, the kids did not seem onboard with what the party and i were trying to stop from happening when i first heard them talking

it’s been a wild night so far. i almost cried 🥰🥰 but i’m having fun

[lovesickeros]

can.. can I ask for an affectionate reader with characters who aren’t normally like… used to the love? like, not just through words but physical affection like hand-holding, kisses, hugs, all that shebang. probably with a few people like yelan, ei, basically any character that is either cut-off from society or seems socially distant or isolated. 😞

☆ affectionate reader with yelan, ei, & furina

[ 4.2 Archon Quest spoilers ]

× yelan

Varies between how you display your affection, to be honest. Just like being affectionate with people? She's cool with it as long as you don't pop by while she's working (mostly because she'll end up dragging you into it for a bit of fun). I don't think she's all that touchy feely herself, but she'll absolutely get you gifts instead– like pretty knick nacks? She'll make sure to snag any she thinks you might like. Like a good meal? Sure, she'll take you out to one of the restaurants in the city, doesn't matter how expensive. Her treat. If you do prefer physical gifts rather then being taken out, you'll eventually get used to the random unmarked letters and packages showing up where your staying pretty often. It's obvious to know who it came from even if she never signs anything.

Flirty reader, though? Whole nother can of worms and now it's a challenge. The more confident you are the more interested she is. The other acolytes would absolutely seethe at the idea but she has no hesitation at just straight up flirting back– she's as charismatic as they come and she's got a poker face that's basically impenetrable. She'll probably also make a bet to see who cracks first (she always wins, unsurprisingly). Probably won't get dragged into any of her schemes this way but if you ask politely maybe she'll consider it, anyway.

The smell of freshly brewed tea and the clatter of dice across wood was a common sight at the Yanshang Teahouse– less common was the woman secluded in the far corner, her lips pulled into a grin that flashed fangs and a look that would scare off the most confident of men.

She'd normally try to scope out any new blood that'd made the mistake of stepping into her teahouse and was equally stupid enough to accept a gamble against her just for the thrill of it, but she was far too absorbed in the warm body at her side, one of her die clasped tightly in their hand as she guided them through the motions– they had a knack for it, she had to admit. The thought made her preen, the clatter of the die as it rolled across the table giving her that subtle, familiar rush.

Even if she knew exactly where it'd land.

"Six. Hm, maybe you're just lucky," She muses, plucking the die from the table and holding it up to her eye like a prized jewel, "Or maybe you're not as innocent as you'd have us believe." There's a sharp glint in her eyes at the prospect, but everyone else has the sense to keep their heads down and their words to themselves as she tosses the die herself.

"So why don't we find out and make a bet, just between you and me?"

× ei

Varies between Ei and the Shogun, because you'll probably be seeing either as much as the other. Sometimes you gotta really squint to tell who it is sometimes, but you get used to it. Both are fairly similar, though, in that their first instinct (especially in public) is to tense up like you're about to attack them or something. Difference is Ei eventually relaxes after a solid minute of trying to process your sudden affection and, if no one else is around, she might even reciprocate. Just don't tease her for being a little stiff and awkward about it, she's trying. That's what happens when your only company is a robot and uh. Nothing. For like 500 years. She's trying. Raiden, on the other hand, is just about as awkward as you can imagine. She's polite (blunt) about it because Ei is fond of you and also you are. The Creator. But she's not really built to deal with personal relationships and so she doesn't know how to deal with affection.

..Depending on what you do you may or may not blue screen Ei hard enough that she retreats back to PoE

Ei usually isn't fond of sitting still, unless it's to meditate. At least then she goes in with a purpose, something to achieve– but now, she's just focused on trying not to make a fool of herself. Her muscles are starting to ache from how hard she's tensing, though, in an effort to sit as straight and still as possible as their hands glide through her hair, weaving it into a single braid.

She can just barely hear the subtle lilt of their voice as they hum– and though it is soothing, it is also..very distracting. She can't focus long enough to try and meditate, too lost in the gentle rise and fall of their voice and the care they take to braid her hair. If she'd had a heart, she'd sure it'd be beating so wildly against her ribcage they could hear it.

But then it stops– their hands fall back to their sides and their humming falters. She freezes, too, racking her brain for any slights she must have committed. Instead, she is met with a calm, tender touch on the back of her neck, making her inhale sharply.

"Am I making you uncomfortable, Ei? You're so tense.." She has to grit her teeth to stop herself from bowing so low her head presses against the ground, her hands folded in her lap, clenching instinctively. "..No, Divine One." She answers simply, trying to contain the adoration swelling in her chest.

Yet as much as she tries to relax, to ease their worries, she finds that she cannot.

"Hm." That small murmur, a simple sound that nearly made her jump, was the only warning she got before they scooted closer, wrapping their arms around her stomach and resting their chin on her shoulder with a grin she would liken to Miko's, if she dared to make such a comparison. "Really?"

She swears she must've been feverish at the affection, lightheaded and dazed until she thought she might simply perish at the brush of their hands against her own.

Much to her embarrassment, however, she doesn't realize she's instinctively pulled back into Plane of Euthymia until she sees the familiar dull purples engulf her vision once again.

Though only a small solace, it seemed a little..brighter, this time.

× furina

Varies between pre 4.2 and post 4.2 archon quests to be honest.

Pre 4.2 she comes off as very vain– of course the most Divine would see fit to spoil her with affection! She deserves it, and is obviously their favorite! Just don't look too hard because she's terrible at hiding how flustered she actually is. Absolutely goes home right after and screams into her pillow for at least thirty minutes minimum.

Post 4.2 she's a lot more openly bashful and flustered. She's really not used to affection and even the smallest show of it has her folding immediately. Now that she doesn't need to worry about being found out she's a lot more receptive to affection. Cup her cheeks and compliment her and her knees are buckling. Like. Especially weak for compliments and praise (she deserves it. please spoil her).

She swears she must be hallucinating– she had been having trouble sleeping recently. But..no. The visage of the Creator was as real as the sweat beading on her brow as she stared at them for a long, awkward moment. Should..she let them in? But then they'd see the pathetic state she was in, and the last thing she wanted to do was make a fool of herself in front of them-!

Her choice was quickly made for her, anyway, as she let out an undignified squeak of surprise when they suddenly tugged her forward into their chest, enclosing her in a hug.

Her first reaction was to freeze– her second was becoming absolutely flustered, her cheeks flushing a soft pink and her mouth closing and opening as she tried to find her words.

"I– ah..um." She stumbled over her words instead, floundering like a fish out of water. Yet she felt a distinct sense of emptiness wash over her when they finally pulled back, looking a touch sheepish. "Sorry, sorry– you just looked like you needed a hug."

The silence spoke for itself, her shoulders tensing slightly. But the way the concern and affection bled through their voice made her waver, her hands trembling as she let out a shaky breath that almost sounded like a sigh.

"It's..It's fine! Fine, I'm fine." She repeated, trying desperately to ignored the way her voice cracked and how hot her face felt– though it was more an attempt to affirm herself that she was not thinking about how warm they felt, how much she..actually enjoyed the hug. She wasn't thinking about it all! Absolutely not!

..Maybe a little.

"Just warn me next time, please?"

[madridfangirl]

Needed to write a blurb to calm myself down after THOSE photos.

Plot: Jude’s girlfriend’s reaction after seeing the SKIMS photos

Jude*female reader. Posessive plus sexy. Some Nsfw language.

………………………….

‘So, you broke the internet today.’

Jude returned from the training camp to find this message from his girlfriend. Her reaction was the one he was waiting for the most.

All the lads in the team had given him enough stick since the photos dropped. Calling him a whore. He had laughed at some and just flipped off the others. But why was she taking so long to respond? He knew she was working but he had almost dialled her number to ask her to check insta.

Well, finally she had. Jude quickly changed into his sleeping shorts and climbed into bed, face timing her. She answered on the first ring.

‘Hey.’

‘Hey, doll.’

She was in bed too, in his favourite tank top. Jude’s smile widened immediately.

‘Some heads up would have been nice, you know.’

He tore his eyes away from her cleavage long enough to smirk back at her.

‘I did say it was a big one.’

‘Right. Big one. I see what you did there.’

Jude rolled on the pillows laughing, flashing his pearly whites & boyish chuckles. Eyes sparkling with charm. He switched from a sweet, young boy to a sexy boy-toy so often and in a split second - always blowing her mind.

The blanket fell down till his waist, revealing his abs.

She had experienced them from up close many times. Traced her fingers through them, felt the rough edges, bit at the skin and also licked her way through them at length. So yes, she was very very familiar with and fond of his abs but the oiled torso had disrupted her brain chemistry. That was new, and downright sultry. Slutty. Sensuous. And oh so sexy.

They looked almost the same right now, minus the oiled bit. Her eyes moved up to his perky nipples as she wondered if they had oiled them too. If he had done it himself or if someone touched him there. And rubbed the shiny liquid all over him. The thought was unpleasant yet arousing. She wondered how he would have reacted to that, knowing fully well how sensitive Jude was around his nipples. How he always moaned with his head thrown back when she sucked him there. And how he invariably returned the favour by vigorously assaulting her boobs.

He watched her reaction with amusement and glee.

‘Eyes are up here, doll.’

‘Yes and they are very pretty. But damn the rest of you….you killed people today, hope you know that. I bet some girls dropped to their knees, cried and passed out with longing.’

Jude leaned back, resting his hands behind his head. Flexing his arms and the bouncing muscles. Giving her a show.

‘That good, huh?’

‘More. And we haven’t even addressed the star of the show yet.’

He figured she was talking about his thighs. His girl was obsessed with them - having them cage her in, wrap around her, even choke her sometimes, or just her stroking & biting them.

But no, it wasn’t his thighs that had made her pant when she saw the pics.

‘They left nothing to the imagination. Everyone SAW you today. Like fully. In those clinging tights. Women have wagers going on over your size, Jude. And horny, wet dreams. You have ruined lives today, hope you are happy.’

Full-body guffaws reverberated through his chest, bouncing off the walls.

‘Oh doll, you could join in the wagers and actually win y’know. Inside info and all.’

She declined the suggestion, telling him that women would be queuing up outside his door if she actually DOES tell them the inside info. He was enjoying the ego boost massively - it was rare for her to lose all semblance of sanity like this.

But she didn’t care. Not today. He had just dropped a sexually charged nuclear bomb on the entire female population & this was the after-effects of it.

‘Women sliding into your DMs huh? Sending nudes? Broke some kind of world record for that already today or nah?’

He just shrugged casually. Couldn’t deny it coz it was true. His inbox had exploded but his team had systems to filter out such messages. Some still seeped through & he knew she knew that.

It was just her luck that he was so far away right now. Else, she would have tied him to the bed tonight, and then vice-versa. Jude anyway loved restraining & pinning her any chance he got. She would have let him toss her around anywhere, any way he wanted. However many times he demanded. But that was not to be.

‘Strip for me.’

She said without hesitation, commanding him. He spluttered the juice in his mouth, sticky liquid dropping around his face and neck. His tongue came out to lap it up. Fucking hell - temptation personified. Biblical sinful apple.

‘You too. It’s already unfair that I am shirtless while you’re still hiding your tits. C’monn lemme see my babies. Been so long since I kissed them goodnight.’

They moved the laptop angle to cover a full body view, then proceeded to strip together. Stroking themselves in unison, eyes glued to the screen. Calling out each others names. Reaching their highs together.

She looked at his fucked out naked form, & her body burned lesser for the first time since looking at the photos. Others will only get to thirst over him from afar. But she is the one who gets to have the view, the taste and the pounding from him.

[woso-dreamzzz]

Pet Problems III

Alexia Putellas x Reader

Summary: Meeting the kittens is very stressful

It's pretty sweet, the way Ale is so attentive to the kittens.

Kiara ended up with seven of Bagheera's babies (though, thankfully, for everyone's sanity, none of them ended up looking like their father) and Alexia took care with each of them.

She checked in on them routinely at night.

She made sure that they all ate enough.

She made sure none of them got bullied and, when it was clear that the sole white kitten was a bit of a runt, she bottle-fed it until it was able to hold its own and begin weaning.

This also meant that she was quite protective of them all, not allowing anyone to visit until the kittens were past five weeks.

"Hola," Eli greeted, kissing you on the cheeks as she and Alba stepped through the door, greeting a yapping Nala," I am surprised you let us in."

You rolled your eyes, jerking your chin over to where Alexia was hovering by the door to the spare room. "Miss grumpy pants over there almost didn't let me. You're the first people to meet the litter. She's worrying."

Eli looked at her oldest daughter fondly. "Yes, Alexia always was a worrier."

"Did you wash your hands?" Alexia asked, barricading Alba's way when her sister tried to barge past. "You can't touch them if you haven't washed your hands." Her arms crossed over her chest as she sniffed the air. "Are you sick? You smell sick. You can't meet them if you're sick, Alba."

"Baby," You cooed, sliding between the two sisters and wrapping your arms tightly around Alexia's waist," Alba's very healthy. She's washed her hands. Let her meet the little ones."

Alexia's eye twitched before an arm was thrown over your shoulder and she opened the door a crack.

A pack of ginger fur tumbled around on the ground as you all stepped inside. A speckled flash of orange and white ran over to Eli, clawing up her pant legs in a hurry as a similarly coloured kitten chased after it.

Kiara lounged on the guest room bed, tail flicking side to side in pure boredom. As soon as she noticed the door open, she made a break for it - shoving past Nala and escaping her babies if only for a moment or two.

Alexia's favourite of the litter - the little runty white one mewed insistently at her until it was snug in the arms.

"Oh, Alexia," Eli said, holding two kittens in her hands before passing one off to Alba, who similarly cooed," They're absolutely darling." She kissed the kitten on the nose. "Are you keeping any?"

"Just this one." Alexia lifted the white one up with a smile. "She's too pretty to give away."

You rolled your eyes. "And she says she's not a cat person." You grinned at Alexia, who just rolled her eyes at you before laying a kiss to your crown.

"You're sending the rest away?" Alba looked positively heartbroken.

"Not really," You replied as Kiara sauntered back into the room, leaping up onto the cabinet before laying across your shoulders. "Ingrid and Mapi are taking one." You jerked your thumb to one of the pure ginger ones. "And Frido and her boyfriend are taking one too."

"Patri wants one," Alexia said.

"You didn't tell me that."

"I haven't decided if she deserves one yet."

You rolled your eyes. "Alexia," You said," That's not how it works."

"Keeping them close to home, huh?" Alba said," I'll take one. Since you're offering."

Alexia glared at her sister. "We weren't offering."

"Come on! I'd be a great kitten owner!"

"You're not nearly home enough to have one!"

Eli rolled her eyes fondly at her daughters arguing as she reached up to stroke Kiara's ears. "And how is the Mama?"

"The Mama," You laughed," Is doing very well. I think she's realised that if she dumps them all on Ale, she gets a free babysitter for a few hours."

Eli laughed. "Well, for what it's worth," She lowered her voice and winked," I'll take two of them."

●～●～●～●～

Alexia was, perhaps, even more stressed when it came time for the rest of the team to meet the kittens. It had been a few more weeks since Alba and Eli came around and the kittens had completely taken over the apartment.

"Just-Just..." Her hand fluttered anxiously at the front door," Be nice. No screaming or yelling or loud noises." She gave Mapi a pointed look. "And don't throw them into the air to catch them."

She pushed open the door and could do little to control the onslaught of football players pushing into her apartment.

"Hi, girls," You chirped in greeting from the kitchen table. Kiara lay next to you as Marie (the white kitten) sat atop your shoulder.

"Hi, y/n," The girls chorused before hurrying off in search of the rest of the litter.

"Hi," Alexia said softly, sidling up behind you and kissing your neck," I missed you."

"I missed you too, baby," You replied, turning to kiss her properly as Marie clambered up from your shoulder to your head.

Alexia smiled down at you and plucked Marie into her arms. "Are you busy?"

"Sorry, baby. Yeah, I am. You'll have to supervise kitten play by yourself."

She huffed but didn't force you to join, carting Marie off to meet the others while Kiara sat next to your computer.

It was organised carnage in the living room as Ingrid and Mapi fawned over each and every one of Bagheera's kittens while Frido, Patri and Pina threw a ball for one to chase after.

Lucy, Keira, Oshoala and Paredes supervised Ona, Jana and Bruna playing with some more.

"So," Mapi said with a grin," We get to take this one home, right?" She lifted up one of the ginger boys.

"After they've finished getting their vaccinations," Alexia reminded her," And after you get Bagheera neutered."

"Hey! Without Bagheera, we wouldn't have these little cuties!"

"And we don't want anymore," Alexia replied," One litter is enough."

Mapi rolled her eyes. "Sure, whatever you say." The ginger tom batted at her, claws getting tangled in her hair and yanking. Mapi's face lit up like a child at Christmas. "He's gonna be a hunter like his dad!"

"I fear for the wildlife at Mapi's house," You said as you approached, having just finished your work for the day," Hopefully, that one gets Kiara's love for flower hunting rather than Bagheera's love of mice."

"I think we should more hope that Marie hunts flowers," Alexia replied," If Mapi gets dead mice, that's her fault." She cooed softly as Marie clambered from her arms onto your shoulder - mimicking Kiara in almost every action she took.

"Make sure to keep an eye on them," You said as you began to head back to the kitchen," I wouldn't put it past Patri or Mapi to try to smuggle one out under their shirts."

"Wait...Where are you going?"

"To get the pizza menus. I've got the feeling that we're not getting rid of anyone anytime soon."

[suguru-getos]

୨・┈﹕✦﹕ Kinktober Day 7﹕✦﹕┈・୧

ayato kamisato x f!reader -> bondage

a/n: waka sama waka sama! 🩵💕 sksjhsjs i get so soft writing him!! 🥺 i hope you have fun <3 prone bone, shibari knots, soft dom yayato

event masterlist

your back was beautifully arched, satin bands binding your arms and wrist behind your back, giving your exposed breasts a much more pronounced look. your thighs were tied apart and the satin band ran in a criss-cross shibari fashion around your breasts. god you looked savoury. batting your lashes to ayato when he finished his handiwork. “hurts anywhere?” he asks, eyes wandering across your form. ever so kind, ever so careful. you shook your head no, moving your wrists to check if it’s not too much. it was just fine, besides ayato is a perfectionist. there is no way he would not take care of the intricate details.

“good girl.” he cooed, walking back a few steps and watching his masterpiece served to him in a golden platter. “i am losing my sanity glancing at you looking so ravishing” he hummed, clicking his tongue when you blushed under his chain of compliments. “so easy to manhandle you, use you if i want to.” he reminded, that he could have his way with you whenever he wanted to & you, his dearest lover would love every second of it.

ayato walked closer, the dim lights of the lamps in your chambers giving your body a golden hue. his hands grasped your hair, around the back & tugged it softly, forcing you to meet his eyes. eyes that were necessary your whole world & his. “going to lay you down on your belly” ayato smiles, looking at the glint in your eyes grow. your legs were also tied apart, satin bands fastening them against your wrists. ayato’s going to fuck you in prone bone position. there is no way you couldn’t make that out once he laid you flat on your belly.

“little marvel, aren’t you?” he smiled, leaning in and kissing the plush flesh of your right ass cheek. next, his skilfull hands parted the mounds of flesh to behold the sight of your flustered, weeping cunt. “oh my— the little one’s eager it seems.” he pointed at your cunt, using his index finger to scoop some of your juices, half-moaning at the exquisite taste.

before you could adjust further, you could feel yourself being almost torn apart by ayato’s member, eager to explore your spongy walls. the way you whimpered made ayato’s cock throb, a grunt escaping him when your walls deliciously clamped inside. without giving you much time, ayato started thrusting himself, feeling the pleasure rake through him with every single twitching and clamping of yours. “so pretty like this— helplessly taking your husband so good” ayato moaned, usually not being this vocal, today was special though.

your pupils rolled back at the impending high, about to shake your whole body, your clit feeling the proper friction it needed, ayato’s cock hitting your g-spot precisely over & over & over. “y-yato, ngh~ gonna cum.” with the way your walls twitched around him, you didn’t have to tell him.

“cum for me angel girl” ayato hummed, smiling softly and also tipping off the edge, leaning his head back as his sloppy thrusts rode your orgasm and his. “fuck— archons, angel… you are a masterpiece.”

[baddywronglegs]

Please will you tell Tumblr the story of the spider head hat?

Oh yeah, this is how I got into TTRPGs.

While at uni, a friend correctly identified me as the kind of nerd who would enjoy TTRPGs so brought me along to a game at our uni's wargame and RPG society.

I think we were just before the 5e boom, so D&D itself wasn't big and the games running at the society were mostly Warhammer 40k and Call of Cthulhu.

So my first game was Call of Cthulhu.

The setting was I think frontier-era America; of the members of the party I remember, my friend who brought me into the game was an enormous Scottish dentist, someone I never saw outside of the game was a priest, I think native to the area we were as he was the only one with a clue what was going on around us, and me, a shipwright who wanted to make an ocean-going airship, I think? It's hard to remember that bit in detail because such trifles do not survive first encounter with Call of Cthulhu.

The first thing I remember was us camping for the night and our GM asking us to make Listen checks. I was the only one to pass and did so with huge success, everyone's happy, the new player's getting good rolls.

The GM looks worried for me.

She asks me to make a Sanity check. People stop smiling. I roll. It is bad.

The GM leads me out of the room to talk to me in private. We leave a hushed table.

"So in the night, before you fall asleep you hear a beautiful singing coming from the woods. Compelled by the music, you get out of your tent, and you follow the sound of the music into the trees."

"Ah. OK."

"Can I have your character sheet please?"

"OK..."

We re-enter the room. The GM has my character sheet in her hand. There are omens at play here. What there isn't at play here is me.

Come the morning everyone realises the new person's gone so set off tracking me into the forest.

Good news! They found me! I was even alive!

Bad news! The singing was giant purple spiders with humanlike intelligence and apparently a taste for insomniac shipwrights!

Our brick shithouse of a dentist leaps on the back of one of the spiders and begins wrestling it, hoping to be out of reach of its ability to attack him as long as he can stay on its back.

Player A: "I'm going to try shooting the spider"

Dentist: "Please don't, I'm on it, if you miss you'll hit me and I don't like being shot"

Player A: "That's OK, I didn't miss."

Dentist: "Well thank fuck for that."

Player B: "I'm going to shoot it too."

Dentist: "Are you fucking kidding me?"

Eventually, mercifully un-shot, the dentist managed to wrestle the head off the spider. He didn't actually kill it in doing so but it's fine, player C shot the head in his hands and it stopped snapping at him.

Silence fell. Calm reigned. The GM told me how much sanity I had lost. It was more than the rest of the party had ever lost combined. I learned not to listen so hard in future.

The dentist looked at the GM, a giant spider head still in his hands.

"Can I wear its head as a hat?"

The GM sighed. "Make me a San check"

Dice noises. "Fail!" He said that word with such glee.

"You lose one sanity, but you also turn the whole spider's exoskeleton into a suit of armour. It has the same stats as leather but also poisons anyone who touches it with their skin, and anyone you meet while wearing it has to make Sanity checks."

And that's why I love TTRPGs.

[maple-the-awesome]

Tiny Little Details ||

Pairing: Four x GN Reader

Words: 1,781

Requested by @pinkalmondcake: May I please get some four fluff of that's alright🥹He's just so cute and I was thinking about reader discovering a small minish four when they landed in his world (he wanted to check on the minish) and the reader didn't know he could be so smol and four becomes embarassed seeing he likes the reader (and the reader is a bit taller than him seeing he's a small bean anyway XD) and when they discover they like each other than as the reader somewhat confesses, then they pick him up in their hand and he's blushing and everything. He also gives them a peck on the nose and hugs their cheek while squealing on the inside! (sorry that this is a longish ask!) And I hope it was fine to ask too! ^.^ I love the parts to your crush and your new part for sacrificing ourselves for the chain! ❤️ Four is officially the most adorable Link and that must not be forgotten🥺I mean, where else are you gonna find a better boyfriend than one you can literally just keep in your pocket? Here you go, hun!

Zelda Masterlist 💙 Fandom Masterlist

Minish are rather generous, taking it upon themselves to hide little goodies in the grass for travelers to find like extra hearts or rupees, but they also host the sweetest little tea parties made up of droplets of tea and crumbs of cookies which are perfectly filling for anyone matching their size.

It's a much needed break, Four decided some time ago. Away from the stress of trying to keep Hyrule (and numerous versions of it) safe while also maintaining his own sanity while faced with eight other heroes, a few of whom can be a bit much to deal with at times, as he's learned. 

For the most part, they all get along well, likely due to their shared destinies and deeper understandings towards each other's struggles, yet that doesn't mean they all share the same personalities. It isn't constant, although also not rare for some to butt heads here and there, leading to raised tensions as well as the need for fresh air like in Four's current case.

When he huffs a bit too loud, he must reassure his Minish friends that everything's fine, even asking for another drop of tea to fill his miniature cup, however it's difficult not to feel new dismay at the sight of a golden sky above. 

Truthfully, Four had cooled down a while ago, already letting his anger towards the other boys roll off his shoulders, but that doesn't mean he wants this peaceful moment to end any quicker. If it were up to him, he'd stay with the Minish longer, trading merry stories about his recent adventures that almost take away from the dark energy looming in the air. Alas, he should probably return soon before anyone begins to worry too much, although as he soon learns, it might be too late for that.

Four was just about to dismiss himself when he heard his name being called. To the smallest beings of the world, it sounds like thunder crashing through the sky as does the crunching of footsteps that almost shake the earth as they get closer, but Minish are used to such disruptions and even Four shows no concern upon recognizing the approaching voice.

"FOUR?! ARE YOU OUT HERE?!" It's you; both a good and bad thing. Good, because out of all his traveling partners, Four must admit that you're his favorite. Your presence arouses a similar sense of calming comfort in him as being around the Minish does, the only difference being the wooziness you curse upon him from your smile alone. Yes, it would be safe to say that Four has become enchanted by your beauty, both inside and out, so he's actually quite happy to hear your voice as you search for him. The problem then? He's still the size of a Minish himself and the only person in the Chain who knows about this ability of his is Twilight, not you.

It's okay. This is fine. He's barely the size of a rupee, hidden amongst a tall forest of flora. To find him on your own, you would have to actively hunt through the flowers and blades of grass which you definitely aren't doing now. Instead, you're scanning the entirety of the field at eye level because you reasonably believe that if your friend is truly out here, you'll be able to easily spot him by doing so, after all, he may be shorter than you, but not as short as to be below your feet (if only you knew).

Four plans to stay silent and wait for you to move along elsewhere which would give him time to turn back without your notice, however he hesitates to commit to that decision once you come into sight, allowing him to officially see just how worried you look. If he didn't know any better, he'd say you appear to be on the verge of tears, growing more frantic by the second. 

You can't be blamed for your concern. Four has been gone for a while and isn't usually a Link to wander, not to mention you were told he left in a huff after being on the receiving end of harsh teasing from some of the other boys. No one has heard from him since, so in your mind, you've concluded that he must be really upset - possibly even hurting someplace. 

Not that he knows it yet, but you've been searching for him nonstop after finding out what had happened back at camp which is why you're in this field now; it's the last place you can think of as you grow desperate to find him before the sunset fully sets. How terrible would Four have to be to ignore these fears of yours, letting you continue worrying yourself sick when it's within his power to smooth your anxieties instead? 

"...Uh, I'm right here," You can be forgiven for doubting you hear anything at all provided how quiet the voice had been and the fact that no matter which direction you turn to, you can’t seem to locate the source until it speaks again in a squeak, "Down here. To your left."

You're understandably shocked to look down and find a miniature version of your friend struggling to climb up a small nearby rock (which must feel like a mountain to him), his presence suddenly very clear as his colorful tunic helps him stand out against the gray, "...F-Four? Wha - How did you get like this? What happened?!" 

You could spend all day coming up with explanations for your friend's new appearance, however you'd likely never land on the correct one and it doesn't help that you can barely make out any of his explanation, his voice matching a mere whisper despite how he shouts his words for your attention.

"H-Hold on. I can't hear you," You immediately kneel down in front of the rock, instinctually reaching out towards him yet freezing mid action. He cocks his head to the side, curiously waiting for you to gain enough confidence to pair with your next question, "I...Would it be okay if I pick you up? Or is that rude? I don't know if that’s rude or not or if you -"

Amid your rambling, Four nods, taking a few steps forward which you take as an invite to lower your cupped hands against the rock and allow him to climb on. Once able, you gently lift him to eye level, "Are you okay? Is this...normal for you?"

He nods again this time paired with a shrug as if this whole experience shouldn't be too much of a surprise, then again, the more you think about it, it probably shouldn't be. First Twilight now Four. You really should interrogate all the boys to find out what other crazy secrets and abilities they may be keeping from you (you're already guessing Time has a few up his sleeves).

You sigh upon realizing Four truly does seem okay, nothing about his tiny expression giving away any negative emotions, in fact you can make out an amused smile as he watches everything set in your mind, "...I was starting to freak out there a little when I couldn't find you. Hyrule said you ran off after Warrior was giving you grief about your height earlier. They made it sound like you were pretty upset - which you shouldn't be because who gives a crap if you're the shortest in the group? You're still plenty smarter and Hylia knows more mature than to tease your comrades into running away - but my point is, since you hadn't returned yet on your own I began to think that maybe you weren't coming back at all and -"

"- Thank you for worrying, but I actually wasn't that upset about what Warrior had said," Four cuts you off while setting a hand on your thumb. His touch only has about the same weight as a feather and even tickles a bit, however you force yourself not to focus on that.

"You weren't?"

"No. I was more annoyed than anything since it does get repetitive to have people constantly pointing out my height -" He rolls his eyes at the thought, "- But I don't mind being the shortest. Like you said, I have other strengths, not to mention there's actually a lot of advances to being short."

"This being one of them?" You smirk, wondering what he could've even been up to while so tiny, although that's a question for another day.

“You could say that,” Four shares your laughter, "...I guess it probably is a good thing you're the one who came looking for me, though. If one of the others were to find me like this, I doubt the jokes would ever end."

"Oh, I'm sure. They'd give you hell. You are pretty adorable like this, though."

Four blinks, not certain if he had heard correctly. He might've fully dismissed the comment if not for your own realization at what you had just said, the embarrassment clear upon your bashful expression and hurried excuses, "W-Well, what I meant to say was that...Objectively, small things are considered cute, and you're like the size of a little mouse which is adorable, even though you're always cute, it's especially when you can just fit in the palm of my hand like this - which isn’t the point! But I, umm -"

Once again, Four is kind enough to save you from digging yourself further into a hole, the only difference is he does so without much prior thought, instead blurting the words eagerly himself, after all this might just be the perfect opportunity to get it off his chest, "- I think you're cute, too! You're, uh, always cute, too."

You stare at him without response which may have been a scary thing if not for your wide, delighted grin; something that only confirms Four's previous statement.

"Could you, um...?" He coughs into his fist, looking away from you with a fierce blush, "Bring me a bit closer please?"

It takes you a moment to understand what he means, but once you do, you quickly nod and move your hands closer to your face, thus bringing Four close enough to lean out of your hands ever so carefully so that he may place a barely felt kiss upon your nose. 

Startling him a bit, you can't suppress the squeal you give as a reaction, "I'm sorry, but that was sooo adorable!"

He chuckles and although he may not make a sound beside it, don't doubt that he feels the same squealing joy in his chest as you sit back in the grass with him held warmly against your cheek.

.

.

.

"...Shouldn't we get back soon? Won’t the others worry?"

"Let them. It can be their punishment for being jerks earlier."

[parkerpeter24]

the swim quotient

pairing ➳ swim instructor!peter parker x reader

w.c. ➳ 4.6k

summary ➳ peter’s your swim instructor and even though you want to keep a professional relationship with him, feelings– and your best friend– get in the way.

okay so this is supposed to be my birthday present to myself (even tho it was like a week ago so belated birthday, me) this fic could be read for mcu as well as tasm peter

“8 to 9 am is the time for kids. if you want one-on-one lessons, you need to come at 7 am.” the guy behind the desk told you that as he pushed down his glasses to get a better look at your face. you nodded and filled the form for one-on-one classes and paid the fees.

it would be just easier without all the humiliation, you thought, that’s why you chose to learn alone. it was a reasonable price even if it cost you a few more bucks than learning with the others.

“your trainer will be mr. parker.” he informed you and you thanked him, “you’ll find his number in the list outside.” exchanging smiles with the older man before you left the office of the community club. you checked out the list, clicking a picture of number under the name ‘peter parker’.

you hoped the guy wasn’t too harsh on you. you still remembered the time your dad taught you how to drive. just the thought of it made you wince. the constant jabs at your sanity and judgement, it all was just too much to handle. but you were hoping for the best now.

when your friend called you on your way back home, you told her about your idea of learning how to swim, “you know, i would have saved you in case you were drowning.”

you rolled your eyes but her comment made you chuckle, “what if you weren’t there?” you held the phone between your shoulder and ear as you fished for your keys in the tote bag you were carrying, “i’m a little nervous, what if this peter parker guy is horrible?”

“there’s a guy?” you could practically hear your friend’s raised eyebrow but you continued your ramble, not stopping for her to elaborate on her thoughts.

“you know, i don’t really trust any guy to teach me anything.” you entered your apartment, placing the keys in the keyholder and kicking off your shoes, “they’re just not that good at teaching.”

“maybe he’s a cute guy?” she chuckled at the other end.

“it won’t matter if he’s not a good guy!” you sighed, plopping down at your couch, your legs instinctively going up as you placed them one over the other on the couch.

“what if he’s a really good guy.” your friend could not have sounded more suggestive and you almost wanted to gag at that comment.

“gwendolyne.” as you’d guessed, a whine sounded from the other side of the phone. she hated when anyone called her, her full name.

“it’s gwen for you. anyway, just give it a try and if you don’t like his way of teaching, then you can just ask for another coach.” she said and you thought it over. she was right, you could always ask for a different person to teach you.

“thanks, gwen.” you smiled, “okay, i have to go now but i’ll call you later.”

the next day you were on your way to the community club pool and even though you had hated waking up at 6 am, you were also a little excited– and nervous– to experience something new.

you entered the facility, carrying your swimming costume and other equipment in your tote bag. as the swimming pool came into view, your eyes searched for your trainer– he has to be around here somewhere.

“excuse me, miss?” the voice came from behind and you turned to find the source. your mouth parted to say something but no words came out. if anyone else was in your place, you thought, they would have had the same reaction. a gorgeously tanned guy, brown mop of hair swept across his forehead in a way that was messy but as if on purpose. and oh, he was not wearing a t-shirt.

his swim trunks hung from his waist perfectly, carved abs and a chiselled torso above that. you were almost mesmerised by just one look of him.

“um… you’re (y/n), right?” you noticed his tinted cheeks and snapped yourself out of your daydream.

“that’s me.” you answer, standing up straighter, “you must be mr. parker?”

“oh, call me peter, please.” he smiled at you and you were bound to give him one back, “why don’t you go and change and we’ll get started.”

“yes.” you nodded, quickly making your way to one of the changing rooms. your mind was racing with thoughts as you changed into the swim gear. he seemed in his early twenties, very close to your age but finding him attractive felt against your morals. you were supposed to have a professional relationship with him and if he was a good teacher, you would just suppress your feelings deeper inside you than the depth of this swimming pool.

“all ready.” you said, walking out from the changing room only to find peter was already in the swimming pool, his hair falling in front of his eyes as he emerged out of the pool. he pushed his hair back, away from his forehead, as it sat perfectly over his head.

“hey!” peter gave you a smile as you walked to the side of the pool where the pool ladder was situated, “you excited for your first lesson?”

“a little nervous.” you chuckled, telling him the truth for some reason. you should probably trust the guy if he was going to be the one who pulled you out in case you were drowning.

“hey. no need for that.” his voice was comforting as you climbed down into the pool, the water level reaching your chest, “just breathe… while your head is above water.”

“what?” you couldn’t help but chuckle at his little quip.

“sorry, that was a silly joke. anyway, let’s start with holding our breath underwater, alright?”

“you’re the boss” you smiled.

“okay, i’m not the kind of person to be all like, ‘i told you so’ but i told you so!” gwen exclaimed before you even finished your sentence.

“i was going to say he’s a good teacher!” you were back at your apartment and it was after you had breakfast that you received a call from gwen.

“and?” she waited for you to go on as if she already knew.

“and… he was kind of cute.”

“i knew it!” she cheered and you couldn’t help but laugh along with her, “you should totally kiss him.”

“i- he doesn’t even like me! i want to keep it professional.” you had said it with an affirmative tone but you doubted your own voice.

“maybe tomorrow?” you groaned at that.

“you’re mad. bye.” you chuckled.

“maybe tomorrow you can make out in the-” that was the last you heard of your friend’s voice before you cut the call.

the next day you made it to the pool on time. there was no sign of peter and you didn’t know whether you should get in the pool or not. you waited, sitting patiently on the bench near the pool until you caught sight of peter. he was carrying a bunch of equipment almost too much for a single person to carry.

you rushed up to him, “hey.” you said. he smiled when he saw you.

“sorry, i’m late.”

you just shook your head at his apology and held out your arms, “need some help?” him handing you a few of the kickboards and a few goggles.

the two of you carried those to the store room and placed the certain items in their assigned boxes. peter checked the time on his phone once you both were done, “we only have 40 minutes left, why don’t you go change and we’ll start right where we left yesterday?”

you gave him a nod and quickly went to change into your swimming clothes.

once the two of you were inside the pool, peter told you to hold onto the wall, “i need you to relax your body and hold your breath for as long as you can.”

you nodded and slid your pair of goggles over your eyes before doing as he told you. estimatedly 30 seconds later, your head was out of the water as you released your breath, standing beside your instructor.

“good! that was good. almost three seconds more than yesterday.” he gave you a grin and you chuckled, “now what i want you to do is breathe out through your nose slowly while you’re underwater.” he explained.

again you did as he said, pulling yourself up every time you needed a breath.

“don’t push your limits.” peter said once after you had tried to hold your breath for longer than 35 seconds, “my arm is right here in case you need to hold onto something.” a blush appeared over his cheeks as he realised what that must’ve sounded like, “you know! i-in case you need help.”

maybe it was you, reading in between the lines, but the chuckle he let out made him sound kind of nervous. you were definitely not going to tell gwen about this.

over the next two days, you continued to practice breath holding underwater until peter proposed you move on to the next step. as soon as you entered the pool that day, it was the first thing he said.

“leave the wall?” you gave him a look of uncertainty, “are you sure i’m ready for that?”

peter nodded simply and held out his hands for you to take, “here, i’ll help you.” you took his hands but he could probably notice your nervousness– which he didn’t need to know was partly because both your hands were in his– and hesitancy as he said, “just trust me, okay?”

“i trust you.” you replied before his sentence was even finished.

he smiled, pulling you away from the edge of the pool slightly, “i won’t leave your hands until you’re completely ready.” he smiled and guided you to relax your body and let it float just like you had been doing up until now. this time, however, it was peter’s skilled hands that you were holding instead of the dull wall.

he walked back, pulling you along the surface of the body as you let yourself float against the water. It was only a few seconds in that you pulled yourself up from the water, holding tightly onto peter’s hands, “s-sorry, i-” you expected him to be frustrated or scold you for not doing better. but he didn’t do any of that.

“you okay?” he squeezed your hands gently, “did you accidentally breathe in water? it happens when you’re a beginner.”

“i’m okay. i just thought i was going down instead of floating.” you chuckled a little awkwardly.

“oh! that means that you need to push your head further down. if your head is down, your legs will automatically float close to the surface.” he explained, all the while holding your hands and you nodded, letting him know that you were listening to him even though you were zoning out, a fluttering heart in your chest as you outlined his slightly wet curls.

thankfully you had understood the basic points of what he was trying to explain to you which made your session go smoothly from that point.

when the two of you were out of the pool and the kids had started filling in, you walked over to peter, who was standing with another guy and talking to him.

when you reached the two men chatting over whatever they were chatting over. the other guy nudged peter’s side with his elbow, giving him a smirk as soon as you reached there. He quickly turned, eyes slightly wide, “oh. hey (y/n)!” he seemed nervous again but the other guy cleared his throat before you could say anything, “right! (y/n), this is my friend ned. ned, (y/n).”

ned leeds. you’d read his name on the list of employees outside the community club office, just below peter’s name.

“i’ve heard a lot about you, (y/n).” ned gave you a smile, extending his hand for a handshake.

“oh?” you looked over at peter, shaking ned’s hand, but the brunette’s head was already turned towards his friend in what you could only assume a warning. it made you chuckle, “i teach the kids.” ned gave you a smile and you could tell why he was the one assigned to teach the kids. he seemed like the kind of person who was good at making people around him comfortable just with his presence.

“you wanted to say something?” peter was the one to ask after ned parted ways with the two of you to look after all the kids– there were way too many.

“i just wanted to ask whether i did well today…” you gave him a little smile.

“oh, you’re a natural.” he grinned back, “i was impressed!”

“yeah?” you asked, not really believing his words, even though a warmth covered your whole body. you felt a deep sense of accomplishment and the smile on your face increased tenfold.

“yeah.” he confirmed, a smile covering his own face.

“thank you.” you smiled, eyes staring into his beautiful brown ones, “you look nicer when i’m not wearing the goggles.”

peter looked at you, “w-what?”

was that a nervous ‘what’ or a disgusted ‘what’? god, had you messed up already? how could you have said that out loud? it was probably one of those stupid moments of confidence boost where you ended up telling an answer to the whole class in a very firm voice only to be told it was wrong.

you gave him a pursed smile, “uh.. i should get going. see you then.”

the look of stun was still written all over his face as you turned to leave, but you didn’t give him a chance to say something. you weren’t ready to face rejection from a guy you hadn’t even asked out. not that you were thinking about asking him out. for all you cared, you didn’t care at all.

you felt a small splash of water on your leg, wetting your jogging shoes. you let out an offended, “hey!” before you noticed the little girl leaning against the wall of the pool. you raised your eyebrows at her as she beckoned you closer with her little hand. you leaned forward in a squat position in front of her to let her say whatever it was she wanted, “hey kid, is everything alright?”

“i’m cassie.” she introduced herself before asking, “is he your boyfriend?”

even though peter could not be seen around anymore, you were certain whom she was referring to.

you chuckled and shook your head, “oh, no. he’s not my boyfriend.” yet you wanted to add but somehow refrained yourself from doing so.

“i think he is cute.” she gave you a challenging look, making you chuckle at her adorableness.

“hey, i’ll back off if you like him.” you promised, giving her a finger gun. she shrugged.

“if you really like him then, i can let you have him.” she said, her elbows holding onto the pavement that was beneath your feet.

“oh, really? that’s very sweet of you, cassie.” you smiled at her.

“but you have to buy me ice-cream.” she grinned before quickly turning away and swimming away at the sight of ned walking towards that side of the pool.

it was raining heavily the next day. you thought to call peter before going to the pool unannounced in case it was closed. you called him once at 6:23 am but his phone was busy. who could he be talking to this early in the morning?

he called you back at 6:24. you picked up after counting to five, not wanting to seem too desperate, “hello?”

“hey, (y/n).” you could hear the small smile he was holding on the other end, making you think if he had forgiven you for what you blurted out yesterday, “what’s up?”

“hey... peter, it’s raining pretty heavily, are you going to the swimming pool today?”

“oh, i’m already in! but i understand if you can’t make it today.” he stated and you nodded, realising after a moment that he couldn’t see you.

“yeah, i can’t today… and tomorrow’s sunday so i guess i’ll see you monday?” you asked.

“sounds good!” he said.

you held the phone close to your ears, not really knowing what else to say. you couldn’t think of anything as you silently heard all the background commotion on his end. he didn’t say anything either and for a moment the thought that he didn’t want to end the call either crossed your mind.

but you pushed that out of your head.

“i’m sorry about yesterday.” you finally spoke, “i shouldn’t say that to-”

“i appreciated it… it just came as a surprise.” he chuckled, “and you left too quickly.”

you couldn’t help the smile that covered your face after hearing his comment, “sorry about that.”

“hey, stop apologising already. maybe i can give you a compliment next time so that we’re even.”

it was your turn now to fall silent. your heart skipped three beats at once as he said that. despite that, you found yourself smiling, “sure, i don’t see why not.”

there was another beat of silence but peter decided to break it before it could get uncomfortable, “so, you busy?”

and so the conversation continued. you told him you were just looking out to the street where small water puddles had already formed. you told him that you loved the rain. he told you that he hated it since the time it rained so much on his birthday that he was stuck at school for five straight hours until his uncle ben came to pick him up.

it was almost an hour later when you had to excuse yourself from peter as your doorbell rang.

“i’ll see you monday!” he said before hanging up and you quickly made your way towards the door. whoever it was had rung the doorbell twenty times in five seconds.

so probably gwen.

“i cannot believe this!” was the first thing she said as she welcomed herself into your house. no ‘hello’s or ‘how are you’s, “a car went right past me and almost stained my lab coat!”

“um... good morning to you too?” you chuckled, watching her get comfortable over your couch as she removed her shoes. she was clearly going through a rough week, “what’s wrong?”

you sat over the couch and her head immediately rested on your lap, “i can’t smell any more chemicals. my brain will explode.” she complained as you ran your hand through her hair.

“you were at the lab all night again?”

“slept on the couch” she sighed and relaxed further, feeling your fingers thread through her hair comfortingly.

“maybe you should slee-”

“coffee.” she mumbled, “i need some coffee.”

getting up from the couch, she made her way into the familiar kitchen, the white tiles reflecting enough light for her to wince and squint her eyes.

“are you sure you should have coffee right now?” you asked, leaning against the counter as she pulled out her favourite coffee mug from your cupboard.

“yes.”

soon the two of you settled back onto the couch, this time with your respective coffee mugs as you talked about her work. then gwen decided to shift the conversation to you, “so how’s swimming going?”

“it’s alright.” you tried to hold back your smile but gwen kept staring at you, making you break out laughing.

“and how’s your sexy trainer?” she took a sip from her coffee unbothered whereas you almost choked on yours, coughing slightly, “come on, you can tell me.” she pushed a little.

“he’s alright.” you replied, trying to sound disinterested but who were you fooling. gwen knew you better than that.

“so, when are you asking him out?” once again you almost spat your coffee out, deciding to place the coffee mug on the coaster at your coffee table for good.

“okay, you need to stop. we’re just friends. he’s supposed to be my trainer, that’s all.” you rambled out and gwen gave you a look that told you to cut through all the bullshit, “and i like him.” you whined, falling against the armrest of your couch.

“ask. him. out.” your best friend said, emphasizing on each of her word.

“he doesn’t even-”

“how do you know! have you ever tried… oh, i don’t know, asking him out?”

you rolled your eyes at her stubbornness. it was a trait you simultaneously loved and hated about her, “i’m not doing that.”

“ask him out.”

“what if he has a girlf-”

“ask him out and he’ll tell you.”

“but what if he doesn’t want to-”

“ask him out!”

“gosh! gwen i can’t.” you shook your head, mostly to yourself.

“(y/n). come on. ask him out before someone else does.” gwen said, a soft look etched over her features despite being deeply sleep-deprived, “have faith in yourself.” she smiled

“i-i’ll see…” you gave her a smile back, feeling an ounce of confidence, “maybe i will ask him out.”

“now that’s my girl!” gwen grinned and threw her arms around you.

you spent your sunday taking gwen out to dinner and then shopping because she deserved the break and you knew the second monday’s first minute illuminated on the digital clock beside her bed, she would start worrying about working her ass off on her new project.

and you were right as she called you just as you were about to leave your house for your swimming class, complaining about the horrible coffee in the lab, “i would have picked up some on my way here but it was too early.” she groaned.

“maybe i can bring some over after swimming today?” you offered, locking the door to your apartment and throwing the keys into your bag.

“unless you’re too busy with your peter guy?” gwen snorted at the groan you let out at her comment, “you’re asking him out today.”

“yeah, yeah, yeah.” you dismissed and quickly added, “and i’m never too busy for you, you know that.”

“i know.” she said, making you smile. the two of you bid each other a goodbye once she had to get back to work.

you found peter sitting in the same spot you had waited for him that day as soon as you reached the pool. you quickly changed and walked back out, noticing that he was still busy scrolling through his phone. walking up to him, you tried to not look into his phone as he texted someone, “watcha doing?”

he jumped at your question, looking up at you with wide, brown eyes, “oh. you scared the crap out of me.” he chuckled, registering that you had asked him a question, “i was just texting my aunt… about groceries and stuff.”

“oh.” you said, your mouth forming an ‘o’ shape.

“so, you ready?” he asked and you nodded.

You climbed down the stairs of the pool ladder until your feet touched the tiled floor. Peter jumped in after you.

“i think it’s time we started kicking.” was the first thing he said, “i’ll show you how it’s done then you can do it too.” you nodded and watched as he dived inside, kicking the water with his legs as he slowly moved forward, leaving behind small splashes in his wake.

swimming back towards you quickly, he wiped back his hair from his forehead and you somehow forced yourself to not lend him a hand, “your turn!”

you gave him a smile, breaking out of your chain of thoughts, “okay then.” taking a deep breath you got ready to go underwater but peter’s hand wrapping around your wrist stopped you. you looked at him this time with slightly widened eyes, “uh…?”

“you’re not wearing your glasses.” he laughed and this time you were pretty sure that he seemed nervous as he held onto your wrist.

“oh.” you realised and pfft-ed at yourself, “silly me.”

he released your hand then but before you could do anything to adjust your goggles, his hands went up, fingers grabbing at the edge of the eyewear, gently propping it over your eyes carefully, “that okay?”

you weren’t quite sure if you’d noticed right but just before the glasses covered your eyes, a tint of pink covered his cheeks. or it could have been just your rose tinted goggles. damn uv protection.

“o-oh. yep.” you replied, feeling your cheeks heat up. he smiled sweetly at you and you almost wanted to grab his pretty face right there and kiss over those upturned lips of his. but you couldn’t. not like this.

“you okay?” he asked, looking slightly concerned but you quickly nodded, not feeding into his worries.

“yeah.” you dived in then, keeping your hands straight as you kicked your legs up and down. you remembered his advice for keeping your head low and you applied that. almost thirty to forty seconds later, you resurfaced and took a deep breath, “was that alright?”

“yeah! that was good for a first try!” he gave you an encouraging smile, “just let your waist move freely.”

“how?” you asked, a little confused.

“is it okay if i place my hands on your waist?” the question made you cough even though you were several inches away from water. peter’s hands raised in defence, “i don’t need to-”

“no, it’s fine!” you blurted out, feeling on fire which even the water surrounding you couldn’t put out, “you can.”

“okay, just do what you were doing, i’ll guide you.” he said, seeming as nervous as you were feeling.

you did as told and this time peter’s hands placed themselves on either side of your waist as you started kicking. he helped you with the movement, moving your waist a little in tandem with your legs.

after the hour was finally up and you had changed into your regular clothes, you found peter talking to ned and contemplated going up to him for all of fifteen seconds before deciding to go up to him.

you waited until ned was gone and walked in his direction, “peter?”

he immediately looked in your direction, “oh, hey… you’re leaving?”

“yeah. well, i actually… i needed to talk to you about something.” your heart was going to jump out of your chest. you couldn’t even meet his eyes, your gaze fixed upon the dusky floor.

“what is it, (y/n)?” you could feel his curious eyes over yourself.

“well, i… it’s kinda…” you waved your hands around, trying to find the right words to say until he disrupted you mid-sentence.

“is it about that compliment i owe you?” he said, letting out a small laugh. he was probably trying to lighten the mood but this was not helping your situation, “well, i’d say you’re really-”

“i kinda like you-” you shut yourself up after that, looking up to see his reaction. his face changed from one of shock to a confused one.

“wait, you-”

“i thought i would keep a professional relationship with you. but i… you’re just really pretty and it’s unfair!” you complained, not holding back now. this was your last chance. you considered he might not want you around here anymore.

“how is it unfair, exactly?” you looked up at him to catch his raised eyebrows, however, a small smile played over his lips.

“well, for starters i wish you would go out with me. but that’s-”

“yes.”

“what?” you were sure you looked like a raccoon caught red-handed stealing food.

“i wanna go out with you. afterall i do owe you a compliment.” he smiled, making you smile too.

“i might owe a little girl an ice-cream.”

———

masterlist ✨

[fortheloveofwonderland]

Me & You & Everyone We Know | Chapter 14 | S.R

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter Summary - When Spencer’s drinking gets out of control, he reaches out to a friend for help. He makes a series of decisions for the sake of his own mental health.

Pairing - Single Dad! Spencer Reid / Fem! Reader

Category - hurt/comfort, angst with happy ending, smut minors DNI.

A/N - I don’t know how finals work so I just made it up. Also questions detailed for Spencer’s therapy are taken from real life therapy questionnaires.

Warnings - arguing, drinking, drunk Spencer, one night stand, mentions of protective sex, swearing, slight alcohol abuse, AA meetings, mention of past drug addiction, therapists, talk of depression, Spencer gets angry at Taco, mentions of dog urine and faeces, therapy questionnaires, mentions of affairs and divorce, mentions of schizophrenia.

WC - 5.7k

Chapter 14 - Forever Winter

He says he doesn't believe anything much he hears these days,

He says, "Why fall in love, just so you can watch it go away?"

He spends most of his nights wishing it was how it used to be,

He spends most of his flights getting pulled down by gravity.

Professor Monroe did not return to work on Monday and so Spencer had to spend another week with you. 

It was finals week which meant longer hours, more time having to be spent together. It made the long, awkward silences more uncomfortable, the withering looks more grating. 

He tried to focus on the fact two days after he’d put in the offer on the house it had been accepted, and less than twelve hours after that he’d agreed an offer on his own home. 

Between finals, the tension with you and getting the ball rolling with his house sale and purchase, Spencer was stretched extremely thin. 

He still tried to give his all to his girls but his evenings were spent with papers and forms and all kinds of other legal nonsense that Maeve had taken care of last time. 

Honestly, he was exhausted. And it didn’t help matters that every time he saw you his heart shattered a little more. 

He thankfully made it through the last week of the semester with his sanity still just about in check. He was packing up his office for the summer when there was a knock at his door. 

“Come in,” he stood up straight as the door opened and you tentatively walked inside. 

You clutched your purse close like it was your only lifeline. 

“Was there anything else you needed before I head out?” You asked politely, but there was a hint of frustration in your voice. 

“Uh no I don’t think so. Have a good summer I guess.” He replied, chewing on the inside of his cheek. 

You nodded curtly and turned back to the door but before you could leave Spencer spoke again.

“Do you want to maybe grab a coffee? I’d really like to just clear the air.” 

Your back straightened as you slowly turned back to him. 

“I, uh…I have plans.” You shrugged, rolling your lip between your teeth. 

Your facial expression told Spencer all the things you weren’t saying. 

“Oh,” he croaked. “You have a date?” 

“Not a date…not really. I’m just having dinner with a guy I went to college with. S’not a big deal.” You continued gnawing on your lip. 

“Wow, good to see you’ve bounced back so fast.” His lips drew into a tight line and he grabbed his satchel off the desk, swinging it over his shoulder and heading for the door,  

“It’s not like that.” You huffed, holding your hands out to stop him as he went to pass you. 

“Sure it’s not.” He rolled his eyes. “So while I’ve been missing you every second of every day you’ve been reconnecting with an old college “friend”. Super, just super.” 

You grabbed him by the shoulders when he tried to pass you again and shoved him backwards a little. 

“You don’t get to do this,” you spat. “You don’t get to be mad at me for moving on. We broke up because you’re in love with someone else, Spencer! What am I supposed to do? Pine over you? Make myself miserable and wallow because you didn’t love me the way I love you? You don’t have the right to be mad, Spencer.”

“I have the right to be whatever I want to be.” He bit back. “Clearly you didn’t love me as much as you claimed to if you can move on so fast. I was married for a long time, I’m allowed to have complicated feelings about that. But my feelings for my ex in no way diminished my feelings for you. There’s no rule book on love Y/N. Just because I still love my ex-wife doesn’t mean I don’t also love you. Have a good summer, and have a wonderful time with your college friend.” 

He pushed past you and you let him go. He swung open the door so aggressively it bounced on its hinges and hit the wall. You stepped out into the corridor after him and couldn’t stop yourself yelling after him.

“Go to hell Doctor Reid!” 

You saw him slow his pace briefly, as though he might turn back and reply but he didn’t. He forced himself to keep walking. 

And once he was out of sight, your first tear escaped your eye. 

***

The music thrummed through the speakers, vibrating down the walls, through the floorboards and up through the soles of his shoes. 

It pulsed and pumped like a frantically beating heart, filling his veins with a nervous energy which manifested in his constantly jiggling left leg and fingers drumming against the table top. 

His free hand which wasn’t tapping the table was grasped around his glass as he raised it to his lips and swallowed down the amber liquid. 

He slammed the empty glass back on the table and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. 

“I’m getting another drink.” He yelled to be heard over the music and went to stand but a hand on his arm stopped him. 

“I think you’ve had enough, Reid.” Emily replied just as loudly. 

“Weren’t you quitting drinking anyway?” JJ asked him. 

“I thought this was supposed to be fun. I’m not having fun.” He groaned. 

After dropping the girls at Maeve’s he’d called JJ and asked if he could come over, not wanting to be alone. 

She’d informed him it was girls night, she, Emily, Penelope and Tara were going out to a club on one of their rare Friday nights off. 

The next thing she’d known, Spencer had invited himself along. 

He was four scotch’s deep and it was already going to his head. All four women were incredibly worried about him. 

“What if we dance? Dancing’s fun.” Penelope tried. 

“I hate dancing.” Spencer shook his head. “I’m getting another drink.” 

This time when he got up no one tried to stop him. The four women exchanged glances as he pushed his way through the crowds towards the bar. 

“I’m worried about him.” JJ shook her head sadly. 

“Me too.” Garcia agreed. 

“He just needs to blow off some steam. I’m sure he’ll be fine.” Tara shrugged, sipping her wine. “Not much of a ladies night.” 

“Let’s go dance while he’s distracted.” Emily suggested and the others nodded in agreement. 

Spencer didn’t see them go, too busy trying to get the bartender's attention. His head was spinning and he felt like he could taste the music, it was so loud. 

But the more he drank, the less he thought about you and your date-not-a-date. The more scotch he consumed the less he pictured you rolling around in bed with some college friend you’d never mentioned before. 

The more alcohol he indulged in, the less his heart felt like it was breaking. 

He ordered his drink and took a large sip of it, relishing in the way the alcohol burned as it slid down his throat. 

When he turned away from the bar there was a set of large brown eyes staring right at him. 

The woman the eyes belonged to was tall and curvaceous, shoulder length blonde hair and a smile directed right at him. 

She moved closer to him, her hips swaying as she walked. When she reached him, she placed her hands on his shoulders, moving her face close to his ear so she could be heard when she spoke. 

“Hi,” she breathed against his ear. “I’m Lauren.” 

“Spencer,” he replied, his free hand finding purchase on her hip. 

“I saw you with that group of women, one of them your girlfriend?” 

“Nope, no. Just friends. No girlfriend.” He swallowed, his hand gripping the glass shaking a little. 

“That’s good to know.” She giggled, pulling away from his ear and looking down at his lips which were parted slightly. 

He knew this was a terrible idea, so far past terrible in fact. But he also couldn’t help himself. Lauren was beautiful, seductive and clearly interested in him. And maybe she was just what he needed to take his mind off of things. 

He raised his drink to his lips and downed it, placing the empty on the bar behind him. One hand still on her hip, his now free one cupped her cheek, brushing his fingertips against her skin. 

“You got a problem with me kissing you?” He smiled at her. 

“Not at all.” She smiled back before he was soon slamming their lips together. 

The last thing Spencer remembered before the alcohol took over was grabbing her by the hand and leading her towards the door, the two of them fleeing together into the night. 

***

By the fourth time Taco barked, Spencer forced his eyes open. The mangy dog was sitting on the floor next to his bed, glaring at his owner with his beady little eyes. 

“Go away,” Spencer grumbled, his head immediately starting to throb. “You aren’t going to starve. Just need a little more sleep.” 

He pulled the duvet over his head and ignored Taco when he barked twice more. He groaned into his pillow, his stomach turning and head pounding.

Taco barked again and Spencer half considered getting up just to kick the dog until he was silent. But the dog was the least of his concerns. 

“Can you shut that thing up?” A female voice came from behind him and Spencer sat up and whipped around so fast the whole room spun.

Her blonde hair was tangled on the pillow and the sheet was slung around her waist, her bare chest on display. 

“What the fuck?” He panted, lifting the sheet and looking down at his own naked body beneath it. “Oh fuck, did we? Shit!” 

He lept out of bed and the woman grumbled while he tried to locate his boxers. 

“Why are you being so loud?” She whined. 

He found his underwear and pulled them on before turning back to her. 

“You need to leave, now.” He told her, her eyes fluttering open. 

“Well that’s rude.” She pulled the sheet over her body. 

“This shouldn’t have happened. We shouldn’t have…fuck!” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Did we use protection?”

Lauren sat up against the pillows, eyes blurry and hair messy. 

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I was as drunk as you were.”

“Are you on the pill?” He glared at her. 

“Yes.” She huffed, 

“But you don’t know if we used a condom? Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck I’m such a fucking idiot.” He started pacing, hunting the room for a used condom or a ripped packet. 

“What is your problem?” She groaned, rubbing her eyes and causing her mascara to flake. 

“My problem? My problem!” He raised his voice even though it hurt his head to do so. “My problem is I have two kids that were born from a combination of too much alcohol and forgotten condoms. Fuck, how could I be so stupid?” 

“You have kids?” She frowned. 

“Yes! Why do you think I live in this giant suburban hell hole?” He continued to search the room. 

Lauren glanced around the room, she hadn’t noticed last night how feminine his bedroom was.

“Jesus Christ, you didn’t tell me you were married!” She spat, swinging her legs out of the bed. 

“I’m not married. I said I have kids.” He found the trash can in the corner and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the used condom sitting on top. “Oh thank fuck.” 

“You’re telling me a woman doesn’t live here?” She scoffed, locating her clothes and starting to dress. 

“A woman used to live here, I haven’t decorated. I’m moving out…it doesn’t matter. None of that matters. You need to leave.” 

“Don’t worry I’m going.” Lauren dressed as quickly as she could. “I did not sign up for this.” 

She was soon throwing her heels back on and found her purse tossed on the dressing table which she grabbed before leaving the room. Spencer followed her, still wearing only his underwear and motioned her downstairs towards the front door. 

“I, uh, I don’t mean to be an asshole,” he swallowed as he unlocked the door. “I really wasn’t in the right frame of mind last night. I’m sorry.” 

“Whatever,” Lauren clucked as the door opened. “It is what it is.” 

She weaved past him and out of the door, heading down the front steps as the gate opened and someone started up the path. Spencer closed his eyes and leant back against the door jamb. 

He didn’t watch as you encountered the scantily dressed blonde halfway down the path. He refused to look as you gave her a once over and as Lauren rolled her eyes. 

“I thought you said a woman didn’t live here?” Lauren called back to him. 

Spencer’s eyes shot open and he looked guiltily between you and her. 

“It’s not…I know this looks bad but it’s not…” He groaned, wanting the world to swallow him whole. 

“Wear a ring, asshole!” Lauren spat and before he could explain, she was strutting away on her too high heels.

You glared at him from the path, not wanting to come any closer as the rage bubbling through your veins might cause you to physically hurt him. 

“Hi,” he shrugged meekly. “I really wish you’d shown up like, two minutes later.” 

“You really are something else, aren’t you?” You scoffed, rolling your eyes. “You called me sixteen times last night, left me five voicemails telling me how much you missed me and now I show up here and see some bimbo leaving your house? Jesus Christ, Spencer, seriously?” 

“I…sixteen times?” He frowned, he didn’t remember calling you once let alone sixteen times. 

“Yes,” You nodded, taking a few tentative steps closer. “I even left dinner earlier, I walked out on a nice evening with an uncomplicated, charming man. And I actually came here today because I thought, maybe, maybe we could work on things. And then I see her leaving and it certainly doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happened between the two of you.”

He followed your gaze when you gestured up and down his nearly naked frame. He grimaced, wrapping his arms around his torso as his cheeks flushed. 

“I was…drunk. Really drunk and I made a really bad judgement call. But in my defence, I was upset, ok? I was sad and so I drank and I couldn’t stop thinking about you and your college friend and I figured a one night stand might take my mind off of things.” He shrugged with a deep sigh. “It didn’t mean anything, I swear.” 

“I don’t care, Spencer.” You shook your head. “I’m glad I saw her actually, because now I know it was a huge mistake coming here. We were never going to be able to work things out. Your one night stand saved me from more heartbreak.” 

“Just come inside, let's talk.” 

“No.” You shook your head, taking a few steps backwards. 

“Y/N, please?” He begged, stepping out of his house. 

“No, no. I shouldn’t have come here in the first place. I have to go.” You continued walking backwards while Spencer carried on towards you. 

You bumped into the gate and quickly turned to open it.

“Y/N, wait, please!” He hurried towards you, but you were already back on the street, running towards your car. “Y/N! Wait….please? Fuck!” 

He yelled, running his fingers through his hair. He glanced across the street where his neighbour who had been tending to her yard was staring at him. Of course she was, he was the crazy man screaming after a woman wearing nothing but his boxers.

“Morning Mrs Lopez.” He offered a tight lipped smile and meek wave before turning away from her and retreating back inside. 

Once the door was closed he fell back against it, shaking his head at his own stupidity. Just when things seemed to be as bad as they could get, he kept making them worse. He couldn’t seem to do anything right lately. 

Drinking as much as he was certainly wasn’t helping matters. He thought he’d had it under control but maybe he was wrong. 

He was falling apart at the seams. He needed to do something, needed to make a change before his anger and his sadness ripped his whole life apart. If he continued on this self-destructive path he could lose everything, his girls included. 

And they deserved more from him. 

It was time he took a good, long look in the mirror and made a change. It was time for Spencer Reid to start thinking about himself and make some drastic changes before his life wound up upside down. 

No more drinking. He had to put a stop to that before it had a chance to escalate, he knew all too well the perils of addiction. 

He dragged himself back upstairs and found his cell phone, pulling up his contacts and locating her number. He sat on the edge of the bed while it rang a few times, soon her breezy voice was carrying down the line.

“Reid, hi. Where did you go last night, we were worried about you?” 

“I’m fine, everything’s fine.” He tried to placate her but then he sighed. “Actually that’s not true. Nothing is fine.”

“What’s wrong?” She quickly panicked down the line.

“I need your help.” He sniffed, his eyes welling with tears. “I hate to have to ask you this with your history with your ex, but I don’t know who else to ask. I can’t keep on like this, I really need to get sober. Would you…would you go to a meeting with me?” 

There was a pause of silence while his words sunk in and he worried briefly she would shoot him down. But soon enough she was speaking.

“Of course I will, Reid. Of course I will.” Tara Lewis replied, that calming tone of hers wrapping him in a comforting blanket.

“Thank you Tara. Thank you so much.” He sniffed again, a few tears escaping. 

“I’ll have a look online and find something nearby ok? I’ll text you the details.” 

“Ok,” He nodded, closing his eyes. “Tara?”

“Yes Reid?”

“Please don’t tell anyone. They’ll only worry.” 

Tara didn’t think it would help him to hear how worried they all were about him already. Instead she agreed and soon they were both hanging up the phone. 

***

It had been over fifteen years since Spencer set foot in some kind of meeting. Back then, when he’d been going through his dilaudid addiction, he’d attended a few meetings at Beltway Clean Cops. This was his first time going to such a place with civilians.

But he’d been a civilian himself now for a long time, so he guessed it made sense.

He spent most of it sitting in the back with Tara, clutching her hand while others spoke. Towards the end she encouraged him to go up and speak.

Despite his awkwardness, public speaking had never phased him much. Not usually anyway. But standing up at that podium and having to talk in front of a room full of addicts was one of the most nerve wracking experiences of his life. 

He made eye contact with Tara who gave him a soft smile and a nod of motivation. 

“Uh, hi, I’m Spencer.” He began, not taking his eyes off of Tara.

“Hi Spencer.” The room spoke in unison.

“I, uh…I suppose I’m here because I have a problem. I don’t want to use the word addiction because I don’t think I’m at that stage yet but it’s certainly heading that way.” He rolled his lip between his teeth. “Years ago I had a problem with dilaudid, I haven’t used in over fifteen years. I don’t know that I can say I was sober though, because I still drank from time to time. 

Over the last year that drinking has gotten heavier. For a long time I didn’t think of alcohol the same as I did dilaudid, it seemed so harmless in comparison. But I think I’ve started replacing one vice with another and if I don’t stop drinking entirely it is going to get to a point where I can’t stop. 

I have two kids, two little girls and I am their primary caregiver. Lily is seven and Daisy is fourteen and old enough to know that I am struggling. Their mom and I were married for thirteen years before she dropped a bombshell that she’d been having an affair for three years. I guess I’ve not been the same since. On the weekends I don’t have my girls, I tend to drink to numb the pain. 

I know I need to make a change, even if only for my daughter’s. So I came here in the hopes of quitting drinking before it’s too late for me.” 

He took a deep breath once he was finished. He hadn’t planned to say all of that but he found when he started talking he couldn’t stop. 

Tara was smiling at him with pride and she started to clap which caused the rest of the room to join in. 

Spencer felt his cheeks burning with embarrassment and he averted his gaze down to the podium. He hurried away while the applause continued and kept his eyes on the floor as he made his way back to his seat.

As soon as he sat down, Tara took hold of his hand and he glanced at her. She was smiling brightly at him and if he wasn’t mistaken, he swore she had tears in her eyes.

“I’m so proud of you.” She mouthed at him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. 

He smiled in thanks and turned back to face the front as another speaker took to the podium. 

Truth be told, he was proud of himself too. 

***

Tara took him for lunch after the meeting and he regaled her with all the sorry details of what happened after he left the bar last night, including you showing up at his house. She listened patiently, giving input where necessary and never once judging him. 

After they ate, they went for a walk in the park for a while until it got a little too hot and they found a bench in the shade of a large tree. 

“A while ago you mentioned to me about seeing a therapist.” He spoke without looking at her. “I think it’s probably a good idea.”

“I have some friends in the field, I can give you some numbers.” She watched the side of his face.

“Yes please, that would be helpful.” He played with his hands in his lap, slowly turning his head to look at Tara. “You know, Daisy asked me if I was depressed and I honestly think that’s the first time I’d ever really thought about it before. That’s what this is right? Depression.” 

“Most likely.” She nodded slowly. “But I think with the right combination of therapy and medication you’ll be just fine, Spencer.” 

“You think it gets better?” He asked, rolling his lip between his teeth somewhat violently. 

“I know it will get better.” She took hold of his hand once more and held it tightly. “You’ve had a rough time, life has not been kind to you. But you deserve to be happy again and you will be.” 

“Thank you.” He sniffed.

“For what?” 

“For today, for everything really. If it weren’t for you and the team and my girls, I would have crumbled a long time ago.” 

“If you ever do crumble,” Tara squeezed his hand. “You can be assured we will all be there to help you pick up the pieces. That’s what family is for.” 

A tear escaped his eye and he was quick to bat it away. Tara continued to hold his hand while they sat in silence, watching the world pass them by from the park bench. 

When they parted ways, she gave him some numbers of therapists and he promised to call her if he felt the need to drink again. He had to admit he felt a little lighter by the time he returned home that evening. 

But then he walked in his door.

In the state he’d been in that morning he had forgotten that leaving his shit for brain’s dog alone all day would be a terrible idea. He’d also forgotten to feed the mangy thing. And boy had Taco protested. 

His couch was almost entirely ripped to shreds, the leather fabric clawed and scratched apart. The one remaining couch cushion Taco hadn’t already destroyed was now ruined, in a pile of fluff on the floor. 

He’d knocked over the coat rack and torn apart Spencer’s favourite navy blue pea coat. The coat rack had clearly knocked into the wall and left a dent behind, one more mark he would have to fix before he moved. 

On top of that there was a yellow urine stain in the middle of the living room and as Spencer moved further into the house he found Taco had also defecated at the bottom of the stairs. 

He ignored the mess and the dog, because if he didn’t he might actually strangle the mutt, and headed through to the kitchen. He opened the back door and Taco sprinted into the yard. 

He put food down for the moronic creature, wanting nothing more than to open the back gate and let the dog run free, he could tell the girls he accidentally got out. He cleaned up the pile of faeces in the hall and scrubbed the carpet of urine. 

He left the back door open while he trudged upstairs and was met with yet more destruction caused by the dog. 

Thankfully Daisy and Lily’s bedroom doors had been left shut but he’d failed to do the same with his own. One of his pillows had met the same fate as the couch cushion. He’d managed somehow to get the book off of Spencer’s nightstand and torn that to shreds, ripped pages littering his bed. 

He’d turned the trash can upside down and the used condom was laying in the middle of the room.

“Gross, so gross.” Spencer groaned, picking up the garbage, condom included and throwing it back in the trash. “I swear to god I am going to put you down myself, Taco.” 

In his ensuite, Taco had pulled his towel off of the back of the door and urinated on it. 

He snatched it up and marched downstairs where he tossed the soiled towel into the washing machine. Taco was back inside, happily eating his kibble without a care in the world. 

“Something needs to change.” He spat at the dog even though he couldn’t understand him. “I am not putting up with this.” 

Taco, not surprisingly, didn’t reply, instead carried on eating. 

Spencer closed the back door and slumped through to his living room, falling down on his trashed couch. 

He pulled out his cell phone and typed a quick text message. 

📲 To: Luke Alvez - Hey man, I don’t suppose you know any good dog trainers? This fucking creature is going to be the death of me. 

He hit send, before pulling out the list of names Tara had given him earlier. She’d put a little star next to one name in particular who she thought would be a good fit for Spencer. 

Before he could change his mind, he dialled the number. 

“Hello, you’ve reached the office of Doctor Maria Sanchez, Hannah speaking, how may I help?” A chipper female voice came down the line. 

“Uh, hi. A friend of mine gave me Doctor Sanchez’s number. I’d like to make an appointment I guess.” He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. 

“Ok, sure. You’d need to fill out a questionnaire but if you give me an email address I can get that sent over to you. You can just email it right back and Doctor Sanchez will review it and be in touch.” 

Spencer exhaled before reeling off his email address. A few minutes later he was hanging up. A reply from Luke awaited him. 

📱 Do I know any good dog trainers? You offend me, Reid. Who do you think trained Roxy? I’d be happy to help corral your pup. Just been called in on a case but I’ll hit you up when I’m back.

He put his phone down and exhaled deeply. He was starting to make strides. He was moving house, he’d gone to his first meeting, he was looking into a therapist and sorting out his nightmare dog. 

The next thing on the agenda was to buy a new couch. 

***

The following morning he opened his computer in his office and faced a four page pre-therapy questionnaire.

It started out simple enough, his name, date of birth occupation, current employer and his home address. Relatively straight forward stuff. The first set of questions were about his parents, what his childhood was like and a section to detail any siblings.

It wasn’t easy to fill out given his family history, but he managed it. It was the next section in which he started having issues. 

If married, please give the name and age of your spouse and the date of your marriage. If you have been married before, please write the names of your former spouses(s) and the date(s) of that (those) marriage(s).

Briefly describe your marital relationship(s). 

God-fucking-damnit.

He tried not to let himself think about what he was writing, just let his fingers glide across the keyboard without giving it too much thought. It was easy enough to type out her name and age and the date of their marriage. It was the second question he had difficulty with. 

He swallowed thickly as he started to type in the allocated box.

I became separated from my wife over a year ago when she informed me she had been having a three year long affair. We later got divorced. Before her affair we had a good marriage, for the most part. I wasn’t always home a lot due to my job but we were happy I think. I guess that’s not true though because if that were true then she wouldn’t have cheated on me. We have not remained on good terms. 

He started typing about his girls but then his eyes glanced at the next question and realised that was better saved, so he deleted that part and moved onto the next box. 

Please give the names and ages of all children and stepchildren, whether or not they are living at home.

Daisy Reid, fourteen / Lily Reid, seven. They live at home with me and stay with their mother every other weekend. 

He stopped typing to take a sip of coffee while he glanced at the next question. 

Do you or anyone in your family have a history of depression or other mental illness? Were any ever hospitalised for this? 

He closed his eyes and let out a staggered breath. He’d thought the actual therapy would be the hard part, this was supposed to be a walk in the park in comparison. He had another sip of coffee and began to type again.

My mother suffers from schizophrenia and I made the decision to institutionalise her when I was eighteen. 

Short and simple. He didn’t want to dive too much into this. But then the next question almost forced him to shut the computer down entirely and retreat back to bed. 

Have you or any member of your family ever had a problem of misusing alcohol or drugs? Who and for how long? Is there a current problem? 

He let out another breath, shaking his head at the computer as if it was somehow the device's fault. 

I had a problem with dilaudid between 2006 and 2007. I have been clean since but have recently realised I use alcohol as a coping mechanism. I am going to meetings and trying to get sober. 

The following few questions were about his educational history and his physical health which were much easier to answer. The next section was about his concerns about therapy and what he hoped to achieve from it. All fairly straightforward. 

The last section was a list of fifteen statements in which he was supposed to mark on a scale of 0 to 3 how often those problems had affected him in the last week, zero being none at all and three being severe. He took a breath and just tried to hurry through them. 

Feeling lonely 3

Low motivation to get things done 2

Trouble concentrating 3

Fatigue 3

Worry 3

Trouble falling asleep 3

Awaking during the night with problems returning to sleep 3

Tension in shoulders, neck or chest 3

Irritability 3

Thoughts of ending your own life 0

Feeling guilty 3

Feeling hopeless 3

Feeling worthless 3

Sexual concerns 0

Body discomfort 0

At the very least he hadn’t answered three to all of them, he thought, grimacing at his answers. Before he could talk himself out of it he replied to the email and attached the form, hitting send and not letting himself dwell on the answers he’d given. 

He sat back in his chair and sipped his coffee, knowing he needed to go out and buy a replacement couch before he picked the kids up tomorrow. He didn’t enjoy the idea of them seeing the destruction their stupid dog had caused. 

It took him almost an hour of sitting at his desk, staring at the wall until he finally got his legs to cooperate and he stood up. Before he left the house he shut Taco in the kitchen, hoping to contain the mutt's cataclysmic behaviour.

And then he drove out to the district to a furniture store and reluctantly picked out a new couch, paying extra for the privilege of having it delivered the same day and for having them haul his old one off, before driving back home and waiting for them to show. 

His therapy application played on his mind all day, that and the fact he really wanted a drink. He didn’t call Tara, not wanting to bother her while they were on a case and just hoping he could stave off his cravings until it was time to pick up Daisy and Lily. 

@andiebeaword @measure-in-pain @muffin-cup @dreatine @matthew-gray-gubler-lover @justreadingficsdontmindme @spencer-reid-wonderland @thebloomingeagle @foxy-eva @kbakery @simxican @aysixdy @givemeth @loonalockley @shamelessfangirl-3 @redbulldinner @derekm24 @pinkiceee-prose @werewolfbansheelove @mindbelova @angelicasworld

[just-some-random-blogger]

hello!! would it be possible to request a daemon/reader inspired by ‘wildest dreams’? like they’re in a secret relationship or something,, the lyrics just really fit with him i think🤭 thank you<3

Red Lips

Daemon Targaryen x Reader

Summary: The prince had a taste for things he couldn't have. Whoever knew he'd see the day he'd have to work for something to get it.

Word Count: 1k+

Warnings: Fem!reader, i made up yn's house, enemies to lovers lol jk emenies to enemies, angst?, daemon annoying af, pining, typos, etc.

A/N: i put the second part of your ask below the gif cos i wanna see his goofy face when i get notes T_T and nah you're so right i love this song as a prompt. i think slay. i wanted to write while listening to wildest dreams (taylor's version) but i was jamming too hard T_T also nonnie, i tweaked your req like a lot T_T cos i was focusing on the music to much and the music told me make it angsty just a lil bit ig idk if its angst at all tbh. if anything its taylor's fault ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i hope you like it <3 Tagging: @pinksirensong @deniixlovezelda @targaryenmoony

"Hello, bitch," he mutters, smiling, as his fingers trace the rim of his cup. I release a sigh at the unfortunately familiar sound. Suddenly, the open air was ruined by the foul scent of dragon.

I turn over my shoulder, raising my brows, "funny of you to address yourself, ser."

"Prince," he snips in correction, leaning in against my hair.

I side eye him, "no actually, I take that back. I'm horrified," I look out to the field where lord what's-his-face, was standing, telling a story about himself on his nameday; it didn't make his story any more worth listening to though. Surely the people were only listening out of pity.

"You should have the maesters check your sanity."

I turn to the wretched muggins, who downed his drink and chucked the cup over his shoulder. I away not wanting to burn my eyes more over the sight of his repulsive topaz tunic and stupidly long hair, "what was it they said about your kind?"

He scoffs a dry chuckle, "my kind?"

"Flip a coin and you'll determine if they're mad or not.

He chuckles louder.

I wave him off, grimacing at the sound of his laughter mixed with celebrant's, "you should go and do that. I'm sure your brother broke the backs of enough serfs to get a coin for youself"

He mumbles something in High Valyrian but then he cuts himself off when lord what's-his-face, who thought standing on his chair was a good idea in all his drunkenness, falls over on his back, making everyone gasp and circle around him.

I eye the felled man in annoyance, lips curled in disgust as the oaf beside me cheers, clapping his hand, "now that's festive!" He turns to me, "I'm sure you'd know nothing about merrymaking whatsoever with how high that stick up your arse is."

I offer him a pulled smile, bowing mockingly, "Prince Daemon."

The twat does not get the hint and follows after me when I walk away. He places his hands behind his back, "what's say we steal the bloke's mounts and ride off to the city?"

I roll my eyes at him, "good luck with that. I wholly express my wishes for you to fall just like him and break your spine along the way."

"Hmm," he says, grabbing a drink from a random person, who was about to protest but then bit his tongue upon seeing the thief. Daemon downs the liquid and throws the cup away haphazardly, "sounds like something you want."

I turn to him like face twisted with incredulous annoyance, "I would want nothing more."

"For yourself," he leans in, grabbing my arm, making me growl at him, "I can break your back if you want it so bad."

I pull away from him, grunting and groaning as I did, "qogralbar hen, doru-borto."

Also know as fuck off, stupid, in his very own mother tongue.

Daemon laughs as I walk away, gathering my skirts tightly in anger. He follows still, like the irritating fly that he is, "I'm honored to have gotten you to learn my language, gevie riña."

The sound of his boots crunching against the rocks riled me up twice as much when I could hear him fucking breathing behind me. I shoot him a glare, shoving him away from me, which he evades, "stop following me, Daemon!"

"I'm not following you," he lies, pursing his lips plainly, brows raising.

I stop in my tracks, "fine then! where are you going?"

"Wherever you're going."

I rip out a sharp, exasperated huff through my cheeks, wiping my face in annoyance, "I'm not in the mood for your games today."

"Tonight then."

"Pah! You've clearly need help," I scoff, storming away, far enough to reach the lake nearby. I am fooled that I am alone because of how he silently trials behind me in his momentary silence.

I stop in my tracks when the fucker kicks water towards my dress.

"You're the only one that can help me."

"WITH WHAT?" I snap, digging my heals into the ground as I turn to him. Daemon stills, hair blowing back with the wind as mine flies onto my face, "what makes you think I would ever help you, cretin?"

"You owe me," he mutters, walking forward, "you cannot think to kiss me and pretend like nothing happened."

"Why would I owe you?! I did not kiss you, your grace," I shake my head, "you kissed me!"

Daemon's lips quirk as he counters, "you were the one that was drunk, not I."

"Then leave it at that!" I shriek, "you'd get away with so much more if you used that excuse!"

"I will not excuse a lowly troll such as you for committing treason."

"Treason?!" I scoff sharply. I turn away from him, crossing my arms, "you are, by far, the most dramatic-"

"YOU MAKE ME ILL!" he barks, grabbing my shoulders. I jolt at his actions. He seethes, "YOURE FUCKING KILLING ME!"

In all his life, through our family's feuds, and our childhood hatred, he never once touched me, thus my perturbed reaction. My breathing becomes strained, my heartbeat was racketing in my ribcage.

"I am slipping into madness-" he continues, "-because I cannot get you out of my mind!"

If my pulse was not quick enough before he said that, it was surely quick now.

I take in the sour expression on his face, lifting my eyes up to his stupid eyes, stupid nose, stupid jaw, stupid- ugh! How did anyone ever think that he was handsome? There was nothing at all pleasant about this- this- this fiend! This- this ninnyhammer! This-

Daemon crushed his lips against mine.

Time stopped, as so did my breathing.

He was warm, as were his palms that found my cheeks.

And he smelled good, gods, he smelled so, so goo-

I shove him away. I heave arudously.

What the fuck am I saying?

Daemon was heaving too.

My mind is spinning. I cannot believe I allowed myself to think what I did.

"I cannot get that night out of my mind," he breathes heavily, "I must," he points, "have you," he noted, "I will die if I do not."

I gulp the bile rising up my throat. My lips curl in disgust. I wipe my lips with my wrist, "then perish."

[serendipitous-girl]

I was going yo write a multichap for sally face but i am much better at oneshots so i am scrapping that idea however i am sharing how much i had written so far

"Why can't you let us know anything about what happened?" You argued, glaring at the stubborn police officer guarding the door. Ms.Sanderson was somebody you held dearly in your heart and she was dead so quickly. Of course you wanted ton investigate but it was difficult when police officers wouldn't answer any questions.

"Get lost, little girl." The police officer ordered, glaring down at you. You rolled your eyes and started walking away, when in the corner of your eye you noticed a person with blue hair in pigtails. They must be new to Addison apartments and possibly your age.

"Hey!" You called out, rushing towards them. You got closer and they turned around, wearing a mask? (No, actually you realized it was a prosthetic something you had seen on TV recently.)

"I'm [Name] and I live in 202. What's your name?" You said, holding out your hand for them to shake. They accepted the offer, their hand cold (but nice) as they gave you a firm handshake.

"The name's Sal but my friends call me Sally Face." The person responded, voice slightly raspy and very masculine. Oh, so the new kid is a boy. There wasn't anything wrong with that, in fact its totally cool! "I just moved in and decided to check out my neighbors."

You nodded and smiled, listening to his words. He had such a soothing voice, it was incredibly easy to listen to. You were determined to make him your friend.

"Well I can introduce you to Larry, one of my best friends who also lives here." You said, hoping Sal would take the offer. You wanted to be his friend, if he doesn't want to hang out with you now will he ever?

Much to your relief, he nods and starts following you. Maybe he can help you figure out what happened with Ms.Sanderson! So will Larry, probably, but the more helping is better.

You passed by some of your other neighbors, which makes you describe them all. From the creepy Charlie to the strange Mr.Addison. It was hard to tell if he was listening since you couldn't see his expressions through the mask, but you kept talking anyhow.

"Hi, Lisa." You waved as you approached Larry's mom cleaning the floor. She looked up and smiled, smiling at Sal behind you as well.

"Hi, dear. Who's this?" She asked, although more framing the question towards Sal. He introduced himself, and Lisa did the same.

"Is Larry in his room?" You asked, wanting yo get back to the reason you had approached her. Lisa nodded and tossed you a key to her apartment so you could head inside.

"How long have you lived here?" Sal asked, walking side by side with you. He looked at you, one of his eyes a gorgeous blue color that was so vibrant it was surely electric. His other eye was a much more muted blue although just as pretty..it seemed he had only one eye that actually functioned.

"Probably as long as I can remember." You chuckled, shrugging, "I've grown up in Nockfell and I think I've pretty much lived at Addison since I was a toddler. Where are you moving from?"

"New Jersey." He replied, voice a bit more curt. You winced and noted it as a touchy subject, hopefully Larry won't bring up any of this when you see him.

Finally you two made it to the basement and you unlocked Lisa's apartment, "She gets to live here basically for free since she is the janitor. Larry is her son and he's our age."

Sal nodded and followed you as you entered the apartment. "Larryyyyy," You yelled, "Get your lazy ass out of your room!"

A few seconds go by and surprisingly enough Larry walked out of his room. He was tall with long hair (that looked surprisingly soft despite him being terrible at taking care of it) and of course a Sanity Falls t shirt.

"Whoa, dude." Larry said, laying his eyes laying on Sal, "Nice mask!" He gave Sal a thumbs up, the bro code for gaining his respect.

"It's a prosthetic," You corrected at the exact same time Sal says it too. He glanced at you, seemingly surprised.

"How did you know its a prosthetic?" He asked, eyes boring into your skin. Your face warmed and you looked away, unused to such a piercing stare.

"I just guessed since I have seen them on TV before." You replied, trying to hide your fluster. Larry raised his eyebrow at you, noticing your reaction but luckily he said nothing. You would've fought him otherwise.

Sal nodded and left it alone, glancing around the room. He noticed the Sanity Falls poster and Larry started geeking out on him.

`ᘞ✿❀ᘡˊ°`ᘞ❀✿ᘡˊ°`ᘞ✿❀ᘡˊ°`ᘞ❀✿ᘡˊ°`ᘞ✿❀ᘡˊ°`ᘞ❀

"Is this a good idea? Probably not." You said, sighing as you realized what you guys were about to do. But it's for Mrs.Sanderson! It's necessary.

"Okay so I distract the officer while you too sneak into Mrs.Sanderson's room. I have one walkie talkie that you guys can both use." Larry says, tossing the walkie talkie to Sal. (Rude, you've known Larry longer.)

Sal and you both nodded, ready to get the plan in motion. You all exited Larry's room, with Larry going to her room.

You and Sal waited nearby, listening for the signal you can proceed. Your heart pounded and your blood felt charged with electricity, this was more exciting than you were used to.

Finally the walkie talkie crackled to life as Larry gave the all clear. You glanced at Sal and nervously smiled, rushing towards Mrs.Sanderson's room quickly.

Your footsteps echoed your heavy heartbeat, threatening to jump from your chest. You tried to mentally prepare yourself, it was going to be bloody probably and it could be scary. Stay calm, just stay calm.

Sal opened the door and courteously went in before you, probably since his noticed your hands shaking with nerves. Even though your fear was valid it was embarrassing. Swallowing the lump in your throat, you followed Sal and crinkled your nose at the utter stench of death.

You dragged your eyes through the scene, dark red splatters all around the room like a gruesome painting. Attempting to focus, you noticed something. There was a empty spot where the blood splatter went...like an object was there and got removed.

"Sal, Sal, look!" You hissed, nudging him with your shoulder and pointing at the spot, where it looked like there was a missing glitter pony. Sal nodded and looked at you.

"Good job! Now lets go before we get caught." Sal said, turning around and hurrying the way you both came. Footsteps were quiet and rapid as you guys practically ran out of the room before the officer came back to the room.

Once you were safe, you leaned forward catching your breath. Sal was staring at you, his emotions unidentifiable under his mask.

"Its cool that you noticed that earlier, I almost missed it." Sal said, giving you a small nod. Larry showed up a few moments later, a big grin in his face.

"Now we just have to find evidence in Charlie's room." Larry said, feeling serious about locking the creep up. And honestly, it made some sense that Charlie killed Mrs.Sanderson.

"I'm sure one of his glitter ponies has blood on it. That could be evidence." Sal said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, but he would flip out if we got too close to them." You pointed out.

Larry nodded, seeming a little deflated. You were too, how would you get close enough to the glitter ponies without Charlie trying to commit even more murder?

"He falls asleep when he drinks Mr.Addison's tea..maybe we could make it stronger?" Sal suggested, the observation skills being on point. You smiled, although not sure how you guys were going to drug Charlie.

"Do you guys have any sleeping pills?" Larry asked and you shook your head sadly. Without any sleeping pills how would you make Charlie go to sleep?

"My dad takes sleeping pills. I can get those." Sal said, and you all agreed on it. It was scary how easily your plans were working but there was no time to question your fortune.

Sal got the pills and you got the tea. Together you mixed the concoction and got ready to drug your neighbor. Normal teenager behavior of course.

"Since he might be a murderer and try murderous things, you can stay behind me." Sal said, holding the tea and staring at you. You gave him a warm smile, something that has been happening more since Sal showed up.

"Thanks, Sally." You said, following behind him as you entered Charlie's room. You had a plastic baggie in your hands, big enough to snatch up a glitter pony if you find it.

Charlie was sitting on his chair as usual, practically melted into the furniture. He looks at you as you enter, his eyes trailing down your skin. Ew.

"I got you some more tea." Sal says, handing the cup to Charlie. His eyes light up and he slurps the tea greedily, only to pass out right after.

"At least we know it works?" You said, before shaking your head and focusing on the collection of toys. Carefully you scanned each one looking for any sort of blood stain.

A presence stood beside you, Sal moved to stand beside you somehow completely silent. Finally he must have noticed the bloody pony because he took the plastic baggie and grabbed it.

"oh, awesome!" You said, jumping when

[thedemoninme141]

Love Me Leave Me: Final Chapter

Celine's version of this story ended at chapter 1 with a dark ending, I just couldn't stop there, so I gave it 2 more chapters ending here, a good ending I guess. Hope you guys enjoy it as a rare good ending in one of her stories haha 😅 Previous Chapter Masterlist The months had passed slowly, but they brought with them small signs of healing. You hadn't cut for a few months now, and Wednesday watched over you with a vigilance that was both comforting and suffocating. She never asked directly about your scars, but her eyes often flickered to your wrists, checking for any new marks. Her concern was palpable, yet she remained careful not to push you too hard, respecting your need for space.

There were moments when Wednesday caught glimpses of the person you once were—brief flashes of the vibrant spirit she had known. You would offer her a warm smile when she did something thoughtful, like bringing you your favourite coffee or sitting with you during your loneliest moments. But those smiles, though genuine, were tinged with an inescapable sadness, a haunting reminder of the pain that lingered beneath the surface.

Despite the progress, Wednesday felt like she was walking on a tightrope, balancing her desire to help you heal with the fear of causing you further harm. She had kept her feelings for you at bay, convinced that any move towards a relationship would be premature and possibly detrimental to your fragile state. But she couldn't help herself from trying....

"Ask her on a movie night Wends, I will go to Yoko's room. Maybe thats how you can see if she has any feelings towards you." Enid's words.

That's how Wednesday found herself standing outside your door, a flutter of nervous anticipation in her chest. She took a deep breath and knocked softly. You opened the door, a curious expression on your face.

"Y/n," she began, her voice uncharacteristically hesitant. "I was wondering if you would—if you might want to—"

She rehearsed the words in her mind, each attempt sounding more awkward than the last. She clenched her fists in frustration. Why was this so difficult? She was Wednesday Addams, for crying out loud. She had faced horrors that would make most people lose their sanity, but this—this simple act of inviting you to a movie night—felt insurmountable. But she looked into your eyes, and there it was, the strength she needed. "Would you like to come to my dorm for a movie night? I thought it might be...nice."

There was a moment of silence, and for a second, Wednesday feared you might decline. But then you gave her a small, warm smile—one that still held that lingering sadness, but also a flicker of something else. Hope, perhaps?

"Sure, Wednesday. That sounds nice."

"Don't even think of choosing a horror movie Wednesday, here, torture yourself with this" Enid gave her a cheesy romance-comedy movie before she left, Wednesday rolled her eyes but she understood, watching a horror movie might be a bad idea. When you arrived at Wednesday's dorm, she greeted you with a slight nod, her usual composure masking the nervous flutter in her chest. She had arranged the room with an unexpected touch of care: soft lighting from a few strategically placed candles, a cozy blanket draped over the couch, and a bowl of your favorite snacks on the coffee table.

"I wasn't sure what kind of movies you like," Wednesday admitted, gesturing to the small stack of DVDs. "But Enid suggested this one."

You looked at the cover and smiled for a second, "A rom-com? What did Enid use against you?"

Wednesday couldn't answer, she knew she didn't have the answer. Feelings were always a foreign territory for her, she never thought she would care about anyone so much that she would be willing to change for them. But seeing your smile, even if it was for a split second, is worth the change.

Wednesday didn't feel the torture of the cringy moments from the movie, how could she when you were there beside her, all she did was focus on you, how your head tilted at the romance scenes, how you smiled at the heartwarming scenes, but most of all, finally after an hour, she heard your laugh and now she knew, she would commit any sin, face any trial, endure any torment if it meant that smile would always stay there.

Wednesday doesn't even know what was happening in the movie. The couple on screen danced in a slow, graceful circle, their eyes locked in a gaze filled with love and longing. You turned and noticed Wednesday watching you, her dark eyes softened by the candlelight. There was a palpable tension between you, a pull that neither of you could ignore. Your breath hitched, and you felt an inexplicable urge to close the distance between you.

The music seemed to blur the lines between reality and the fantasy playing out on screen. You both leaned in slowly, the world around you fading into insignificance. Wednesday's gaze flickered down to your lips, and her heart raced as she felt the warmth of your breath on her skin.

As your faces drew closer, your eyes fluttered shut, anticipation tinged with nervous excitement. You could feel the intensity of Wednesday's presence, her hand moving to gently cup your cheek.

But just as your lips were about to meet, you pulled back abruptly, your heart sinking. You opened your eyes and stepped away, the moment shattered by a sudden rush of doubt.

"I can't do this, Wednesday." you said softly, your voice trembling.

Wednesday cursed herself. She had let her emotions take control again. Had she ruined the progress she made with you?

"Its just... I know Wednesday, you have been doing everything to make things right again, and its working. I am really thankful to you for that. But, that's the thing isn't it? You did all that out of guilt, to fix me. I don't want you to love me out of guilt, out of pity. I want you to love me for... me."

Wednesday's eyes softened, and she took a tentative step closer. "Y/n, it's not about guilt. I care about you, not because I feel obligated, but because you mean something to me. I want to be here for you, to help you heal because I see you for who you are, and that's someone I deeply care about."

'' I ruined this moment, didn't I Wednesday? I am sorry.. I" You were about to break down again but Wednesday took your hand,

"One day at a time." She said, "As long as those days are with you Y/n, One day at a time is fine by me." Wednesday leaned in again, her lips capturing yours in a tender, hesitant kiss. It was a kiss filled with unspoken promises and a shared hope for a future where you both could heal together.

As you kissed her back, you felt the weight of your doubts and fears begin to lift, replaced by a warmth that spread through your entire being. It wasn't just a kiss—it was the start of something new, something beautiful. When you finally pulled away, you rested your forehead against hers, both of you breathing heavily. Wednesday smiled, a rare and genuine smile that made you sure, she would be there for you, she would fix the broken things and protect the fragile things, till the end.

[gumnut-logic]

Lego Volcano (Part 2)

Alexander Sweetapple series | Lego Volcano - Part 1 | Part 2

This is a sequel to the fic that was the result of several Thunderfam members in this post.

I think @womble1 was the one who asked for an Sweetapple sequel, so here it is. But I should not disregard the egging on from @idontknowreallywhy @sofasurf @sailing-on-a-puddle or any of the others because they are all equally responsible for the following 2000 words, which is twice as long as the original fic. Mostly because alex's brain wanders all over the place all the time, but still :D

I also need to thank @onereyofstarlight for the read through and sanity check. You are kind to me as always.

Warning for sick fic, sick!Virgil, loving Gords and all the fluff. This is also a Sweetapple fic and is consequently m/m. If that isn't your thing, this isn't your fic.

There is also quite a bit of FishTank by Proxy in this :D

I hope you enjoy the bucket of fluff that has delayed my lunch beyond 2.30pm.

-o-o-o-

Alex had been daydreaming when Gordon bounded into his lab.

“Hey, Apples.”

His stylus left his fingers and did a lovely loop-de-loop as he jumped. The eco-plastic pinged and clattered as it bounced off his laptop, the table, his empty coffee cup, and finally hit the floor, coming to a rolling halt at Gordon’s feet.

The aquanaut bent down and picked it up. He offered it to Alex with a slight bow and an amused smile. “All the mad skillz there, Apples.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Gordon, you scared the crap out of me.” He narrowed his eyes as the man’s grin widened. “Again.”

“Gotta keep you on your toes.” Gordon leant against the desk. “Hey, I’ve got a mission for you.”

“What?” Alex frowned. He wouldn’t say he was wary of Gordon, the two of them had developed a good friendship due to the man they had in common. Gordon was the wingman, and Alex was…well, Virgil’s man.

The thought was still a shy one, despite months having drifted by, ever so wonderfully, since that first kiss. The daydream that had been interrupted may have contained more Virgil than engineering, if Alex was honest. But then daydreaming about an engineer kind was related to engineering? Maybe? Alex didn’t really care, because he was…Virgil’s man.

“Earth to Apples.” Gordon waved a hand in front of his face.

Alex swiped at it.

Gordon snorted at him as he predictably missed. “Anyway, a mission. Your boy is down with the plague-“

“What?!” Alex sat up and his stylus landed on the floor again.

“Hey, he’s okay. Just picked up a lurgy from the London sewers. It’s giving him a hard time.”

“The sewers!” Alex hadn’t heard from Virgil for a few days. It happened occasionally. John would drop him a line if International Rescue was out on an extended stint. Alex had even heard from John’s PA once. That conversation had been interesting to say the least. She had reported Virgil’s position and then gave him the third degree on everything from his birthdate to his preference for pineapple ice cream.

He had spoken to Virgil about the conversation after the incident and had the pleasure of watching those gorgeous eyebrows climb into Virgil’s hairline. He said he would speak to John about it, and Alex hadn’t heard from her since.

He still didn’t know why she wanted to know his favourite flower, or his preference for bagels or popcorn.

But, in summary, Alex hadn’t been worried about the lack of communication and had presumed John would chime in if there was any concern.

Apparently not.

Alex stood up and grabbed his coat.

“What are you doing?” Gordon was eyeing him.

“I’m coming with you.”

“But I have a mission for you.”

“If it doesn’t involve Virgil, then I don’t care.” He glared at Gordon. “But you knew that, so I believe you were going to say that Virgil is miserable and won’t tell me because he knows I will want to be there for him.”

“Alex, he’s contagious.”

“Then why are you here? If it was that bad, Mrs Tracy would have quarantined the Island.”

“He was keeping to his room.”

“Was?”

“He had a little accident last night. Scott had to patch him up.”

Alex let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m signing out. What did you fly down here?”

“Tracy Two.”

“Meet you on the tarmac.”

And with that he shot out of the lab. He found Erica in the lunch room and let her know he would likely be away for a few days.

She raised an eyebrow, but was happy to cover for him on the project. He was not, repeat not, going to comment on the smile she had on her face. Fireman Fred’s expression was fond and Alex made a note to question Erica about the frequency of her lunch dates with the man.

Did she really think no one had noticed?

The director waved permission for leave without hesitation and he made sure he signed out properly - every time he did this, he was reminded of the one time he had screwed up.

Grabbing a bag from his apartment, he threw it over his shoulder and headed down to the airstrip.

Gordon stood waiting beside Tracy Two, the sleek jet screaming rich and famous and very much Tracy. A moment of hesitation, realising he had made demands of Gordon, talked over him, and basically hijacked his plane and his plans.

But the thought of Virgil had him straightening his back and striding forward. There would always be the socio-economic difference between him and Virgil. It wasn’t something that could be fixed.

So he was determined to ignore it.

The important thing here was that Virgil was sick and Alex needed transport to reach him.

The knowing smile on Gordon’s face as he grabbed Alex’s bag was just reassurance that Alex was doing the right thing.

“C’mon, Apples, let’s get you to your man.”

And if he had to put up with the aquanaut’s ribbing, so be it.

-o-o-o-

Alex had flown more in the last few months than he had in his entire life.

Because of Tracy Island, the Tracys lived in the skies. It was necessary.

It was obvious that some of the brothers enjoyed it more than others. But they could all fly. Even Mrs Tracy - she had made a habit of flying down to Napier every now and again to visit Alex’s mother. The two of them had started up a fast friendship.

Alex was both happy and terrified. Both had lost their partners in life, both were doctors, and both had an invested interest in Virgil and Alex…which was no doubt their favourite topic of conversation.

But Mum seemed happy and as far as Alex was concerned, that was enough.

And if Mrs Tracy knew more about Alex than he was likely comfortable with, well…he had nothing to hide.

After all, she had already seen him naked.

He shuddered.

“You with us, Apples?”

He was sitting beside Gordon in the cockpit, the huge expanse of the Pacific Ocean beneath them. The private jet was, in contrast to the Thunderbirds, amazingly quiet. Of course, it didn’t have the speed of the ‘birds, but it made up for it with comfort.

The Thunderbirds were made for practicality and speed. Tracy Two was made to live in.

“We are on approach. Almost there.”

Alex side eyed Gordon. “You’re worried about him.”

“Yeah.” It was more a sigh of admission than anything else. “This one has hit him hard. Don’t be offended that he didn’t tell you. He was probably trying to protect you, more than anything else. Self-sacrificing twat.” Gordon looked at him. “John says your shots are all up to date.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes.” Alex rolled his eyes just a little. “Have you met my mother?”

Gordon snorted. “You have a point.” He turned back to the windows. “We do our best to protect ourselves but sometimes things just get through.” He shrugged. “Alan scared the shit out of us once with scarlet fever. All the travelling the world we do, and he picked it up from school.”

“He was okay?”

“Took him out for a bit. Gave Scott a few of those grey hairs that make me glad I’m blond, but yeah, he was okay.” He eyed Alex’s hair. “Be glad of that white blond of yours, you might need it dating one of us.”

Alex wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He was aware of the dangers, but he couldn’t dwell on them. Virgil had already given him all the reassurance he could. It was just part and parcel of loving a hero.

The blush on Virgil’s face when he said that was definitely worth it.

Tracy Island appeared out of the blue below as Gordon angled the jet in to land. This wasn’t the first time Alex had flown out to Tracy Island. Usually, Virgil flew him. Scott had once picked him up in Thunderbird One while on a pizza run. That had been an experience. He hadn’t even had time to work out if he was exhilarated or terrified before the Thunderbird was pivoting to land.

He did discover exactly how much pizza the Tracys could consume in one meal, however, and that was definitely terrifying.

He might have to take out a bank loan if he invited them over to dinner.

Tracy Two proved that it was not the average private jet as its flight angle flattened and was punctuated by the flare of VTOL. Gordon gently let the plane down on the partially hidden runway to the east of the villa. The cliff folded in on itself and Tracy Two trundled into the hangers under the mountain.

Thunderbird Two immediately caught Alex’s eyes, the great ‘bird high up on its landing struts ready to deploy when needed.

“He’s okay, Alex, I promise. I came to get you because…he needs a hug.” A sigh. “And I’m kinda hoping he will listen to you.”

Tracy Two pulled into her spot and Gordon switched off her engines, letting her wind down to silence.

“He’s not listening?” That did not sound like Virgil.

“He’s miserable. Too tired to be able to do his stuff and frustrated because of it. And god forbid if we go on a mission without him.” Gordon turned in his seat. “Alex, he is okay, but he needs a little TLC, and perhaps permission to stand down. You are not a brother he has had to listen to all his life. He loves you. He will listen to you.” With that Gordon turned back to the controls and ran the plane through post flight.

Alex eyed him and bit his lip. Gordon loved his brother dearly. It may not have been said, but it was obvious in the slight frown, the faint flush to his cheeks, and the intensity in his eyes.

“I will do my best.”

“I know you will, Apples.” A slight smile and that familiar gleam.

“Then let’s go find your wingman.”

-o-o-o-

Virgil was in his rooms.

Gordon didn’t really knock, more barged in, unannounced. They caught Virgil shirtless, unshaven, and wearing only a pair of worn pyjama pants. His hair was sticking up in all directions. He was attempting to pour himself a coffee and at the sight of Alex, quite frankly, looked like a deer stuck in headlights.

He was also covered in sticking plasters, several stuck to his arms, legs and back.

“Omigod! What happened to you?” Alex beelined for Virgil.

The man continued to stare as Alex approached, hand still held up mid pour. Alex gently took the coffee from his hands and placed on the counter.

“Alex, what are you doing here?” Virgil backed off, holding up his hands. “Stay back. I’m contagious.” There was a panic in his eyes. “Gordon, what did you do?!”

“I simply told Alex that his man was ill.” Gordon shrugged. “He then stowed away on Tracy Two.”

Virgil glared at his brother.

Gordon ignored it. “He wanted to see you. I’m not getting in the way of true love.”

“You are a dead fish. How could y-“

Alex closed the distance between them and placed a single finger across Virgil’s protesting lips. Tired, dark eyes stared at him in surprise

 “Let off Gordon, love, I insisted.”

“But-“

“Why didn’t you call me?”

The exhaustion on Virgil’s face cut into Alex and he reached up, running gentle fingers through Virgil’s messed up hair. He wanted nothing more than to kiss it all better.

“I didn’t want you to get sick.”

“I’m the son of a doctor, my shots are all up to date thanks to the very generous medical plan that comes with being a Tracy Industries employee, and…” Alex half rolled his eyes. “…again, my mother. I’m thinking my immune system is up to the task.”

“I don’t want…” But Virgil trailed off and Alex could see the absolute exhaustion take over as Virgil ran out of protest and wilted against him. “I’m sorry.” It was so quiet, Alex doubted he was supposed to hear it.

So this was what Gordon meant.

Alex wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and drew him in tight, gently nudging his head onto his shoulder. He glanced at Gordon and mouthed a ‘thank you’ as Virgil finally relaxed into his hold.

Gordon whispered. “Call if you need anything.” He started backing away to the door.

“You’re still dead, Fish.” The words rumbled into his collarbone and Alex stroked an ear with a finger

Gordon snorted. “Well, then, I’ll die happy knowing you have someone you might actually listen to.”

“Gordon!” It was all protest, fondness and love.

A snort and Gordon bounced out of the room almost exactly how he had bounced into Alex’s lab barely half an hour earlier.

Virgil groaned into Alex’s shirt. “I’m going to kill him.”

“No, you’re not. You’re going to sit down with me on your comfy couch and tell me what happened.”

Virgil let himself be guided to the crochet-covered lounge and Alex curled him up against his side.

“So what happened?”

Virgil sighed and relaxed in Alex’s arms.

“Stupid Lego.”

“Lego?!”

-o-o-o-

Next

[asherheed]

sunsets of our youth

⚘ ‹ featuring › alhaitham x fem!reader

⚘ ‹ tags › lighthearted, fluff, meeting for the first time, partnerships, banter, they're schoolmates, in my head the six darshans have a point system like in hogwarts, reader is trying to be civil and keeping it together but fails anyway, implied pining

⚘ ‹ note › i'm back from the hell that is uni (sorry for being v ia my priorities are all over the place) with another alhaitham fic to commemorate his arrival in the next update <3 good luck to everyone who will be wishing for him!!

Today will be a good day – this was something you’ve been trying to tell yourself lately as your final thesis defense for the current academic quarter scheduled by the Herbad assigned to your field of study was drawing near. Not only were you plagued with one major academic deadline, but you were also required to participate in a paired final debate for a school event with a guy named Alhaitham that made you question your sanity.

Most of your days were spent inside the House of Daena double-checking if your references were dependable, so with each question asked of you would be answered with brevity and a certainty that your responses would leave no room for further questioning. You weren’t the type of person who would break under the interrogation of your own research. You’ve dedicated time to understand it, cultivated methodologies to achieve near-perfect results. Although your classmates might repeatedly say you were doing too much already as one of the leading students in the Akademiya, you simply would not settle for less, especially when the final deliberation of grades was just around the corner.

It doesn’t help that competition among your peers is as toxic as an unmonitored game of TCG. If you were to simply not go above and beyond, you would hardly be able to hold a prestigious position reserved for Vahumana scholars and have the academic freedom to pursue your own research without having to consider the ethics involved (not that you would do something illegal).

Walking up the stairs to the library, you made your way to your favorite spot in the room: the table near the shelves containing books for Haravatat students. You smiled as you saw your seat was unoccupied, placing the books you’ve borrowed the week prior and the scrolls containing your notes on the empty table.

Today you were unsurprisingly earlier than your habitual schedule. Then again, given that there were only four weeks left until the defense, you wanted not to waste any time dawdling in the comfort of your bed. Being painstakingly neutral with that time limit made you restless. You were glad most of your classmates opted to finalize their work a week prior to the deadline, as you have most of the library all to yourself.

Well, and to the gray-haired man who just walked in, eyeing you distastefully.

You raised an eyebrow and opened your scrolls as he approached your table. Skimming through the unmarked references you needed to check, you took out the books necessary for examination, and was about to get started when an irritated sigh made you turn away.

You looked at the man, tilting your head to the side. “Can I help you with something?”

He pursed his lips, frowning. “You’re in my seat.”

Glancing around the room, you replied, eyebrows furrowing, “There are plenty of empty seats nearby.”

“Yes, and you’re in my favorite one.” He replied like this was public information.

A dazed look of bewilderment crossed your face, and you schooled it into impassiveness, uncertain of your next approach. “You don’t own this library.”

He rolled his eyes as if you were being unreasonable. “Obviously.” He replied, pulling out the seat opposite to yours and placed his scrolls and books with a huff.

Narrowing your eyes, you glanced at your scrolls and pressed a hand to your temples.

Today is going to be a good day.

Remarkably, everything was going well between you and the man. You kept to your side of the table, and he did the same. His gaze was intent on his work, and you found his undoubtedly unpleasant presence to be tolerable than you expected. The sound of rustling parchment from the occasional shift of position and the turning page of a book filled the air between you two, and you felt a sense of relief from the interaction you had with him earlier did not escalate to further unpleasantries.

All good things must come to an end, though, as you surreptitiously eyed the books, he had with him.

“You’re from Haravatat, aren’t you?” You asked as he glanced at you and nodded. “What’s your research all about?”

“Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to disclose that at my own discretion,” he muttered, and you clenched your jaw.

“I can assure you that I’m not someone who would stoop so low and steal the subject of someone’s thesis.” You grumbled, discomfited by the fact that he could just accuse someone of such a thing so blatantly. How rude.

Leaning back, he pursed his lips in thought, then sighed. “I’m defining how the approach of Haravatat and Vahumana on the study of history has its consequential influence on the interpretation of the universal rules and various ruins.” He answered, raising a brow expectantly. “I���m certain you’re well-acquainted with this argument, seeing as your school is part of my study.”

You shifted in your seat at his scrutiny of your presence, contemplative. “How did you know I’m from Vahumana?”

“You are Y/N, aren’t you?” He cleared his throat and rested his chin on his hand. “Part of the Akademiya’s Top 10? You’re practically famous.”

A flush crept across your cheeks and he avoided your gaze. “That’s not relevant. Those records are purposefully concealed to the public for confidentiality, unless there are exceptions.”

He leaned away from the table, suddenly resuming his work. “Yes, I’m aware of that.”

“So?”

“So what?”

You sighed heavily. “How do you know me?”

“I hardly think that information is valuable. After all, the Akasha Terminal exists, and I’m clearly wearing one right now.”

Touché.

Grimacing, you turned on your Akasha Terminal. You didn’t really like using it because it often provided you with headaches in the morning, but you felt foolish for not trying to know who this person was while he knew all about you. Apparently, even from the moment he saw you. Despite your negative sentiments towards the technology, you accepted the fact that you might be plagued by a migraine tomorrow for a solitary question.

Your vision swam as the words appeared in front of your eyes, and your mouth went dry as the man’s face emerged beside it.

“You’re Alhaitham?”

“Congratulations.”

“How is that possible? My Herbad said you were the most pleasant student he’s ever had to work with, and I’m supposed to–” your mouth fell open. “Oh, god.”

“Ten points to Vahumana.” Alhaitham mumbled, stealing a furtive glance at your flustered appearance. He looked away again, clearing his throat. “Would you want to discuss the terms of our partnership for the debate, or do you need a day to compose yourself?”

Today was not a good day. Today was not a good day at all.

Clasping your hands together, you straightened in your seat, taking note of Alhaitham’s inconspicuous way of hiding his unease at the thought of being your partner. You couldn’t blame him. You also would have preferred to meet with your partner professionally than whatever both of you did.

To be fair, you weren’t the one spouting claims for probable theft.

“Let’s strike a deal, then.” You declared, gathering your composure, and Alhaitham finally looked at you, appearing relieved. “We work on our sources for the debate and practice for the next two weeks, and then we’ll leave each other alone once we’ve won. You won’t ever see me again unless certain circumstances arise.”

He pondered for a moment before nodding slowly. “Yes, and I want my chair.”

“No, I get to keep the chair, and you’ll get to have the seat you’re on right now,” he crossed his arms, about to retort. “But we get to keep this whole table. Well, at least for as long as we cross paths unintentionally.”

“You do realize that is highly improbable considering that we go to different schools.”

“Yes, I do.”

“You don’t own this library.” He echoed your words at you, and you see the quick upturn of his lips.

You hid a smile of your own, forcing your face to remain stoic. “Obviously.”

For a moment, you wondered if he’ll reject you as his face scrunched up, but then he nodded. “I agree to the terms of your deal.” Standing up, he reached his hand out. “I hope we can work together professionally.”

You highly doubted that. You shook his hand, and it enveloped your whole hand. “I hope so, too.”

The sound of more people coming inside the House of Daena made you glance at the entrance, and Alhaitham followed your gaze. He gathered his scrolls and books. “That’s my cue.” He said, and you watched him disappear from your sight.

[impossiblepackage]

say, i heard you reblog a post about role playing games. do you happen to know of any ones that i, a beginner, could feasibly get into in this day and age? i tried DnD but a combination of not having anybody to play with (whether irl or online) and a dissatisfaction with low level boringness kind of made it fizzle out for me

oh hey an ask from 3 months ago that I didn't even see. hi.

ANYWAY. First things first, i cannot recommend @theresattrpgforthat enough. Ain't nobody better at recommending rpgs than that blog right there. Now, on to my thoughts.

If you want a DnD-like rpg, Pathfinder 2nd Edition is gonna be my first recommendation. It's harder to find games for on account of being significantly less popular than dnd5e but it's probably the 2nd most popular game. It's also completely free, with everything being hosted on https://2e.aonprd.com/. It's got everything except adventures, those ya gotta buy. For the next 10 days, there's a humble bundle that includes PDFs of lots of the pre-remaster legacy books, and includes a couple adventures, including a whole adventure path going from level 1 to 20. As a whole, the game is different to dnd but it's recognizable. Big fan myself, and paizo isn't a bunch of pricks. The setting is also super gay. There's a potion of trans your gender, and one of the main religions in the world is the worship of 3 gods in lesbian polycule.

Ironsworn: probably my favorite RPG, period. (also has a space version, that works the same way). It is narrative focused, and designed for solo play or in groups with no GM. Works just as well by yourself, as a duo, in a small group, or in a traditional way with a few players and a GM. It's structured around it's vow system. Your character makes a vow, you decide how difficult that vow should be to accomplish, and as you do things that advance it, you mark progress. Eventually, you make a roll to try and fulfill the vow, with the difficulty determined by how much progress you've made. If you fail that roll, it's bad. Cool thing is that just about everything works that way. Undertaking a journey, delving a dungeon, fighting a dude, it's all handled with the same system. It's a game about perseverance and struggle and relationships, both with people and with places. also very fun to play for writing practice. It's mechanics are rooted in it's setting, but there's no reason you couldn't play it in basically any setting. the youtube channel Me, Myself, And Die is, essentially, Critical Role But It's Solo RPGs, and he did a great season where he played Ironsworn, check it out. Also, Basement Fort on youtube did a duo playthrough. I've only seen the first episode but it seems like a fun watch, as well as showing off duo gameplay.

the Witcher RPG: i haven't played this myself or even looked at the books yet, but everything I've heard about this game has me super excited about it. the general consesus seems to be "yo this is wayyyy better than I thought it would be, why aren't more people playing this, what the fuck". If somebody more familiar wants to talk about it, that'd be dope.

gonna ramble about the rest much less, LIGHTNING ROUND OF RECOMMENDATIONS

Dungeon World: same genre as dnd, but much less crunchy gameplay. Much easier to learn.

Kids On Bikes: it's Stranger Things but as a ttrpg.

Call of Cthulhu: get spooky, idiot. The players are investigators unraveling some mystery or another, and trying to keep their sanity in the face of some cosmic bullshit.

Lancer: it's about mechs! closer to anime-style mechs than battletech style, from what I can tell. I've heard good things.

Vampire: The Masquerade: you will NEVER guess what this is about. It's a classic, it's great, it pretty much redefined the way I think vampires should work. The new version of Werewolf: The Apocalypse is coming soon, and I'm real hyped for that, too.

Shadow Of The Demon Lord: my understanding is that this game is basically "DnD 5e, but good".

[creative-caramel-coffee]

Hihi! currently dealing with a bout of bad chronic pain and it got me thinking.

Any chance to get a hall mom Thornhill and platonic student reader who has chronic pain. Hurt / all comfort lol.

thornhill makes something to ease the pain using some of her plants in the greenhouse? And maybe she specifically started growing the plants once she learned one of her students suffered from chronic pain?

Please and thank you! Also feel free to change anything up!

Much love from the frog king🐸

Exam Season

Pairings: Thornhill x Reader (platonic)

Word count: 1.6K

Summary: Reader has been in some pain and finally finds a solution.

TW: mentions of drugs, chronic pain, mentions of addiction, mentions of alcohol

A/n I had so much fun with this one. I did a lot of research through my old medical textbooks so most of it is hopefully accurate.

It was exam season which meant pain, both from studying and well … the chronic kind. And just because you were used to it didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt. Because it did. Badly.

There were a few things that caused pain flare ups for you ever since the car accident you were in a few years ago. Of course, one of the two was stress which was assured with exam season and the second was disrupted sleep patterns and with all the late-night study sessions that was another thing you could check off the mental triggers list. But it's not like you couldn’t study. You needed to. You prided yourself on it. Your family name was all you had left of your parents. They, unlike you did not survive the crash. So you used the fear of being nobody with no home as a drive, to work. To be someone worth something.

The light was on in your dorm once again as Ms Thornhill made the rounds before going to bed herself. Ophelia hall had few rooms where there was only one student. You had been lucky enough to be one of them. So she knew you were awake. But the light had been on four nights in a row now. Surely that was getting a little bit excessive. She made mental note to ask you about it later in her class, she knew you were a responsible student and as you were old enough to make your own decisions, she trusted you to make good ones at that.

It must have been around two am before you actually got to sleep. The next morning the pain was so much worse. You dragged yourself out of bed in hope that a hot shower would relax the muscles in your neck. You stood and lazily made your way to the ensuite, mentally thanking whoever was in charge of the roomie situation that you simply didn’t have one.

After a shower that seemed to have little to no effect at all on the stupid amount of pain you were in you dressed slowly and grabbed breakfast before heading to botany.

You had no meds for the pain, Panadol never touched the level of chronic pain you were in. High dose stuff made you nervous, you didn’t want to get addicted at such a young age. But you also couldn’t ask for help without exposing the fact you had nobody at home to get you anything.

You made it a point to avoid the infirmary, opting to look out for yourself.

When you had signed up for nevermore yourself, you had faked your parents' signatures based off some old documents you found in your father's study. You had guarded that secret with your life.

Every parent's weekend you simply said they lived far away which was why you stayed on the grounds during breaks, not because you hated the empty house you would eventually have to go home to. So no, you didn’t risk seeing the nurse.

Taking your seat in the room you were slouching badly, trying to ease the pain by loosening the muscles. Every once in a while, you would roll your shoulders to try and get a temporary reprieve in the constant gnawing on your sanity. After a bit you gave up on the worksheet all together and put your head down on the desk trying to get comfortable, or at least as comfortable as possible in that moment.

You jumped when you felt a hand make contact with your back gently. Looking up with bleary eyes, glazed with pain, you saw the concerned face of Ms Thornhill looking down at you.

“Honey are you ok?” She asked already knowing the answer, she was biting her bottom lip, usually you were veery composed so she knew it was something bad.

“Im fine Ms Thornhill.” You said sounding slightly strained.

“Darling I’m your dorm mom right now, call my Marilyn sweetie.” She said and began rubbing circles on your back. You relaxed under her touch, it was soothing and it had been so long since you had any sort of positive contact. You relished in the feeling. You were too tired to care right now about the rest of the class who luckily seemed to be paying no attention at all to the two of you.

“Im fine Marilyn.” You said and ducked your head again.

“Darling don’t lie to me I can tell somethings wrong.” She said softly but sternly. You nodded with tears in your eyes.

“Can I talk to you later.” You whispered.

“Well class is over in a few minutes so please stay behind and talk to me.” She said sensing that you weren’t going to talk in front of your peers.

When class finally ended you packed up your books slowly and stayed seated as the class trailed out. Ms Thornhill came over and pulled up the chair beside you, taking your hand in hers and rubbing it with her thumb grazing gently over your knuckles.

“Talk to me sweetheart.” She said and you choked back tears. The dam burst when she pulled you in for a hug. It had been so long since you had a hug.

You sobbed into her shoulder, and she rubbed your back.

“Shh shh shhh its ok Darling. Im here. And I’ll help you however i can sweetie.” She said before pausing.

“Darling how long has it been since you had a hug?”

“T-too long.” You sniffled.

Then you simply buried your face in her neck until you calmed down. When you finally pulled away, she wiped away the tears with her thumb.

“Now whats the matter many darling?” She asked and you swallowed.

“A few years ago, i was in a car accident. I got whiplash and hurt my neck. It’s never really been the same since. I know it's not in my file but i can usually manage it fine by myself. With the stress of the exam coming up and late nights studying it … it hurts so much more than it normally does. Im scared to take anything I might get addicted to.”

“Well first, we will need to update your file.” She said squeezing you hand gently. “Second if this is a bad flare up...” she paused and waited for your response, and you nodded. “Which it is.” She said slowly, “I can give you something for the pain. And we can manage it together. Ok darling?” She asked and you nodded feeling slightly overwhelmed.

“Now I don’t think principal Weems would approve of me growing you some medicinal Marijuana.” She said and you gave a choked laugh.

“No, I don’t think I would.” Came a voice from the doorway and both of you turned to face the principle. She was wearing a small, amused smirk as she walked over to join you.

“I had a report Y/n wasn’t in her second class. I thought i may find her here.” She said. “Anyone want to explain?” She asked and you looked to Ms Thornhill to answer.

“Y/n was just telling me how she’s been having some issues as of late. Chronic pain was it darling?” She asked looking at you and you nodded and looked away studying the plants on the window cil. “We were just discussing some options.” She finished.

“And I’m glad you have ruled out medicinal Marijuana.” Weems said with a laugh.

“As am I.” You whispered making them both laugh.

“Glad to see you were paying attention in last week's drugs and alcohol assembly darling.” The principal drawled. “However, Ms Thornhill here, may need another.” She said jokingly. “So, whats the plan?”

“Well, I was going to make Ms L/n here some chamomile, willow bark and meadowsweet tea for the pain. Maybe a massage and a heat pack.” Ms Thornhill said standing and grabbing various tins of dried herbs. “I have been wanting to grow some more of my herbs for any students that would need them, and it seems u have found my first patient.” She smiled kindly at you, and you simply nodded again.

“Well, I’ll leave you two too it. I’ll also excuse Ms L/n here from her classes for the day. Provided you are either with Ms Thornhill, at your dorm or at the infirmary.” She said and you thanked her as she left.

A moment later the botany teacher placed a steaming mug of tea in front of you and you sighed as she pressed a heat pack she had seemingly pulled from thin air against your neck.

“I can give you a massage later, the upper traps and right across your shoulders if you like?” She said and you nodded. “Yes please.” You said shyly and she beamed at you.

“Drink that tea darling girl and then we can see how you're feeling. Also, I’d be happy to tutor you if it helps with the stress.”

“Oh you … you don’t have to do that, I’m sure I'll be fine.” You stammered not wanting to take up anymore of her time.

“Darling I’m offering.” She said and you paused.

“I’ll think about it.”

“That’s all I ask my sweet.” She said and you sipped the tea again.

It was safe to say the tea helped significantly. Despite being an old remedy and not being clinically proven, it worked really well.

For the rest of the day, you hung out with the botany teacher, and she helped you study some more. Maybe, just maybe, life would be a bit easier from now on.

MASTERLIST